The Hindu god Shiva is called the Auspicious One and the Destroyer—each of which really appear … type of auspicious. However within the realm of steel, the historical past of named-checked deities sometimes runs extra alongside the traces of Odin, Thor, Mephistopheles, and even Cthulhu. Shiva, regardless of the spectacular appellations, is never the topic of songs—with one notable exception.
That is the music of the Mumbai-based mostly steel trio Midhaven, who, with the discharge of their newest album, Of the Lotus & the Thunderbolt, now have two music cycles to their credit score wherein Shiva figures prominently. The band spent 2019 writing and recording the mission, which was produced by Apurv Agrawal, and combined and mastered by engineer Forrester Savell (Animals as Leaders, Karnivool). Then it sat within the can for a 12 months ready for the pandemic to subside. When it did not, Midhaven lastly determined to launch Of the Lotus & the Thunderbolt anyway. It is a idea album, based mostly on the cyclical nature of time, mapping out the course of a soul’s journey to enlightenment, with Shiva—in Destroyer mode, naturally—as an overarching presence.
‘Primal Tune’ Music Video
Such heady notions are a part of the last decade-previous band’s DNA. They took their title from the astronomical time period “midheaven,” for the very best level in a celestial object’s day by day traverse, and began weaving songs into complicated yarns with their debut EP, 2012’s Tales From The Tide. These three songs ended up being a teaser of kinds for his or her first full-size album, 2014’s Spellbound, which explores the hallucination of a person who, within the imagined type of Shiva, kills the Greek god Apollo.
Seven years later, Of the Lotus & the Thunderbolt has arrived like a … thunderbolt. All through, Midhaven mix operatic vocals and guttural growls with monster guitar riffs that sound like Godzilla tearing down excessive-stress wires over some unlucky metropolis. The primary single, “Primal Tune,” assays their gargantuan sound, and the tonal fusion between guitars and bass (the latter courtesy of Jason D’Souza) is electrifyingly monstrous. Tracks like “Codeman” and “Para Brahman” could also be extra melancholic and anguished, however the riffs are titanic, whereas “Zhitro” and “Mahakaal” introduce components of Indian folks music, utilizing guitar orchestrations that mix the up to date with the normal.
“In some unspecified time in the future, Mastodon actually picked me up by the neck—simply grabbed me. Brent Hinds is certainly an enormous inspiration.”—Karan Kaul
Navigating such lofty lyric and sonic terrain are guitarists and shut buddies Karan Kaul and Aditya Mohanan, who, together with drummer Aviraj Kumar, are the core of Midhaven. Kaul can also be the lead vocalist, whereas Mohanan handles nearly all of lead guitar duties. “There are very set roles that simply got here to be by means of our synergy,” explains Kaul. “Aditya is the scorching guitar participant, and I am extra of the spine, heavy, ‘chuggy’ [rhythm] man.” And whereas their roles could also be set by way of guitar duties, songwriting is one other matter. “Now we have this very attention-grabbing synergy occurring,” explains Mohanan. “It isn’t like one in every of us is composing a riff. It is like, one in every of us comes up with an thought and the opposite one feeds into that concept—provides or subtracts from it, and retains altering it, and by the top, we will not actually inform who it got here from. It is the method we have taken to each music.”
They cite Black Sabbath and Metallica as influences, in addition to a slew of different two-guitar bands. “In some unspecified time in the future, Mastodon actually picked me up by the neck—simply grabbed me,” says Kaul. “Brent Hinds is certainly an enormous inspiration.” For Mohanan, steel began at Megadeth. “Everybody talks about, ‘Are you a Metallica fan or a Megadeth fan?’ Marty Friedman is sort of a god to me,” he professes. “I simply worship him … and Dave Mustaine—that is the place it began off. I like Brent Hinds as properly. I like the way in which he approaches his reverb and his tone and his delays.” Mohanan additionally infuses Midhaven’s music with older sources of inspiration. “I actually take pleasure in Bach, Beethoven, Mozart,” he admits. “I went by means of a section that was neo-classical. After which, across the time this album was being written, I used to be tremendous into Indian classical and folks kinds as properly, like [Indian Carnatic vocalist] T.M. Krishna.”
Karan Kaul’s Gear
Karan Kaul, who fronts the band, rocking his Gibson Flying V within the studio.
