OK I confess I did not see this coming so soon.

We have a Kannada death metal band in Bangalore and I must say that I’m seriously impressed with their efforts as of now.

The band that has me floored as of now is Dhwesha – a 2 member death metal (I’m serious) band from Bangalore.

On the surface, the 2 musicians – Ajay Nagaraj and Somesha Sridhara – look like 2 young guys who have an “identity crisis” one expects from black tshirt wearing slightly long-haired dudes from downtown.

But nothing can be far from truth and no one can be far from a crisis about their identities than these 2 young and talented pioneers. Slowly but steadily they are carving a serious identity for themselves with a strange mix – some good old Kannada mixed with good old death metal music.

Now I’m a fan of growling vocals and brutal riffs PLUS a fan of SPB era Kannada numbers. So for me this is like the mixing of two of my favourite things, which I always thought as very distinct entities, something that can never be combined in a satisfying manner.

However, Dhwesha has, to a certain degree, succeeded in doing the unthinkable. Their 4 recorded tracks are a treat to the ears.

What is even more fascinating is listening Kannada language in growling. My goodness, these guys have done a fantastic job at this. And know what is the best part? Kannada does not sound alien at all in growling vocals accompanied by heavy guitar riffs and drumming. In fact, it sounds like Kannada was always made to be naturally incorporated in the death metal scene some day or the other.

Speaking of the band, their effort is terrific for a 2 member band. Obviously, they used synthesizers for the drums while their myspace page says Somesha is on the guitars and Ajay on Vocals.

Also, they seem to have their basics in place and come across like guys who know their music and are not afraid to show it. Thier influences in the inital days have been typical: Maiden, Priest, Metallica etc before moving on to more brutal music, finally landing at the Scandinavian and Florida metal scenes, where they claim they felt at home. The band attributes Vader, Amon Amarth, Obituary as their biggest influences.

Why Kannada? The band members claim they got the idea from Norwegian bands. They reasonsed “if those guys take their Norse mythology so seriously why can’t we take Kannada and our mythology more seriously.”

This thought is evident in their recorded stuff with the track “Ugra Narasimha” relating the story of Lord Narasimha punishing Hiranyakashipu for tormenting Prahlad.

All in all, a very noteworthy effort from the lads from Jayanagar and Arrikere. And they plan to continue in the same vein. Keep up the good work boys; we are with you!

To listen to their music visit Dhwesha myspace page

PS: Dhwesha is looking for a drummer so if anyone interested can contact them through their myspace page.