The end of the beginning...

The 2009 IIT Saarang - Opeth Concert Review (my review was featured in the website http://www.headbangers.in/)

It was on the 25th of January 2009 when Chennai witnessed one of the biggest metal bands in the world descend upon IIT Chennai in its annual fest titled Saarang. Firstly, a big kudos to the organizers who delivered what they had promised – Opeth.

The entire buzz about this Swedish metal band was so electrifying that the Open Air Theatre (OAT) was like a volcano about to erupt…and it did. The setting sun made way to the darkness that engulfed the OAT and aptly setting the stage for a night with the country’s most promising bands to display their skills. The crowd slowly filled in as time passed and soon it was jam packed keeping up with the age old tradition of the IIT Saarang.

At precisely 6.45pm, amidst the opening fireworks that pounded the sky like it was war, Mumbai based opening Demonic Metal act Demonic Resurrection waltzed in and literally sounded so tight that they would have snapped any moment. Beginning their metal journey in the year 2000 the band (with regular line-up changes) has since then released 3 albums and has garnered rave reviews throughout the metal world.

The brutal riffing and growls compounded with precision based double bass drumming ensured that all heads at the IIT Saarang were swirling in the right direction. With limited time in their hands, the band promised to pound as many songs as possible and they dutifully did so without further ado beginning with a monstrous epic number entitled Spirits of the Mystic Mountains to their last and most well known number, Frozen Portrait. Mid way, Apocalyptic Dawn saw the band at its best and kept the crowd asking for more but with 4 ear splitting songs, the time constraint in mind saw them bow out in their well achieved metallic–glory of opening for Opeth.

The obvious felt pleasure of giving a chance for an Indian act opening for this global metal act was well received and the band members were gladly vocal and open about it. A massive roar from the crowd to acknowledge and support what had just been mentioned by the band in its statement.

In no time did the next astounding band set their equipment on stage and readied themselves to stun people and literally hold their feet to the ground with one of the most spellbound performance of the evening. Enter the arena, Cochin based Mother Jane and the OAT was still dazed after Demonic Resurrection’s opening assault. A bit of tell-a-tale had passed in the air of how long these talented musicians have been around in the Indian Metal or rock scene. In no time they delivered the goods and stood up to their cult following throughout the country since their inception way back in 1996.

In the opening moment of silence came in a voice singing the opening lines ‘Thaka Thakita Thaka Thakita’ of Chasing the Sun, from their latest and critically acclaimed album Maktub and then entered the band members with their faces painted (in connection with their latest album Maktub signifying that we are human and we have a spirit) and then it was all the way looking forward to what was one of the best performances of the evening. The band proved its versatility and brilliance with its carnatic laced-lead solos and off beat rhythm sections and structured drumming, flamboyant and flawless vocals and rhythm sections that fell in place like it was their own playground. The crowd were silent on their toes most of the time through Mother Jane’s songs and a little dumbstruck but the ovation at the end of each song and after the entire performance ensured that it wasn’t a different feeling and that most of them were actually in a trance including me.

Belting some of their well known tracks like Mindstreet (a different version) & Maya to numbers from their latest album, the highly acclaimed Maktub like, Broken, Before one Million comes one, Blood in the apple (a dedication to Bush and Osama by the singer) and closing with Karmic Steps, the band sensationally made it a night to remember under the star lit sky and the fireworks that later decorated the skies after each performance.

At 8pm, the opening acts were done with their respective assaults and had left behind an immortal performance by all means. After the initial battle was won, the war cry of another name began filling the air and engulfed the amphitheatre like it was a gladiator’s call for the final onslaught. The final act’s name was called for, chants were sung, which is like a prequel to any major performance…‘Opeth, Opeth, Opeth, Opeth….’ And at about 8.30pm, the ‘Grammy Nominated’ Swedish metal act had descended upon the stage and delivered the most memorable and the heaviest concert that each Indian was waiting for with abated breath.

The decibel level in the crowd erupted and shot through the open skies as band leader, singer and chief song writer Mikael Åkerfeldt walked in amidst the eerie smoke effects and red lit stage and strummed his first notes and then to be joined by his other members, Martin Mendez on bass guitar, Per Wiberg on the keyboards, Martin "Axe" Axenrot on the drums & percussion and Fredrik Åkesson on the rhythm and lead guitars.

Coming off their global tour supporting their critically acclaimed latest album, Watershed, Opeth belted some of the album’s epic numbers with merciless precision and fury which rang in the theme of ‘Death’ throughout of the songs as subtly mentioned by Mikael. With utmost calm and meaning just business, the band busily kept pounding some insane heavy metal riffs with some phenomenal interludes which had the melody and clean vocals and was complemented well by the radical drumming that swirled the crowd from one end of sanity to the other end of meaning. After letting the crowd know that they were mightily pleased to be there, their promise to play a long set-list like never before did bring in a huge roar from the jam packed audience who were longing for this assault.

