Metal concerts return after a pandemic-induced lull

Third edition of Deliverance music festival to be held on July 30 at Hotel Classic Sarovar Portico

Struggles for survival are a constant for independent musicians, unsupported by big sponsors or mainstream media attention. Yet, even by those standards, the past couple of years, after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, have been quite a different kind of struggle with hardly any shows or sponsors. Most of them have been using the time to work on their new material, in the hopes of the venues opening up.

The capital city's live music scene witnessed a revival last month with a slew of concerts organised by various colleges, and topped off by Indiegaga, which had some of the big names in Kerala's independent music scene coming together in front of a packed crowd at Nishagandhi on two consecutive days. The metal and rock music fans in the city also have something to look forward to this month with the return of the Deliverance music festival for its third edition on July 30 at Hotel Classic Sarovar Portico.

It is quite a power-packed lineup headlined by the city's own metal band Chaos and joined by 'Gutslit' from Mumbai and 'Godless' from Hyderabad. The supporting acts include Crypted Hate from Kochi and Eetillam from the capital.

"When we started this festival in 2018, we wanted it to be annual affair. But after the second edition, COVID-19 happened and we could not organise anything for the past two years. Two of the co-organisers are currently abroad, with Jerish Alan in Ireland and Hari in Alaska. Both of them are providing financial and creative support from there. Since we don't even have the sponsors we got last time, we are mostly self-funding the festival with an aim to keep alive the metal community here. We chose 'Chaos' as the headlining act as they have been the mainstay of this genre ever since they started in Thiruvananthapuram in 2005," says main organiser Rahul Raj, teacher at a vocational higher secondary school in Karakulam.

After the pandemic situation eased, Chaos has played 6 shows in various cities, but this will be their first in the hometown.

"It is good to have metal gigs back in Thiruvananthapuram and that too with some of the best bands in the circuit right now. Gutslit is heading for their Europe tour straight after this, while Godless's latest album has touched the number 1 position in bandcamp. We are working on our third album and will be playing material from it exclusively for our home crowd," says S.Jayakrishnan, vocalist of Chaos.