Srilankan Thrash Metal Band Obsidius Interviewed

Interviewed By: Upasana Sharma

1. Unholy Maunder: First and foremost, greetings from India! Can you tell us your name please?

Obsidius: I'm Dinuka Jayasuriya from Sri Lanka and I'm here representing our band OBSIDIUS hailing from the hill capital of SL

2. UM: That’s great! Tell us the story behind your name. How did you come up with it?

Obsidius: First and foremost, we didn't want any serious name. We wanted to sound casual while giving the listener a 'taste of a thrash band'. So we decided to name it as Obsidius, since a 'Godzilla' named "Obsidius" was featured in the cartoon and comic version of the hit series "Godzilla". This gave us a casual feel plus a dangerous nature.

3. UM: Ah..Sounds interesting. So you guys will be releasing your first EP quite soon. Tell us a bit about the band? The kind of music you aim to deliver and your current line-up?
   
   

Obsidius: Yes, quite soon will be a good answer since we will be releasing it within this week hopefully. Well, we formed Obsidius while we were school students. As newbies to the heavy metal scene we started off by performing at various Talents shows in our city. Through this we were able to gain a lot of public attention, plus a lot of fans. 

As a band we always work towards keeping the 'old school thrash scene' alive. We tend to experiment a lot with different sub-genres of metal and come up with new tones and styles to 'stand out'. With every new song, we deliver a message, either through our lyrics or by the ear-drum booming riffs. Pantera, Metallica, Megadeth, Motorhead, Lamb of God and Kreator are our main influences and we work hard towards maintaining the listener's aggression level to a maximum while delivering what we want to deliver through it.

We are currently a "Penta-Killers Crew", as we like to call it since there are 5 people currently engaged in it and a few other members who work as Session artists. 

Lakshan Elikewala - Lead vocals
Dinuka Jayasuriya - Guitars and backing vox
Dennis Joel - Guitars
Virjan Marcellin - Bass Guitar
Shane Seneviratne - Drums and backing vox

4. UM: We understand there have been line-up changes since the beginning of Obsidius. Can you tell us a bit about what kind of changes that brought to your sound?

Obsidius: Yes, There have been a lot of changes since the day we started it. One of the main reasons why we had to keep changing the line-up was that we needed something 'heavier" than what we had. We started off as a hard rock band eventually advancing up to a local underground metal band. According to me, The Sri Lankan culture has its own way of standing out. We have unique traditions and a noble culture, admired by other countries of the world. So we tend to keep our music under our national flag, meaning: We use the SL music touch in our productions and we tend to keep it Sri Lankan in each and every note.

5. UM: Wow..That certainly is a very novel way of promoting Sri Lankan music. Are you signed to any labels at the moment?

Obsidius: Our EP is signed and agreed to be promoted through "Hela Distributions and Promotions" (HDaP), A non-profit organization in SL formed to promote and distribute Sri Lankan Metal music through their online services

6. UM: So how would you describe your music to the fans? What sets you apart, according to you?

Obsidius: I'd say, we Sri Lankan metal heads stick together for no race or any difference sets us apart. But we as a band, tend to produce music of our own style. I personally think that the use of Sinhala lyrics (The official language of SL), The use of old classical Sri Lankan "Wannam" music and the use of abstract lyrics that focus on the brutality of war and human discrimination gives us a unique class to ourselves.

7. UM: Sinhala lyrics sound great..And your first song promo had a very Iron Maiden'esque feel to it, if I may say so..
   Where and when did the band members meet and what led to the formation of Obsidius?

Obsidius: Yes, It does, doesn't it? We, like many other metal lovers from all around the world, love and follow Iron Maiden. They are a legend and so be it! 

We formed Obsidius as students. So each and every one of us were students at that time. We got together for practices almost every weekend. The practice sessions were great, since they normally ended with hysterical laughs from each and everyone if us, Laughing off our sorrows and problems along the way! 

Metal music is a major hit among Sri Lankan teens and music fanatics these days. The SL Music industry was advancing up and the craze for metal music never faded away. So we decided to form a band, hoping that we could join forces with this "army of titans" and produce good music for our metal fanatics.

