Demonic Resurrection
Encyclopedia
Demonic Resurrection is a melodic blackened death metal band from Mumbai
, India formed in the year 2000. Demonic Resurrection's current line-up consists of Sahil "The Demonstealer" Makhija on vocals and rhythm guitars, Daniel Rego on lead guitars, Husain Bandukwala on bass, Virendra "Viru" Kaith on drums and Mephisto on keyboards.
Since its formation, the band has released 3 studio albums and 1 EP. The band has enjoyed National TV (India) airing of their video The Unrelenting Surge of Vengeance.
in April 2010 for worldwide distribution.
, The Gathering
, Lacuna Coil
. The album also featured a female vocalist. 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. Copies of this album are collectors' items today.
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 Dani S. due to musical differences. This however didn’t stop the band 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 ambiance 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 also made it to the soundtrack of Global Metal along with the likes of Lamb of God
, Sepultura
and In Flames
.
in February 2009 and for Amon Amarth
and Textures
in December 2009.
. 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 existence with their first international show at the prestigious Inferno Metal Festival
in Norway in April 2010 and played at the Brutal Assault festival in the Czech Republic in August 2010. The band released their first music video, 'The Unrelenting Surge of Vengeance' from their 2010 album, The Return to Darkness. The music video received a U/A rating from the Central Board of Film Certification and can be aired on national TV (India).
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
, India formed in the year 2000. Demonic Resurrection's current line-up consists of Sahil "The Demonstealer" Makhija on vocals and rhythm guitars, Daniel Rego on lead guitars, Husain Bandukwala on bass, Virendra "Viru" Kaith on drums and Mephisto on keyboards.
Since its formation, the band has released 3 studio albums and 1 EP. The band has enjoyed National TV (India) airing of their video The Unrelenting Surge of Vengeance.
History
Originally all albums were released under Demonstealer Records till they were signed by Candlelight RecordsCandlelight Records
Candlelight Records is an independent record label based in Europe founded by former Extreme Noise Terror bassist Lee Barrett, though it has had a division in the United States since January 2001. Candlelight Records specialises in black metal and death metal, having bands such as Emperor,...
in April 2010 for worldwide distribution.
Early years & Demonstealer (2000-2002)
The band was officially formed in March 2000, by a bunch of 17-year-old teenagers. The main focus of the band was to play extreme metal, which hugely contrasted the ongoing culture at India at that time. Within nine months of formation of the band, they released their first album Demonstealer. But as soon as the album was made, the band faced many problems, and most of the members departed. The line-up of the band was finally stabilized in 2001, with the Demonstealer on vocals and guitars, Count Varathora on bass, Nikita Shah on vocals and keyboards and Yash Pathak on the drums. The music was inspired by bands like Theatre of TragedyTheatre of Tragedy
Theatre of Tragedy was a Norwegian band from Stavanger, active between 1993 and 2010. They are best known for their earlier albums, which provided a great deal of influence to the gothic metal genre.-Biography:...
, The Gathering
The Gathering (band)
The Gathering is a Dutch alternative rock band, founded in 1989 by brothers Hans and René Rutten and vocalist Bart Smits in the small city of Oss, North Brabant....
, Lacuna Coil
Lacuna Coil
Lacuna Coil is an Italian gothic metal band from Milan. Formed in 1994, the group has had two name changes since being previously known as Sleep of Right and Ethereal and was inspired by the combination of gothic imagery and music...
. The album also featured a female vocalist. 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. Copies of this album are collectors' items today.
