MUMBAI: Two years and a day ago, the Republic of India welcomed its newest state – Telangana – thus ending a decade-long of unrest and socio-political convolutions in the region. The tremors of the protest and the impression of the eventual outcome further motivated other regions in the country to demand for independent states for their respective reasons. People in Vidarbha asked for ending geographical ties with Maharashtra, Gorkha Janmukti Morcha restarted the agitation for a separate Gorkhaland state, and this phenomenon continued to the states of Gujarat, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.

Among the aspiring independent regions, the North-eastern state Assam prepared for the escalated and rejuvenated demand for exclusive recognition for the district of ‘Karbi Anglong’ situated at the centre of the state. Karbi Anglong comprises mostly of the tribal (lower caste), often deprived of the government’s development plans and activities. The lack of acknowledgment towards the locals’ demands, since the 1970s, led to major expression of anger through protests involving burning down the government buildings, courtesy to the result of the nature of protests in Telangana. The situation In Karbi Anglong gave birth to a renewed environment that comprised of angst, hope, disappointment and violence. And these four elements became the subjects  of the year-old rap metal band ‘Ambush’.

(Students protesting outside a government building)

True to its name, the four-piece outfit found a common goal and a channel to express the desire to attack the shortcomings or ill-governance through non-violent artistic manner. Risim Rongpi – the senior-most member of the band – held a microphone, early in his life, serving a different purpose via a different genre. The 31-year-old began his musical journey as a free-style rapper, before discovering three other locals who shared the same wavelength in the matters of music, politics, and everything related to the then-burning region of Karbi Anglong. Ambush comprises of Rongpi’s nephew, neighbor and a friend, and the camaraderie has grown stronger with every protest. The last fourteen months passed by amidst protests and demonstrations, and every time Anglong burns, Ambush utilises one of the most powerful tools to express the scenario – music.

So far, Rongpi and co. have hit the studios for five different times, leading to five original compositions. Ambush’s latest effort – the single ‘Bleeding Anglong’ – portrays the band in its rawest and most intense avatar. The lyrical essence of the single revolves around the social updates of the region, but the band’s evolution – lyrically and sonically – in its short period since inception has been immensely impressive. Sonically, the band implements heavy metal consistently, while the lyrical emphasis remains towards   protests, and although on the surface Ambush looks like an encore of hip-hop enthusiasts, the soul and the ideologies transcend the identity of the band beyond a specific style or genre.

‘Bleeding Anglong’ earned the band much-deserved recognition outside the familiar territories, and a music video thanks to Pepsi MTV Indies. The title of the track says it all, and constant lies and bloodshed filling the atmosphere of the hills gave birth to Ambush’s most-heard composition yet. The band’s another single ‘9mm’ laments about the practice of ‘bandhs’ turning into a culture and how Anglong was becoming the epitome of the practice. ‘9 mm’ - the standard size of the firearm cartridge has the potential to kill a human body – depicts the metaphorical meaning of the literal effect of the bullet. ”One day this 9mm and Karbi Anglong bandh shall bury us all”– expresses the chorus of the song that repeats for the most part throughout the song.

Individual strengths of the members of Ambush positively reflect in the collective effort. The outro solo for ‘9mm’, in the Tom Morello style, offers an energetic conclusion to the composition. The Morello-influenced guitar-play isn’t the only ‘Rage-Against-The-Machine-vibe-inducing’ factor to Ambush’s compositions. Rongpi sports a cop outfit (as seen in the Bleeding Anglong video) during most of the live shows performed, while the drummer sweats it out bare-chested, and the bassist and guitarist project a punk-rock attitude. Ambush includes their influences – RATM, Whiskey Boys – in its set-list between the originals.

The newly-elected government arrives with a new ray of hope, hopes the band, and the members assure the ambition and goals of Ambush are not politically motivated. Through its music, the 2015-born band would continue to manifest what it stands for through the tools that do not require 9mm artilleries, but amplifiers, cables, and instruments. Ambush won’t rest until corrupt governments who poison the soil of Assam extinct forever, and the protest songs won’t stop until the agonising noise of bullets is replaced with the enchanting sound of music in the hills of Karbi Anglong.

Ambush is -
Risim Rongpi (Vocals)
Amarjeet Bey (Guitar)
Jitu Tokbi (Bass)
Sandip Hakmaosa (Drums)