Vellore-based band plays experimental metal music

Deviance is a five-piece experimental metal outfit based in Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore. The band is characterised by dreamy cleans, tight grooving, fluctuating time signatures and chuggy riffs played on 7-string guitars, summing up to its peculiar sound output that equips what their name means.

“Vishnu came to my hostel room one day searching for a guy who plays the guitar and wanted to show off his acoustic skills. After fifteen minutes of playing and singing, he gave me the guitar and asked me if I knew how to play. I played for a while and he said, ‘Dude what the hell did I just hear?’ That’s how it all started,” narrates Arunabh Bhattcharjee.

Destiny later had them bagging awards at inter-college competitions such as Pegasus, Festember X, Pythoigia, Autumn Muse and PowerChords at IIT-Madras. Since then, they’ve been sharing stage with other elitists in the field such as Mumbai Metal Giants, Goddess Gagged.

The band has an ample range of influences stretching from Pearl Jam, Tool, God is an Astronaut, all the way upto Textures, Lamb of God, Sikth, Meshuggah, Karnivool, Periphery, Tosin Abasi and the like.

On guitars, Anuj Shah is a final-year student of BTech electrical and electronics and Bhattacharjee is a final-year BTech electronics and communications student. Drummer Vallath Jaykay is a third-year BTech mechanical engineering student, while bass player Aditya Mishra is his senior. Vocalist Vishnu Nair is a final year BTech computer science student.

“After a series of line-up changes in our primitive days, I think we’ve now found ground to release an EP in about a few months time,” says Jaykay.

“The Indian underground has risen from a pale shadow of imitation of Western fads, to breaking new ground with some of the more recent and numerous acts.The time for Indian underground music is now,” says Vishnu Nair.

— edex@newindianexpress.com