Indian metal band Bloodywood recently made their US debut gracing a stage in September at Louisville’s Louder Than Life festival. Heavy Consequence caught up with lead vocalists Jayant Bhadula and Raoul Kerr after their debut performance to discuss India’s metal scene – which they predict will be greatly revitalized when the Independence Rock Festival returns in 2023.

Spencer Kaufman: Tell me about the metal scene in India. What exposed you to the music?

Jayant Bhadula: I was listening to metal from a young age, so I just wanted to do it. But the metal scene in India in general, it’s small, close knit. A lot of times there might not be a lot of metalheads in India, but it’s a tight knit community. So, everyone knows everyone and there’s a lot of talented bands out there in India. All of them grinding it out every day.

The thing is Bollywood is way bigger in India than anything else. So, if you want to play metal, you really must work hard to convince all these venues to give you the plays for Ks or whatever. But bands are doing that and especially with this new wave of independent Indian music there’s even people raising that, which is helping a lot.

We are playing two, three festivals in India now once we go back from the United States. So all of that’s coming back, one of the oldest Indian festivals is actually coming back. They stopped in 2012 but now they’re coming back, it’s called Independence Rock.

Raoul Kerr: Independence Rock was a big moment for heavy music in India. It was all these like OGs as well as the young blood, everyone coming out and they’ve just made their comeback. So we are really excited to be a part of that.

Watch the full interview below.

Bloodywood is a folk metal band from India that combines traditional Punjabi folk music with heavy metal sounds to create a unique sound that has captivated huge audiences all over the world. Their debut album Rakshak was released earlier this year and received huge fan and critical acclaim as well as racking up millions of streams on Spotify and YouTube.

The band will be touring the UK in March 2023 and has also been confirmed to perform at the 20th anniversary special of Download Festival.

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