Despite requests to the people in the back row to not to push the ones in the front, the hapless security got the help of Mikael himself to bring a little sanity to the mayhem they had brought upon for a start. After the initial dose to their kind of music, the crowd certainly got every ‘rupee’ worth every moment of Opeth as they swam through the ocean of metal and presented their best material from their 19 year old career spanning 9 albums and many accolades globally. Some in the crowd were inducted in their kind of music and others who did not have a clue were left stranded and wanting to know more. For those who knew the band and its music, it was nothing short of metal brilliance personified and it certainly laid to rest all the myths and shattered all disbeliefs that metal was dead…its alive and kicking for sure.

Some of the best numbers that the Opeth came through in their epic performance including 2 encores were Heir Apparent, The Grand Conjuration, Godhead's Lament, The Lotus Eater, Wreath, Bleak, Hope Leaves, Deliverance, Night and the Silent Water, Demon of The Fall, Baying of The Hounds and The Drapery Falls. With each song spanning an epic 7 – 8 minutes on an average the band showcased their metal influences and writing skills with the interludes as magical and eerie as possible with mosterous rhythm riffing, skilled lead guitaring and booming bass backed well with pounding drum rolls, thundering bass beats and a less prominent but a power packed keyboard performance. In the entire performance, each member had his moment of glory and left the entire crowd asking for more till the encore quenched all their metal thirst for the times to come.

Many issues like the usual sound and mixing problems did arise but all of that was certainly dismissed as the performance by all the bands progressed to lift people from all technicalities and just their hands showing the devil horned sign and their scream to get the show going as ‘Energy’ was the mantra of the evening and it was simply phenomenal.

At about 11pm, a final bow by Opeth and the metal express halted and the feast had ceased and silence prevailed soon with another round of fireworks signalling a victorious end to the concert and a big farewell to the 2009 IIT Saarang that made all of this possible. Many fans went back dazed and still in disbelief that they had witnessed one of the world’s biggest metal acts in ‘Chennai’ which some regard as a conservative city when compared to Bangalore.

With Iron Maiden coming to Bangalore yet again in February 2009 for their wrap up of the ‘Somewhere back in Time’ tour, this year surely seems to have gotten onto a rocking start and promises a lot for our country to be toured by world class acts and also a chance for our Indian bands to set foot on stage and rub shoulders with some of metal’s legends. May this be the end of the beginning…

Random Questions IV

Here is the 4th edition but the first set of 2009's randomness amidst all the mayhem in our minds; something worth pondering over in the coming times...

• Is there a license to hooliganism in the name of religion?
• What for a Padma Shri Award for Aishwarya Rai and Akshay Kumar?
• India's real and only friend is the US?
• Is the greed for zeroes driving the path of 'Truth'?
• Where can one hide when the earths a sphere?
• Isn't the belief in good because of the existence of evil?
• Is the hype-overdose to any given event or situation sensational enough?
• Has invincibility finally evaded Australian cricket?
• Has safety for women gone to the dogs even after 59 years being a republic?
  
• Will we ever execute the perpetrators of 26/11?
• Do government office forms still need the peon's nod to pass a recommendation?
• Does first love ever cease to exist?
• Will the earth ever stand still?
  
• Can we spare a thought to the children in the war stricken far East?
  
• Will we be diseased of technological virus than the biological one?
• Will there be a reincarnation as mentioned in the holy books to rid this world of its evil?
  
• Can we as common people, question and stand for what is right and what is wrong?
• Can we edit our past, sketch our future and script our present?
• How many more trees do we cut to create the paper to read for our entire lives?
• Will there be a WWIII in reality than in Video Games?
• Isn't sanity defined by those who are aware of the insane?
  
• Do we make the law to break the law?
  

Do ponder and mull over this dose till the next cut of random mind missiles are delivered soon...

The 'Devil' in us...

We have evolved over the years and so have our beliefs and faiths in numerous religions that proclaim the existence of a divine power. The fact that we are able to identify with something good is because of the presence of evil. It is in darkness that we seek a light and it is darkness that engulfs light. Since I haven't seen God yet, I had found solace that since we are created by the divine power, we have a little God in ourselves. But at the same time, we are able to act otherwise in some situations because there is a Devil in us.