Photograph by Mehran Sheikh
Guitars
- ESP Eclipse with Fishman Fluence Signature Collection Devin Townsend pickups
- Gibson Flying V (2012)
Results
- Animal Manufacturing facility Godeater
- Boss RE-20 House Echo
- EarthQuaker Gadgets Erupter Fuzz
- Ibanez Tube Screamer
Amps
- Laney Mini Ironheart (15-watt, studio solely)
- Laney GS212VR cab
- Egnater, Vox, Marshall JCM800, or Mesa/Boogie Triple Rectifier (dwell, relying on availability)
Strings & Picks
- Elixir 12152 (.012 –.052; studio)
- D’Addario NYXL 1260 Further Heavy (.012 –.060; dwell)
- D’Addario Planet Waves Duralin Black Ice
Nowhere is the Indian affect extra obvious than on the closing quantity, “Bhairav.” With its trippy, atmospheric, sitar-like outro, Mohanan says it’s the most tonally explorative music on the album. “With ‘Bhairav,’ we needed to get this bizarre transience that any Indian classical instrument inherently has. The one approach to maintain a word for that lengthy was by means of the ‘twang’ factor within the sound. The transience that I am speaking about is that slight buzz that accompanies the sound of the instrument. We needed to make it much more psychedelic sounding; in any other case you possibly can simply use the Electro-Harmonix Ravish Sitar pedal.” In an effort to make it sound “spacey,” they experimented with a steel slide, an MXR Part 90, an EHX Holy Grail, and a Strymon blueSky. “That was all an improvisation,” he says. “We picked out elements that sounded actually nice with one another and put it collectively.”
“We’d use actually summary phrases to explain the tones that we needed to create, like, ‘I need moist fireplace.'”—Aditya Mohanan
Musically, the laconic vibe of “Bhairav” performs into the overarching theme of time and evolution that lyrically fuels Of the Lotus & the Thunderbolt, however Midhaven cunningly manipulates the musical timing in “Zhitro,” a music that deliberately hastens over 9 minutes and 36 seconds. “Lots of people do not discover it, however we really improve tempo,” reveals Kaul. Mohanan was within the studio with drummer Kumar whereas monitoring, and says that, whereas it is pure to hurry up with no click on, “To maintain the clicking rising slowly, slowly, slowly, is at all times of venture.”
TIDBIT: That is the expanded format art work for Midhaven’s new album. Karan Kaul and Aditya Mohanan used small amps within the studio, for simpler monitoring, and took pains to maintain out of one another’s sonic terrain—which was particularly vital, since all of the songs are in drop-B tuning.
Based on Kaul, there’s “not a drop of digital” of their guitar tones on Of the Lotus & the Thunderbolt. He and Mohanan are self-professed “straight-by means of-the-amp sorts of men,” and so they attribute a lot of the report’s huge sound to their producer, Apurv Agrawal, often known as Cowboy and Sailor Man by way of his chillwave/synthwave mission of the identical title. “He is only a incredible individual to work with,” professes Kaul. “He actually helped us sculpt our tones on this report.” Mohanan says he has by no means seen anybody take tone as significantly as Agrawal. “He took our suggestions and took it a step additional. He added his personal creativity. We’d use actually summary phrases to explain the tones that we needed to create, like, ‘I need moist fireplace,’ and Apurv would simply be like, ‘You already know what? I do know precisely what you are speaking about. And you understand what? I can get you one thing even higher than that.’ That is that man.” Kaul jokingly says he will ask Agrawal for “dry water” on the subsequent album.
“It is the type of music the place you want each guitars to be actually minimize-throat, actually sizzling.”—Karan Kaul
All of the guitar tracks for Of the Lotus & the Thunderbolt have been recorded old-fashioned: miked amps and actual pedals. For guitars, Kaul primarily used his ESP Eclipse, with Fishman Fluence Signature Collection Devin Townsend pickups, which gave him three voices to play with. “I can management the whole lot from only one guitar—how a lot weight I need to add and the way a lot tone I need to minimize.” Mohanan relied on his Schecter Diamond Collection SLS Avenger with Seymour Duncan pickups. “It is acquired a coil faucet,” he says. “I can get any type of tone I need, a minimum of for Midhaven, with that guitar, however my state of affairs was a bit extra sophisticated. I believe while you play lead on the stage, you need to have the ability to swap to scrub channels.”
