Demonic Resurrection

Right from its inception in March 2000 Demonic Resurrection has been raising eyebrows. Starting out as bunch of 17-year-olds looking to give India a taste of extreme metal, then a nearly untouched genre, the band, spearheaded by Sahil ‘The Demonstealer’ Makhija, released their first album Demonstealer within nine months of formation. It was an amateurish first attempt but a bold step in a scene dominated by tribute and cover bands that got Demonic Resurrection noticed. As with most bands, teething problems meant that members came and went, and the first stable lineup came together only in 2001 with Demonstealer on vocals and guitars, Count Varathora on bass, Nikita Shah on vocals and keyboards and Yash Pathak on the drums. The band re-recorded Demonstealer with the current lineup. Though a marked improvement on the original recording, the band was still experimenting with its sound and recording, something that comes across clearly on the album. It was still amateurish but it received a fair bit of acclaim and Brazilian record label Vampiria Records released a tape version of the album in the local market. (Today though, copies of this album are collectors’ items.)

However in 2002, the band fell apart, leaving the Demonstealer to build it back up from scratch. Resurrected in 2003 with a brand new-lineup, Demonic Resurrection was now Husain Bandukwala (bass), Mephisto (keyboards), JP (drums) and the Demonstealer (vocals, guitars). The band spent the next two years writing new material that reflected the change in lineup and each band member brought a different flavour to the music. Gone was the gothic/black/death metal sound of the band to now be replaced by a meld of equal parts melody and brutal aggression, the sound of their second album A Darkness Descends. The album was released in October 2005 to critical acclaim from all over the world (popular metal webzine Metal Observer rated it a 9 on 10) and till today is a benchmark release in the history of Indian metal. The album also gave birth to Demonstealer Records, an independent extreme metal record label launched by the Demonstealer, which would go on to release albums of all the top Indian metal bands. Looking to add yet more depth and dimension to their sound, the band enlisted lead guitarist Pradeep Pande in 2006 but the same year also saw the exit of drummer JP. This however didn’t stop DR from getting into the studio and recording their EP and third studio effort Beyond The Darkness, which featured on a split CD titled Rise Of The Eastern Blood along with bands Dusk from Pakistan and Severe Dementia from Bangladesh. Since the band had no drummer, Demonstealer took up the drum duties for the EP. Beyond the Darkness saw a slightly more experimental side of the band, adding ambience and spacey, ethereal textures to their sound. And while some fans were skeptical of the musical direction the band had taken, critics applauded it, heaping praise on the band. That Indian metal and Demonic Resurrection in particular were on their way to global recognition became amply clear when filmmaker Sam Dunn (Metal: A Headbanger’s Journey, Iron Maiden: Flight 666) featured the band in his landmark documentary Global Metal. Demonic Resurrection was also the only Indian band to make it to the soundtrack of Global Metal along with the likes of Lamb of God, Sepultura and In Flames.

The band meanwhile continued to hunt for a new drummer until August 2007 when Virendra ‘Viru’ Kaith joined the band. Over the next year or so the band continued touring and writing new material till Pradeep quit in 2008 and was replaced by guitar prodigy Daniel Rego who was just 18 years old. 2009 saw the band widen the scope of their tours across India, going places that no Indian metal band had gone before and featuring as the support acts for Opeth in February 2009 and for Amon Amarth and Textures in December 2009.

The band hit the studio in August 2009 to record their third full-length album and what was to be the final chapter in the Darkness trilogy: The Return to Darkness. Roping in renowned artist Michael ‘Xaay’ Lorac (Nile, Karl Sanders, Behemoth, Vader) to design the artwork for the album, the band also released their first video for ‘The Unrelenting Surge of Vengeance’ that received (and continues to receive) airplay from mainstream music channels like VH1. The album was officially released in January 2010 followed by a nationwide tour – The Resurrection Festival. The band capped 10 successful years of metal with their first international show at the prestigious Inferno Festival in Norway in April 2010 and will make an appearance at the Brutal Assault festival in the Czech Republic in August 2010. about the new deal

It’s been a long and sometimes arduous 10-year journey for the band – a story of struggle, brickbats, bottles, adulation and acceptance but most of all of incredible amounts hard work, determination and perseverance – and even naysayers will be hard-put t