### Rudra: Brahmavidya (Transcendental I)

#### 07/07/09 || HailandKill

Singapore’s Rudra are so smart, they can shit in the faces of their international death metal peers and still be respected. These guys read so many books, their albums are filled with info that’s beyond the IQ level of most metalheads. (That’s you and HailandKill.) They sound brutal too, combining lovable old school gallops matched with numbing blast beats. When slick production spruces up their rough edges, the end result is extreme music par excellence.

But what’s a Veda? A Brahmavidya? Smrti? The lyrical framework that’s used by Rudra on each album (this is number six) is complex to the point where their liner notes include brief explanations for the retarded—us. There’s even a short intro on the booklet of this, their newest, “Brahmavidya: Transcendental I”, that’s a crash course in Hindu thought.

While fundamentally (emphasis on “mental”) an exercise in extreme metal, there are a few mystifying clunkers here that absolutely nobody except genuine students of Hindu spiritual texts and philosophy would understand. These are the interludes “Bhagavadpada Namaskara”, “Adiguru Namastubhyam”, “Immortality Roars”, and “Meditations At Dawn.” While they establish how exotic and Asian Rudra are, the tracks also run the risk of boring the listener. Salvation comes in the nick of time with such slaying songs as “Ravens of Paradise”, “Amrtasyaputra”, “Hymns from the Blazing Chariot”, “Reversing the Currents”, “Majestic Ashtavakara”…there are a bunch more but their titles are hard to spell, much less type…anyway, they start strong, churn into a furious whirlwind of death, black, and thrash, then give way to these blazing guitar solos that blaze away like a blazing California wildfire. What in blazes!?!?

This is death metal with flourishes of the other dirty genres, so expect frothing machinegun drums from this Shiva guy, grim razor sharp melodies—or none whatsoever—that will burn the zits on your face, and vocals from bass-man Kathir that give the impression he hasn’t taken a dump in ages. Amid this enlightened whirlwind Rudra still manage to write catchy tunes like “Avidya Nivrtti”, “Not The Seen But The Seer”, and “Natural Born Ignorance”. These chaps are pretty well rounded; you might want to add.

It’s now obvious what a lame fucken portrait of Hindu culture Slumdog Millionaire is/was, because Rudra are the kings of what they do, which is breathing life into a new Hindu-based subgenre that they totally own. The band deserve to be embraced by male groupies who write for webzines.

9 Singaporean Tamils out of 10.

- Information
- Released: 2009
- Label: Vic Records/Trinity Records
- Website: Rudra MySpace
- Band
- Kathir: vocals, bass
- Devan: guitar
- Selvam: guitar
- Shiva: drums

- Tracklist
- 01. Bhagavadpada Namaskara
- 02. Ravens of Paradise
- 03. Amrtasyaputra
- 04. Hymns From the Blazing Chariot
- 05. Meditations At Dawn
- 06. Advaitamrta
- 07. Natural Born Ignorance
- 08. Immortality Roars
- 09. Reversing the Currents
- 10. Venerable Opposites
- 11. Avidya Nivrtti
- 12. Not The Seen But The Seer
- 13. Adiguru Namastubhyam
- 14. Majestic Ashtavakra