Rudra

There are some places that surprisingly have strong black metal scenes. One such place that we've already visited a couple of times is Singapore. Another surprise is Singaporean black metal band RUDRA. Drawing on themes from Indian Hindu culture, it is a reminder that Singapore was once a British colony and that almost one-tenth of  Singapore's population is of Indian background.

Originally going by the name Rudhra and playing old-school death metal when they formed in 1992, the band has cited Slayer, Bathory, Black Sabbath, and early Sepultura as influences, among others. They took their name from one of the incarnations of the Hindu god Shiva--Rudra is a violent and destructive storm god!

Rudra's oldest recorded song,  "Armageddon"

Their first released music was the song "Armageddon," which appeared on the third volume of the Made in Singapore compilation series in 1993. As you can hear above, Rudra's early music was vicious, old-school death metal. Some of their aforementioned influences can clearly be heard.

In 1994, Rudra put out their first official demo, The Past. We can hear the band's evolution on this demo as they began to move past old-school death metal into a more melodic style that even verges on black metal in some places. In this early stage, the band didn't really stand out as incredibly unique. It would be their next phase where their sound radically transformed.

"Atman" is from the self-titled album--notice Indian melodies throughout

Band members Shiva (drums) and Kathir (bass/vocals) decided that they needed to go in a new direction: they would incorporate Indian and Eastern melodies, as well as themes and mantras from ancient Sanskrit texts. This resulted in a self-titled demo in 1997 and a self-titled album in 1998 (which contained much of the same material as the demo) that completely changed the face of extreme metal. These days, metal that incorporates non-Western elements is typically called "oriental metal", but Rudra have taken to calling their music "vedic metal" (after the Hindu holy texts, the Vedas).

In addition to drawing on the philosophy of the holy texts of Hinduism, Rudra also hails the ancient Indo-Aryan people in their music. Unlike the myths at the heart of Western racism and Nazism, Rudra recognizes the actual Aryans--a cultural people group who flourished on the Indian subcontinent millenia ago. We see this tribute in many of Rudra's songs, as well as the title of their 2001 album, The Aryan Crusade.

From The Aryan Crusade, this is "Rudrapatni"

"Ravens of Paradise" comes from their 2009 album

Rudra has continued to hone and refine their vedic metal since transitioning away from the more traditional death/black metal stylings of their early years. In the 00's, they put out a trilogy of albums with title Brahmavidya (where each of the three albums had a different subtitle). They then followed it up with what is arguably their most epic release, 2013's Rta.

An example of Rta's epicness, this is "Assault"

And to this day, Rudra still continues to churn out vedic-inspired extreme metal that transcends the black metal genre. There really is no one else quite like them. 

Select Discography:

The Past (demo) (1994)

Rudra (demo) (1997)

Metal Legion EP (split) (1998)

Rudra (full-length) (1998)

The Aryan Crusade (full-length) (2001)

Kurukshetra (full-length) (2003)

Brahmavidya: Primordial I (full-length) (2005)

Brahmavidya: Transcendental I (full-length) (2009)

Brahmavidya: Immortal I (full-length) (2011)

Next time: OBTAINED ENSLAVEMENT

Impiety

Singapore's IMPIETY play a particularly vicious brand of black/death metal.  Claiming Venom, Sarcofago, Hellhammer, and Possessed as influences, they initially formed in 1988 as Sexfago.  Starting out playing covers of some of their favorite bands, they only lasted two years in this incarnation before changing their name to Impiety.  The only known ouput Sexfago ever released was a (very raw) rehearsal demo from 1989.  Check out the excerpt below:

From Sexfago's 1989 rehearsal demo

In 1990, Impiety consisted of Shyaithan and Necro-Angelfornicator, but the lineup has changed many times since then--with Shyaithan being the only constant. The first Impiety release was a 1991 four-song cassette that, to this day, is extraordinarily rare and hard to find. It was with their 1992 demo, Ceremonial Necrochrist Redesecration, that they really put themselves on the international metal map. Metalheads far and wide began taking note of this brutal black/death coming from southeast Asia.

Off of the 1992 demo, this is "Pentagramathron"

Based on the strength of this release, Impiety signed to Dutch label Shivadarshana Records, and went to work on more material. The result was the 1994 7" Salve the Goat. Announcing their arrival to the world in true extreme metal fashion, Impiety declared in the liner notes of this release that they would "piss all over" the "Norwegian black-metal clowns". They also released their first full-length album on Shivadarshana Records: 1996's epic Asateerul Awaleen.

"Anal Madonna" is from Asateerul Awaleen

A transition in their sound could be hear on Asateerul Awaleen. While the earlier brutality was present, and truly fit the mold of the style associated with the far-east (think Abhorer's Rumpus of the Undead demo), Impiety upped the ante on their first full-length. The raw speed of black metal was present in a way not before heard from these maniacs!

Impiety's journey since the release of Asateerul has been a storied one. They have relocated more than once--to places like Mexico and Italy, for example--and suffered from numerous lineup changes, all while trying to find the perfect record label home for them. It was in 1999 that fate was kind to the band: their album from that year, Skullfucking Armageddon practically made them a household name. It featured more of their now-trademark lightning-fast black/death metal, but the production was the best it had ever been.

"Skullfucked, the Speed Metal Hell" is my favorite song off of Skullfucking Armageddon

Since the dawn of the new millenium, Impiety has kept churning out quality releases that are about furthering their blasphemous agenda. They have toured all over the world, and not let up yet. Here are some samples of their continuing sonic sorcery:

This is "Bloodred Angelshed", off of 2002's Kaos Kommand 696

2007's Formidonis Nex Cultus produced this gem: "Terror, Death, Worship!"

Their 2011 album, Ravage & Conquer, features a more death metal orientation

Impiety has definitely made their mark on the scene. More than any other band from southeast Asia, they have shown the world that there is no limit to black/death brutality.

Select Discography

Rehearsal Tape (demo) (1991)

Ceremonial Necrochrist Redesecration (demo) (1992)

Salve the Goat...Iblis Excelsi EP (1995)

Asteerul Awaleen (full-length) 1996)

Skullfucking Armageddon (full-length) (1999)

Kaos Kommand 696 (full-length) (2002)

Paramount Evil (full-length) (2004)

Formidonis Nex Cultus (full-length) (2007)

Next time: The late 1980s American Scene