Album Review : Cheisrah – OMG! She’s Here
Cheisrah, the moment you see this name one question arises. What does it mean and why did these bunch of guys from North-East and Bangalore choose this title!! Alright for those who are unaware of the meaning, its name of an evil Character from a Meitei (Manipuri) Folktale. I always felt bands from Northeast are damn good but they don’t get the right platform to showcase their talent. Here is the band ‘Cheisrah’ who experimented a lot on their Debut E.P. “Omg! She’s Here“. Lets get to the point whether these guys nailed the stuff eggjactly with some insane creative experiments which i expect from them or they are just another Metal band.
The EP was mixed and mastered by Nikhil Singh at Closed Eye Productions, Mumbai. Also, the Killer artwork was done by Nikhil.
It starts with AFSPA which stands for “Armed Forces Special Powers Act” dealing with the crisis which are happening in Northeast. It’s a total riff attack with pretty tight technical aspects covered. Eclectic polished riffs are the main highlight of the song with well synched drumming. It’s a total poly-rhythmic assault and what makes it more interesting are the bass lines, unfortunately which are partly audible. Now comes the vocals which i feel the guy behind the mic has capability to tear the stage apart. The vocals are good with two-phase method implementation of growls and shrieks. This song sets the path for the E.P.
Now comes Buried between The Lies, which is amazingly the melodic, groovy stuff on the album. With death-corish vibe, the arrangement is pretty good. Drums are pretty tight. The variation in vocals are good but the only thing which makes this melodic driven ride heartbreaking are the clean vocals which just doesn’t go well. As the track was building effectively with arrangement, the clean vocals just ruined it. Although the growls overtake immediately and continues the assault. I personally feel bands must incorporate both clean and growls variations. It didnt work here and I hope next record I get to here some crazy clean lines with throat ripping growls. Outro is very catchy with neat groovy riffs and double patterns executed pretty well.
Now comes the final track When Shadows Left Apart, this song has the combination of bone crushing riff’s, melodic lines and well executed drum patterns. Interlude section shines quiet well and as I said above growls are pretty good throughout the album, clean high-pitched needs to be seriously worked out. If these guys get the hold on clean vocals and cover lot of groovy, melodic lines with technical aspects, they are sure to set the path in Indian Metal Scene. Drums are tight and patterns are very well written and executed.
I have listed down all the aspects of 3 songs above, so now ill highlight the pro’s and con’s of this good EP.
Pro’s:
1. All the tracks have their own charm. I personally liked AFSPA which for me is the track of the album to look out for mainly because of the arrangement wise, quality of technical aspects nailed precisely and lyrically a political song.
2. Production is good and money well spent.
3. Guitarists are damn good and Vocalist is extremely passionate.
4. Technically, it’s a great start by these guys and i am sure they will cover all odd’s and come up with tighter stuff.
Con’s:
1. Drums are programmed which i feel kinda shakes/alters the tight album sound to some extent. Although Amarjeet did record drums live but due to some technical faults it cudn’t happen. He is good and on their next stuff, he is gonna be an insane skin basher.
2. Bass lines are not audible properly may be neglected due to less concentration on production terms.
3. Vocalist is destructive and if he works more on high pitched clean vocals then he will emerge a clear winner as a verstile singer.
Cheisrah as a group are damn good with amazing compositions and only time will tell how they concentrate on scrutinizing their skills more and experiment different genre’s. I wish them all the best and they surely have a great future ahead.
RATING: 8/10
