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This concert has been conceived, funded and organized completely by most of the above mentioned bands and is one of the first steps to satisfy the want of many a head-bangers dream in this city, that of an exclusively metal show. So come over to satisfy your metal fetish and show your support for the true underground metal movement in this city who swear by the phrase 'Metal to the masses'.

Metal On!

See you all @ THE PIT!

Contacts

Niloy (drummer - DIOT'B) - +919831552203
Kabya (vocalist/rhythm guitarist - CICATRIXX) - +919433112323
Krishnendu (manager - NOYZE AKADEMI) - +919836776438
Ankit (vocalist/guitarist - IN HUMAN) - +919433448991
Tamaghna (drummer - CHRONIC XORN) - +919830688094
Deeptaroop (drummer - SINFUL OATH) - +919836296279

Listen to some of the performing bands

Watch Sinful Oath in action ...

 
18th April was supposedly the hottest ever day in April (in the last 10 years!), but it was sizzling hot when you come across a huge crowd wearing black tees going insane right in front of your eyes. Yes! They were at the PIT v2, which took place in Tapan Theatre, a theatre hall in south Kolkata.

The show featured 8 extreme metal bands in action:

All the bands kept the crowd go insane for 7 hours. As the bands performed the crowd banged their heads to death and moshed their hearts out. From the venue to the bands and their electrifying performances, right down to the sound and the general atmosphere @ Tapan Theatre - everything was smashing. Kolkata has never experienced such an event. 
The organizers [i.e. the above mentioned bands] financed and managed the entire gig all by themselves. And at the end of the day, the event was successful and everyone went home with a few broken bones and injuries but satisfied and happy. The metal scenario of Kolkata is improving and this movement will go a very long way spreading metal music to the masses. The next time, the organizers are inviting bands from all over India and trying to make this festival even bigger.  Red Bantoo was very kind in sharing with us, the photographs from the gig.

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The PIT will keep METAL alive for ever.
Keep it brootal and keep supporting METAL.

A detailed review of the event by Prasanna Singh

 

And so to the biggest event of April 2009 – bigger than the National Assembly Elections… THE PIT v.2!
I doubt whether any review would do justice to the actual event. It is far easier to review band competitions or one-off gigs, because you can actually get away with being critical of a particular band or a musician.
 
But events like The Pit are far bigger than just one musician or a single band – to me, this is more than just about the music. This is more than just about a horde of metal-heads congregating at some metal shrine and headbanging like lunatics… No, The Pit is a concept, a message from the heavy metal loving fraternity of Kolkata to the rest of the metal loving maniacs of our country. So to insult (or to be overtly critical) of any musician performing @ The Pit would be an insult to The Pit itself.
 
Anyway, for all those who were NOT present, The Pit v.2 was not just a success, it was a MAMMOTH SUCCESS! This entire metal slug-fest was so well organized that it left me totally flabbergasted.
Me being the perennial pessimist, I was expecting pit-falls and goof-ups at every corner – but no, apart from the 1 hour delayed start, I was left totally disappointed!
I couldn’t lay my finger on anything.

The concept – A+
 
The venue – A
Granted, it is definitely not the classiest theatre in town. And OK, the toilets stank and the dearth of ACs (April 18th – 40.8° centigrade – one of the hottest days in 10 years!) was a killer – but regardless, the compactness of Tapan Theatre just felt so right that I couldn’t think of any better venue to hold such an event! (an outdoor gig in this weather would have led to all of us dying of sun-stroke anyways!). Plus, this joint being in South Kolkata… what more could I ask for? Heh! I hope all such events are held in South Kolkata! Heh!
 
The sound – A
Again, no complaints. The sound was very clear to even a deaf person like me. No boom, no feedback, no reverb and all that trash which makes listening to music torture. What more could one ask for?
 
The music – A++
Like I said, it would be totally unfair to criticize any of the bands – it wasn’t just about the music after all, The Pit was around to make a bold statement.
In any case (and this is the good thing) none of the bands did anything for me to be critical about. Am I being diplomatic? No absolutely not. I enjoyed the performance of all the bands. Maybe I was too caught up in the entire wave of metal enthusiasm to be too bothered to listen to every note and line of the songs being played as intently as I might at any other concert. Who know! But whatever, I loved the music dished out by all 8 bands that day. And this, despite my having some reservations initially before the event started.
 
