True to their art

Stellar Sri Lankan metal band, Stigmata has a new single out, a concert in the works, and a killer new myspace page, I’m told. Which is why, one fine Thursday, I catch an auto down to Rajagiriya where the band have set up a recording studio. Suresh De Silva, lead vocalist, lets me in.

We head to the kitchen, navigating a morass of wires and equipment, where he introduces me to three little stray dogs, one of which is missing a leg. The animal mascots only seem a little incongruous when you consider that this is where the band recorded their latest single – “A Dead Rose Wails for Light” – which begins with Suresh screaming out “welcome now to my sickest delusion.”

With pets in the studio and a looming 10 year anniversary, you might assume that the band is finally settling down. But then you listen to their newest single and along with a dozen other reviewers you find yourself a little off balance. This is not quite what you expect – especially the little flamenco inspired bit in the middle. They’re also getting noticeably more professional.

The recording itself has a smoothness and clarity to it, which for me works well with the hell for leather pacing that is typical of the group. Its evidence that the guys - Andrew Obeysekara and Tennyson Napolean on guitars, Javeen Soysa on bass, and Ranil ‘Jacky’ Senarath on drums – are all on top of their game and Stigmata is still one of the tightest bands in town.

Suresh himself only gets more adventurous by the minute. His vocals on the track switch between this harsh, screaming falsetto and a smooth, almost ballad like style. The theme of the song itself is familiar, but not. We’re talking suicide here, and plenty of angst, but Suresh’s lyrics have gotten more sophisticated over the years, and coupled with the bands determination to keep experimenting, it’s made for an interesting progression.

As far as the band sees it, fans have been pretty much divided in their preference for 2003’s ‘Hollow Dreams’ over 2006’s ‘Silent Chaos Serpentine’ or vice versa, but they hope that their new, as yet untitled album will touch chords with both. The one thing they’re determined to avoid is an album that sounds the same as its predecessors. For a band that has a fairly scandalous image to maintain, album and tours to promote, it always comes as a surprise that they anchor themselves in a deathly sincerity. Stigmata have turned being ‘true to their art’ into a personal religion, with ‘compromising their sound in pursuit of commercial success’ being the great, original sin.

While the single is already out, the complete album itself will only follow in a couple of months. Songs like “Spiral Coma,” “The Summoning Cry of Aries” and “March of the Saints” are sure to be much anticipated by the bands loyal fan base. Speaking of the fans, if you’re one, Stigmata’s new website http://www.myspace.com/stigmatasrilanka is worth checking out, for Tenny’s cool new artwork if nothing else. You can listen to the new single, check out a collection of reviews, videos and keep updated on the band’s activities.

You can support the guys by voting for them in a couple of international competitions, and there are a whole load of links to other bands, both local and foreign, that Stigmata themselves enjoy.

You might also catch a reference to the bands most unexpected piece of publicity yet. When they were interviewed and asked to perform on Ian Wright’s Out of Bounds –– a new travel series on the Discovery Channel, it must have been hard to figure out who were more surprised, Stigmata or Ian. Technically at least it must have been the latter, after all he considered a heavy metal band in Sri Lanka unusual enough to film them performing “A Dead Rose Wails for Light” on Andrew’s balcony.

Stigmata will tell you that they’re at their very best when performing live, and if you haven’t heard the new single yet, there’s a concert you should probably go to. Our Silent Revolution is scheduled for Saturday, April 18 at the unconventional venue of the Punchi Theatre. The print media sponsor for this event is The Sunday Times. Tickets priced at Rs 500/- will get you Stigmata, Kross and Forsaken (from Kandy). The concert begins at 8 and goes on till 11, tickets will be sold at the gate, and parking for about 70 vehicles is available.