A Darkness Descends (2002-2007)
However in 2002, the group disbanded, leaving the Demonstealer to build it back up from scratch. Reformed in 2003 with a new-lineup, Demonic Resurrection was now Husain Bandukwala (bass), Mephisto (keyboards), Dani S. (drums) and the Demonstealer (vocals, guitars). With the advent of their new lineup, the band had a total reform to their musical style, bringing more elements of melody and aggression into their music, establishing the sound for their second album, A Darkness Descends. The album was released in October 2005. Alex of the metal web-zine The Metal Observer gave the album a 9/10 stating,
When the CD then starts after the intro "Prelude to Darkness", two other things become very clear. For one the production from the Power Station and Demonic Studios, which is very clear and powerful and easily puts many European and North American productions to shame, for the other the will and even more so the ability not to limit themselves to the usual genre borders, but stepping over into different styles and letting these borders blur without tearing the compositions apart...The sound is based on death metal, symphonic black metal and power metal, woven together in a great fashion, reaching from great calm/atmospheric passages up to hefty blast beats, with growls, screeches and great clear vocals, with very nice dynamics and at times dramatic structure, as prime example I have to mention "Apocalyptic Dawn", which combines all of these elements, while "Behind the Mask of God" also features female vocals. "A Darkness Descends" also has these incredible dynamics and then "Frozen Portrait" – calm beginning with strong clear vocals, before they gear up, but always keeping strong melodies and variability and "The Summoning" attacks you from the get go, but again bringing in atmospheric passages as well."
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 Dani S. due to musical differences. This however didn’t stop the band 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 ambiance 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
Sam Dunn
Sam Dunn is a Canadian anthropologist and film-maker whose work focuses on the culture of heavy metal. Together with Scot McFadyen, Dunn owns Toronto-based production company Banger Films, Inc.-Metal: A Headbanger's Journey:...
(Metal: A Headbanger’s Journey, Iron Maiden: Flight 666
Iron Maiden: Flight 666
Iron Maiden: Flight 666 is a concert documentary film featuring the British heavy metal band Iron Maiden. The film follows the band on the first leg of their Somewhere Back in Time World Tour between February and March 2008....
) featured the band in his landmark documentary Global Metal
Global Metal
Global Metal is a 2008 documentary film directed by Scot McFadyen and Canadian anthropologist Sam Dunn. It is a followup to their successful 2005 documentary, Metal: A Headbanger's Journey. The film's international premiere took place at the Bergen International Film Festival on October 17th 2007...
. Demonic Resurrection also made it to the soundtrack of Global Metal along with the likes of Lamb of God
Lamb of God (band)
Lamb of God is an American heavy metal band from Richmond, Virginia. Formed in 1994, the group consists of vocalist Randy Blythe, guitarists Mark Morton and Willie Adler, bassist John Campbell, and drummer Chris Adler...
, Sepultura
Sepultura
Sepultura is a Brazilian heavy metal band from Belo Horizonte, formed in 1984. The band was a major force in the death metal, thrash metal and ultimately groove metal realms during the late 1980s and early 1990s, with their later experiments melding nu metal, hardcore punk and industrial.Sepultura...
and In Flames
In Flames
In Flames is a Swedish heavy metal band from Gothenburg, formed in 1990. Since the band's inception in 1993, they have released ten studio albums and one live DVD...
.
Beyond the Darkness (2007-2009)
The band meanwhile continued to look for a new drummer until August 2007 when Virendra ‘Viru’ Kaith joined as a permanent member. 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 OpethOpeth
Opeth is a Swedish heavy metal band from Stockholm, formed in 1990. Though the group has been through several personnel changes, singer, guitarist, and songwriter Mikael Åkerfeldt has remained Opeth's driving force throughout the years...
in February 2009 and for Amon Amarth
Amon Amarth
Amon Amarth is a Swedish viking metal band from Tumba, Sweden founded in 1992, and takes its name from the Sindarin translation of Mount Doom, a location in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth. The band comprises vocalist Johan Hegg, guitarists Olavi Mikkonen and Johan Söderberg, bassist Ted Lundström...
and Textures
Textures (band)
Textures is a metal band from the Netherlands, formed in 2001. Textures' lineup revolves around founding members Jochem Jacobs, Stef Broks, Bart Hennephof, and bassist Remko Tielemans who joined in 2007...
in December 2009.