Amongst the 8 bands, one band I had never ever heard before (live or online) – and there were at least 3 bands who were playing for the 1st time with new members (and supposedly very little practice as well!) – yes, you know which bands I am talking about.
So yup, I wasn’t very sure how good the music would be – but looking back I have to honestly say that all the bands (new line-ups, old line-ups) all gave solid performances.
The crowd – A+
A Saturday was always a great date for such an event, especially for an office-goer like me. (I still regret having to miss the 1st edition of The Pit). Anyway, I expected a pretty decent crowd on the 18th.
But what I saw that day was far beyond my expectations – this was like the biggest assembly of metal freaks ever. And there was this particular time, just after the Flash Flood gig, when the entire crowd seemed to pour out of Tapan Theatre… the neighborhood then looked like a sea of black tees. It was really an awesome sight! I’m sure the “para” folk were scared stiff seeing so many menacing freakos in their area.
Yes, I know – a major chunk of the crowd consisted of wannabes and pseudos. Girl-friends of metal-heads, friends and relatives of musicians, curious “para” folk… all these sections of the society contributed to the numbers – still, the response to The Pit v.2 was absolutely heartening and bodes well for the future IF such events can attract such huge numbers. (Hey stuck-up event management people, wake up! Even metal shows draw great crowds in Kolkata!)
Being a DEATH tribute band is no easy task and so my hats off to the 4 members of In Human. For a 1st time listener I can only say that they were brilliant and I kick myself for not having heard them before in the past. They did a splendid job getting the event started.
The same goes for DIOT B. I had only ever seen them play half a set (@ Bethune College!) which is a crying shame. Anyway, here they were and they just let rip. 30 minutes of deadly music. The crowd was fully utilizing the space available for moshing activities.
A special mention goes out to Flash Flood. I don’t want to rank any band, but if you had to give out prizes then they were probably the winners of PIT 2. And Leeyong – he is the living embodiment of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, a classic case of a person having 2 sides, a 2 Face - who could imagine such a docile well-mannered kid going so bloody crazy when you give him a guitar and put him on stage?
Flash Flood was brilliant – maybe instead of leaving, Diwash and Leeyong should stick around. I know I am trying to be politically correct and I shouldn’t be saying such stuff, but ya, that’s what I feel right now.
Chronic Xorn? What can I say – another great gig and more bad luck as usual! Playing to a crowd that had just survived Flash Flood’s assault was tough enough… but the massive power failure during their set was the icing of the cake. Anyway it was good to see Anindya playing with the gang.
Sinful Oath is another crazy band that I just love to watch. Maybe the thinnest band around too – from what I saw after seeing their topless performance. The most improved band in the circuit.
To me, this was my best gig I have seen Cicatrixx play. They performed far beyond my expectations. Regardless of the bassist change I found this to be their most mature gig to date, even better than what I saw @ the Karunamoyee Kings Of Rock competition. Good going.
Crystal And The Witches with a new guitarist. And the young chap did a great job. So that obviously helped the band to put up a good show. No hiccups, loads of energy, great choice of covers, and Leeyong going crazy as ever. Plus Diwash is a great front-man, no doubt about that.
I’m not very happy that Arthur is missing and I sincerely hope things can be patched up and that CATW return to being what they were + the new guitarist. No problem in being a 5 member band after all. Anyway, their band dynamics are not for me to handle. I will always support this band regardless of them being a 4 member band or a 5 member band.
Lastly, Noyze Akademi – also with a new bassist, but a talented one at that. This was just my 2nd NA gig and yup, I enjoyed this one far more than my 1st one (@ the Scholastic Beats final). 

I think removing the DJ was a good idea. Nothing against him, he’s a nice chap – but the sound of NA is far more solid because of this line-up change. There aren’t too many hard-core nu-metal acts in India so Noyze Akademi has loads of space to make a name in this genre.
So that was that, The Pit v.2 done and dusted. Special mention must be made about the massive power cut which lasted for what, 2-3 hours? It almost killed the event. And the heat, well that was even worse.
But nothing seemed daunting enough to the Pit organizing committee. And so the show went on and we all had a great time… and now everyone is dying for the next Pit to happen. And I am sure the rest of India are sitting up and taking notice of our “little” community here as well – I can guarantee that those “big daddies” from Mumbai and Delhi will be dying to be a part of The Pit v.3 whenever it happens next. Managing team, be prepared for a flood of requests from these bands!

(Place the mouse over the picture to start/stop the slide show or to the see picture details)

The PIT Kolkata's Exclusive Metal festival was back in town and so was the unbearable heat of the summer months! THE PIT Version 2 or v.2 was something that most metal heads of the city was looking forward to (including your's truly) and boy it was amazing. In fact 'amazing' would not be the right or the apt word for it. It was more like INSANE!! The gig was held on the 18th of April and had a much bigger turnout than its predecessor. 18th being a Saturday also was able to attract the IT Sector guys who still have the metal flame burning in them and oh there were the 'metal heads' in all their black tees, tattoos, piercing in unmentionable places and weird hairdos and all of them were ready to have a good time. This time THE PIT was bigger with eight bands on the roster and expectations were literally sky-high. Let's start with the review now.