Divine creation is a little smarter than I thought and we are certainly a mix of both good and evil. We fear what we do not know and we worship that which protects. It is interesting that at times people worship people and they fear the same kind...mankind itself! The fact that wildlife has its own philosophy that hasn't changed since its evolution, mankind on the other hand, has evolved and in this process has constructed and defined what is right and wrong. I find this absolutely intriguing and amazing that we possess what is unique and only a few who are willing to accept or even be aware of what is inside us. But I must admit, that those who are aware run the risk of switching preferences and might end up misusing their powers and do something totally uncalled for or unnecessary. Such an act by mistake is taken to the court for justice but the act by choice will be dealt with in another court of justice. Let me give an explanation of how it feels if you are aware that you possess good as well as the touch of evil.

The mind is a really weird instrument which doesn’t sleep and tends to work like a madman. To some people it is relentless and gives a lot of ideas and tricks to tackle situations and bring a solution...it’s a ticking time bomb to some and a calm as a sage to some. I feel that’s how the term 'Brilliant Minds" seems to have evolved…has anyone said ‘Brilliant Hearts’? The mind sees logic and calculates by possibilities and to the human mind, possibilities are endless and hence the freedom to think beyond sanity. The thought that crosses the line most often leads to a point of no return which some of us might deem inappropriate or sane. To me the mind in man’s hand is the devil in us, and an idle mind is the devil’s workshop.

The heart, on the other hand, beats the emotions into our heads besides the blood to back up the thoughts of the mind and this is critical in the context. The heart is a gift to mankind and this is what separates us from what is sane and insane. Judgments and decisions taken by the mind are validated by the heart and this is the litmus test to see if the decision can be released in the open or withheld before other considerations can be taken. Some judgments based from the heart may at times lack the logic and this might take us to a point where we may not want to consider the evidence or the facts. This is where independently the heart might screw up the mind a little bit. Food for thought? To me, the heart in man’s hand is the god in us and when in full flow is like in trance.

Let me give a couple of examples that will help clarify and bring us to common ground. Most often when I am on the roads driving my way to work or any other destination, I come across a lot of incidents that boils my blood and drives me to a point of madness – Honking aloud, careless turns, over-speeding, non-indication, sharp turns, signal breaking, accidents etc. Now this affects my driving temperament and I do something unusual to let go off the devil in me. To be honest, I have the innate ability to visualise by my will and can run it like a well directed scene in my head. This helps me in a lot of ways and I have seen what I have wanted to see and choose to modify it if need be. During such road rage incidents, my mind plays the devil and wants to be unleashed at the trouble makers and break them to their bones. The heart plays the good role and instructs not to harm others around and so on and so forth. Being human, I see a need to satisfy both the evil side and the good side and hence there is a replica scene that I create where the devil is set free to do what it pleases and in those moments of hell, the devil is in its playground and I visualise brutal repercussions. The hunger for action and free will is at play and there is total annihilation with no force daring to halt the scene. After the dosage is done with, I switch off the devil and am back to reality…driving safe and sound with the incident far beyond my recollection.

Another example fora different angle – when a stunningly beautiful woman (for a man) or a man (for a woman) walks by and by witnessing so, our lusts and desires cloud our thoughts and intentions for sure…some can deny but it surely is a stimulus. The mind here is calculating what if he/she was mine and if it was so, what would the most desirable moment be and this according to me is natural and human…nothing wrong about doing this. The extent to how far we want to take this desire ahead does matter a lot and here comes the plot of the evil intentions and good motives. I can manage to visualise the endless possibilities to satisfy the devil in me and wade off the intentions in me so that my heart can dictate the terms of what deeds I can be known for. Sometimes people call me a sweet guy, (for which I try my best) because I give the devil a little chance and satiate its desire of all the wrong doings but which is only possible in the world I create for its existence. This is a point where the devil in me is satisfied and so is the god in me.

I feel it is necessary to touch the evil side because I believe that every possible beginning has an ending which is all for good. I always believe and I do so firmly that we all have two sides in us which we cannot deny...we believe in good because we fear the presence of evil and that we believe in god because of the devil. And in all of this, we are indeed a result of a divine creation that believed that the good cannot exist without the power of evil and evil cannot rule this world without the presence of the good. According to me, we humans are a mix of the devil and the god.

Here is the end of my side of the story. There are decisions and actions that we take based on our thoughts only, by feelings only and some together based on thought and feel. Most often when both the mind and the heart work together the success rate is always higher. Hence it is critical to link the protagonist and the antagonist to create a purposeful plot and nullify an extreme or dominant outcome. The characteristics might differ from person to person but the ultimate objective is to connect the mind and the heart so that none go in their respective directions and create the chaos as perpetrated by evil intentions or by good motives.

Ultimately, the heart is like a judge and the mind like the executioner for most situations where judgments are required...