New Delhi, Feb 22 (UNI) Indian folk-nu metal band Bloodywood’s debut is certainly praise worthy packed with aggression, melody, groove and most of all passion and originality. Starting out as YouTube band parodying Bollywood and pop songs, the band gained significant following and just seemed like a group that is just plain fun. Oh how times change! Turn to the time when they began churning out their own original compositions and they suddenly turned into a different band altogether.
Though still great fun, it now became a different kind of fun, which is serious, inspiration-fueled and driven with a lot of power behind their music in comparison to earlier when it was all fun and laughs. Speaking on various topics such as loss of loved ones, politics, society etc the band plays a very unique combination of metal which is a mix of heavy almost Korn like riffs combined with hip hop, electronic music and of course Indian folk music such as bhangra, alternating between rap verses of Raoul Kerr and the growled and clean vocals of Jayanth Bhadula, “Rakshak” is something very unique. Released on February 18, the best way of describing “Rakshak” is that it is like Linkin Park meets Rage Against The Machine meets System Of A Down meets Indian folk music resulting in a unique and excellent combination of nu metal and folk metal thus forming something altogether new which is equal parts heavy, brutal and slamming while groovy, folky and melodic.
The rap of Raoul Kerr deserves special mention as he has done a great job on it. Normally rap in metal barely ever works, given how quickly nu/rap metal died but his rap works particularly well on “Rakshak”. It really works well with his style and the passion he pours into his delivery is splendid. While on the softer and more mellow tracks like “Yaad”, while his delivery is passion packed, his rap shines best on the more aggressive and heavy tracks like “Dana Dan” where he is truly unleashed as he goes on rapid fire mode.
Vocalist Jayanth Bhadula on the other hand needs few words as has done a phenomenal job, his clean vocals are perfect, while his metalcorish- groove metal growls are sure to make Randy Blythe proud. Guitarist Karan Katiyar also deserves great praise for not only are his riffs incredible, but his flute playing, particularly when he does his flute solos are enough to give one goosebumps. Laden with infectious heavy metal grooves, electronic, Bollywood, Indian folk music inspired melodies and rap inspired beats, Bloodywood’s energy is really addictive. Whether it is the super heavy “Gaddar”, “Dana Dan” and “BSDK.exe”, the energy fueled “Machi Basad”, the powerful pieces like “Endurant”, or the more melodic and beautiful pieces like “Yaad” and “Jee Veeray”, Rakshak has it all from heaviness to infectious grooves to powerful melodies giving the Indian folk metal group a debut they are can be very proud of. Highlights: “Gaddar”, “Machi Basad”, “Endurant”, “Yaad”, “Dana Dan”, “Jee Veeray”.