8. UM: One rarely gets to hear from an international metal band coming out of Sri Lanka. Can you tell us a bit about the metal scene in SL as opposed to the general music scene?

Obsidius: The metal scene in SL is a blast! Local gigs keep happening and the love and craze for the underground metal scene keeps increasing. There are a few major bands rising up from the Hill capital of SL. Starting from FORSAKEN: The kings of the Hill capital thrash scene, PARIAH DEMISE: Hill capital black metal, INFERNAL, FALCON CRY and a few other bands that produce their music as underground metal artists. I'd like to state what I see in the near future of SL metal scene. 'I'm pretty sure that the way the SL Metal scene keeps advancing, we will be a proud union of metal heads banging our heads around our local metal gods while screaming our heads off, that’s for sure.'

9. UM: Definitely! I guess we'd better keep a good lookout for SL's metal acts from now on because it sounds like you metalheads are killing it there!
   So when is your first EP releasing and what will be your first single?

Obsidius: Definitely. We released our debut single called "Illusions" just a couple of months ago. The EP will be released at the end of this week or the start of next week hopefully. It will contain 5 original tracks including our single and will be available for download through our ReverbNation, Myspace or Facebook fan page. And it will definitely be available through "Hela Distributions and Promotions" online.

10. UM: Tell us about your writing process? The themes that your songs take up?

Obsidius:  Our vocalist, Lakshan is the main lyricist as well. He directs them to us after composing then we as a band decide if it's another hit single or not (Wink). We mainly focus on the social issues starting from poverty and ending with political issues while covering topics such as racism, sexism and many untold life stories of forgotten men, both in the society and in warfare. We tend to deliver a 'hidden' message through each and every song. Each riff, each drum beat and each scream is a form of delivering our message and emotions. Every note counts

11. UM: We gave a listen to Illusions and we'll certainly take your word for it! What will be the next step for the band after your EP's release?

Obsidius: We will be taking stage at the most anticipated Christmas metal gig in December, "SILENT SCREAM 2011", which will be held in Kandy, SL. Then we will be working on a few more tracks and hopefully our fans can look forward to an album release in the early stages of 2012. A Single will also be released this December alongside our performance at "Silent Scream". There's a lot to come and there's a lot to expect from us in the near future.

12. UM: All of the guys in Obsidius are students at the moment. How do you manage to keep the balance between rehearsals and leading a student life?

Obsidius: Some of us are college students and life is pretty tough! We embrace metal as a gift and so we practice during our leisure hours. Life can be pretty rough, but an enjoyable and productive practice session followed by a traditional Lankan meal cannot be compared to any other worldly pleasure. (Smiles)

13. UM: So...if not musicians, what would be your back up plans? (winks)

Obsidius: Everything in life needs a backup plan (wink). I am currently an under-graduate in Software Engineering and each of us follows different paths. "Paths to illumination", I'd rather say! Being musicians is part of our lives now. Programmer during day time and head banger by nightfall. That would be a perfect general image of us.

14. UM: One last question to wrap up this interview on a good note, what direction do you want Obsidius to take up in the future? How do you see yourself in the next few years?

Obsidius: We would like to release at least 2 albums on a national status and then move on for international acts depending on our band standing. We are hoping to hit more 'Sri Lankan underground metal' lights along the way as well. The local standing of our band is currently very stable and favorable so we'd like to move forward in our paths as a Lankan heavy metal band. We will be playing along side our brothers in crime, Forsaken, Pariah Demise, Falcon cry and all the underground metal kings in the near future.

15. UM: A word for your fans?

Obsidius: I'd like to say thanks to each and every one of you fans for helping us come to this position. It's for you that we work for, and we will continue to "preach you dark" as we move forward. 

And last but not least I'd like to thank you Unholy Maunder for giving me this opportunity to address the Indian Metal heads community on behalf of our band, OBSIDIUS. Hail and prevail \m/

16. UM: It was amazing interviewing you, Dinuka and I'd like to thank you and Obsidius on behalf of Unholy Maunder for reinstalling a passion for global metal in us. Hope to see you guys perform in India someday and you can be sure that the Um team will be hitting up the venues.