Well you it took me a while to find an album that really piqued my interest this week. Weezer’s summer seasonal album is a few days away, and nothing really grabbed me as interesting. So I decided to finally check out an album and band that has been getting solid buzz in the metal community.

A band after Greg DeMarco’s Jinder loving heart, Bloodywood is Indian Folk Metal. So they mix a little sitar with the guitar, growl, stomp and things are danceable. So…sufficed to say, they are unique. This album came out in February, but better late than never right? Let’s see if they’re worth the hype!

Bloodywood is: Jayant Bhadula (vocals), Raoul Kerr (rapper) & Karan Katiyar (everything else)

• Artist: Bloodywood
• Album: Rakshak (2022)
• Label: Independent
• Total Track Time: 47:17

Gaddaar okay we immediately get some down tuned guitar, sitar, and traditional Indian percussion before the vocals come in. The lyrics are mixed between English and either Punjab or Hindi (my Middle Eastern dialects aren’t exactly polished so I’m not sure). The rap being in English hits hard; “Yeah, we’re slaying, but we’re saying nothing new, We’re just saying, you better do the shit you say you’re gonna do, None of that fake shit WWE, ‘Cause you know, we keep it real like the UFC”. Damn though, the song is heavy, attacking and the mix of lyrics as well as the sonic mixture of Indian Folk with Nu Metal is just really one hell of an experience. Aaj well this starts off with light sitar and some wooden flute before synth and a little more uptempo Techno style drums. I’m mostly vibing since this is like good Linkin Park with Middle Eastern flair for this song, but the pre-chorus is pretty great; “Kaioken! I will be better than I was back then, Never say never I was trapped in, Put it all together as I fought, now I’m smashin’, Fate in the shredder man I’m all about the passion”, simple things like Dragon Ball Z references appeal heavily to a Western demographic and also bridges that gap masterfully. Between the arrangements being a mixture of East meets West, throwing in pop culture references to assist that is genius. Also with the DBZ references it helps to get across the general message of realization in surpassing your limits and becoming/accomplishing what you want in life. Zanjeero Se instrumentally this sounds like a Bullet for My Valentine opening, even with the haunting lighting vocals behind is all. The driving music helps to get across an overall hopeful message. With the title translating to “from chains” it definitely gives off this idea of overcoming hardships/chains/shortcomings. It’s a different style of metal but works well so far in this album. Not a hell of a lot of Indian Folk flair, but it’s still a well done song.

Machi Bhasad okay now we’re back in full fusion force. Bhangra vibe immediately to start things off before it assaults into more of a technical Industrial style akin to Twelve Foot Ninja. While the message isn’t unique in calling to change the world for the future generations, but it’s aggressive whilst still being amazingly groovy with the Bhangra throughout. Dana-Dan holy hell this is beyond aggressive (way more than the previous song), even lyrically from Jump Street.  “I put a fist through the face of a rapist, And yeah, I tape this, For the viewing pleasure of the nameless faces he disgraces, And yeah one day I may change his kind with my mind, but, I won’t bow to the beast, never make peace”, given the fact these guys are from New Delhi and oppression is rampant in that part of the world, this message is even more profound. Calling to fight against the archaic treatment of women and denouncing so much of that insulated mentality, it hits harder. Musically this hits with aggression and more of ascending synth to exhibit rising against the oppression before hammering in the aggression again. Great arrangement. Jee Veerey the flute returns and this definitely gives me P.O.D. vibes. It’s got heavy elements but is fairly light with more emphasis on the flute, softer spoken rap and Indian percussion. With the translated title being “brave one” this is another song about fighting through issues to get to the other side. Not gonna lie, if it was all English this would start to bore me with all the redundant messaging, but I really enjoy the arrangements and how they incorporate all of the different elements.

Endurant is in a similar enough vein that you can infer from the title. I do like how the musical inspiration is a little more Nonpoint and P.O.D. with this song. The concept of rising above something, I can’t quite tell if the war/anger words are supposed to be metaphors since as we already established, I don’t know the potential dialects the non-English parts are written in. But yeah, this song is the most Western radio friendly song on the album, and that also is probably why I find it to be boring, a little grating and am thankful when it’s over. Yaad okay the flute with what could be light chimes and this soaring/ethereal feeling to open the song is beautiful. A lot of Nightwish ideas flow through my head but when the vocals kick in they remind me more of Shepherd’s Reign. It’s still got this beautiful folk element and a reoccurring message of remembrance. The concept of loving someone forever, not just only while both are alive seems to be where the theme is going, and it’s really well done. I do appreciate that there is a bit of a drum beat that sounds like a heartbeat through the quieter portions, and the song just strikes a lot of chords. If you can relate to the sentiment, it really evokes a lot of great emotion.

Bsdk.exe, so early on this is like Korn and Soulfly had a baby. Lyrically this pretty blunt;  “Fuck your propaganda flyer you can take it back and shove it, Man I’ll never love it, Seeing through you you’re invisible, Journalistic integrity? You’re a fucking criminal”, this is something we can all relate to. Be it actual mainstream media or even in wrestling, journalistic integrity doesn’t exist. It’s all propaganda, and this is a groovy ass song. Chakh Le we get that Bhangra bop again to kick things off and then the rap kicks in, with a semi-automatic kind of rhythm. “People trapped on the wrong side of the wealth gap, Thick, fat stacks of cash to build a bridge back, We lay these bricks down on the track, ‘Cause you know we packin’ heat to make more than just the beat smack”, these lyrics don’t leave a ton of room for interpretation. They go in about the wealth gap in the world, while some of their lines are a little idealistic and cute in a naive way, the general sentiment is something I can get behind.

Let me answer the main question in my opening – Are they worth the hype? – I would say very much so, yes. There was only one song that felt generic by western standards that I zoned out. Aside from that the biggest flaw of the album is the repetitive “overcoming” theme of many songs. Sure coming out of a pandemic maybe it felt appropriate, but 1 song, maybe 2…not like 4.

That aside, the arrangements and mixture of sounds kept me invested even if the lyrical content was lacking, not understood (language barrier) or mind numbingly redundant. So if this was in all English and a generic western metal band, this would not rate as highly. But Bloodywood isn’t just any regular band, and since this is their first full album of original music, it’s a great starting point. Just mix up the imagery a little next time guys, come on now.

Final Judgment: 8/10