Headbangalore -Spinal Damage from Garden City, released this march is a self-produced compilation of the premier Metal bands from B’lore namely Kryptos, Phallusy, Mindsnare and Threnody. The album packaging and cover art is most impressive and I feel the best for any Indian release so far! It’s a CD you can expect to pick up at places like Music World but due to the lack of a record label’s involvement with this release it couldn’t happen. The bands also haven’t come out with a tape version as of now which I feel will limit their scope of distribution. I shall briefly try and describe each band one by one in the order that they appear on the CD: KRYPTOS The doom merchants of B’lore kick off the CD with "Forsaken" with a very dark and depressing atmosphere, which prepares you for the relentless headbanging in store. The band experiments with a more progressive feel on this one but the heaviness kicks in with Nolan’s characteristic fuzzy and distorted guitar tone. The mix on their songs is definitely not upto the mark as Jack’s voice is barely audible amidst the loud and in your face instruments. But raising the volume of your system eliminates most of that! Next song by them is "Forgotten (land of ice)" which is definitely more headbangable and has the Kryptos trademark that Jack’ voice alternates between gruffy growls and banshee shrieks in tune with the tempo changes on the song. Kryptos has a habit of completely shattering the pace midway and then picking it again with their creating a unique blend of melody and heaviness. Last and best song by them is "Clandestine Elements" which has Chinglen doing some cool drumming too. The band is an extremely talented threesome with a great and morbid lyrical sense and their real potential hasn’t be able to unleash itself attributed to the bad mix. PHALLUSY Phallusy is a relatively new band on the circuit that can be somewhat classified as melodic death metal. The band [with a very bizarre history of origin] has a typical InFlames-ish sound providing melodic interludes subtly mixed with manic aggression. First track by them is "Demented" has Oxy (bass+vox) proving his worth with the range of his vocals which indicating the powerful Dani influence on him. Sweetie uses a digital bass pedal, which though might be easier on his legs, but the artificial sound they have to compromise on just isn’t a fair deal! "Masquerade" their next composition incorporates a lot more melody and has a nice Maidenisque solo too. Last song is self-titled (with these guys boast about themselves like Manowar) and has Oxy singing in a cleaner tone. Sweetie reely blows you away with the double bass here as he reely lets it rip here, while Nats and Pittu trade off solos. Oxy’s vocals are relatively better than Jack’s but still muted though! THRENODY Threnody start off with their `claim to fame’ cover song, "Paint it Black" again done to perfection like always. The Threnody elements infused into it can reely be made on this studio version only. These guys have been luckily unscathed by the poor mix plaguing this album. Siddharth’s voice is loud and booming and so is his bass. Next song by them is "Disembodiment" which simply put is an absolute masterpiece. Its best enjoyed laid back letting yourself flow with the feel and tempo of the songs only temporarily dislodging yourself for some headbanging to Satish’s blast beats. Threnody maintains its tradition of mixing up the pace on this long song too! The song kinda reflects all the various genres of metal that influence them and thus is very varied in its sound. Towards the end Premik executes an awesome solo while giving the impression that these guys are thoroughly enjoying themselves while recording. Another staple of theirs "Unto the End", a song about war exploring the different shades of depression has been done well too. Siddharth’s loud bass compensates extremely well that the absence of a second guitarist is not felt at any time. MINDSNARE According to me this band inflicts the maximum spinal damage on the disc. And I would attribute that to KP’s insane brain coming up with complex songs with hyper-speed riffing and incorporating such sudden tempo breaks that they should have a statutory warning printed before their songs. "Unreality" is their new original composed by the Beast (KP) when Yas and Sam just joined him after his demo "1". KP doesn’t believe in making you wait for solos as he gives one (with an eastern feel too) right after the first stanza. Sam’s loud and pounding bass lines invite you to break a couple of ribs while moshing! Sam mouths the last para on this original proving to us who’s the `beast- master’ huh?? KP’s second frenzied solo will certainly snap your neck if your head’s still atop it. Second and unfortunately last song by him or her is cover of Judas Priest’s "Eat Me Alive" done at express pace with each member competing on who can play faster trying to outdo each other. KP’s truly a genius as he sings in such an inhumanly caustic voice, in addition to inflicting such trauma on his guitar. The band fuses this beautifully with "Paranoid" where KP sounds so different with his clean singing. The band improvises on this one too as they effortlessly change gears into overdrive and bringing it back with KP’s growling wrathfully. Another hectic and cataclysmic solo by KP follows and by now you’re definitely worshipping his talents. And don’t dare forget about Yas who’s busy slamming her drum-kit and (literally playing with the cymbals) all throughout providing you with numerous chances to smash your brains against your speakers. An awesome buy for just 100 bucks – pure adrenaline pumping metal. One look at the lyrics sheet will prove the calibre of these bands, which is quite frankly awesome. The mix is not upto the mark at places but I guess that can be explained and defended by the fact that these 4 bands pooled in whatever cash they’d earned through gigs and competitions for this recording. But each band has a separate identity carved out, as you’ll realise on listening to this. I would encourage rigorous headbanging sessions as a form of exercise every morning! The CD can be obtained by sending a mail to the following: 1. headbangalore@yahoo.com 2. demonstealer@hotmail.com – for the Mumbai guys 3. ram_cobain@hotmail.com – for the Delhi guys 4. Me at psychoray@ironmaiden.com – again for Delhi. UP THE IRONS!