Inside 2 Stoopid Triangles - Chokeslamming Children Is Fun EP [2006]

Their final release, before 2/4th of the band members would move to Ozland. I can see a bit of crossover influence from the first track "Sheep Mentality (Shove It)", and that breakdown kicks major ass. The 2nd track is ska, and the 3rd is all-out thrash, and unfortunately don't have the album cover for this one.

The rest of the band members have joined with the ex-members of some grindcore band, to form Jugaa, you can download their EP from their Myspace page, "Fuck the Scene" for free. http://www.myspace.com/jugaa

Inside 2 Stoopid Triangles - [insert album title here] [2005]

3rd effort by the Nepali punks [with CLT being their 2nd], and yes that really is the album title :). I got these albums all bundled in one single YouSendIt link, long ago from guitarist Vishal, in an email. He's currently in Australia pursuing his studies, very cool guy. The music this time around, is alot more accessible as compared to the raw hardcore of their 1st 2 albums, the production is far better, but note i only said alot more "accessible", they still retain the same intensity of their earlier sound, while incorporating ska, funk [a la Jackie Chan]. The vocals are lot more cleaner, in comparision to the deranged, rabid delivery [and kickass too] of the last album. But that's just how i like it. CHECK IT OUT.

Inside 2 Stoopid Triangles - Chup Laga Timi [2003]

Just when i thought that most forms of punk (apart from pop) is virtually non-existent in South Asia. Then i heard these guys, out from the cool, hilly recesses of Kathmandu, Nepal, they play old-school hardcore (80s US hardcore). Intense as fuck, short, to the point. Songs like Fuck Off Metalheads, DIY, Hitler Buda are obvious in their subject matter. Also thrown in are 2 covers, Fuck Off and Fight Back (Turtle Jr. and Discharge [\m/] respectively). 14 songs, 14 minutes. RAW

Indus Creed - Indus Creed [1995]

An absolute classic! They originally formed in 1984 as a hair metal group [Whitesnake, Def Leppard anyone?] called Rock Machine, once again from Mumbai. They re-formed as Indus Creed in 1993, and recorded this album in Los Angeles, as recording facilities were sadly lacking back in India. They went big on MTV Asia (which launched in '93), at a time when Canto-pop, and bollywood songs were broadcasted side-by-side, and had toured regularly across the country. Well known for their song "Pretty Child" which got them an MTV Asia award (don't remember the details and stuff). Gone were the 80s look and sound, and in came the use of traditional Indian instruments such as the shehnai, tabla, sitar and various others without being passed off as a "fusion" band. They make it so natural. All the songs here have great hooks, melodies, deep lyrics. One of my favourites. RECOMMENDED.
The band split by '97/'98.

Their last appearance was for a one time reunion gig at the One Tree Festival [Jazz,Blues] at Mumbai in 2006.

Indus Creed -  Pretty Child

Indus Creed - Sleep

Scribe - Confect [2008]

What can i say? one of the best things to come out from our scene. A far sonically richer effort than their debut EP "Have Hard.Will Core" :P, which was on the Fine Tuned Disasters split released by Demonstealer (of Demonic Resurrection fame *whew* that's alot of name drops) [will post that soon]. They even cover Del Amitri here! Oh right, need to introduce the band. Scribe (not to be confused with the NZ rapper) are a hardcore band from Mumbai (formerly Bombay). Influenced by the likes of SikTh, Textures, Walls of Jericho, Dillinger Escape Plan, Earth Crisis etc. There are alot of the weird time signatures and dissonance of the modern hardcore of today, but they don't sound too derivative which is a good thing. The most important thing is that, this is a really fun record, and another they have given this album out for FREE this time around. Unfortunately i missed the physical copy of this album when it was packed with the June issue of RSJ [Rock Street Journal]  :'(. There are also a few ambient tracks here, my personal fave is "Ate a Banana" haha. Excellent band and album in short.

You'll regret giving this a miss when these guys go big, get it HERE.

