APARTHIVA RAKTADHARA

APARTHIVA RAKTADHARA “Adyapeeth Maranasamhita”

By Dr. Abner Mality

Pretty obvious we’re not dealing with a band from the Chicago suburbs here...or anywhere else within the Western world. Nope, this is a band from India who are trying to bring us universal emptiness through the power of crushing war metal. And believe me, this sucker does crush!

Unlike fellow Indian war metallers KAPALA who have come up with total tuneless noise, A.R. surprises with the clearness of their production, which allows them to create actual RIFFS. This is so much more effective than just flat out blurs. The tracks here have super long titles so in the interest of brevity, I will refer to them by numerical placement. Track One starts with crunching slow riffs, which you should take the opportunity to enjoy because once they are gone, you won’t be hearing any more of them. From there, it’s a heads down sonic furnace of blazing riffs in the style of ANGELCORPSE in full flight, although maybe even more insane. There is an almost mathematical precision to the constant barrage of interlocking and looping riffs that creates a trance like effect. The drumming, as you might imagine, is totally off the hook.

Yes, it’s exhausting to listen to in totality, but APARTHIVA RAKTADHARA is a big step above most war metal due to clarity and design. Philosophically, they use the aggression of their music as a way to achieve “one point” awareness through negative power. Look up the term “sunyata” and you will understand more of what they are after. I am not a huge war metal fan, but this is one of the better examples of the style you will hear.

IRON BONEHEAD

APARTHIVA RAKTADHARA