VIDEO PREMIERE: Indian Melodic Death Metal Act – Maloic

The Indian metal scene over the years has produced quite a number of bands whose music is on par with the international metal standards. But most of these bands have been concentrated in some of the bigger cities like Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi etc., with only one or two bands emerging from some of the smaller cities. That scenario is changing rapidly as more and more metal bands start to emerge from cities like Bhopal, Guwahati, Indore etc. This is truly a sign that the scene is growing and a recent addition to this is the Mangalore based five piece melodic death metal band, Maloic.

Maloic’s approach to death metal has a heavy melodic leaning, with emphasis placed on a strong Carnatic (a form of traditional Indian music) flavor to make this undeniably Indian. The band is gearing up for the release of their debut full length titled ‘Death’ and they also have a brand new music video for the opening track Foul Blood (streaming below). We talked to the band about their history, their sources of inspiration and much more, which you can find below.

Transcending Obscurity (Shrivatsan R): Hey guys. How’s it going? Tell us about Maloic and how the band was formed. Why did you choose the name Maloic?

Maloic: Hello! Really stoked to be here! Maloic is a Mangalore based metal band. We are a band of 5 people. Three of us in the band have been classmates from fifth grade but it was only 4 years ago that we realized that we have the same interests in music. We were a bunch of passionate college kids who wanted to play every kind of metal there is. From the beginning we wanted to write songs and not get into the frenzy of covering other bands a lot. We then found two more like minded guys and Maloic was formed! ‘Maloik’ is a word that we caught from an interview of Ronnie James Dio. It means the ‘Evil Eye’. I don’t know why we went with a ‘C’ at the end though! Choosing the right name was a painful process and this was the only name that everyone agreed on.

TO: Maloic’s music has a certain “Indian”-ness, for the lack of a better word. How important is it for you to incorporate a local flavour into your music?

Maloic: Yes we do have a Carnatic touch to our music. Our lead guitarist, Sumanth, has always been a fan of Carnatic music. At one point we were heading nowhere with the writing process and we wanted to do something different. Well now you can see how we connected the dots. We have always upheld patriotic thoughts and hence we felt it was apt to include a bit of Indian-ness.

TO: On  the lyrical front, you focus on issues plaguing this country and incidents from it’s history. Who pens the lyrics and has it always been the band’s vision to talk about Indian history and current issues?

Maloic: The lyrics are written by Sumanth and Calvin. When we knew what kind of music we would be writing, it was just a matter of time before we would decide to write lyrics as well about the country. We do have our own views on Indian history and current issues and fitting our ideas into our music was very satisfying. We took the concept of death and it’s role in Indian history all the way from the rule of Ashoka to the present day suicides and wrote this album.

TO: What are some Indian and international bands that inspire you guys to make original music?

Maloic: We are all huge fans of Kryptos! I would say that they are a huge inspiration for us. Metallica, Children of Bodom, Cannibal Corpse and so many other influences have shaped us individually. We have varying influences and I would say the album sees an amalgamation of all our influences.

TO: You have a music video for the track Foul Blood. Was it shot in Mangalore itself? Talk to us about the conception of the video.

Maloic: Yes the video was shot in Mangalore itself. We knew we wanted a video but we were unsure about what song to choose and what concept to go with. In the end it was quite an impulsive decision to go with the song Foul Blood. We ended up shooting a video where all of us are seen playing the song individually and as a band. We are really pleased with the results!

TO: How is the metal scene in Mangalore? Are there any other bands from there we should be paying attention to?

Maloic: Mangalore has a lot of great musicians but the metal scene is quite dry. In the last two years we’ve seen a few bands playing metal. I think it’s safe to say that we’ll hear more metal from Mangalore pretty soon.

TO: Who is the artist behind the album art and the lyric sheets?

Maloic: The artist for the album is Jeevan Aacharya, a friend of ours from school. He is insanely talented and full of ideas! We can’t thank him enough for his work.

TO: Thanks for the time guys! Good luck with the album release. Is there anything else you want to add?

Maloic: Thank you!A lot of hard work has gone into this album. We hope the album shows it’s listeners a different side of the genre. Support your scene! Stay metal! Cheers.