Hailing from the jungles of Kolkata, Aparthiva Raktadhara presents us with their first full length offering, titled Adyapeeth Maranasamhita (আদ্যাপীঠ মরণসংহিতা ) a hellish and forceful blackened death metal album. This is coming off of their previous release, Agyat Ishvar, which shared many of the same qualities of this LP. Intense blast beats, death metal style guitar riffs, and guttural vocals that would strike fear in the hearts of any rakshasa.
Right off the bat there’s no denying the intensity of this album. As a whole, the band builds an incredibly heavy atmosphere that crushes its listeners under its weight. There’s a good heft to the guitars, having this very chunky and (no pun intended) metallic sound to it all. The drums are incredible and certainly stand out the most from the album. The snare is tight and has a machine gun like pace and has a great natural tone to it. While there’s plenty of blast beats to go around on these tracks, that doesn’t mean the drums are stuck just like that, plenty of different arrangements and percussion to keep it fresh and different on each track.
The imagery of this release is what drew me in at first. The lyrical topics are taken from a vedic philosophical teaching of Sunyata, impermanence, and the omnipresence of truth that is undeniably linked with impermanence and empty within its own transcendental form. These deep and rather heady topics fit so well within this style of music, since the concepts of ‘anti-cosmic satanism’ share some similarities and is a term thrown around among many western war metal and black metal acts who approach the music in a mystical way. What Aparthiva Raktadhara achieve here is certainly the Eastern version of these concepts, even the music its self have this quality of a deep meditative state within the chaos and intensity of the music, one can easily find their minds wandering as the vibrations capture their inner Atman.
This is such a strong release and a great starting point for those curious about the Kolkata underground black metal scene. These guys take what the likes of Blasphemy, Revenge, and Black Witchery did but add their own cultural twists as well as display an incredible amount of skill and talent while at the same time building upon the short comings of their previous release. Throw your offerings into the fire and light the sacred incense as this album will capture you within the void.