By Jase Walker
One thing that I’ve seen happening more frequently over the past few years is the rise of rock and metal from around the world that’s fused with more traditional styles of their home country. One such band is Bloodywood and their way of drawing in Bhangra music along with aggressive riffs and rapping that almost makes them some sort of Indian version of Rage Against The Machine which they’ve embraced with various tour monikers such as ‘Raj Against The Machine’ and ‘Return Of The Singh’.
And coming up is their follow-up to 2022’s ‘Rakshak’, ‘Nu Delhi’, and Bloodywood, have firmly established themselves as a rising force within the metal world, thanks in no short part to their unique sound, heavy hitting lyrics, and of course an ear for a damn tasty riff. Going from YouTube sensation to a worldwide phenomenon is no small feat and with ‘Rakshak’ being such an incredible album, the bar is set incredibly high for these guys.
Bloodywood have been busy to say the least when it comes to touring and the exposure they’ve no doubt had as they’ve passed through many countries has clearly had an impact on them. ‘Nu Delhi’ has much more emphasis on technicality when it comes to the riff writing, reflective of the metalcore circles they’ve moved through after they exploded out of India onto the world scene. This is something clearly on display when you consider the middle two tracks of the album, ‘Bekhauf’ featuring Japanese kawaii-metal heavyweights Babymetal who have taken the world by storm in their own right with their own take on Japanese metal, and ‘Kismat’ that also feels influenced to some extent by Babymetal.
Despite the overall change in sound they’ve developed with ‘Nu Delhi’, this isn’t to say they’ve shedded their Bhangra roots, ‘Dhadak’ and the title track, ‘Nu Delhi’ still very much retain the influences of the traditional background and the distinctive rhythmic elements that set Bloodywood apart in the first place.
‘Nu Delhi’ feels like a growing experience, a new exploration into a more varied sound that signals that Bloodywood are not content with being a ‘one-trick pony’ of sorts that wants to remain entirely within their niche sound. ‘Daggerbaaz’ is a good example of Bloodywood focusing more on a nu-metal feel while still peppering the song with their Indian folk music elements.
‘Nu Delhi’ overall is fairly short as far as albums go: eight tracks varying between five-ish and three minutes – but there is absolutely zero wasted space, all killer no filler. Clearly there’s a level of perfectionism at play here but every single track on this album feels finely crafted to have a strong identity that has a solid catchy riff, big chorus and hard hitting rap segments. Eight tracks that will no doubt be all worthy of a huge chunk of their headline live set going forward and will invoke many pits at live shows around the world without fail.
With their second full length album about to hit you harder than the day after a vindaloo, Bloodywood are set to capitalize on the moving train they’re on and reach for ever greater heights. What started as a band that went viral for their unique sound, now shows that Bloodywood are grateful for the world that’s opened up to them and embraced their approach but also given back a wealth of influences from other places which the band has taken on board and picked the best parts to add to their own arsenal.
Bloodywood are bringing the heat, you best be ready for it.
- ‘Nu Delhi‘ is released on Friday (21 March).
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