ARTIST OF THE MONTH – DEMONIC RESURRECTION

Demonic Resurrection was formed in 2000 by Sahil ‘Demonstealer’ Makhija, enduring many line up changes finally  Demonic Resurrection is  at its most definitive line-up with Sahil Makhija on Vocals/Guitar,Virendra Kaith on Drums, Husain Bandukwala on Bass, Mephisto on Keyboards and Daniel Rego on Lead guitar. Featured in Sam Dunn’s Global Metal rocumentary, Demonic Resurrection has hit the studios to release its highly anticipated album ‘The Return to Darkness‘ this December. We caught up with Sahil ‘Demonstealer’ Makhija for this exclusive interview.

Picture Courtesy Shiv Ahuja

IRMP3: Hi Sahil ! thanks for taking time for this interview, So tell us, lot of buzz on the Demonic Resurrection front lately, what’s the latest?
SAHIL: Actually we’ve been fairly quiet as we have been busy recording the new album and we recently posted a preview clip online without vocals. Currently the vocal recording and mixing is left. Artwork is also in the nascent stages but we should be done on time.

Sahil Makhija

IRMP3: What can you tell us about the album release date and packaging? Something similar to Behemoth’s Special Edition Box set which was released on your DSR label?
SAHIL: We are looking at a December release for the album in India and we will definitely have a standard jewel case release for those who want to get the music cheap without anything else. But we will have a black box edition of the album as well. However unlike the Behemoth album we will be only release 500 copies of this limited mostly to people who pre order it. Exact details will happen mid November when people can actually start to pre-order the album.

IRMP3: ’Return to Darkness’ will feature Daniel Rego on the Lead guitars for the first time, will the sound of ‘demonic metal’ remain the same or we are looking at something new?

SAHIL: Like I said as a band collectively there has been an evolution in the sound overall which would have happened anyway but you will hear that Daniels style of lead guitar is far far different than what was done by Pradeep on Beyond The Darkness. Also we’ve never felt that every single song needs to have a solo and we’ve stuck to that on this album as well and whatever Daniel has played has come out really well, he is very very talented.

IRMP3: Lyrically Demonic Resurrection songs are based on Fantasy, Will ‘The Return to Darkness’ feature the same flavour? and could you tell us more about the 11 minute magnum opus?
SAHIL: Since the album is the continuation of what is a rather fragmented story that has emerged from ‘A Darkness Descends‘ and Beyond The Darknss it is completely fantasy based and the songs follow a sequence of events in the story. The 11 minute magnum opus is once again a part of that story. The album is definitely more defined lyrically and also there have been several inputs from Daniel Rego on this album. Since he is getting himself a degree in English Literature he has been able to help with the lyric writing.

IRMP3:  Demonic Resurrection has played some awesome gigs, also opened for some of the top International Bands, Let me ask you which is the most memorable Demonic Resurrection gig to date?
SAHIL: There have been lots of great gigs, a memorable one for me was definitely GIR 2005 which was the 1st GIR we ever played. Also I-Rock in 2008 was an amazing experience for us. Opening for Opeth was another high point for us as well. To be honest a lot of the gigs we did this year in the smaller cities like Dhanbad, Silchar etc were really memorable for us because the crowd there was so insane!.

IRMP3: How often you guys rehearse? I mean you guys are also part of other bands, work, etc etc, how do you guys manage to be one of the best Metal bands in India?
SAHIL: Actually its just myself and Viru who are part of other bands but we all have a clear understanding that DR is priority number one and we make sure that we rehearse as often as possible. I guess its all a matter of time management and setting your priorities right.

IRMP3: And famous last words are?
SAHIL: Cheers & Stay Demonic!

The Demonstealer

(Picture courtesy : Shiv Ahuja)