Despite Earth, the brainchild of guitarist Biswajit Misra recently released its debut EP Apotheosis in November last year. A collaborative venture, the record features hip-hop project Till Apes’ drummer Sange Wangchuk on the drums, and Keshav Dhar from progressive-djent band Skyharbor taking up mixing and mastering duties. This instrumental concept EP ends up a punchy, over-the-top hardcore record from a musician who has taken it upon himself to get into the nitty-gritty of technical djent and progressive metal inspired by the likes of Meshuggah, TesseracT, Tool, and Monuments. The record’s narrative is an endeavor to sonically conceptualize the four major archetypes propounded by Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung – the Self, the Persona, the Shadow, and the Animus.

Kicking off with “Self” based after the eponymous archetype, Apotheosis unravels its harsh, uninhibited sonic palette; gnarly guitar work and raucous drumming that play out in several odd-timed yet meditative passages. The song’s outro blooms into “Persona” which opens with an ambient, rippling, arpeggio guitar riff overlayed with heavier colours from a second guitar. Strewn with technically complex rhythmic passages and lead sections, the song is an impeccable display of unfettered yet controlled guitar-playing chiseled by skilful and overall matured production. The song spills into the intro of “Akrasia” – an impulsive descent into darkness. Broken guitar rhythms and complementary drumming characterize the track’s robustness while very subtle melodic ornamentations illuminate its soundscape. “Animus”, the EP’s curtain drawer is bold and in-your-face, creating much space for the drums to stand out, especially in a rather impetuous solo section. It is almost as if the guitars work to highlight the drum parts in this particular track, rather than vice-versa. The track ends as abruptly as it starts, bringing the EP to its zestful conclusion.

In spite of its extreme and sometimes overtly aggressive approach, Apotheosis manages to keep itself from falling into the pool of overdone metal sounds that has built up in the Indian metal scene in the past decade. Its overtly technical nature which could’ve come off as a fatal flaw had it not been dealt with finesse, works for it well. Misra has shown quality and potential on his debut EP.