The Return to Darkness (2009-present)
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 DarknessThe Return To Darkness
The Return to Darkness is the third full-length album by the Indian Death metal band Demonic Resurrection. It was released on January 15, 2010 through Demonstealer Records. The band was signed to Candlelight Records for worldwide distribution. The album was released on Candlelight Records on July...
. 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
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
. The album was officially released in January 2010 followed by a nationwide tour – The Resurrection Festival. The band capped 10 successful years of existence with their first international show at the prestigious Inferno Metal Festival
Inferno Metal Festival
Inferno Metal Festival is an annual extreme metal festival in Oslo, Norway. The festival was founded by Borknagar guitarist Jens F. Ryland in cooperation with Radar Booking in 2001 and take place at Rockefeller Music Hall.-2011:...
in Norway in April 2010 and played at the Brutal Assault festival in the Czech Republic in August 2010. The band released their first music video, 'The Unrelenting Surge of Vengeance' from their 2010 album, The Return to Darkness. The music video received a U/A rating from the Central Board of Film Certification and can be aired on national TV (India).
Musical style and influences
Demonic Resurrection describe their music as blackened death metal, though it can also be called symphonic black metal. Cradle of Filth, Dimmu Borgir, Emperor, Depresy, Cannibal Corpse are some of the bands that have influenced the band from the earliest albums.Use of signature black and death metal motifs like growling vocals, shrieked vocals, highly distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, blast beats and double bass drumming along with ambient keyboards and clean vocal passages often serving as a bridge between to heavy parts is prevalent. All through the "Darkness" trilogy, DR have stayed clear of the purist tags and their latest release sees their music as a mixture of black and death metal with elements of power metal easily visible, most notably attributed to acts like Blind Guardian and Angra. The clean passages in songs like "Lords of Pestilence" along with the ambient keyboards give it a very progressive feel not unlike bands like Opeth. Also very distinct is the fact that Demonic Resurrection have chosen a very polished and sophisticated production, style as opposed to the raw production usually seen on black and death metal records.Band members
- Mephisto - Keyboards
- Demonstealer - Vocals/Guitar
- Husain - Bass
- Daniel Rego - Lead guitar
- Viru - Drums
Studio albums
| Title | Released | Format | Label |
| Demonstealer Demonstealer (album) Demonstealer is the debut full-length album by the Indian Death/Black band Demonic Resurrection. It was released in November, 2000 through Demonstealer Records. It was re-released in August 2001 with a different album cover.-Tracklist:... |
 November, 2000 |
CD, Tape | Demonstealer Records |
| A Darkness Descends A Darkness Descends A Darkness Descends is the second full-length album by the Indian Death/Black band Demonic Resurrection. It was released on October 20, 2005 through Demonstealer Records.-Track listing:... |
October 20, 2005 |
CD | Demonstealer Records |
| The Return to Darkness The Return To Darkness The Return to Darkness is the third full-length album by the Indian Death metal band Demonic Resurrection. It was released on January 15, 2010 through Demonstealer Records. The band was signed to Candlelight Records for worldwide distribution. The album was released on Candlelight Records on July... |
January 15, 2010   July 12, 2010 |
CD | Demonstealer Records Candlelight Records Candlelight Records Candlelight Records is an independent record label based in Europe founded by former Extreme Noise Terror bassist Lee Barrett, though it has had a division in the United States since January 2001. Candlelight Records specialises in black metal and death metal, having bands such as Emperor,... |
Other works
| Title | Released | Format | Label |
| Beyond The Darkness Beyond The Darkness (EP) Beyond the Darkness is an EP by the Indian Death/Black band Demonic Resurrection. It was released on April 8, 2007 through Demonstealer Records.-Track listing:... |
April 8, 2007 |
CD | Demonstealer Records |
| Rise of the Eastern Blood split with Severe Dementia, Dusk Dusk Dusk is the beginning of darkness in the evening, and occurs after twilight, when the sky generally remains bright and blue. Civil dusk is when the earth has rotated enough that the center of the sun is at 6° below the local horizon... and Helmskey |
2007 |
CD | Demonstealer Records |