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     Volume 5 Issue 111 | September 8, 2006 |


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Music

Not for the Weak-hearted

Hana Shams Ahmed

With intense lyrics and head-banging, high speed music matched by cookie monster vocals characteristic of heavy metal, Poizon Green's first self-titled album is certainly not for the weak-hearted.

The graphics give the listener enough hint about what to expect from it. The first song 'RIP Veronica' written by Rahi is a eulogy to a person who apparently had a harsh existence on this earth and the tribute suggests that she is perhaps better off dead ...ghumao shantitey tumi, kadabena ei prithibi aar (Sleep in peace, this world will not make you cry anymore).

Oshustho Ami tor buke naam jana ek koshto hoye bidhe robo (… I will affix myself to your heart in an unknown pain) describes how drugs come in the guise of a companion and quickly takes over the addict's life and eventually destroys him/her. 'Adhar Nari Shomipe' written by Shifa is a heart rending tribute to his wife whose life was brutally cut short. Her departure has left a void and regret that can never be made up - ... deyaler dikey takiye theke oklanto ei mon, sharakhon shudhu bhabi dekhi tomar ei mukh I stare at the walls in despair and all I can think about you and all I see is your face.

'Lash Kata Ghor,' 'Manobi' and 'Kafon' all involve 'Satanic' lyrics glorifying death. Only Alada, as the name suggests is slightly different from the rest of the songs in the sense that on the face of it, it seems like a purely love song, with the morbidity left out. Except for one song Adhar Nari Shomipe, which was recorded at the Sound the Garden studio, the rest of the songs were all recorded at Sound Machine.

With heavy metal taking a front seat in the Bangladeshi underground band music scene since the mid 90s, Poizon Green emerged as one of the very successful bands to perform in many of the alternative concerts. In 1998 three friends Shifa, Mollik and Tanvyr with similar interests in metal music got together to form the band. Their fascination for this not-so-conventional genre of music stemmed mainly from their personal struggles. The current line-up of the band is Guitars - Shifa on guitars, Tanvyr on vocals, Mollik on drums and Sunny on bass.

The band has released two singles before this album. The first one Artonad was in a mixed album called Agontuk, which was released in 2001. The second one Ekhanei Mrittu was in a mixed album called Dinbodol, which was released in 2004. They have performed in more than 100 underground metal concerts around the capital. The band was influenced to a large extent by Rockstrata in the local scene and in the international scene by such bands as Slayer, Sepultura, Pantera, Black Sabbath, Motorhead, Machinehead, Megadeth, Iron Maiden, Cannibal Corpse, Morbid Angel etc.

Thrash and its associated genres black, death, doom, power, nu-age etc are still lagging far behind the mainstream 'band music' as it is so called because of its gruesome nature and association with drug use and dementia in its lyrics. Also, the distorted vocalising by use of the throat and guts, unlike traditional singing techniques is yet to become popular.

Perhaps one of the shortcomings of the album is the absence of variation in the music. Of course the whole point of bringing out an album is to see whether the target audience will like it or not, to which Shifa has only one thing to say, “This album is not for everyone.”

 

 

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