What do you get when five members from five different bands decide to form a band? You get Aberrant! The band started in 2010 and Imti (who is the guitarist from DWAR) got together with Bhabor (Drummer from Defying caution) and decided to do something different from what they were doing with their respective bands. They were good friends with the band Project Blend Ltd (PBL) and they called Jerry who is the drummer of PBL to come and play guitars with them. Julian (PBL) came along and did vocals for the band and Chris who is the lead guitarist of PBL came and played bass for them.
And within that week when Chris joined the band they got their first gig “Powerplay: The Return. This was in June 2010. They were very happy but then things took on a different turn for the band as they did not jam or practice after that show. They were all disappointed with where this band was going. The band, so to say, went into hibernation.
The band members revealed that it was not until October 2011 that they got back together. Fuelled by frustration, Bhabor and Imti decided to bring about some drastic changes. They decided to call Ryngkat from Native Rules to sing for them and Ampher (guitarist of Undead) to play bass. Both of these guys were good friends so it made things easier for the band. They started jamming in Plague Throat’s jam room -‘Dungeon’ -and decided to enter a State music competition “Rockathon” that took place in Amlarem Jaintia hills Meghalaya in November 2011.
The band came second in that competition. That gave the band much needed hope to practice and to put in more effort. Then they came to know that Meghalaya Icon was happening and they started preparing for that, and the rest as they say the rest is history, as they were crowned Meghalaya Icon III in 2012. The band members’ say, “The feeling is quite surreal!! We are very happy n proud of ourselves for the achievement but at the same time humbled by it.”
The band members are inspired by different forms of music and by different bands. Old school metal bands like Judas priest, Slayer, Megadeth, Infernal Majesty, Death..to bands like Meshuggah, Pantera, Periphery,Textures, Necrophagist, Blotted Science, Karnivool, Opeth, Porcupine Tree, Tool, Gojira, Threat Signal, Red Seas Fire, Fear Factory, Animals As Leaders, Sybreed, to non-metal contemporary music like Adele, John Mayer, Train, Shinedown, The Script…we even listen to electronic and dubstep music like Skrillex, Modestep, Asian Dub Foundation, Neon Indian, Sneaky Sound Systems…the list is endless as they say!
Talking about Meghalaya Icon III, having to compete with 22 other strong contenders, this was what the band had to say about the whole competition, “It was an experience we’ll never forget. It was a tough competition coz most of the bands that came were good bands. We were a bit nervous but what made it worst was during the prelims in the middle of our second song Jerry’s guitar string broke!! Our hearts sank that time but luckily we started the song again after running to get the extra guitar from the car!! It was so tense man..but luckily we finished our set and made it to the finals.”
The band has strong explosive vocals via Ryngkat Jyrwa. awesome guitarist in Imti Kharkongor and Jerry Nelson Ranee. Great bassist in Amphermay Lyngdoh Mawlong and awesome drumming in Bhabor Lyngdoh. What more to expect from this explosive band in 2012? They say, “As you know we are a comparatively new band, so we will be jamming more often. We have one original so far and one in the making. Hopefully by the middle of the year we’ll be able to come up with a few more originals and have some recordings up online for people to listen. The question also applies to us as a band in a way we don’t know what’s in store for us as well. But we are hoping for better things and more opportunities for our music and name to reach a wider audience.” – By Ajoy Lanong
keep it up guys!!!