The Down Troddence – How Are You? We are Fine, Thank You

18th January 2014 0 By Suzie Rottencrotch

As you’ve probably gathered by now, I’m a big fan of the Indian metal scene and am always on the look out for new and upcoming Indian metal bands – especially bands who are not afraid to try something a bit different and, ideally, retain some sense of their Indian identidy.

From what I’ve been hearing, The Down Troddence is one such band. They describe themselves as a folk-thrash band, have been getting rave reviews, and their official music video for single ‘Shiva‘ received the Best Music Video award at the IndieGo South Asian Music Awards.

I was therefore thrilled when I was asked if I would like to review their debut album for All About The Rock.

How Are You? We are Fine, Thank You opens with beautiful acoustic track, ‘A.V.‘. It’s akin to something from Soulfly‘s more mellow moments, and it lures the listener in…

… before things get seriously heavy with ‘Hell Within Hell‘ – an aggressively hard hitting track with a fantastic groove metal vibe that gets the head banging within seconds!

The rest of the album is equally relentless, and angry as hell – and yet the band have created album in which each track has its own sound, and the album avoids the trap of everything sounding samey. In addition, each track on How Are You? We are Fine, Thank You has a refreshing undercurrent of ambient rhythm that incorporates elements of traditional Kerala folk music – resulting in an album with its own unique sound.

The music production is first class and perfectly balances the angry groove based riffs with the more subtle folk based elements. Lyrically, the band sings about the inequalities and injustices within India’s social and political systems, and represent the views of the under-privileged and down-trodden. The CD booklet comes with full lyrics… and some amazing artwork.

If you’re a fan of thrash or groove metal, and are looking for an album offering something a little different, I would strongly recommend you check out How Are You? We are Fine, Thank You. On the basis of this album, The Down Troddence are a band that are going to go places.

Score: 9 out of 10