BENGALURU: Metal heads can now look forward to a mighty line-up, with musician Arun Natarajan reviving his project Moral Collapse. Natarajan, a prominent part of Bengaluru’s metal scene, is now putting together an ensemble featuring German drumming veteran Hannes Grossmann, guitarist Sudarshan Mankand, and guest artists such as guitarists Kevin Hufnagel of Canadian death metal band Gorguts, and death metal pioneer Death’s Bobby Koelble.
The explosive combination is set to release their self-titled album in the coming months and recently released Sculpting The Womb of Misery, their opening track from the album. Speaking to CE, Natarajan – also known for his work with metallers Eccentric Pendulum – asserts that it was high time he did something on his own since he realised the limit to being a team player across various stints. While he rang Mankand one evening and jotted down a plan with only two artistes from India, bringing Grossmann on board was crucial as he wanted objective results.
“The talk with Hannes started when I asked him if he would be interested to do some drum clinics in India. One thing led to another and I also wanted him to contribute to the Indian metal scene, not just be a foreign part of it, but an insider,” says Natarajan who approached the drummer through his own record label, Subcontinental Records.
Sonically, Natarajan believes there isn’t much left undiscovered in death metal when it comes to literature but asserts that metal has a lot to benefit from the non-metal players who are spread across the world. “I believe in an eclectic mix of many kinds of elements and not strictly the metal format of guitar, bass drums and vocals.
You will hear the violin, saxophone, moog, analogue electronics, djembe, samples of people crying on the road, field recordings, etc, over the basic three metal instrumentations in this album,” he says, adding that the project is significantly different from his previous works. He adds, “Without Hannes, my riffs would have been nothing more than a bunch of bedroom riffs (which it has been for a couple of years). It would have not taken off, the way it has. The right impact is delivered only when you find legends like Hannes to collaborate with, he breathed new life into all my tracks.”
Among the collaborators on the album is also city-based guitarist Tony Das. Natarajan adds that every alternate song will have a foreign special artiste featured. “I am halfway through cracking this album and Kevin has done his part along with Tony too, we have Bobby, who might play just more than merely a solo on the last song of the album, which I am yet to conceive. We begin working on the second half of the album and hope to finish by the end of May.”
Ask him about future projects, and he asserts that as a label owner, his eyes are set on promising Indian metal bands. “I aim to support bands such as Tachyon Medula, Third Sovereign, Plague Throat, Shock Therapy , Gaijin and more,” he says.