Hyderabad based metal band Godless is on a whirlwind tour. Band members Aniketh Yadav, Rohit Nair, Abbas Razvi, Kaushal L.S. and Ravi Nidamarthy will join Australian band Psycroptic on a 10-day tour across six cities in India for one of the biggest tours for an Indian metal band ever! Kick-starting on Thursday at Shillong, the team will also make a stop in Hyderabad on August 10.
Speaking to us ahead of the tour’s kick off, Abbas talks about how they always dreamed big. “The Hyderabad metal scene has been quite restricted. In fact, the local bands haven’t really achieved much and that’s why we were clear that we wanted to take this very seriously. Our vision has always been to go international and we never limited ourselves to be a small local band,” he explains, indicating that they won’t restrict themselves.
While all five of them have been in the music scene from long, it was only two years ago that Godless was formed. This is the first time they are going on such a mega tour. Quite understandably they are mighty chuffed about it! “In two years, we have achieved quite a bit and we are happy with the way things are shaping up for us. Last year our album was received well, and now this tour has come up. We are excited with the opportunities. When we were approached to be a part of the tour which already had Psycroptic on board, especially since our music styles are same, we were keen on it,” he says.
The response to the tour has been phenomenal with several bookings and enquiries coming in from all over the country! In fact, Hyderabad too has got many metal enthusiasts signing up. But guess what? Hyderabad is the smallest of their markets, ironic for a band based out of the city (Kaushal is from Bengaluru though)! “But it’s our city and we are super keen to perform here with so many familiar faces around. We couldn’t miss performing here at any cost! It’s home. The metal scene has been very weak in Hyderabad; there are ups and downs and there’s no consistency. In fact, last year we did only one show in the city. Things are slowly but surely picking up though,” he reflects, adding that the main reason for the lack of support is the dearth of venues that support metal music.
On a parting note we ask Abbas how sustainable their kind of independent music is and he is quick to reply: “There’s no sustainability as such for metal music in India, yet. All of us have alternative jobs! But this is just what we love doing and there’s no chance we become unperturbed.”