You can stream their songs and download their debut EP there:
myspace.com/scribecore

Agni - Mrityunjaya [2003]

All i can say is that these guys beat Rudra (Singaporean band consisting of PIOs) when it came to the use of Vedic elements in their music :). Too lazy to write a review , and besides this article does a better job anyway. Long out of print, and the band's best IMHO. I'll put up their debut album later. I'm not too sure about the year though, if somebody could clarify that would be great.

[Article originally published in The Hindu, May 17th 2003, Metro Plus B'lore :)]

Mrityunjaya

Kosmic Music, Rs.65

ONE THING about the rock band Agni's latest album, Mrityunjaya:
it takes recourse to the Hindu religion to give expression to a host of
emotions, two of which stand out — immortality, and that very nebulous
emotion, love. While much of rock music in the west has love, minus
religion, as its anchor, the Indian touch to western rock is likely to
draw on images religion gives you, to understand immortality and love. Mrityunjaya does
a good drawing on these religious images, except that the album and the
title song is a dedication to bassist Juggie and Manager Mandy, whom
Agni lost in a tragic accident in 1995.

The album begins with a humble invocation to
Lord Shiva, symbolising the mortality of man: "Talk to me, my Shankara,
Chanting Your name, Moksha I can find, Slays all evil, gaze of your
third eye... " and then moves on to an empathetic note for all those
who have lost a love... ."Memories that you have left, haunt me now,
Shattered my world lies... " and then again shifting back to the fire
god Agni, symbolising the flame of life... ."His touch can singe, even
burn 'n' heal, he's the God who's all flame. The there is the sudden
shift again to the sensual nature of love... when we were runnin' free,
let me touch you, touch you, oh... can't you see, let me hold you just
this once, It'll set us free... " The song Desh also celebrates love
describing what the sentiment is like, in experience. This has lyrics
like, "It's like walking on thin ice, being in love with you, But I
keep falling back, deeper than before... "

Mrityunjaya is literally the victor over death... "There are
those who walk the edge in life, Mocking all with every breath they
take... teasing death with every chasm, leaped, flying where eagles
don't dare... " The songs "Kinara" and "Maya" talk about love from very
opposite standpoints. "Kinara" is about the illusive nature of romance
and the futility of a lifelong wait... "Beh gaya woh kinara beh gaya,
kho gaya, Bujh gaya woh sitara, bujh gaya, kho gaya... "

"Maya," ironically, is not about illusion, but
the certainty about the woman a man had always thought was made for
him... "Haar ke mai chala tha, duniya se muh modh ke, jab kisi ka saath
chootaa, tujh ko hi paya saamne... "

Mrityunjaya, which took four years to evolve, has lyrics both in
English and Hindi. While Uday Iyer's voice carries the pitch
appropriate for a rock genre, the electric guitars set a good pace for
each song.

But the guitars and the drums, as it happens
in many Indi-rock albums, seemed to drown the vocals, and at times,
seemed a bit isolated from the rhythm of the songs.

The lyrics are rather appealing, even if one
considers that most songs on love say nothing memorable. Uday Iyer is
the lead vocalist, while Pravin Bell takes care of the bass. The drums
are by Rustom Kayani and guitars by Kaustubh Dhavale. Priced at Rs. 65,
the album has been recorded at Kosmic Studios.

PRASHANTH G.N. 

Agni

Messiah - The Antidote [2005]

A criminally underrated Delhi garage/punk trio (in the Indian underground atleast). Formed in 1998 and broke up unfortunately, soon after the release of this EP :(. This was supposed to be the follow-up to their full-length. There's alot of info about these guys on most Indian forums, music zines online, and i'm too lazy anyways to write more. All i can say is that, these guys definitely were breaking new ground in our scene, with their abstract songwriting, and their refreshing disdain for technicality and the use of the Indian accent as an abrasive part of the music :). Atleast the vox doesn't put on an accent. The music which is a mix of '77 punk and garage/noise, makes this one of my favourites from the underground scene.

It'll definitely be yours. Cock up and get THIS.