Brahmavidya: Primordial I

The moment I clicked a YouTube link and the Hindi chant “Hara Hara Shankara Shiva Shiva Shankara” came out of my speakers backed by distorted guitar riffs, my chakras burst open. I suddenly realized there is no difference between the Brahman and the Atman and that what is in the mind is the same as is the cosmos. I knew, somehow, that when I die, I’d be reborn as something cooler. Samsara jokes aside, I was quite pleased with discovering a band that sings about Hinduism. After the joke that is Christian metal, which is as interesting as a (as of my current understanding) hypothetical jihad metal and the pagan metal scene being long stuck in the bullshit “beer’n’battle” Heathenism for kids, it was interesting for once to read something about transcending reality and all the cool stuff Hindus believe in.

Rudra seem to be well-versed not only in the Vedic traditions, but also in the schools of thrash, death and black metal. What they themselves name Vedic metal is a flawless combination of the three genres which, although the riffs can be called slightly above average, is saved and individualized by an astounding presence and energy that emanate from the band. One may compare to other oriental-oriented metal bands like Melechesh and Nile, and although there is some basis in this, the comparison is still lacking as Rudra cannot be described as followers of either. Instead, they have a certain aura of individuality around them. A huge part of this comes from certain folk elements like tablas and the occasional sitar that can be heard in the far distance of the mix. The chants help too – there is something hypnotic, mysterious and fucking awesome about chanting in metal and Rudra are a prime example of this. The riffs, crushing and driving for the most part, never undergo a maximum level of complexity and if you are looking for shredding solos, genius chord progressions and intricate harmonies, Rudra is not the band for you. Instead, what they offer is a no non-sense explosive four-fisted Shiva punch of in-your-face metal. The mix is great and the song structure flows perfectly, but the real selling point is how awesome the integrations of Hindu music are. From the traditional chants and melodies which blend in perfectly with the riffs to the traditional drums and the occasional vocals that sound nasal enough to be oriental. You gotta love a band that utilizes folk influences without entering folk metal zone. Another huge plus for the fucking awesome and intelligent-sounding lyrics. It’s a welcome change from the Western “masters” of esoteric mysticism and their vague references to the perspective of those who consider these references neither esoteric nor mystic.

I truly have only two real objections to this album. First is that at certain points it sounds like one of the members suddenly loses rhythm and makes a mistake, which is OK live or on a demo, but unacceptable in a full-length recording. My second objection is to the drumming – specifically the overuse of blast beats, which it seems people today think is good drumming. A tip to all such bands: It’s not. It’s boring. It’s a soulless, fake, machine-like attempt to sound brutal. All one accomplishes with playing blasts forever is making the drum tracks dull.

The greatest thing about Brahmavidya: Primordial I is that certain something that many Europeans have been lacking for centuries now and that is the sense of spirit. It is that intangible beauty of sincerity and cultural honesty that will separate Rudra in my mind from a throng of other run-of-the-mill blackened thrash/death projects. And, if they didn’t subscribe to the Keep of Kalessin school of drumming, this release would receive an almost perfect score. Almost perfect because there is still room to improve further and eventually reach moksha.

Brahmaviya: Primordial I is Rudra's 4th full length album , succeeding 2003's excellent Kurukshetra. The fare is vintage Rudra, which means mid to hyper tempo thrashage, peppered liberally with Indian (more specifically, Carnatic) harmonies and percussion. There are some notable changes over their earlier work, though. The band has embraced the Indian influences even more strongly on this album : most marked being increased usage of stunning carnatic vocal passages over light acoustic/distorted guitar rhythms backed by traditional Indian percussion like the dhol and the tabla . Further, bassist/vocalist and principal songwriter Kathir's love of black metal creeps into the fray, manifesting itself in the form of hyperspeed blastbeat fests on songs like Twilight Of Duality, Rudra and Veil Of Maya and also to an extent on the vocal delivery. The vocals sound like a blackened, more hard edged version of early Petrozza. And ofcourse, Shiva's remarkable capabilities behind the drumkit are brought out to the maximum on this album. There are superb timing changes and rhythm patterns, all attended to with astounding precision.

Album opener Twilight Of Duality starts off with a dhol rhythm, and slams without warning into a frenzy of blastbeats and hyprekinetic riffage, which pretty much sets the tone for the rest of the album. The timing and tempo changes come when you least expect them and the changes themselvices are dramatic flourishes, varying from blastbeats to Indian rhythms, soft chants and female vocals. The mid song breakdown on There The Sun Never Shines, for instance is simply breathtaking, alternating from a blinding blastbeat chorus to a beautifully delivered carnatic vocal passage. The female carnatic vocalist Aishwaryah also does a remarkable job on Shivoham and album closer In The Fourth Quarter: Turiya, managing to carry brilliantly the patrician grace and melody of carnatic music amidst a blitzkrieg of heavy metal. There are indeed less conventional metal songs on this album than on Aryan Crusade, for instance but the amalgam is carried out extremely tastefully. The Pathless Path to the Knowable Unknown is as close as Rudra get to standard heavy metal fare on Brahmavidya:Primordial I, opening with a galloping E Minor riff but soon gets back into the all encompassing larger mood of the album with chants and Indian scales flying all over the place. The midsong breakdown on this track too, is fucking brilliant. Picks of the album for me personally would be Veil Of Maya, Ananya Chaitanya, Pathless Path and the unnervingly mellow Shivoham.

