Mirror
Magazine 
|
||||
Screaming
novelty So, is sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll what it took to reach the pinnacle of rock? On the contrary, their journey so far has been an all-encompassing experience, complete with rewards. “We don’t like to be stuck within a certain paradigm,” said Suresh, adding that their music is a combination of death metal, speed, progressive metal and thrash metal. They combine a heavy eastern sound, which speaks of their Sri Lankan heritage, and classical and blues influence, with these musical elements. “After all, we are Sri Lankan and not afraid to admit it,” he said. “Sometimes it’s difficult to fuse these musical elements together,” said Tenny, explaining that bringing together such hybrid elements involves hard work and originality. The music of Stigmata is based on various themes with powerful messages, which gives rise to an epic melody. Each song has a deep meaning, and is a progression of a different mood or nuance. Even though these musical creations are a product of the incorporation of various elements of music with rock music, they do not sound disjointed. “One word to describe our music would be progressive,” says Suresh, summing up their work. The five recall their debut CD launch of the album ‘Hollow Dreams’ as one of their most unforgettable experiences. ‘Hollow Dreams’ was a prodigious musical marvel that proved to be a sensation among the Sri Lankan rock music audience. Over 7000 copies of the album were sold in the country. Their new album, ‘Silent Chaos Serpentine,’ promises to be richer in potency and meaning. “‘Silent Chaos Serpentine’ consists of 8 songs, each of which speaks of a different theme and each similar to a chapter of a book, whereas ‘Hollow Dreams’ was a concept album,” said Suresh, adding that ‘Hollow Dreams’ spoke of how to break away from social norms and how not to conform, whereas ‘Silent Chaos Serpentine’ addresses current social issues. “The core of each song in their new album is brutal, intense and diverse,” said Suresh. Throughout the composition of songs for the album, each member of the band kept the rest motivated by impelling them to work harder. The chemistry shared by the five perfected the production process, which successfully gave birth to one of the matchless creations in the history of Sri Lankan rock music. “We’re satisfied with the album, because we feel that each of the songs is able to stand on its own,” said Andrew. Another highlight in the musical journey of Stigmata was their song “Lucid” being placed on the top 300 hit list of the American rock music website www.garageband.com. “Lucid” includes a heavy percussion contribution by Jananath Warakagoda, and is one of Stigmata’s most unique creations. In this line of achievements, the underground rock website www.rockdetector.com named Stigmata as the seventieth best band in the top 150 underground rock and metal bands in the world. “In addition to these achievements, we have had a lot of open air shows where we’ve entertained audiences ranging from 300 to 5000 fans,” said Suresh, adding that their biggest open air show has had a participation of 4000-5000 fans in Sri Lanka. “We have had our share of airtime on local radio charts as well,” he added further. Off ‘Hollow Dreams,’ Stigmata’s songs “Thicker Than Blood” and “The Dying Winter Sleeps” were composed for the local stage play Thicker Than Blood by Delon Weerasinghe, for which Stigmata provided the soundtrack. Through time, Stigmata has gained the devotion of many rock music enthusiasts by pure originality. Despite being buried under the influence of the narrow music industry of Sri Lanka, the five-some voyage along, powered by their love for music and creativity. Along the path of their evolution from a regular heavy metal band to their present perfected state, they have achieved a degree of finesse, which is embedded in their melodious intensity. There’s depth to Stigmata’s music that seems to come from deep within its core, which can be dark, and yet screams of novelty. |
||||
Copyright © 2001 Wijeya Newspapers
Ltd. All rights reserved. |
