Oberth recently opened the metal music event Tribal Sacrament at Kochi. The five-member metal band was formed in the ‘drummer’s room’— a jamming space solely meant for brand practices inside RLV college. With Kalyan on drums, Gaven on bass, Vishnu AKA Mak Graves on rhythm guitar, Ashbel on lead guitar, and vocals by Vyshak, the group has been making waves in the growing metal scene recently. The city’s homegrown band has taken it upon themselves to help their listeners escape the weight of everyday life through metal music. In this quick chat with TNIE, they open up about their journey and plans.
What is the idea behind the name Oberth and the themes that the band reflects?
Since most bands had the same kind of names, we decided to look for something rare and special. During our search, we came across a scientist named Hermann Oberth.
He is considered an important figure of modern rocketry and astronautics. We felt that Oberth was a rare name and decided to go with it. As a band, Oberth creates music that offers listeners a momentary escape into outer space—a detachment from the rush of daily life and its difficulties.
You came into the metal music arena in 2024.....could you walk us through how the band came together?
Oberth was formed when we were studying at RLV College. Metal united us. Ashvel and Vishnu were the first members to collaborate, then Vysakh, Kalyan and Athulya.
We performed covers of heavy rock and metal songs at an event called Samabhavana. Athulya eventually had to leave the band due to some personal commitments, and that’s when Gaven joined us. We made loud, raw riffs to draw people’s attention to this beautiful genre.
As a band rooted in Kochi, how do you see its metal landscape?
We understand that the majority of the people here want to listen to the familiar sounds. But there are a lot of metal heads here in Kochi who have accepted us with their immense energy, and we are grateful for that.
Still, metal remains a niche genre; this could be because most people are still unfamiliar with it and have no idea what it is, or because they can’t find metal music locally.
More live concerts could be the best way to introduce metal, its raw sound and energy, to new audiences in the city.
Black Sabbath has clearly been an influence. How do you balance inspiration with shaping your own distinct sound?
Yes, Black Sabbath is a big influence on us. We love them because of their spooky and slow pounding riffs that make us feel like the demons are coming down from the sky.
Their ideas are enlightening to people, and they have influenced not only us but many other bands.
But we have our own style, tone and ideas that we keep experimenting with.
You recently opened at Tribal Sacrament, a reputed metal platform—how was the experience? What is the band working on currently?
It was extremely overwhelming —finding some people who listen to this kind of music. Many people haven’t had the chance to discover or connect with the genre, and we are trying to change that.
So Tribal Sacrament was a great opportunity. We played 5 songs, 4 originals and one cover, and we are not done yet; new gigs are on the way.
Right now, we are concentrating on an album. We have also recorded one of our songs for a feature film, which might be released as a single or as part of the album. We hope it connects well with our audience.