Baker's Dozen

Artists discuss the 13 records that shaped their lives

4. Absence Of LightVyom Chakra

You know Shiv Mandavia? He’s this big filmmaker. He was the same guy hosting that metal show on the radio where I found Sepultura and Suicide Silence, and he was the vocalist of Absence Of Light. They dropped ‘Vyom Chakra’ on 11/11/11 at the turn of the decade. It was the first really serious metal record Kenya had released, it was on par to compete internationally. I was very excited for them. That never left me because I loved how they fused their background and Hinduism and culture with metal.

I loved how they fused all these things from the Bhagavad Gita: nirvana, samadhi, all these states of consciousness and afterlife and how gods reincarnate into their music. And they’re from Ken, so it was so cool to see that. I pay them homage till today because they inspired me and made me who I am.

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