In July last year, Delhi prog metal band Colossal Figures and the metal community in India lost vocalist Govind Marodia, who passed away at the age of 24 following a road accident. Nearly a year to the date, the band returns to the stage today at The Double Bill at Antisocial.

Anurag Tagat: What has the last year been like for you guys?

Karan Mehta (guitarist): It has been really hard for most of us, everyone has been trying to keep themselves as busy as they can. Govind was more than just a band member, he was more like a brother.

AT: When did you begin to think about the future of the band after Govind passed away? Was the first reaction to disband or want to stay together to keep the memory alive?

KM: Initially, everyonne kind of drifted away from each other because we would remind each other of him. It was only recently that we met and decided to work on some music.

AT: Now you're playing in Delhi this week - your first gig in more than a year. What is it like getting back to these songs?

KM: The first couple of times we jammed on the songs, we could still hear Govind sing through them. I personally have been listening to the album quite a lot and the connection has only gotten stronger. Let's hope we can do justice to them and make some new music in the coming future.

AT: There was, at one point, the idea to play as an instrumental band, right? When did you start looking out for vocalists?

KM: There was, but then we never could really talk about all this initially, it was always very disconnected. Only recently when we all met, we thought of trying out some vocalists.

AT: Dhairya is now on vocals. What is it like coming on board with the band to play these songs?

Dhairya Sethi (vocalist, formerly of Rabbit is Rich): I have been used to doing both cleans and growls for my band but it's really difficult to fit into Govind's shoes. His melodic range was very good and the way he could do both the things at the same time so effectively is quite challenging.

AT: Which songs are you playing?

KM: Most of the stuff from the last album (Clockwork Dilation). The vocalist is still getting used to our style of music and for a prog metal band, learning songs and lyrics can be challenging.

AT: This is the first Colossal gig. What are the plans, if any, after this show? Has there been an interest from organisers for you guys to play more?

KM: We are playing another show on the July 3 in Delhi, paying our respects to a fan who passed away in a bike accident recently. Mutual friends from the metal scene are working on it and we just couldn't say no. We are still discovering the direction the new music will be taking, the idea was always to evolve as musicians. Hopefully, we can get something out in the next couple of months and expect other promoters to book us.

Colossal Figures join Kraken and Noiseware on day two of The Double Bill, on June 26 at Antisocial, HKV. Event details on Facebook.