IIT-Kanpur has a rock competition every year called Synchronicity and this year was the biggest yet with over two hundred bands applying to participate. KvltSite was asked to be a part of the event and judge the music competition. The ball started rolling with bands applying online with their music, and our job was to cut it down initially to a manageable number of thirty. We finally set off to Kanpur on the 20^th of October, and after two days on a train we were well set to pour our ire and hot burning oil on the participating bands. Luckily the rooms we got were great, food turned out to be pretty good at campus and by the time the competition started we were comfortably settled in.

“For those of you who don’t know, a moshpit is a place where people have fun.”

Festivities on day 1 started with instructions on a moshpit and a how-to tutorial on the pit. Details were vague and if you didn’t know what a pit was already then this was not very helpful. Anyway, first band of day 1 was Bent and they played 3 of their own songs, 2 of which sounded like Load era Metallica mixed up with some 90s indie pop rock ala The Gin Blossoms. Not a pleasant experience at all but then they came back with the third song which was a solid rock n roll outing that had more in common with Cheap trick than with anything that the band had done before. They should probably stick to the rock n roll and leave the Metallica-isms behind. Fury Finger, up next was shooting a documentary of the event.

Kid with a camera: "What's your favourite style of music?"

GK: Extreme Metal

Srikanth: Doom Metal

Kid: YEAH, Me too! We love Nu Metal!!

They should have just focused on the music. But their brand of nu-metal complete with a cover of Korn’s Blind was sloppy, noisy and painful to sit through. Lots of practice needed boys. Identity Crisis came next with more nu-metal and while a bit better than the preceding band, was yet another god forsaken mess. With massive sound problems and bands looking quite worried, day 1 was brought to a halt. The sound sucked, the bands we’d seen so far sucked and things weren’t looking promising at all.

Day 2 started with another band taking a long self indulgent wank-a-thon of a sound check. Don’t remember the name of the band but I do remember that just as their own composition was gathering momentum the bass player decided to go off on a completely pointless bass solo that just ruined the song. FAIL! Next up was October from Delhi and while struggling with the sound (like most bands on day 2) they did manage a decent cover of AiC’s Man in the Box and a couple of own songs which were catchy and had some very nice bass playing holding up the rhythm section. Modern heavy rock, and best band so far. It was during their second own comp that the comatose crowd finally started moving around so more props to the band for that. Dark Horizon from Assam is next and while they look like a power metal band they sound like Jimmy Cliff with distortion. Led by a terrific vocalist and backed up by a trio of solid musicians, DH were without doubt band of the day and the AC/DC medley worked with the crowd and the judges. Summer Pint Junkies came on next and were without doubt the worst band of Synchronicity. One of the guitarists had problems with his equipment while the other was content to noodle away through their own comps like his name was Yan. The bass player was content to hide at the back of the stage and the vocalist when not butchering PJ’s Animal was busy asking the sound guy for a “crisper sound”. This was pretty much the definition of amateurish over the three days. BIG MASSIVE FAIL!

Less is More play some decent enough rock n roll but are let down by some weak vocals and need to get a bit tighter while Abstract Blue open with a cover of Zero’s PSP and display all the classic symptoms of Indian Rock. Very boring band and they need to tighten up their act as well as get their vocalist to stay in tune. Crystal and the Witches are a much needed breath of fresh air in the competition coming across like Demonic Resurrection with their own comps and a metal medley got the crowd going even if was more than a bit sloppy. The next band on stage, Rosemary look like Hanson and come complete with a pint sized drummer but play some grungy Nirvana-esque heavy rock and pull of an inspired cover of Come Together. Good stuff. Fade came without their bass player and suffered from a severe case of Lamb of God-itis. The drummer and the guitarist often played at different tempos and the absence of a bass player was severely felt. The vocalist and the drummer were pretty good but the guitarist let the team down with his incredibly sloppy and amateurish playing.

Brijesh Funk open with Foxy Lady and provide some heavy rock n roll with a terrific bass player and get the crowd going while following band Tear Cube are again a very sloppy metalcore band who cover Killswitch Engage’s My Last Serenade and a couple of own comps but are inexplicably popular with the crowd. The Circus had a terrible guitar tone but played some very original atonal and noisy rock with a terrific rhythm section. Good stuff and great energy on stage. Black from Mumbai played a very nondescript brand of heavy rock and reminds me a lot of Zero without the hooks. The vocalist seems to have borrowed Rajeev’s (Zero vocalist) entire catalogue of stage moves and while he displayed great energy he also had a tendency to start shrieking the songs and the guitarist was a bit off as well. Again, another band that was inexplicably popular with the crowd. Work in Progress came in with a very Chennai prog metal feel to their music and would probably have been more at home at NLS than here. Good band though. Silver Tears was another young band that managed to pull of some intricate prog metal and sounded quite good doing it with three of their own songs. Manifest gets the best sound on day 2. Their hard rock is quite catchy and is helped along with a solid vocalist. Fire Exit for some reason came with some hype and have a song on a soon to be released Counter Culture compilation but their prog rock with tablas sounded forced and were let down by some very weak vocals. The tablas sounded like an afterthought and just made the music a mess while the band actually sounded quite good when there were no tablas and vocals. Airborne were just completely boring and I don’t remember a single thing about their performance, while Pitch Black Symphony played a decent enough brand of extreme metal but need to get a lot tighter to compete at these events. Last band of the day was Forbidden Village who played slowed down black metal, and while not really doom had some interesting ideas. They were a bit let down though by a cheesy keyboard sound that dominated the guitars and an overall sloppy feel to the music.

That was it for the first round of the prelims. At the end of day 2 we had a list of 10 bands that had gotten through to the next round and were one step closer to some pretty big prizes. Dark Horizon, October, Rose Mary, The Circus, Crystal and the Witches, Brijesh Funk, Work in Progress (who dropped out with a sick drummer), Silver Tears and thanks to popular demand, Tear Cube and Black were all in the next round.

“Can you make our whole sound crisper please?”

Round 2 started with Crystal and the Witches and it was immediately apparent that the sound was much improved. The band sounded tight and quite solid with their own comps and the only bum note came on a Kerry King solo during the Slayer medley. The band could have played another own comp instead of the covers but overall not bad at all.

Brijesh Funk came back with a very noisy take on Foxy Lady again before settling down with a couple of own comps. The band has an irreverent sense of fun that shines through in their music and stage act and was a good change compared to most bands here with a more serious than thou attitude. The bass player was again quite impressive but overall the band seemed a bit sloppy especially in the Hendrix covers and weren’t as tight as they were on Round 1.

Tear Cube were next and while they made use of a back door entry to get through to the second round, they also came with a message to the judges saying they’d quit playing if they didn’t succeed in blowing our minds. See what I mean about “more serious than thou”? Anyway, the band played a much better set than in round 1, dropped the Killswitch Engage cover and was pretty tight. Still, like all metalcore bands, Tear Cube seems to be writing songs around breakdowns. The moshpit friendly part is given too much importance to the detriment of the song. Have to say that the band turned in a much better performance than we thought they would and looked like they might get into the finals too at one point.

So, the sun had set by this time and while the Panaman and I were at the back of the ground waiting for Silver Tears to start we were talking about how cool it would be for a band to come up on stage and cover some Queensryche. Well, our wish was soon turned to reality as Silver Tears opened with Anybody Listening and managed a creditable version of the song. Their own comps have a tendency to sound like a bunch of unrelated parts strung together and while the skill of the musicians was very evident the songs lacked a sense of cohesion. Still they are a definite band to keep an eye out for.

Dark Horizon is like a different band in round 2. The whole band has a swagger and a confidence that is translated into their music and although they play the same songs, the band sound great and special mention to the guitarist for the most tasteful lead playing in the competition. The vocalist hits some terrific sounding high notes and does a great Brian Johnson impersonation. The drummer (another school kid) pulls off some terrific off time grooves and the bass player manages to sneak in a solo into one of their own songs which is subtle and bears none of the usual slap pop playing that Indian funksters are so fond of. The music is a mix of reggae, funk and rock and probably the last thing I thought I’d like but Dark Horizon are the real deal and the band to beat at Synchronicity.

The Circus is quite intense. They are noisy, atonal and have tons of energy. The bass player is locked into some great grooves with the drummer who really gives the kit a good pounding and the guitar player pulls off some terrific heavy riffs even if his tone is a bit shit. The vocalist has a lot of energy and while the band doesn’t really interact with the crowd, they do put on a solid stage show. This was the one band at the event who were I thought truly original. Their sound is quite unlike the regular Indian rock without being metal. They are a bit difficult to categorize and better for it.

Black turned up in the second round thanks to popular demand and sounds pretty damn bland. Again, the vocalist has great energy, gets the crowd going and the band play a pretty tight set apart from the guitarists solos which go a bit haywire but the problem with this band is that the songs have no hooks. Listening to these songs twice in 2 days there wasn’t a single melody or hook that I could remember and latch on to. Also, by the third song the vocalist just started shrieking and it sounded completely at odds with the music.

Along with Dark Horizon, Rosemary was band of the round for me. They dropped the cover and turned in three of their own songs one of which had a slowed down heavy part that seemed written for stoners. The band does this Nirvana/ Soundgarden/ QotSA in a blender kind of music and it works. They tend to get a bit too close to Nirvana on occasion but overall considering the average age of the band is yet to hit 20, this is another band to watch out for.

October played the same three songs they played in the first round and were a lot tighter here. Man in the Box sounded a lot better and their own comps benefited from the catchy choruses and melodies. They got the crowd moving and their own songs have great recall value. I’d have liked to hear a couple more of their own songs but the band was tight, the sound was good, they got the crowd going and did enough to impress everyone who saw them.

That was it for Round 2 of the eliminations and at the end of it, the four bands chosen for the finals and to open for Glyder were Rosemary, Dark Horizon, The Circus and October.

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