Hyderabad's death metal band Godless talk about their new EP Swarm and playing at Wacken Open Air

Wacken Open Air is a summer open-air heavy metal music festival that takes place annually in the village of Wacken, northern Germany.
L to R: Kaushal, Abbas, Ravi and Aniketh
L to R: Kaushal, Abbas, Ravi and Aniketh

It has been a great year for death metal band Godless — this city-based outfit is one of the few bands playing this genre, and has come a long way in a relatively short period of time. Formed in 2015, they have already made their international debut at the Wacken Open Air (WOA), Germany, in August this year. “We never really thought of Wacken, especially at such an early stage in our career. Ever since we were kids, we’ve dreamt of visiting Wacken to watch some of our favourite acts play there. The fact that we got to actually play on the same stage feels unreal,” says vocalist Kaushal LS, beaming. 

Wacken Open Air is a summer open-air heavy metal music festival that takes place annually in the village of Wacken, northern Germany. Although any band would require a few well-received releases, numerous gigs and years of experience, Godless has managed to gather all of this in just three years. However, the band was short on funds, but Telangana IT minister, KT Rama Rao, later made arrangements to sponsor the trip. At WOA, their 20-minute performance featured their popular tracks including Infest, Oneiros and Empty Graves. “We played to a massive crowd who kept screaming for an encore even after our set ended,” he adds. Apart from Kaushal, the band consists of Abbas Razvi on bass, Aniketh Yadav on drums and guitarist Ravi Nidamarthy.

Pic: Metalshots.de - Bert Harmsen
Pic: Metalshots.de - Bert Harmsen

Adding another feather in its cap, the Hyderabad-based band is touring with their second EP, Swarm. Written and composed for in a year and a half, the five-track EP is based on themes like zombification, cosmic horror, reanimation of death and religion. The tracks are thrashy, powerful and as crushing as they can get, retaining the signature ‘Godless’ style of abrasive sound. “We kept the writing process as natural as possible and didn’t want to rush things. We didn’t really take a break from gigs. We took things as they came and kept writing music whenever we could take some time off,” says Kaushal, adding that the production was done by Hertz Studios, Poland, one of the biggest studios for metal production in the world. The band has also roped in Germany-based guitarist Tom Geldschläger, popularly known as Fountainhead, for a solo in their track, Empty Graves. “We got in touch with our friend, who was Tom’s tour promoter. We had a spot for a solo since one of our guitarists had quit the band and we decided to continue as a four-piece. Tom was kind enough to check it out and lay down a slamming solo,” he shares. Based on the second song the EP, From Beyond, the artwork has been done by metal musician Khaos Diktator. “The song, From Beyond, is about cosmic monstrosities from otherworldly dimensions that exist beyond space, time or comprehension,” says Kaushal.

Artwork of the band's EP, Swarm
Artwork of the band's EP, Swarm

Currently rehearsing for their promotional tour for the new EP, Swarm Over India Tour, Godless will play in New Delhi,Mumbai, Bangalore, and Hyderabad, of course. Going international, the band will also tour Europe, Australia and New Zealand next year.

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