Stigmata Raises The Bar!
After 5 long years Stigmata will finally release their 4th album ‘The Ascetic Paradox’ (TAP), in celebration of 15 years in the metal music industry.
As a heavy metal band formed in 1999 by Suresh De Silva, Andrew Obeysekara and Tennyson Napolean, Stigmata is no strange name to us Sri Lankans or for that matter many people in the metal industry around the world. The band hasn’t released any new music since their last album in 2010, Psalms of Conscious Martyrdom. But all this changed on September 17 (2015) when Stigmata released their song ‘An Idle Mind is the Devil's Workshop’ - a track from their new upcoming album TAP.
'TAP' is the world's first Interactive Concept Album, i.e. all the music and lyrics center around a single overall theme or story that the listener is free to figure out for themselves. The album is made up of 8 tracks spanning for nearly one hour divided up into two movements, the 1st movement in the first 4 songs and the 2nd movement for the others.
The stunning album artwork by Madhri Samaranayake paints the theme and the plot of each song in the album. The 7 characters, each symbolizing the 7 deadly sins have a ‘familiar’ assigned to each to represent the character and personality. The martyr, the resurrector, the consigliore, the torturer, the tortured and the solitary lamenter are all in a clock mechanism, connected together by the Lady Justice at the center. What they all mean, and what happens in the end is for the listener to delve in and figure out.
At a listening party held on October 4, the band unveiled the new album to media and a close group of friends for the first time. It was one of those albums that you have to listen to in one go - once you begin to listen, the story will draw you in and there’s no room for pause.
The first few tracks build up the momentum and the listener, word by word, slowly progresses to the story behind the song. A few songs in - and you will find yourself effortlessly drifting from one song to another, riveted as the story unfolds. The lyrics have their own story, their own character and their own interpretation and a lot of the tracks on the album incorporate Sri Lankan instruments and even the vocals of the Soul Sounds Academy choir.
Ravin David Ratnam of Paragon Studio, who has produced music for several international artists and who also produced TAP spoke about what it was like to work on this album, “This is the first ever album recording I’ve done in the metal genre and with a band so I really didn’t know what to expect. They were easy to work with,”
Stigmata will debut their new album at a launch concert on October 17 at the British School Auditorium. Not only would the band be performing the entire full length album, they would also be performing a gig curtailing some of their best hits from the last 3 albums in commemoration of their 15th year anniversary. “I have never been more stressed in my 32 years! This is so stressful but completely fulfilling. This album stands on its own and we can’t wait. I’m hoping it’s something people will want to revisit over and over again,” says lead singer, Suresh De Silva.
For anyone with an appreciation for pure Sri Lankan metal - this album launch is an event you wouldn’t want to miss. Not only is the album worth the wait, the unraveling of the story is exciting and a truly distinctive experience.
The show will begin at 7pm. Tickets can be reserved via Hotline on 0768960000 and are available online at stigmatasl.com. Tickets will be pre sold at Rs. 1500 and will be priced Rs.2000 at the gate (this will be inclusive of the original album with fully illustrated artwork and signed colour poster).
By Panchali Illankoon
Photographs by Nisal Baduge
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