ECCENTRIC PENDULUM is a six piece from Bangalore consisting of Nikhil (Vocals), Ashish (Guitars), Arun (Bass, Vocals) Arjun (Guitars), Vibhas (Drums) and Faheem (Guitars/Synths). The bands sound can be best describe as Progressive Death Metal. The first thing that struck me about this album was the production, which is just fantastic, each sound made on this album is as clear as the crystal shards in the Kohinoor diamond, to be quite honest this is the best production I have heard in an Indian Metal album. Playing a huge role in that is the addition of live drums, Mr. Daniel Bernath has done an especially exceptional job at mixing the drums, as they sound really massive, yet don’t really bury the other instruments and are very well balanced, which, judging by my Bose surround sound system is something that I find rarely in this genre. But that’s just the iceberg; the performance is just as novel as the production, perhaps even more. ECCENTRIC PENDULUM has a very different approach to the genre, they don’t really shove a billion notes in your ears leaving you confused while the band itself has a gala time competing in who can play the fastest, instead they mix really large slabs of thudding, heavy very modern sounding guitar riffs with a somewhat lighter more Hard Rock kind of distortion and of course lets not forget the rather modest yet detailed use of odd timed signatures which have a strong emphasis on melody with a lot of ambient sounds created by both the guitars and the synths, this gives the listener a lot of room to breathe and understand whats going on while also giving their sound a very grand, mystical and sometimes evil vibe which is really seems to be the focus of their music and not the technicality. This album has some of the most mature and intelligent song writing I have heard in a long time in this genre, and to be honest it sometimes really baffles me that this is a band from my country! While also givingme a feeling of pride and honour.
WINDING THE OPTICS is a great album that I think along with EXHUMATION's CONSIDER THIS will set a benchmark in the Indian Metal scene for other bands. This is perhaps the best Progressive Death Metal album I have heard in a long time both by Indian and Global standards.
Recommended if you like: EXHUMATION, SOREPTION, OBSCURA, DEATH, ATHEIST, GORGUTS, NILE and the likes.
Bottom Line
A very strong contender for album of the year while also quite possibly the next big thing in the Indian Metal scene.