IN HUMAN - They were the first band to go up on stage and they did a fine job of devastating the masses. They are the only Death tribute band this side of the nation and they performed a string of Death songs along with a couple of OCs that made the crowd go berserk. Death songs like "The Philosopher"," Pull the Plug" and "Lack of Comprehension" were belted out. Their original "Vicious Cycle" an instrumental dealt with social issues and was written after the Mumbai Terror of attacks and is about how we live in a vicious cycle of violence. The song featured nifty guitar work while their other originals like In Human Morality and I'm Legion were extremely mature death metal compositions.

DIOTB - The next band up on stage choose to call themselves DIOTB or "death is the only beginning" and quite frankly if death was so kick ass, then I would rather die! Their own songs like "Your God is burning" was about humans degrading and destroying themselves to satiate their own greed and "Sweet Pleasure Butchery" that deals with an inner alteration of your own self  all due to the sad and pathetic way life treats us brought in the moshpits. Both the originals played by the band dealt with intelligent lyrics and featured excellent guitar as well as hyper-active drumming. Vocalist Arunava was in fine form as he displayed an amazing array of pig squeals, growls and blood curdling screeches all at the same time! The band ended their set with good renditions of Kataklysm and Cannibal Corpse songs.

FLASH FLOOD - They were up next and these four guys with insanity in their minds and "Sepultura in their hearts" tore down the place with their extremely energetic performance. Mixing their own songs with covers of Soulfly, Sepultura and Ektomorf they ruled the stage and even had female members of the audience clap and sway for them! BIG ACHIEVEMENT! I must make a special mention of the band's drummer Sid who amazed all with his brilliant and energetic stick-work.

CHRONIC XORN - Pure brutality was manifested by this death metal quartet as they went up, plugged in their guitars, set up their double bass pedals and simply went for the kill. They meant business from the word go and performed an OC dominated set that made the masses head bang in several novel ways! Their set was cut short due to a power shortage. Sigh! What a pity.

SINFUL OATH - The first band to go up on stage after the power came back was SO and they played a usual set list of mostly original material. Their new songs like "Suicidal Alley", is based on a philosophy which state that when a person is depressed and suicidal, has lost all hope, starts walking towards the end of his life. As he walks through an alley, he feels he is nearing death, but the path goes on, and he doesn't realize that the alley has become his only strength of living. Their other original composition "Dead Wish", "Headache" and "Prophecy of Death" made quite an impact and the Satyricon cover made their set complete. "Dead Wish" features a very catchy bass intro and lyrically is about a wish that is now deceased. This melo-blackened death band had fantastic rhythm parts and the front man had a good range and also showcased a good level of interaction.

CICATRIXX - They were the sixth band to get up and they played a short but tight set of their own songs and a few covers from Sepultura and Lamb of God. Their own songs like "Wasted", "Banished from sanity" and "Demise of an Illusion" saw the crowd gleefully throw up metal horns in thin air and look a little hazed with a plastered grin on their faces. " Banished from sanity" is about how the definitions of sanity is being changed in the present socio-political scenario and was dedicated to the "jobless" people who get paid more than they deserve. "Wasted" had an infectious groove while "Demise of an Illusion" incorporated fantastic guitar textures. The band held its own and the new bassist also seems to gel with the band. The band showcased good crowd interaction and won a few new fans.

CRYSTAL AND THE WITCHES - This quartet played to the crowds with covers from Metallica and Slayer. I guess since they had a new line up they didn't wish to experiment with their originals. The masses didn't mind at all and indulged in insanity as usual! Vocalist/guitarist Diwash and Bassist Lee (also a part of Flash Flood) showed no signs of fatigue while the newly recruited guitarist did a fine job of handling all the songs. They played an all cover set and it was a bit disappointing to see such a great band stick to just covers at the show.

NOYZE AKADEMI - This hardcore/nu metal band went up on stage as the last band. They sound checked with a Joint Family song and wrecked havoc with their own songs and covers from Slipknot and others. They had a good stage act that was loved by the remaining members of the crowds. The OC had all the makings of a proper modern metal song with lots of fine breakdowns. Their only Slipknot cover was People=Shit and one couldn't help but feel that the song could have been done better with a backing vocal assistance. Overall they did a good job of bringing down the curtains of the show.

On the whole the entire gig was brilliant, the movement (as THE PIT committee would like to call it) was successful and at the end of the day after the dust settled (and a couple of chairs of the auditorium were broken due to moshes!) the people as well the bands and the organizers were a happier lot. I would like to congratulate THE PIT committee for having the guts and the determination of organizing such a monumental gig without sponsors and without any support from any event management group. It was organized with the assistance of a few well wishers and the money collected by the bands themselves. Yes dreams can become real too, if you dream hard and work harder!! Long Live THE PIT!