Rudra's new album on ancient Indian women

VENGADESHWARAN SUBRAMANIAM

Singapore Vedic metal band Rudra has 10 albums to its credit. Its members are gearing up to launch their next one later this year.

It will be based on nine Indian women from ancient Hindu texts.

"Around the world, patriarchal systems flourish," said the band's frontman-bassist K. Kathirasan, 46. "Even in Indian culture, it is mostly patriarchal. So we want to show the matriarchal element.

"For us, it is more about artistic expression, not to make a point. It's good to know the women who have influenced the world.

"We found a lot of interesting things in the early Indian texts that are often not acknowledged. So, we wanted to bring these characters out."

Being distinct is the band's motto.

Its music is a combination of Indian and Western - for instance, devotional Carnatic music is married with heart-pumping hard rock.

The sounds they create are largely influenced by popular heavy metal bands like Black Sabbath, Slayer and Bathory and the works of noted Indian composers Illayaraja, A.R. Rahman and the late M.S. Viswanathan.

Along with guitars and drums, they use drones, conches and bells.

The band featured last year in the song "Sevulu Kizhiyum", composed by noted Singaporean songwriter Shabir for the Tamil action film Sagaa.

"They use a lot of Indian riffs, Carnatic ragas and lyrics based on Vedic philosophy," said Devanand Ramachandran, a music director and freelance artiste who has provided background vocals for two of Rudra's songs.

"Although their first album was generic, they started making an identity for themselves after their second one."

Formed in 1992, Rudra consists of Kathirasan, guitarists Vinod Vaskaran, 35, and Simon Mariadoss, 39, and drummer Shivanand Palanisamy, 46.

All balance their artistic efforts with the realities of life. Each holds a full-time job and has a family to take care of. They usually practise once a week. Vinod is an IT specialist, Kathirasan an entrepreneur, Simon a certified hypnotherapist and Shivanand a public servant.

"It's all about management. How you prioritise and how you manage," said Shivanand. "Over the years, you gain the experience. It was hard at the start, but passion is seeing us through."

Said Kathirasan: "We are also very task and goal-oriented. We plan an album, we write an album, we finish an album. Our strength is that we are like a mini family."

Heavy metal is often considered rebellious, as it has long dwelt on society's vices. Screams, heavy beats and loud sounds are the norm. Many enjoy it, but some have a negative view of the genre.

Rudra's members, however, like to show themselves in a positive light. They don't guzzle beer to get into their groove. Their favourite drink is "teh halia" (ginger tea), of which they consume glassloads during their jamming sessions.

"In our early days, we got stopped by the police because we wore black," said Kathirasan. "At that time, drugs were the problem. But we don't smoke, we don't drink. "We are not trying to change perceptions. This is who we are. We are common folk."

The band headlined the Baybeats festival (Singapore's annual alternative music festival) in 2010, 2012 and last year.

"The crowd is more diverse at Baybeats," said Vinod. "There will be the usual metalheads, but also a lot of people who don't follow metal. The response is usually tremendous because everyone is participating and drawn into the music. That gives us a lot of drive and energy on stage as well."

The band also played twice at Kalaa Utsavam, an annual cultural festival that celebrates traditional and contemporary Indian arts in Singapore. They incorporated bharatanatyam in their second performance.

"People at Esplanade noticed that we innovate and bring elements of Indian music into metal," said Kathirasan. "That made it very palatable for the audience. The classical element was the draw."

The band has an international following since it has performed in most countries in South-east Asia as well as in India, Canada and the United States. "I came across Rudra in 2002 on the Internet during my research into musical communities in Singapore," said Eugene Dairianathan, an associate professor in the Visual and Performing Arts Academic Group (Music) at the National Institute of Education. "Each of my publications reveals so much of their intrinsic motivation, their love for Extreme Metal, the Advaita Vedantas, their struggle to use Extreme Metal with Tamil.

"Rudra were no less an epiphany for me as a researcher, musician, educator and knowledge seeker."

Kathirasan believes Rudra has made a mark in contemporary Singapore music.

"We proved to the world that we can change the taste of our audiences," he said. "When we produced our first album, it was a risk. But we made a bold attempt to try and test it out and it was a big hit.

"It requires a bit of courage to succeed."

svenga@sph.com.sg

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