Aditya Mohanan’s Gear
Lead guitarist Aditya Mohanan principally depends upon his Schecter Diamond Collection SLS Avenger however is seen right here holding an ESP Eclipse.
Photograph by Mehran Sheikh
Guitars
- Schecter Diamond Collection SLS Avenger with Seymour Duncan SH-Three pickups
Results
- Animal Manufacturing facility Godeater
- Boss DD-Three Digital Delay
- Boss RV-6 Digital Reverb
- Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail Nano
- KHDK Darkish Blood
- MXR M101 Part 90
- Strymon blueSky Reverberator
- TC Digital Spark Booster
Amps
- Orange Darkish Terror (15/7 watts, studio solely)
- Orange PPC112 cab
- Egnater, Vox, Marshall JCM800, or Mesa/Boogie Triple Rectifier (dwell, relying on availability)
Strings and Picks
- Elixir 12152 (.012 –.052; studio)
- D’Addario NYXL 1260 Further Heavy (.012 –.060; dwell)
- Dunlop 427PJP John Petrucci Jazz III
Due to the sonic bandwidth two-guitar bands compete for within the studio, Mohanan says “Bhairav” was additionally the trickiest tune to get, tone-smart. “It is the type of music the place you want each guitars to be actually cutthroat, actually sizzling. And it was so difficult discovering a frequency bandwidth the place each of us wouldn’t conflict with one another, however on the identical time complement one another, whereas being actually excessive-octane.” Kaul remembers: “Since you [Mohanan] recorded it first, Apurv and I have been simply taking a look at one another, ‘How will we get this to chop?'” [laughs]
“It was so difficult discovering a frequency bandwidth the place each of us wouldn’t conflict with one another, however on the identical time complement one another, whereas being actually excessive-octane.”—Aditya Mohana
Another excuse the guitars are seemingly vying for frequency vary is that the entire songs on the brand new album are in drop-B tuning. Kaul says enjoying in that tuning got here fairly naturally, referring to it as “dwelling,” as a result of it is a snug vary for him vocally. However Mohanan says he likes drop B as a result of the tuning provides a singular taste to chord voicings. “Whenever you play a serious sixth on a low-finish, drop B, it simply sounds altered.”
Midhaven’s excessive-vitality mix of full-blooded steel influences and Indian conventional music mesh to create a particular and trippy signature sound.
Photograph by Mehran Sheikh
As for amps, they use little containers, strategically, to get massive studio tones. Kaul plugged right into a Laney Mini Ironheart—a 15-watter—and a Laney GS212VR cab. Mohanan deployed an Orange Darkish Terror, switchable between 15 and seven watts, and an Orange PPC112 cab.
Different important parts of their wealthy guitar tones embody an Ibanez Tube Screamer that Kaul employs so as to add a slight little bit of acquire to his tone. Mohanan says Kaul’s tone is usually “an excellent moist, actually heat, sloppy type of a tone,” and that the Tube Screamer “cleans that up just a bit bit.” Mohanan says his Dunlop John Petrucci Jazz III picks give him an edge, efficiency-smart. “It simply glides throughout the string,” he says. “And it is simply actually nice for pinching [harmonics]. If you would like assault, you may get that out of them—and so they work very well with the coil-faucet.” Mohanan says the coil-faucet was a sport changer by way of manipulating his tone. “Even in ‘Zhitro,’ once I’m switching from clear to distortion, I am not simply turning on my distortion pedal in that second. I am additionally switching from a single-coil to a humbucker—it offers that further enhance. I’ve experimented with that quite a bit in Midhaven.”
In a method, the huge guitar tracks heard on Of the Lotus & the Thunderbolt echo the conceptual theme of a journey to larger ranges. Just like the album’s predominant character—the human one, not Shiva—the members of Midhaven have musically grown previously two years, and, “in hindsight,” observes Mohanan, “I believe the album undoubtedly can be totally different if it have been recorded at this time.”
YouTube It
East meets West on this 2017 dwell efficiency by the Midhaven lineup that made Of the Lotus & the Thunderbolt. The rock is there (take a look at Aditya Mohanan’s solo on his Schecter Diamond Collection SLS Avenger at 3:08), however the droning, microtonal affect of conventional Indian music echoes between each guitars within the intro’s delicate ramp-up.
From Your Web site Articles
Associated Articles Across the Internet