Nihilism. You don’t get much of that in today’s music. Instead, music too often is a soundtrack to consumer activity with no attempt to be anything other than some more bling to add to your monthly subscription. Anyway, what has that to do with “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised But It Will Be Heard” by Heathen Beast?
Quite a lot actually. It is no surprise to find self-proclaimed nihilism in a death metal band whether from India – from whence Heathen Beast hail – or anywhere else but few bands from that genre combine maximum musical muscle power with such an overt political stance in such a convincing way as this band do. Mixing in soundbites from the political heads of India with their muscular riffs and percussive thrash proves to be positively inspired with the result transcending the boundaries of a normally predictable genre to reach a level of manically chanted discontent that precisely counterpoints the empty rhetoric of corrupt politicians and self-promoting religious leaders.
As song titles like “Fuck Your Whatsapp University” and “Fuck The Economy (Modi Already Has)” will no doubt imply, sunshine isn’t one of the ingredients in the recipe for this album and, with their brutal nihilism always to the fore, Heathen Beast prove themselves to be the sledgehammer that will crack your passive middle class nut.
I don’t even like metal but even I had to hit the repeat button on “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised But It Will Be Heard” as it has been a long, long time since I heard something as angry as this album. Funny how something so inherently full of negativity actually turns out to be positively refreshing.