Aarlon is a five-piece band that consists of fry screams, some super compressed riffs and fun hooks everyone can sing along or headbang to. While they have no responsibility to experiment or try anything groundbreaking on their new song ‘Vidroh’ (and they don’t), the context of the song itself serves as a reminder (and a wryly funny one, at that) of that old, prevalent stay-in-your-lane culture our country is famous for (and everyone always complains about).

Right out of the gate, the song itself is bread-and-butter throughout; the riffs are riffy-y, the drums are super punchy (shout out to the man behind the kit Pranky Borah, who keeps it straight and simple in a genre infamous for doing the exact opposite), the vocals have some cool semi-distorted, semi-clean passages a la Devin Townsend (an artists the band lists as an influence) and the general songwriting is pretty middle-of-the-road. There’s everything a metal listener will find familiar; the little ambient and toned-down passages, the double-time sections that bookend contemplative verses and the feel-good liftoff choruses that you don’t need a degree in music to jump to. The way it looks, Aarlon isn’t looking to break new ground in the music department. What they go for instead on ‘Vidroh’ is to give the song context and try to show that the fact that making a song exist isn’t an easy road.

The video has some sort of loose narrative about how society wants everyone to button up and stay in the safest, least risky lane, which makes the band’s journey one of the most problematic socially. Vocalist Pritam Goswami Adhikary (whose control and range is commendable throughout the track) sings about a lot of moody feelings and the idea of being ostracized from families and one’s immediate circle because being a musician is hard and the only friends you have are in the musical community your band belongs to; only they push you and encourage you to keep doing what you like. Even though this isn’t breaking news by any means or a sentiment that hasn’t been echoed enough already, Aarlon seems to be coming from an angry and disillusioned place on this track, so when it is genuine, it is a feeling that needs to be put out. There is also an idea of escaping from one’s mundane and boring life and leaving cultural norms for what one truly loves; these ideas are more visual and textural to be more than a loosely-tied accompaniment to the song’s messages.

Even though people spend a lot of time bitching and moaning about everything on the internet today, and most of it is unfortunately required, sometimes there is a need for a direct reminder of what the priorities of an art and the pursuit thereof are. Aarlon doesn’t seem to want to deal with much else on ‘Vidroh’ and that’s fine. Hell, maybe once in a while, it’s a good thing.

Watch Vidroh below: