Metalheads reconnect at Spectral Decay

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: After some hiccups, the second edition of Spectral Decay got underway at the Just BLR arena on Brigade Road. One of the first metal gigs happening after the pandemic, it was also an occasion for the metalheads of the city to reconnect with old friends they hadn’t seen in the last couple of years.
As the sea of black t-shirts and long hairs gathered in the small, intimate space, Illucia kicked things off with some heavy metal. “Bangalore has a long and rich history with metal that goes all the way to the 80s,” explains LS Kaushal, one of the organisers and the vocalist of Maneating Orchid. “People from other cities refer to Bangalore as ‘Headbangalore’. You could almost call it the capital of metal in India. Because you can find bands from every subgenre of metal here and an audience with good taste.”
Kaushal himself has been a journeyman in the metal scene for over a decade having played for numerous bands including Eccentric Pendulum, Gutslit, Godless, and Maneating Orchid.
Next up, XrepeatX showcases their fast-paced grindcore brand that got the audience moshing. It was followed by the blood-curdling growls on Kaushal’s band Maneating Orchid, a band that’s been together since 2011 but was playing live for the first time with their new drummer.
Finally, the evening was rounded up by the old out-of-town band – Armament from Kolkata, who set the stage on fire with their extreme thrash metal and theatrics with members of the band sporting fake blood and leather as they belted out track after track of headbanging awesomeness.  
The next edition of Spectral Decay will happen on July 24.