AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: KARTIKEYA — “TUNNELS OF NARAKA”

(Today we are proud to premiere the new song and video from an NCS favorite, Russia’s Kartikeya. TheMadIsraeli provides this introduction.)

I’m sure all of you are now frothing at the mouth as much as I was when I found out we’d be debuting “Tunnels of Naraka”. I’m especially excited and honored because it’s Kartikeya’s first-ever music video (which is done quite excellently I might add) and because the song we’re debuting is quite possibly one of their most brutal to date.

We’ve heard two songs from Samudra so far, those being “Durga Puja” and “Horrors of Home”. One displayed Kartikeya exploring their groove side a bit more, while the latter saw the band deliver a more evolved version of a solid standard Kartikeya track, full of heavy riffs, suffocating atmosphere, convincing mood, and an abundance of surprises. “Tunnels of Naraka” is both the third and perhaps the final song we’ll hear before this album is released, and what a high note to do so on.

Kartikeya are in my mind a quintessential example of what metal needs right now: Music that is brutal, epic, bombastic, and chaotic, while achieving proggy undertones and melodic reprieves at the same time.

As noted, “Tunnels of Naraka” is quite possibly the most savage song we have heard from the band yet, demonstrating that even with their recent experimentations and with founder Arsafes stretching his creative wings in other directions, he and the band still know how to beat your face in with a blunt instrument. In many respects this song is the equivalent of a violent sandstorm filled with flesh-eating locusts, and you’re the hapless victim caught in the middle of it with no chance of survival.

All the trademark Kartikeya elements are here. The snake-charming riffage of Arsafes and Mars’ venomous vocals, filled with both poison to kill you and embalming fluid to preserve your corpse, are both in fine form. And the rest of the band are in fine form, too. The video makes hand drums look like the most metal as fuck instrument ever, and the Vedic-centered instrumentation succeeds in putting this song over the edge from epic to the plateau of a sonic conquest.

I’m tempted to go on describing the song further, but I don’t want to ruin all the surprises it contains (as every Kartikeya song does) that make their music so captivating. I’ll close by making the prediction that these guys will never get stale, and that we have yet to hear the best they have in store. I remember reading in one of our previous articles relating to the band a comment chain which began with the observation by multiple people that “Kartikeya is right for this world”. Pretty true statement.

So here it is, “Tunnels of Naraka”. While you watch and listen, I’m going to try to recover from the sonic beating that has been administered from having this song on repeat.

P.S.:  The sick ass git fiddle sounding solo that ends this song is played by David Maxim of Destiny Potato. And the Kathakali dance is by Jishnu R Nath.

P.P.S.: Visit the Bandcamp link below; it will soon include this new song.

https://kartikeya.bandcamp.com/track/tunnels-of-naraka-feat-david-maxim-micic
https://www.facebook.com/kartikeyaband