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Rudra: Brahmavidya immortal I

03/10/11 || gk

Singapore’s Rudra has been around now since 1992 and “Brahmavidya: Immortal I” is the final chapter in the band’s Brahmavidya trilogy and also their 6th full length album. The band plays what they call vedic metal and it’s basically death metal with lyrics and an ideology taken from ancient Indian texts dealing with the Hindu religion.

I’ve always had a hard time taking this band and it’s ideology seriously as too often the lyrics and chants used sound like a gimmick and while the vocalist Kathi has some cool sounding points of view regarding his ideologies and the vedas, I have not been fully convinced. Still, at its heart, Rudra is a metal band and what should be important is how the music stacks up and I’m glad to say Immortal I is the best work the band has done so far. What Rudra do well on this album is combining classic heavy metal with blackened thrash, death metal and melodies that owe a fair bit to Indian classical carnatic music. Vocalist Kathi snarls through most of the album, often mixing his lyrics with hymns and chants from Hindu religious texts for good effect, guitarists Vinod and Devan work very well together particularly in the lead guitar parts which are well thought out and placed perfectly but the music is held together and driven forward by drummer Shiva who pummels the kit right through the course of this album and lends it a solid backbone.

Stand out tracks include “Illusory Enlightenment” with an almost delicate intro, a slow build up and some raging death-thrash before a breakdown leads to Kathi chanting mantras and a very well placed guitar solo. “Vultures of Slavery” has a bouncy groove that could be at home in a temple in southern India but the song is a furious blackened rage that really impresses. There’s some Behemoth like pounding to be found as well in “Incredulous Void” and another great lead guitar trade off between Devan and Vinod. “Sinister Devotions” rounds out a very strong middle part of the album with its ominous intro and death metal fused with eastern sounding melodies.

The problem with “Brahmavidya: Immortal I” is that the songs after a while tend to sound very similar to one another. The vaguely eastern melodies are ever present as are the constant guitar solos but Kathi’s vocals get monotonous after a while and the songs blur into one another about halfway through the album. Having said that, this is still the only Rudra album I can sit through and listen to from start to finish even if the desire to skip tracks starts to mount around “Embryonic Theologies” and peaks with album closer “Advaita Samrajya.”

“Brahmavidya: Immortal I” is, all things considered, a good album. While the chanting and Hindu philosophising sounds gimmicky and like the band is just paying lip service to a way of life that is thousands of years old and simply cannot be covered in 50 odd minutes they also manage to write enough good songs to keep things interesting. Overall, this is still an album worth checking out if you’ve never heard Rudra before and this is easily the best thing the band has done so far.

Information
Released: 2011
Label: Agni Productions
Website: www.rudraonline.org
Band
Kathi: vocals, bass
Vinod: guitars
Devan: guitars
Shiva: drums

Tracklist
01. Now, Therefore…
02. Illusory Enlightenment
03. Ravenous Theories of Deception
04. Vultures of Slavery
05. Incredulous Void
06. Sinister Devotion
07. Harrowing Carrions of Syllogism
08. Embryonic Theologies
09. Supposed Sages of Sensuality
10. Hymns of the Immortal Self
11. Advaita Samrajya

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