Review Summary: Mid-tempo brutal death metal from Kolkata, India.
Death metal has become as near-universal as fast food, with outcroppings popping up across the globe in the most unexpected of places. Of course the usual suspects will always bring forth the most new blood, and therefore have cultivated their own sort of individual flavors to the subgenre. Sometimes a band’s homeland can be deduced simply by their sound, although this can be deceiving when an American band may draw heavily from Swedish melodeath, etc. The United States and the Nordic countries are obvious top players, along with a respectably distinct scene in Japan, but to see brutal death metal come out of an entirely non-western country (Japan is an enigma of its own) like India is always somewhat surprising. A cursory search for Indian metal bands in general garners pretty few results, and nothing along the cavernous ilk of this band. As new stewards of Indian BDM, Bidirna Dhamani have the rare opportunity to be tastemakers not only for one of the most populous countries in the world, but also the entire cult of death metal the world over.
So what do they sound like? For the most part, like they really love the American east coast. The guitars churn cauldrons like
Morbid Angel, the band’s favorite inspiration, and swash in a sinuous, almost storytelling surge like
Immolation. The band never play fully into doom but are always creeping along its edge, letting each riff take deep root before coming crashing in at double-tempo. There’s nothing like sitar or Eastern scales to make things almost mockingly Indian, but the spirit of Indian music is there. A musical culture based heavily on repetition, drone, and precise percussion, there is a deep-seated core to Bidirna Dhamani that is distinctly of that vein. For the most part occupying a satisfying midtempo, the band drive each riff through the base of the skull with a crank-drill, slowly grinding its way in until it settles against the back of the brain. The distinctly Floridian flourishes come down the mountainous riffage like cavalry, until crashing full-speed into the side of the cranium like
Incantation’s most evil dirge. Like all truly ancient countries India is rich with religious and spiritual heritage, and with that always comes demons and occultism to match. As with a lot of Western death metal, Bidirna Dhamani’s focus is on the horror and death present in the surreality of spiritualism, which they portray not only with anonymizing Bengali costumery and imagery, but by stalking and rushing their prey (re: the listener) like a Rakshasa. Obviously the drums are massively important here, keeping hypnotic time as the guitars slowly grumble and crumble around them. They constantly fill the empty spaces between the crashing, droning riffs, and the cymbals splash against the sides of the tremulous murk like waves.
The six songs here compile together to 41 minutes, which makes them longer than average and the album just about right. It never feels long despite the ponderous nature of the music, and for coming from just two members it sounds like an absolute monstrosity has been lurking in Kolkata. Bidirna Dhamani wear their influences on their sleeves as much as they can, but never sink to the level of worship or copycatting. The calling cards of Western death metal are here, but presented in a pulverizing new semi-doom format. As part of the Kolkata Inner Circle, and with roars like a beast from its underground lair and crushing riffs, they’ve brought Indian occultism to the forefront with brutal and monolithic death metal.
