Demonic Resurrection is a blackened death metal band formed in the year 2000. Rock Era Magazine had the chance to talk to the founder, Sahil Makhija, the driven ‘Deamonstealer’ about how Demonic Resurrection rose from a non-existent-death metal scene in Mumbai, India in the year 2000 to become the nation’s metal pride.

We also discuss ‘A Headbangers Kitchen’, the stories of good vs. evil in the Demonic Resurrection’s album trilogy, and what they have in store for Dubai’s metal crew on Feb 6th at Sound of Thunder 2015: Demonic Resurrection & Aramaic Live in Dubai organized by Mainstage Music and Events.

You guys have a nice balance of melody and brutal aggression – how do you guys keep this balance or who are behind the ‘concepts’ of your music?
When I started the band in the year 2000 you could say I laid the groundwork for the sound. I was influenced by a lot of black metal back then, and also a lot of bands like Theatre Of Tragedy, Lacuna Coil and so on. So, the older stuff was a mix of that. In 2003, we revamped the line-up and started writing together, Mephisto, who plays keyboard, brought in symphonic as well as melodic elements while our drummer JP was just a furious death metal drummer. We started finding our sound back then and it’s been a constant evolution since with new members bringing in their flavors to the overall Demonic Resurrection sound. You could say we love the aggression and brutality of death metal but we also love the expressiveness of melody and it’s just something that comes naturally to us.

How important is the keyboard to keep up the melodic essence in the blackened death? (We love keyboards in our metal)
For us we look at the keyboard bringing a more epic or grand feeling to the songs. Of course, it does add to the melodic essence as well but when it needs to be brutal the keys find a way to fit in there as well. So, I would say that it is a big and very important part of our sound.

India, moreover Mumbai, does not come to mind when you think death metal. Can you tell us how you broke through the barriers of the early days and became internationally celebrated death metal band?
Back in the day I just wanted to play music and my passion for metal just consumed me to the point where my entire existence revolved around Demonic Resurrection and making it work. We had a scene of cover bands, barely any festivals, no venues, no labels, no PR, nothing. I just did whatever I needed to do to ensure that Demonic Resurrection could carry on.
When no one would book us we’d organize our own shows, when there was no label to release our music I started my own. I dropped out of college and put myself in a situation where I had to make something in the music industry work for me. While I do still hold a day job today which is music related, I think just knowing I didn’t have a corporate career to go back to helped me take the band forward irrespective of the line-up changes.

Performances at Sonisphere, Wacken and winning the Metal Hammer’s Golden God award for Global Metal – great highlights surely among many others. Can you tell us what is the band’s biggest highlight?
Honestly it’s very tough to answer because there are so many. I guess when I got that email from Candlelight Records saying they will release our new album, playing in Norway’s Inferno Metal Festival in 2010 to celebrate 10 years of Demonic Resurrection and that also being our first ever international concert. Winning Metal Hammer’s Golden God award was definitely a highlight. So yes there are many.

Watch Demonic Resurrection at Inferno Metal Festival here

Do you think being one of India’s first and few death metal bands gives you an edge?
I would say there are quite a few extreme metal bands now in India but being one of the first definitely helped because there is no competition. 15 years ago there was no band that sounded like Demonic Resurrection or played this subgenre of metal that we did. Today there might be 2 or 3 that are similar but you can still easily create an identity for yourself in a small scene, which say 10 years from now, will not be as easy. So time has definitely given us an edge.

We understand you are also behind Headbanger’s Kitchen – are your Indian recipes appreciated by fans all over the world?
I sure hope so! But, yes, the recipes are enjoyed by people. The funny thing is I never cooked desi food and don’t even like to it all the time. I only learnt how to cook that because I had an international guest George Kollias on the show and I was like I can’t feed him European food, I should make him taste the flavors of India. So, I got into cooking it and now I really like it because I hate spicy food and now I can make the food tasty but not spicy so I enjoy it now.

What are your other metal-ventures?
I used to be an event promoter and also ran my label Demonstealer Records, both of which are now both shut down because Demonic Resurrection has a label and is able to get shows. So I can take a chill pill for now!

I do bookings and PR for bands and run a home studio where I record and produce bands. I also have 2 other bands Reptilian Death and Workshop. I am currently working on a solo album as well which features George Kollias from Nile on drums.

