New faces that rock

Think heavy metal… and the general images that come into one's mind is of loud sound, aggressive lyrics and angry young people looking for an outlet to thrash out at the world right? But if you write off this genre of music, based on these pre-conceived notions, you'd be missing out on some truly great creations for sure. Meeting up with two members from two of the inventive bands in the local rock scene, I was expecting the standard passionately aggressive young individuals. But instead I ended up having a pleasant chat with two talented, creative, and extremely laid back guys...

Going onto describe the gig they have planned, they explained exactly how this would be different to other performances. "Our two bands came up with this concept, mainly to give our audiences a different experience. We got the idea of doing something of this sort from other international heavy metal festivals such as Gigantour and Big Day Out, which are extremely popular in the West," says Javeen Soysa, of Tantrum, which is fast becoming one of the most-sought-after rock bands in the local music industry.

Titled "Live Rock Festation," the organisers claim the event will be totally out of the ordinary, being the first ever rock concert to be held at a poolside. "The audience will basically be inside the pool! It would be like 80% pool, and 20% land," says Hasyth, from Sword of the Spirit, the other band organising the gig. "We will also be making a DVD based on the event, with extra footage of the bands participating," he added. They plan to make this an annual event, and the theme this time round is "Sundown Splash."

Though all six bands participating in the gig fall into the framework of rock music, they each express themselves through a different genre of metal, adding to the variety of the performances. The line- up for the event will be Tantrum, Sword of the Spirit, The FuzMechanX, Merlock, Bikini Bottom, Tom, Dick & Harry.

As for how Tantrum came about, the story goes of three teenagers, wanting to change the face of music being pumped into Sri Lankan veins through the mainstream, getting together to form a band. This was back in 2002 – and they realised the potency of the one pure forms of music they all loved, which was heavy metal. At the time, they claimed to have barely known the rudiments of instrumentation, and getting a band off the ground seemed like an unrealistic dream for the 16-year-old school mates. But with time, there was a significant improvement, and by the beginning of 2004, the guys had decided to take their venture more seriously, after realizing the possible potential of creating a name for themselves as a metal band in the Sri Lankan music industry, and the name 'Tantrum' was born.

According to Javeen, the band's style is considered to be Progressive Thrash Metal, with a touch of technical Death Metal with various melodic elements. Classical, Blues, Jazz & Eastern elements are also influential to the band when creating music. The band recorded and released their first single titled "The Destroyer" which became a Number 1 hit on the local chart show, TNL's SL Hot 10, and they also joined Rock Company, which is one of the main organizations promoting the Rock/Metal bands in Sri Lanka. Soon afterwards, Tantrum released their second single titled "Alone," impressing their listeners. Tantrum was also one of the few bands to take part in TNL Onstage for the first time and come out winners of the competition, in 2005.

The band then released an EP titled "The Destruction Begins" in 2006, which is available in local CD stores, and soon after, the band went through a major line-up change. Currently the band line-up consists of Javeen Soysa, on lead vocals and bass guitar, Akila Pieris on rhythm and lead guitar, Arjun Dhas on rhythm and lead guitar and Tharaka Senevirathne on drums.

"Currently the band is working on new material and we're looking forward to releasing a full album early next year. Some of the new track titles are "Bleeding Compassion," "Darkness Through Your Eyes," "Eternally Damned" and the band's favourite composition so far "Rebellion," said Javeen. According to him, Tantrum is looking forward to opening the floodgates to a whole new level of music, and plans to take Sri Lankan heavy metal to greater heights, and their journey, he claims, has just begun.

Sword of the Spirit, also known as SOS, was initially formed in 2003 and existed under various names until they adopted their present title in 2005. After several changes in their line-up, the current line up includes Hasyth Abeyaratne on vocals, James Mather on lead guitar, Tony Jayathilake on rhythm guitar, Dexter Juriansz on bass guitar and Nirodha Jayasinghe on drums.

Their greatest success came in winning the runners-up award at TNL Onstage in 2005. Influenced by bands such as Tool, Inflames and Lamb of God, their performances include a number of originals like "Sacrifice," "Doorway To The Other side" and "Dawn Treader." Following their performance at TNL onstage and other gigs, SOS classified as a Melodic Death/ Thrash metal band, has carved out a progressive niche for themselves in the metal scene, in Sri Lanka. The band hopes to release their first album by the closing of this year.

And what exactly is the response heavy metal receives in Sri Lanka? "Compared to other countries, the response and support is still much lower, but it is improving. People are now seeing the potential this genre of music has, and the young, talented people involved in making this music are gradually being appreciated," says Javeen.

Adding to this, Hasyth went onto say that these young bands are getting more and more professional, and can easily be on par with international bands. "We just need the facilities and space to grow and improve, so with that falling into place, the process would be that much easier. What makes this type of music different to any other genre is the fact that these bands are not just following the trend, but actually creating original music."

And what drives them to create such originality? "Society, situations around us and emotions are what inspires us to write original music. There isn't one particular direction in the music created by Tantrum, but normally it deals with areas such as anti-war, anti-politics, conformity and emotions," said Javeen, while Hasyth added that the content of the music of Sword of the Spirit is based on "the various emotions and ways of dealing with life's trials and tribulations."
So keep your ear to the ground to catch the vibes on Live Rock Festation...