This album has finally brought long overdue recognition to the band, and not without reason. It is Rudra's most evolved output to date, both in terms of maturity of songwriting and in terms of HUGE leaps in the quality of production. Lyrically, the band deals with Hindu mythology and religion, mostly invoking references from the Vedas and the Upanishads. However, to compare them to preachy Christian metal bands (as I've often witnessed less informed reviewers do) would be a gross injustice to the depth of their lyrical content.

Overall, if you're a broadminded metalhead looking for something a tad different, this would be a definite recco. Do the Rudra thandavaa!

Originally written for [url]http://www.kvltsite.com[/url]

A record which is steeped in Vedic institution, “Brahmavidya: Primordial I” combines the musical approach of black metal while combining tribal and primitive elements that give songs like “Twilight Of Quality” and the Morbid Angel-esque “Ananya Chaitanya” a welcome twist.

Rudra could be compared to bands like Nile, who are incorporating certain types of harmonies into extreme music. At times, Rudra are set on destroy musically although lyrically, the band aims to offer up a more meaningful spiritual message. It is easier said than done to predict when this band might emerge from a warp speed blast beat, only to surface with a rolling, thunderous wave of heaviness that has the power to crush all which resides in its wake.

The bizarre chanting over “The Pathless Path To The Knowable Unknown” is highly innovative, with a galloping cadence and bizarre chanting sequence that is more than distinctive sounding, as well as being pretty interesting from a purely melodic standpoint. “There The Sun Never Shines” finds the group returning the blistering tempos with further disjointed chanting and eerie monotonous vocals during the verses that are almost percussive in nature.

Combine the originality of this ensemble with their ability to successfully maneuver through some categorically difficult musical terrain and you have a fusion that results in an attractive listen for any fan of acute, ambient songcrafting. In all actuality, this is a mind-blowing effort.

From "Weapons Of Mass Destruction" by Erin Fox - with permission

When I first listened to Rudra (which wasn't easy considering their stuff is hard to get in the USA) I was very pleasantly surprised. Unlike their other work this is more of a fast paced somewhat melodic death metal album, than a true fusion of Indian classical music and metal whcih we call Vedic Metal. Despite the fact they are moving more Western in style, they do retain Indian influences in a meaningful manner. This is especially impressive considering how poorly Indian Cine music does this.

Whenever one talks about Death Metal one must also specify the brutality. One one hand we have bands like Suffocation and Nile that have harsh both in vocals and melody as compared to other bands like Opeth and In Flames which use harsh lyrics but whose melodies are more palettable. This album falls into the latter category but not because they are melody driven like In Flames but rather as a result of the Indian Classical facets of their music. While I won't elaborate on this, suffice it to say that you can't be true to a Raga with exceptionally high distortion.

Considering this is the closest Rudra album to Western Metal I would suggest listening to this as your first Rudra album and if you are not new to Rudra this won't disappoint.

There The Sun Never Shines
Aham Brahmasmi

Never did I for once think that an Indian/Singaporean metal band would put out an album that would make it to my top 5 list for the year. Being an Indian, I must say that I am really proud of what these guys are doing. Quite frankly, Rudra have totally pwned me with their latest monstrosity, that is Brahmavidhya Primordial Pt.1. This album has everything you could ask for in a death metal album....and a whole lot more.

The songs run through at a blistering pace, with blast beats and buzz-saw thrash riffs all over the place from start to finish. But what is so awesome and unique about this band, are the 'vedic' melodies they incorporate in the midst of all this brutal chaos. And it works to perfection. There is not a single moment on this album, that sounds forced or pretentious, (something that you could expect when you have such an extreme fusion of styles). The songwriting is stellar, as the music simultaneously mixes the brutal with the classical, flowing seamlessly throughout the album's 46 minutes, with spurts of vedic chants, traditional Indian percussion and some intriguing female vocals. To add to that, the music still retains a certain amount of catchiness, and never meanders off into paths of pretentious wankery.
Apart from the awesome riffs, we also have a whole lot of memorable choruses, which remain stuck in your head, several days later.

All in all, Brahmavidhya Primordial Pt.1 is Rudra's most accomplished album to date, in every aspect. They have reached new heights with their songwriting and musicianship, and the mix is crystal clear, but not at all sterile, and still preserves the raw energy that is prevalent in the music. If I had to cut a mark anywhere, it would only be for the drum sound, which could have been a little more organic..but then Im just being picky.

Killer Cuts:
Twilight of Duality
Ananya Chaitanya
The Pathless Path to the Knowable Unknown
There the Sun Never Shines
Aham Brahamasmi
Shivoham