Death Metal goes local

From the descendents of the Goths and the Mayans, to everything in between, above and below, today, the metal geek comes in many avatars and uses many tongues.
And the latest? Dhwesha, a Death metal band, which uses Kannada Kasturi as the vehicle for growling ominous prophecies and invective about war.
This three-piece Kannada Death Metal outfit might come from Chitra Anna devouring, number crunching lineage, but they are adamant about both the kind of music and the language they use.Somesha Sridhara, the lead guitar player, says “It is perfectly common all over the world to write in native tongues. Only here we have a stigma towards our own languages.”
The band was founded by vocalist and rhythm guitarist Ajay Nagaraj along with Somesha back in 2008, but they have had a long struggle with finding a bass player and a drummer. Ajay says, “A lot of guys backed out because we play in Kannada. With others, there were musical and stylistic differences.” Adarsha, the bass player, joined the band recently. “I play with other bands, but this is an opportunity to explore something new. Also, I’m a Kannadiga so I have no complaints about the language,” he says.
They are also candid enough to admit that their own folk don't comprehend the music they play at times. “My sister-in-law keeps asking us to use clean vocals instead of growling,” laughs Somesha. But Adarsha says categorically, “We want to play only for those who comprehend our music.”
In three years of existence, the band has recorded five originals and put them up online. “So far we’ve had to make do with a drum machine. We haven’t played live yet because we were apprehensive about using a drum machine. But with Adarsha coming in, we are in a better position to perform live,” says Somesha.
The band plays death metal and so far has written mainly about mythology and war. Ajay, who is also the lyricist, says, “We have a song called Ugra Narasimha about the Narasimha avatar and our latest composition is about the Hoysala dynasty. We are eager to play local shows, but would like to play some garage gigs first to see if we sound tight and then we will look at the long term.”