Your themes seem to be focused on The Apocalypse and The Resurrection, especially your last album as you describe as an epic battle between God and The Demon King? Why?
We really just like to write stories. The first album was more personal and was about me writing about my emotions at the time. In 2003 we decided to change the theme and ‘darkness’ seemed to be our chosen theme. The next 3 releases evolved into the Darkness Trilogy that was about a story of good vs. evil where good triumphed over evil in the end. With our new album The Demon King the title and basic idea were born from Mephisto, our keyboard player who thought we should tell the story of Ravan – a demon from Hindu mythology. A friend of his was writing a book with a similar theme. We thought of adapting our story from the book but finally, I decided that I wanted to write my own story. So we retained the title The Demon King and I built the story from there. The ending however – will leave for people to hear the album, read the lyrics and find out what happens at the end.

We are very excited to have your band perform in Dubai for the first time. Can you give us a preview of what you have in store for your fans at the gig?
Actually this is our 2nd visit to Dubai. We played last year with Nervecell at the Dubai Rock Festival and we had a blast and the response was fantastic. However our new album, The Demon King had not released then so for us this is great because now fans can come and hear some new material as well as the old favorites.

Why do you call yourself the Demonstealer?
I was a young 16-year-old kid into metal and heavily into black metal where most musicians had a stage name. I decided I needed one too and since I was not well versed in mythology or Lord Of The Rings, I could only come up with Demonstealer, which was less cheesy than Demonslayer. 

Interviewed by: Natsky D.
Edited by: NJ Bakr

I got to the venue at about 6:00 pm, as that was the time announced for the doors to be open, and boy I didn’t wanna miss a single minute of this. Getting in at around 6:30 pm, I was pretty impressed by the stage setup . A stage backdrop of black curtains, with blue lights, and a single screen that showcased the artwork of each of the bands performing. This was way more than I had expected, for a gig of around 1000 to 1500 people. The crowd were getting pretty restless at that time, as the bars weren’t open, and speaking to the staff there, I was informed the bars were gonna be open at 8:00 pm. Now where there is Metal, there’s gotta be beers and shit loads of it. Finally, at about 7:45 pm the bars opened up, and just when I wanted to get a beer, I found myself in an endless cue of metalheads, waiting for theirs.

Just when I was about to reach the bar counter, I hear Sary, who was the MC for the night, announce the opening act, which was Ascendant. Now for those who don’t know; Ascendant are a 5 piece heavy metal band formed in 2012 in Dubai. Quite honestly, there is something about this band that gets better and better with every time you watch them. Ascendant played four of their originals, and decided to take a break, before returning for one last song. I guess due to some mess ups or their alloted time being up; that didn’t happen, and it wasn’t quite the appropriate ending to their set. Yet, for the four songs they played, the performance was packed with energy and enthusiasm, setting up the tone for the rest of the night brilliantly. Now these guys have an album coming out later this year, and if this performance was something to go by, I can’t wait till I get my hands on that record.

As Ascendant finished their set, the crowd again began to disperse to the bars. Classic metal anthems played between the sets. About twenty minutes to half an hour later, the intro of Demonic Resurrection starts playing, and everyone flocks up in front of the stage. This black/death metal band from India have been around for around 14 years now, winning the Metal Hammer Golden Gods award, and are about to play Wacken later this year. They
started their set with the track “Dismembering the Fallen”. and the pits went up. Chaos erupted before me, and the true feeling of being at a heavy metal festival finally did come alive. Initially, I did find some fuck ups with the sound of Sahil’s guitar , but I guess that was sorted by the time they played their second track. Demonic Resurrection played five tracks on the night, with one track from the upcoming album “The Demon King”. Also on their setlist was one of my personal favourites from the band, “Apocalyptic Dawn”, which featured on the Global Metal Documentary Soundtrack . The only disappointment for me was that their set wasn’t long enough. Much of the crowd did want them to play longer. As Demonic Resurrection, bid the stage and the crowd a farewell, the ritual followed of everyone rushing to the bars, to fuel themselves for the next band.

