Following the Silence Festival series, Silence Fest IV 2013 happened on November 9 at Bharikutimandap, Kathmandu. Silence Fest has always been one of the much-anticipated international-tier concert in Nepal. Chances of metal listeners not knowing about Silence Fest are almost null. This year’s Silence Fest IV was headlined by Polish Blackened Death Metal band Behemoth, the band that needs no introduction. Just like every year, this year’s Silence Fest had line from all across the globe. The line up included Ugrakarma (Nepal), Zygnema (India), Derric (Switzerland), Underside (Nepal), Newaz (Nepal), Jugaa (Nepal) & And We Came (Nepal).
I reached the venue bit late at around 1p.m. By the time I reached the venue, the show had already kicked off and Jugaa had already started their set-list. And We Came was the opening act for this year’s Silence Fest. Due to time constraint they were able to perform only one song and left the stage shortly.
Silence Fest was probably the first open air gig for Jugaa, and the band were on their best with their energetic performance. The band performed their old and new track like This is our War, Eternal Sleep etc. just to name few. Next in the line up was Newaz, the band that has been in the scene since early 90’s but they have resumed to play recently. The hard rock/grunge trio performed their original songs such as In Black, Angel, Kathmandu etc. Newaz’s music cann’t be regarded as a mosh track so most of the crowd were still, enjoying the song.
After Newaz, the band on stage was Derrick from Switzerland, one of the project of drummer Guiddo. I thought this was new band but later I came to know that this band was a cult band active since last 9 years. The band has labeled themselves as disco grind. Their tracks were accompanied by electronics, synths and distorted bass and guitar. The energetic performance and blast beats forced the crowd to mosh and head-bang.
Underside was now on the stage. This was second time Underside performed in Silence Fest. The band’s performance was tight as usual, the band performed their new and old song such as Hate, All notes off etc. which heated up the crowd.
Now it was time for Zygnema, groove metal band from India to take over the stage. The band has not only played in India but has also played in international arena like Wacken and Inferno Festival, Norway. Their performance proved why they are one of the best band from India. The band delivered their best, and their output was close to perfect.
Now it was Ugrakarma on the stage, pioneer of death metal in Nepal who has been on the scene since 1999. The moshing and head- banging were intense on Ugrakarma’s performance. Their setlist included new and old track such as Chandal Shaitan, Dangdung, Karmachandal etc.
It was around 5:30 when Ugrakarma finished their setlist. The light of sun had started to fade and the darkness of night was slowly covering up the sky. Thousand of eyes were on the stage waiting for the Behemoth, the sole reason many attended Silence Fest. When they were finally on the stage with their devilish look crowd chanted for the band and showed their tribute. With their dark satanic music & attire they illustrated the piece of hell. Their excellent showmanship and craft of their music left audiences mesmerized. The crowd had occupied more than half of the area and there was intensity among the attendees.
I had the fear of show being stopped by cops for some “security” reasons but the show was on tight schedule and finished at around 6:50 without any interruption from cops. Dealing with cops during period of election wasn’t possible, so Silence Entertainment deducted the set-list time of bands. Each band was allowed to play for 30 minutes only. The event over all was well-managed, lighting, sounds, stage everything was best, though I feel there were some deduction compared to earlier Silence Fest series. Kudos to Silence Entertainment for this excellence.
For most of us, this year’s Silence Fest ended with anticipation “who will be on Silence Festival V, 2014?”
