Spectral Decay presents STRESS//TEST 2

Spectral Decay presents STRESS//TEST 2! STESS//TEST 2 will see the return of Bombay sludge/post-metallers DIRGE, riding high on the release of their highly anticipated sophomore album, Bangalorean weird-prog peddlers MANEATING ORCHID, an exclusive debut live performance by Bangalore alumni Deepak Raghu’s rock project THE EARTH BELOW , and local drone metal trio MEGADRONE . Catch these four intense acts live only at STRESS//TEST 2, taking place on the 12th of March at Fandom at Gilly’s Redefined, Bangalore, Karnataka. Phase I tickets are now available for ₹599/- (excl. GST) for a limited time on Insider.  PLEASE NOTE THAT AN ADDITIONAL COVER CHARGE OF ₹499/- WILL BE CHARGED PER TICKET AT THE VENUE ON THE EVENT DATE WHICH IS REDEEMABLE AGAINST FOOD AND BEVERAGES. The line-up: — DIRGE Sludge/post metal from Bombay Dirge is a five-piece doom/sludge/post-metal band from Mumbai, India. Post the release of their debut album ‘Ah Puch’ in 2018 and receiving positive response and praise across the globe for their unique blend of doom, sludge & atmospheric metal, the band immediately started working on a successor with new drummer Aryaman Chatterji. Using their time post-pandemic to write and record a follow-up to “Ah Puch,” the band’s forthcoming self-titled album scheduled for release in March 2023 – this album finds the quintet taking a sonic journey of discovery. Offering up a truly devastating and personal statement, particularly when compared to the wide-sweeping vistas of Mayan myths and South American jungles of their debut, Dirge looks inward while simultaneously reflecting our world at large. The band’s new self-titled album ‘Dirge’ will be a 43-minute long album consisting of 4 tracks. Sonically it's a unique blend of doom, sludge, post-metal, psychedelic rock, contemporary doom, and the likes, which the band believes makes for their best effort yet. Dirge will bring their earth-shattering sound to Bangalore with a mix of new music and songs from their debut album. FFO: Neurosis, Amenra, Cult of luna, ISIS Listen/buy Dirge’s music at https://dirgeindia.bandcamp.com — MANEATING ORCHID Prog metal from Bangalore Formed in late 2011, Maneating Orchid plays a dense blend of heavy music with metal, noise, and prog/psych-rock influences. With dissonant guitars, abrasive vocals, noise passages, and bizarre song structures, the band has been pushing the boundaries of heavy music in the subcontinent and remains one of the most original bands to emerge from the region. In 2016, Maneating Orchid released their self-titled debut EP, with Rolling Stone calling it “one of the best cult classics of 2016” & “one of the most intriguing metal releases of the year.” The band released its first full-length record “Miasma” in January 2019 which received praise from various publications worldwide. The band released its sophomore LP “Hive Mind” in March 2022 which featured a dialed-up sonic intensity as well as a raw & honest yet ferocious production, pushing their notorious brand of chaotic prog into more aggressive territories. The band will be performing “Hive Mind” in its entirety along with a few tracks from older releases at the show. FFO: Voivod, Watchtower, Dysrhythmia, Gorguts, Spastik Ink, Converge, Cardiacs, Blotted Science, Botch, Discordance Axis, Martyr, Death, Behold… The Arctopus Listen/buy Maneating Orchid’s music at https://maneatingorchid.bandcamp.com — THE EARTH BELOW Rock from Bombay In 2010, Deepak Raghu wrote and released an EP titled “Aleph” under the moniker The Earth Below. It would take 7 years before there would be a follow-up. The Earth Below resurfaced in 2017 with the self-released “Window Lights for Wanderers” EP, followed by “Dreams of a Thousand Stillness” EP (2018). ​The debut full-length album “Nothing Works Vol 2: Hymns for Useless Gods” was released in April 2020 via Unherd Music. This was followed by 2 more releases: a demo titled “Ride the Sky” in 2021 and a self-titled release in 2022. The Earth Below is all set to make its debut live performance exclusively at STRESS//TEST 2. FFO: Black Sabbath Listen/buy The Earth Below’s music at https://theearthbelow.bandcamp.com — MEGADRONE Drone metal from Bangalore From the nether regions of infinite space comes the mind-altering, interstellar behemoth Megadrone. Megadrone will unleash a 60-minute, modular synth-focused set soaked in dark ambient saturation, spectral harmonics, and alien frequencies. Megadrone recommends you sit down, turn your phones off (or on silent), close your eyes, and let the akashaic sound structures take you away. FFO: Earth, Brian Eno, Sunn O))), Nadja, Steve Reich Listen/buy Megadrone's music at https://megadrone.bandcamp.com — Spectral Decay is a Bangalore-based, completely DIY metal-punk concert series with a focus on the underground music of the subcontinent. The concert series was founded by Kaushal LS, Simon Santiago & Anoop Bhat as a means to jump-start the rather dead extreme music landscape. The first Spectral Decay concert was held on 9th May 2022. STRESS//TEST is a new live property by the Spectral Decay team dedicated to all things noise, grind, punk, and other fringe genres in heavy music. Poster by Anoop Bhat