The third band for the night, was Heavenwood, who had travelled the furthest to perform at this year’s festival, all the way from Portugal. The 6 member Gothic Death metal band have been around since 1996, releasing 4 full length albums in that time. Quite honestly, I’m not an ardent Gothic Metal listener, apart from listening to old Nightwish stuff once in a while. But then again, I was told by some of my friends that they did manage to give these guys a listen, and weren’t disappointed by their work. What followed was, 45 minutes of amazing cohesion of symphony and distortion. Heavenwood’s set consisted of their originals, with brilliant composed synth integrating with growling vocals and heavy distortion and bass. What i loved about the band, was beautiful elements of Gothic Metal constructed beautifully with Death metal elements. This is not the music, where I was expecting a full blown 30 yard pit in front of me, but a good portion of the crowd were head-banging. Not the best artist of the night, but nonetheless enjoyable.

Next on the bill, were the Death/ Thrash Pioneers, Loudblast, all the way from France. Gojira might be the most famous French Band in the world, but its these guys who started off the damn thing in France. Formed in 1986, being influenced by American Thrash Giants, Slayer, Loudblast has gone on to release 8 albums, amidst a hiatus. Loudblast started off with their guttural sound, as good as a kick to your balls. After a break for the boys in the pit during Heavenwood, there was no respite for them during Loudblast. The sound just got a ton heavier. If you weren’t in the pits, you definitely were banging your head. These guys were worth the entire money the guys paid , for the entire gig. Circle pits went up, and shit got extreme to a level, where some bouncers at the venue had mistaken moshing for an actual fight taking place, till some guy had to knock some sense into them, as to how metalheads dance. For most who were present there, most got their moneys worth during these guys.

The second last band for the night, were Nightmare, who made their second coming to Dubai, following a highly successful show at the first edition of the festival, Dubai Rock Festival 2013. I was looking forward to these guys in particular. Last year at Dubai Rock Festival 2013, I had heard most of the artist playing, except Myrath and Nightmare, and both band did form a positive impression on me. So when it was announced that Nightmare would be returning back to Dubai for this year’s edition, they definitely had me excited. Owing to most of the lineup being Death Metal bands for 2014, I was always keen on a power/heavy metal band being a part of the lineup, as that is what got me into metal in the first place. Nightmare came back stronger this year. A much improved performance overall with a stronger sound. Their performace primarly consisted of originals, with songs from their latest album to some of the classics. Nightmare capped off a solid night, with a cover of the legendary Dio‘s “Holy Diver”.

It came to about 1:20-1:30 AM when Nightmare finished their set, and the stage was being set up for the last band of the night, the headliners, UAE’s own darlings Nervecell. Now many people were expecting a headliner of a higher pedigree. But for me, being completely unbiased Nervecell deserve it.
They’ve played across almost every major festival in Europe spanning more than a decade. Held it together as a band, and if there ever was a heavy metal festival, which better than one in your own backyard to headline. About 1:45 AM when Nervecell finally hit the stage. I have been following and watching these band as I grew up as a teen to now being 23 years old, I have witnessed this band playing from bar stages to the biggest stages at Dubai Desert Rock Festival 2009, to a pub in Mumbai, India. They sound much stronger in an open air venue, than in an enclosed one. Nervecell‘s set consisted of songs primarily of their last album Psychogenocide, and a couple of tracks of Preaching Venom namely, “Flesh & Memories” and “A Vicious Circle of Bloodshed”. At about 2:15 AM James, the vocalist of Nervecell announced that they would be playing their last couple of songs, which ended up being “Existence Ceased and Demean”. For the several years, I have seen this band live, it was hard for me to believe they would play a set without, what is according to me the Nervecell anthem at every gig, “Demolition”. Nervecell left the stage, having every member in the crowd screaming for them to comeback for one last song, which was “Demolition”. Thanks to our messed up venue rules in the UAE, they weren’t allowed to, even though I’m sure that was a part of their plans to comeback and play the song. Nevertheless, they capped off one hell of a night for the metalheads in UAE.

A lot of credit goes to DJ Storm and Denise for organizing this festival. Even though the bands weren’t as renowned as last year’s, every metalhead needs to understand the place we live in and the lack of sponsors to work with. We need to build this scene and this festival as year’s go on, and derive it into the festival we all wish it to be. To that, I hope I see a lot of people at next year’s edition of the festival, and a big good luck to making it bigger and bigger as the year’s go by.

Written by: Adrian.
Photos by: Alexandre

Stay tuned with bands:

• Nervecell
• Ascendant
• Demonic Resurrection
• Nightmare
• Heavenwood
• Loudblast