Posted in: Global Metal Stories | 10 Comments | Posted on December 30, 2009 by admin

I’ve decided to post this as its own topic as I felt it could stand on its own. Thank you for teaching us a little about your town and keeping us informed about the massive metal scene which is vibrant and growing in India. Please read and comment!

Hi fren,
i am jeffrey kharsyntiew from a small town of Shillong, Meghalaya in north east India. i am a true metal fan who wanted to keep alive the metal faith in us and in our next generation. I was a graduate in economics honours and PG degree in adult and continuing education from North Eastern Hills University. I am recently working under a university project but at the same time trying to film a documentary about our band but as we know that we do not get help and inspiration for these kind of music but one day a time will come for us to shine and bring fame to our land through music.

i was searching for your email ID but it was difficult and then i saw your documentary on global metal and when you reach india, i was so ashamed of myself seeing mumbai and those bollywood stuff, but fren what you miss the most is your visit to shillong which is becoming the new rock capital of india overtaking bangalore. Shillong was a capital of Meghalaya, a small tribal christian state of india. We are very different with the way of life compared to the rest of india. The main reason is becoz we are christian and we follow western ideology. Our place has been a state popular in western music but it was isolated from the country due to cultural and religious belief. The centre does not pay attention to the western music especially when it comes to metal and rock.

As years goes by, shillong became one of the first Indian state to accept metal and rock music. due to the effort of our state businessmen and politicians we for the first time invited international band to the state and that was PETRA. after that, Fire House came and we were shocked to see the crowd. People of all ages flooded to the J.N Stadium. From that moment we realized that Shillong people will proved better to the rest of the states. Micheal Learns to Rock came after that followed by Paul Daino, the original vocalist of Iron Maiden. Air supply reached too which was then followed by Eric Martin of Mr. Big. Guess What after that SEPULTURA came which was my most memorable moment to see them performing live. The most important moment for us is the coming of The Scorpions to Shillong which make the people mad just after announcing their visit. Nearly 55,000crowded flooded to the stadium and many fans from the other parts also came to witness. from that time, Bangalore was erased from being the rock city of India and Shillong replaced it. A year after that “A mother of all concert” was organized which is the biggest concert with two bands performing live at one stage.. that is Fire House for the 2nd time and White Snake. The crowded reaches 50,000 to 60,000 which holds the largest number for a concert. in our state bollywood was never accepted by all as we do not speak hindi language and that is why the main language for communication here is english and this pave a way for western music. We have our death and metal bands like Project blend, Native rules, prisoner of choas, nemesis, and other bands which follows the footsteps of lamb of god, kreator, slayer, death, sepultura, etc….

Today the 28th Dec, 2009 we have an open air free metal and rock concert in which Parikrama, the metal band of the country will performed along with other rock and metal bands of north east india.

brother i hope to get a response from you so that we will be able to change the country through our work and finally my dream to put shillong in the metal map of the whole world will come true.

thanks.