*By Jitesh Rajan

The Chennai music scene has always been brewing up with talent as far as I can recall. The band which I always used to associate rock/metal from Chennai was ‘Moksha‘. A band which I have so many fond memories of & a band which has inspired a lot of Indian rock musicians to pick up the guitar and form bands. In the present bands like Blood & Iron, Blood Covenant, Null Friction and Junkyard groove have been keeping the rock scene alive down south. June Rock Out or JRO as it is popularly known as is one of the major draws on the Indian rock calendar every year. Remember going for the 2005 & 2006 editions and catching acts which I normally don’t get to see in Mumbai..

In 2008 I was all set to head for JRO but due to prior commitments I was not able to make it. Well a few friends of mine did make it and the only band they were raving to me about time and again was a band called “Blind Image” from Chennai itself. When I did ask them what genre did they belong to, none of the guys had a definite answer. They argued on Blind image being Metalcore /Thrash/ Progressive/ Technical. But what they agreed on was the music kicked ass and that their live performance just literally blew them away. This was almost 2 years back…

When I did hear they were coming out with a full length album in November 2009 I was all but kicked about a band that I had just heard about but never seen live before. ‘More Than Human‘ is a metal record the way a metal album should sound like. In your face and heavy at the same time. A concept album, about a scientist who is doing an experiment which goes awfully wrong. Pretty much a drift from the usual themes of death and suicides which metal loves to talk about.

Music can be best described as a sheer sonic assault on your senses with varied degrees of complexity. Something like the complexity of Tool meeting the sheer brutality of Slipknot. The first track I ever heard from the band was ‘deciphered’ which made me stand up and take notice of the band’s sheer talent to write and compose some real nerve cracking heavy music. The razor-sharp riffs on this one and the vocals take the listener to a neck snapping fest. David Simon’s vocals are a treat to hear. Clean vocals with some trademark screams and growls which gel perfectly with the riffage being churned out.

Prashant Mathias & Shricharan on the guitars make sure to give the tracks an extra edge with some brilliant solos and riffs bordering on modern thrash elements.’ Ominous’ is my favorite track of the record. A memorable solo with a breakdown which makes you want go crazy in the pit. A song which is going to be a favorite at live shows for its energy and intensity it generates. The opening title track ‘More than human’ is the perfect album opener. The opening gut rattling riffs which just pave way for Srikrishna’s drum attack before David’s vocals come in stamp the arrival of Blind image’s brand of contemporary metal.

Tracks like ‘Epitaph’ & ‘Circle of the unique’ showcase the band’s progressive leanings, brilliant compositions. Ballads which are a welcome change to give a metal album the uniqueness it requires to stand out from the rest of the metal releases in the scene.’ Glitch in the system’,’ Axioms Of Synergy ‘ and ‘allegiance in defiance’ are all tracks which are going be crowd favorite at live shows for its insane thrash riff attacks. To translate the same energy which a fan experiences while listening to the record on to the live stage is what you expect a metal band to do. Minor glitches such as absence of a booklet with the CD and lyrics to the songs are my only complaints. But the Music more than does it for me. Cant wait to see Blind Image live. Watch out for these metallers when they visit you city. They for sure are going to bring the roof down !

* Jitesh Rajan is a Ad professional by day and a die hard  ’Metal head’ by night. He is one of the handful of guys who work selflessly to promote  the Indian underground Scene.