(2004 - Present) 1833 AD is a Black Metal band hailing from New Delhi, India and has been spreading their message of oppression and hatred for the past 4 years. Vocalist Nishant, with his distinct rasped vocal style and Rahul’s dark, yet melodic guitar riffs bring a new dimension to the Black Metal genre, a genre usually characterized by an aggressive and abrasive sound. 1833 AD brings forth a fresh approach to Black Metal digressing from the traditional abrasive sound and concocting a mixture of extreme tremolo picking riffs and mellow melodic hooks and solos. With lyrical themes mostly centered around hatred, war, catastrophe, destruction and the exploitation of the human race, 1833 AD takes a little detour from what people mostly categorize Black Metal lyrics as. Birth The band was founded by Nishant Abraham and Sushmit Mazumdar in 2004. The band struggled initially, experimenting with different Guitarists and Drummers, even performing under different band names. Rahul Mehalwal, who responded to an advert posted in 2005, joined as the Guitarist and has been part of the band ever since. When things finally began to settle down, Drummer, Puneet Rajput unfortunately quit the band to take on full time drum duties for Artillerie. The success which seemed so near was suddenly distanced by this turn of events and the band became dormant for over a year. Re-Birth The excruciating hunt for the perfect drummer went on for months. While this greatly affected live performances, the band decided not to let it hinder the creativity. The search and auditions continued, and so did writing new material for the album. Way back in 2006, the Drummer, Shashank Sagar, who had played an important role in framing the direction of the band, quit due to his drug problems and interest in pursuing the Depressive Suicidal Black Metal genre. After a fatal overdose which almost cost him his life, he got his act together and started concentrating more on Music, helping out bands as a session drummer. Finally he expressed interest to rejoin the band and was gladly welcomed back. After regrouping to it’s core line up 1833 AD started playing live in a matter of few weeks and took the metal scene by storm once again. However, Shashank Sagar had to leave the band due to certain unavoidable circumstances just as the band was to leave for colombo, Sri Lanka to headline "The Black Mass Festival", and was replaced by Raghav Sehgal who has been handling the drum duties for 1833 AD ever since. Music 1833 AD brings forth a fresh approach to Black Metal digressing from the traditional abrasive sound, concocting a mixture of extreme tremolo picking riffs and mellow melodic hooks and solos. The alarmingly different guitar playing styles of Rahul and Nishant blend in perfectly to create an atmosphere of sorrow and hatred which do justice to the lyrical themes of the band. Ideology With lyrical themes mostly centered on fiction, hatred, destruction and exploitation of the human race, 1833 AD takes a little detour from what people mostly categorize Black Metal lyrics as. Few songs do speak of supremacy of evil in this world but only to imply the ways of men and not by endorsing Satanism, Atheism or even Christianity. The Name The song 1833 AD is a fictional story about a religious cult, which in the 19th century drove its followers into a mass suicide in a hope to be resurrected after three days just like their Saviour Jesus Christ did in 33 AD. Much later when the band was trying to zero in on a name that would suit their music, Reuben (Undying Inc) suggested that 1833 AD itself would be a good option. This was immediately liked and approved by all. Future 1833 AD is currently concentrating on playing more live shows at the moment. The work on the first album titled ‘My Dark Symphony’ has started and the release can be expected shortly. Press Reviews "Very nice music. The guitars & vocals are really good. Great tracks!" Nocturno Culto - Guitarist/Vocalist - Darkthone "This is a really good band! I like it and some of the chords there are godly!!! Awesome stuff!!!!!" George Kollias - Drummer - Nile "Digging your sound a lot, especially "Empty Shrine." That ghostly yowl at the end of the breakdown is a fantastic touch. Drums are kicking ass, guitar playing is uber-solid, and the bass is on target." Jeremy Rosen, Director, Digital Platforms & Web Sites for Roadrunner Records - Signmetoroadrunner.com "You guys are great, this is awesome stuff" Line Wiklund - Black Metal Critic, Norway "Nishant Abraham is a very good Black metal vocalist and even though he admits to not being much of a talker, his vocals kill you with in an eerie manner. His vocals are very Abbath-like and Shashank Sagar on drums is an Indian Hellhammer" Xavier D'Souza - Music Tranquiliser "These guys know the business. Simple. They know what black metal is all about. In my opinion they are one the few bands who know how to perform live" Prayag Thakkar - Gypsyontherocks "As for the performance the band kicked so much ass that re-making Brokeback Mountain doesn’t seem like a good idea. They owned the place and had the crowd on their toes" Itihas Shetty - Absurd History Blog "It takes just 4 Indians to create black metal." Itihas Shetty - Absurd History Blog "With a sound that is inherently brutal, 1833 AD are here to pummel your senses and leave you wanting for more. With a name inspired from a time in world history which was plagued with disasters and sickness, one can be sure that this Black Metal band means business" Andrew Lu, RSJ "With a sound that is inherently brutal, 1833 AD are here to pummel your senses and leave you wanting for more. With a name inspired from a time in world history which was plagued with disasters and sickness, one can be sure that this Black Metal band means business" Rock Street Journal "With things heating up in the growing metal scene in our country, 1833 AD is most definitely the band look out for in the coming year." Jitesh Rajan - Indianrockmp3.com Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.