BLOODYWOOD
“Nu Delhi”
Album Review by Iron Mathew

9/10

Bloodywood are a folk metal band from India formed in 2016 releasing two albums to date – ‘Rakshak’ (2022) and ‘Nu Delhi’ (2025).

Now you’ve all heard of Hollywood! And Bollywood! Then how about Bloodywood! No – well Bloodywood are a metal band hailing from New Delhi in the heart of India…first catching the eyes and ears of a worldwide audience via the bands YouTube channel, when multi-instrumentalist, producer and composer Karan Katiyar, and vocalist Jayant Bhadula began to get deadly serious about their craft. So stepping out of the studio, Bloodywood went on the “Raj Against The Machine” tour, performing concerts across Europe and the UK, including appearances at some of the worlds biggest metal festivals such as Bloodstock, Download and Hellfest to name just three! The bands line-up consists of founders Katiyar and Bhadula, rap singer Raoul Kerr, drummer Vishesh Singh, bass player Roshan Roy and dhol (double-headed drum) player Sarthak Pahwa – the new album consisting of eight songs across thirty three minutes featuring a unique blend of Indian folk music, rap, nu, groove, modern and classic heavy metal!

Tribal chanting welcomes listeners to album opener ‘Halla Bol’, the band building a tense atmosphere as the ground shudders tremendously after forty five seconds – the gruff, rap style vocals perfectly suited to this type of abrasive, aggressive and in your face music! And if you were expecting a silky smooth array of folk metal due to the bands genre tag, you’re probably reeling in disbelief right now, for the metal on offer is a million miles away from traditional folk metal! But then if you break down the bands genre tag, “folk” refers to Indian folk music and “metal” to a myriad of metal styles from all across the metal spectrum – ‘Hutt’ maintaining the albums eye and ear opening barrage with a glorious groove metal feel! Losing none of the aggressive nature of the previous song, ‘Hutt’ is a foot stomping fury that leans heavily towards thrash.

An eclectic opening brace from the Indian metallers, ‘Nu Delhi’ continues its ground shuddering intentions with ‘Dhadak’, the vocals cleaner than either of the two previous songs, Bloodywood resuming their emphatic pummelling prowess after a minute and a half – listeners all over the world hooked on the bands music, wondering which direction it’ll turn in next! A faster pace lights up the album as ‘Bekhauf’ storms outta the blocks at top speed, with guest musicians Alvin & The Chipmunks making an appearance over the chorus break – err, wait, what, who…I hear you all cry! Oh I’m sorry, I meant to say Babymetal, the ridiculous for fun, false metal band from Japan who deliver a blend of pop come extreme metal, with choreographed dance moves, a backing band (if you can call them that) made up mainly of session musicians, and a vocal screech that I often mistake for Alvin & The Chipmunks! But to be fair, Babymetal are very much like Marmite – “you either love ’em, or hate ’em”. And I hate Marmite! But to be fair for a second time, ‘Bekhauf’ is the best song heard so far, the pace, power and oomph all top notch.

The bands folk music influence shines brighter than a thousand suns across ‘Kismat’s first thirty seconds or so before Bloodywood return their incredible heavy hitting nature to the fore, ‘Kismat’ sending shockwaves all the way round the world! The impact the band are making is phenomenal, everyone everywhere sitting up to take notice of the metal storm pouring out of India – an all conquering, all consuming storm that’s taking the world literally by err, storm! Groove metal makes an emphatic return as ‘Daggebaaz’ lurches forth with all of, maybe even more attitude than everything heard up to this point, the band continuing to mix together plenty of musical styles – a mix that’s as mesmerising as it is intoxicating! I wouldn’t try counting ’em all as there’s just way too many.

But to be fair (for a third time), the multitude of styles on offer doesn’t detract from the bands music – music which at times comes across as a breath of fresh air! Come on, be honest, have you heard anything like this before? ‘Tadka’ resumes what I consider to be Bloodywood’s root sound – groove come folk come thrash with rough, gruff, rap style vocals and the bands special ingredient that makes their music so fucking unique! And just like the KFC original recipe, the band are keeping the ingredient a closely guarded secret – the album coming to a close with the title song ‘Nu Delhi’, the most rap come folk orientated song on offer. The bands metal influence is still there though, Bloodywood maintaining their incredibly tight hold on listeners attentions – a hold the band have held since minute one, with song one.

Overall, a mesmerising fusion of various metal styles and folk music, ‘Nu Delhi’ is a fascinating journey that you’ll wanna listen to time and time again.

TRACKLIST

Halla Bol
Hutt
Dhadak
Bekhauf (feat. Babymetal)
Kismat
Daggebaaz
Tadka
Nu Delhi

https://www.bloodywood.net/
https://www.facebook.com/bloodywood.delhi

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