Maiden Metal

Meshuggah

Scandinavia,the land of fjords and ice. Few people know about this corner of the world. Yes,they are part of the European Union. Yes,they are good at football and ice-hockey. But what is perhaps best known about these icy lands is their music – heavy,headbanging metal. And performing in Pune for the first time is one of the biggest band from this part of the world – Meshuggah. Comprising of Jens Kidman on vocals,Fredrik Thordendal and Mårten Hagström on guitars,Tomas Haake on drums and bassist Dick Lövgren,this Swedish heavyweight metal band derives its name from the Yiddish word for ‘crazy’.

The band has gradually shifted away from the kind of music it started with,way back in 1987. The shift has been gradual,but a very apparent one. Talking about this change in musical styles,Hagström says,“We didn’t change our style because our audience demanded it. It was about finding our own sound. When we started off,we were influenced by a lot of other bands,but as we started playing gigs more and more regularly,we started to shed certain styles that didn’t suit us,and kept to others that did!”

Scandinavia has produced many heavy metal bands,more than perhaps any other corner in the world. Pondering this phenomenon,Hagström says,“In Sweden and Norway,people are exposed to that kind of music at a very early age. That is perhaps one of the reasons. But the other,far more important reason is that when the Social Democratic party was in power,it was possible to survive while doing part-time jobs. That allowed a lot of people to follow their own passions,like music. In fact,a few years ago,Sweden’s most profitable export was music!” However,he feels that this trend is slowly changing. “The structure of society has changed and the government has changed policies,which in effect don’t really give the same kind of social security to prospective bands that we got when we started out.”

And with a rock band operating off a little-known label,it is inevitable that the conversation should turn to the internet and file sharing. Hagström chooses his words carefully. “It is a purely philosophical question. If something artistic is tangible or physical,then taking it without paying for it is undoubtedly stealing. The true debate starts when that object is intangible,like music.” Explaining further,he says,“The internet has truly spread our music to areas where it is difficult to obtain a CD,but even for us,it is a doubled-edged sword,because we are not selling as many albums as we potentially can. And for a bands that is just starting off,it can be fatal. After all,it is very difficult to count how many times a particular song has been downloaded,” he says.

TesseracT

Trying to spread their techno-seeped rhythms in this cloud of reverie is the British metal band TesseracT. Self-confessedly a collective focused primarily on live performances,the band has spent 2010 in the haze of delivering their first studio effort,titled One. Having scooped up incipient praise the world over,TesseracT is making their maiden sojourn to India to perform at the Fuel Great Indian Rock 2010 in Pune today.

Bassist and vocalist Amos Williams and guitarist Acle Kahney have an unassuming,soft-spoken air about them. Something tells you not to ask earth-shattering questions. The guys have this look in their eyes that says clearly that they are going to absorb as much as they are going to reveal. “Things have changed so much. UK is on the cutting edge of so many new forms of music. It’s just not the metal influence anymore. We are getting inspiring vibes from the world over,be it Scandinavia or the US or anywhere else,” Williams,the more verbose of the duo,starts.

Started in 2003 as a solo writing project for guitarist Acle Kahney,the band snowballed into a five-piece in 2007. Dan Tompkins on vocals,James Monteith on guitars and Jay Postones behind the drums complete the picture. “We have had our regular retro influences – Led Zep and Pink Floyd. But those times were different. These lads went in all together and recorded simultaneously. I suspect none of the bands do that anymore. For us,the studio experience was a revelation. We wish we had done it earlier,” Williams chuckles,to understanding nods from Acle.

Indian artistes have been thumping up expansive support on the word music scene. So one natural question is does this feature on TesserecT’s repertoire as well? “In England,quite surprisingly,a lot of what we hear is filtered. We tend to get the cheesy end of things. Most of it is American and a little bit of the rest. If you ask us about what Indian bands we have listened to,we will have to confess that we haven’t at all! But we are aware of its presence. I myself have studied the sitar for some years. The tonality of these instruments is so completely diverse. There is so much to glean from them. We would love to listen to more of the folksy strands of Indian music. But to include them as a part of our own music,we need to explore more. We can’t be gimmicky and just put in,say a tabla,’on top’ of our music,instead of blending it in,” says Williams.