On the Write Track: Mumbai metal act Scribe on their third album

Almost a decade old, the Mumbai-based metal band has carved a niche for themselves, thanks to the humour they add to their music.

Fortunately, you don’t have to be a metalhead to love Scribe. Almost a decade old, the Mumbai-based metal band has carved a niche for themselves, thanks to the humour they add to their music. And the proof is in their gigs that draw people from across genres, not just metal purists.

After a gap of four years, the band released their third album, titled Hail Mogambo, 10 days ago. Yes, this is a Mr India reference and while Bollywood and metal rarely go hand in hand, this relationship is not new for Scribe. It’s what sets them apart from the rest of the prominent metal acts. The band comprises funny man Vishwesh Krishnamoorthy on the vocals, Prashanth Shah and Akshay Rajpurohit on the guitars, Shrinivas Sunderrajan on the bass and Virendra G Kaith on the drums. The five will be touring the country to promote Hail Mogambo October 15 onwards.

They began work on the album at the end of 2011 and started recording it in 2012. This 13-track album takes forward the story of their last album, Mark of Teja, the one that introduced us to the world of typical ’90s Bollywood businessmen — Singhania, Jindal, Chopra, Malhotra and Dr Dang. “While we were growing up, we had no option except watching Bollywood films. We are not inspired by its music, but by the eccentricities of Bollywood,” says Rajpurohit. So, there are tracks such as Calendar khana lao and Haha we are poor.

“This album is very different from usual Scribe music. It’s more vintage, there is newer songwriting. But the story is the same, a continuation of Mark of Teja,” says Krishnamoorthy, regarded as one of the more interactive and fun vocalists. The groovy synth sound of the ’80s and ’90s films, a bit of old-school hip hop combined with Krishnamoorthy’s vocal prowess make this album one of the most exciting ones of the year. Hail Mogambo has been mixed by Keshav Dhar of Skyharbor fame, and mastered by Swedish producer Jens Borgen, who has worked with international acts like Opeth. The album is on sale on OKListen.com.

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