MUMBAI: Not to compare, but the second ROOTS night at the antiSocial Khar has managed to raise a bit of excitement and offers diversity through its programming. On May 8, the first ROOTS night featured Bhayanak Maut and Providence, thus leading to an ideal start to the Bajaao Entertainment's latest initiative in the live music space. For the second month of its effort, ROOTS attempts to distinguish itself from some of the other monotonous and repetitive metal concepts that eventually lost the entire purpose of their existence.

Rishabh Seen or "that cool musician who covered Animals As Leaders on a sitar" makes his debut at the venue that can be dubbed as 'musicians' venue'. The 19-year-old sitarist surprised the global metal community with the cover of Animals As Leaders' original 'Tempting Waves'. Seen also formed a band 'Mute The Saint' and the sitarist would perform two originals from the upcoming EP for the first time. Seen's setlist will include three Animals As Leaders cover apart from the two originals, and the young musician hopes the effort turns the night into one of his most memorable ones. "I would like to mention that my band's record will be the first ever record to feature an Indian Classical Instrument as the lead instrument in a metal band setup, which makes it the first ever entire record to bridge Indian Classical and Progressive Metal together properly in the history of Sitar itself. I will be playing these 2 songs live for the first time ever at ROOTS and that's what makes this concert one of the most memorable and special for me," said Seen.

The sitarist has performed on various platforms across several countries, and the motivating initiatives set up to support the alternative music scene has impressed Seen, and played as one of the factors towards participating for ROOTS. "ROOTS is finally the beginning for me and why I was tempted to be a part of it, because above getting a stage and all that stuff, I think the people that are involved in making this happen are really the people who have structured and defined the Independent music scene - For a long time I was in touch with Sumit Vaswani, Himanshu Vaswani and Anoop (Bajaao team) and I was very familiar with the very important role everyone over at Bajaao and AntiSocial have played in terms of not only the Metal scene but Independent music scene in general, so that really hit me up and I really wanted to just be up for it the
moment I got the call. Secondly, the first edition of Roots with Bhayanak Maut and Providence was very well received and I really loved the idea and vision behind building up a consistency in organising such a concert where you just get to witness such great talent, every other month and I think it will eventually keep growing," adds Seen.

Every platform counts as a golden opportunity for the newcomers, and raw musicians craving for that limelight on the stage. Eight-year-old progressive metal band 'Reverrse Polarity' hit the gig circuit after a brief hiatus but that has not affected their sane judgments and opinions. Impressed with venue's sound and energy, the band makes its debut at the venue, joined by Noiseware and Aswekeepsearching bassist Bob Alex. The band's setlist would mostly include originals from its previous works, as the members hope to release the new album before the end of the year.

Undying Inc. - the third act of the night - applauds ROOTS' decision to be hosted at an underground venue. The 'in your face' ethic that was bred in the underground scene from the West, passionately and fairly adopted by the Indian metallers today, drives the genre out of the pubs and lounges and to its rightful home - underground basement. antiSocial Khar's half battle was won with the space and the tie-up with Bajaao Entertainment for the sound. Undying Inc. members carry the 90s punk hardcore and thrash death bands crossover vibe, and the sounds and the spirit of rebellion is in the band's roots - perfectly evident through the lyrics - and thus ROOTS and antiSocial become the ideal platforms for yet another popular Mumbai-based band craving for a home.