siLLy puPPy Metal bands have really been on the increase in India in the last decade with various subgenera emerging from all over the country. One of the more unlikely places for a metal artist to come into existence is the extreme eastern region of the Indian state of Assam. ASCETICK is one of many one-man black metal bands that has popped up in the world and this project is the baby of AvsHKHzrA who plays all instruments.

So far the ASCETICK project has only yielded two EP releases. This first self-titled EP that came out in 2016 and “Hypnagogia” which was released the following year in 2017. This is a short little sucker with only three tracks that just misses the 16 minute mark. While unusual for the geography from whence it came, ASCETICK doesn’t really offer anything new under the sun as it as wholeheartedly adopted a wintery frigid style of Norwegian atmospheric black metal with chunky guitar riffs and stormy atmospheres. The bass provides a separate groove and is audible and the drums are mostly on lazy mode.

Basically the emphasis is on the atmospheric elements. The black metal consists of repetitive guitar riffs which start out slow and build up thrash metal intensity but the melodic flow is fairly simple. The most interesting aspect is the tortured vocals and guitar tones. The production is actually pretty good and the balance between the raw grittiness of kvlt black metal sounds with a polished mixing job is perfect however overall the musicianship is a bit on the mediocre side. This could probably be counted as a demo as it sounds like a rough draft of something bigger down the line. The best track is by far the eight and a half minute closing “Beyond Misty Mountains” which chugs along with murky gloom and doom in blackened bleakness.

Despite coming from India there is absolutely nothing here to indicate as such. If i were to guess i would totally peg this as a black metal release emerging from some Nordic nation or even Germany. While metal has grown in popularity in India, black metal is still a bit of a rarity however with bands like Tetragrammacide, Demonic Resurrection, Cry, Diabolus Arcanium and Toxoid emerging from the land of Ravi Shankar, it’s safe to predict that more bands will jump on the bandwagon as time goes by. As for ASCETICK, this is a decent black metal release but definitely not anything to get wildly excited about either.