Mumbai metaller Nitin Rajan of the extreme metal band Primitiv passed away last night following his year-long battle with cancer, his band confirmed on social media.
“Last night, after battling cancer for a year, my close friend and bandmate Nitin Rajan passed into the realm beyond. All of us are still stunned and shaken to the core by the suddenness of his loss, and we request that you respect the privacy of his family and those close to him at this time. Celebrate his life and his music, because that’s the best way to remember him," read a statement by the band's co-founder and bassist Riju Dasgupta.
Rajan started out as part of the death metal band Morticide and also performed with Mumbai metal band Reptilian Death during their initial years. Rajan was famous for his gritty vocals and impeccable energy on-stage. The vocalist was a prime mover for metal-led music festivals in the country and was the mind behind 2000 underground metal festival Domination – The Deathfest which went on for three years.
Rajan along with Dasgupta and guitarist Rajarshi Bhattacharyya formed Primitiv in 2013, a band dedicated to 'stone age metal', an amalgamation of heavy, doom and death metal. "Last night, after battling cancer for a year, my close friend and bandmate Nitin Rajan passed into the realm beyond. All of us are still stunned and shaken to the core by the suddenness of his loss, and we request that you respect the privacy of his family and those close to him at this time. Celebrate his life and his music, because that's the best way to remember him," Dasgupta wrote on his Facebook page.
The heavy metal community is shook by Rajan's demise and many musicians took to their social media to mourn his passing. "How am I supposed to even react to this, I have no idea. But you've always been someone I've really looked upto in this wannabe, godforsaken country, Nitin Rajan. Everytime I felt down about the struggles & movements in this fake music industry, your face itself could make me believe in our strength in just a few seconds. As I type this, I'm literally in tears that I can't stop. Left too soon my man. We had to hang out way lot more.. #IndianMetal lost it's most iconic voice and quite possibly, the nicest, down to earth guy to exist here. Thank you for the music & memories. I'd lift & write to your name today, but this is gonna leave a scar," Shashank Bhatnagar wrote on Facebook.