The increasing number of promos that I have been receiving from India in the last 4 years that I am running this blog (in all its web incarnations), makes me believe that the beautiful and vast country is becoming one of the emerging powers in the Asian extreme rock scene. Long overdue I would say though inevitable, given the global appeal of the Heavy Metal sound.
Mumbai-based death metal multi-instrumentalist, Sahil Makhija aka Demonstealer, will release his next solo EP titled ‘And This Too Shall Pass’ on 11th December, 2020 and he was kind enough to send us a fully professional promo kit for listening and reviewing. The 4-song EP is self-released with the help of a crowd-funding campaign that Makhija personally set up in July earlier this year. Makhija is one of the veterans of the Indian metal scene : from founding the country’s biggest extreme metal band (Demonic Resurrection), to starting up an independent record label (with releases by Behemoth and Dimmu Borgir) or by setting up a premium recording studio dedicated to extreme metal - he had played a significant role in shaping India´s extreme heavy metal scene. After his third album, which saw collaborations with Kévin Paradis (Benighted, Svart Crown), Romain Goulon (Necrophagist), Kerim Lechner (Septic Flesh, Decapitated) and David Diepold (Obscura) amongst others, Makhija is now releasing ‘And This Too Shall Pass’.
Coming into the contents of the EP, what immediately impresses is how well recorded and produced the 4 songs are. I would describe the sound as Melodic Death metal with incredibly catchy riffs which at certain moments crosses-over to Deathcore. Honestly, I could not find any flaw in this release as everything from the songwriting to playing, recording and packaging indicates pure professionalism and dedication. If you love melodic Death Metal, then do not miss ‘And This Too Shall Pass’ .
You can preorder the EP here :