'Welcome to the land of the Wild, Wild East,’ declare Bloodywood on the title track to their second album proper. And wild is right. In the three years since Rakshak, they’ve refined their sound and become a respected international touring act, making a huge splash at Bloodstock and becoming the first Indian metal band to make a mark on the US Billboard charts in the process. What they haven’t done is rein in the untrammelled energy that made them such an entertaining draw in the first place. Nu Delhi is as colourful, chaotic and multi-faceted as the vast city they love, hate and call home.
That punning title pins Bloodywood’s love of nu metal to their sleeves. But beyond the lurching, downtuned riffs, Nu Delhi delves both further back and further forward than Korn and Limp Bizkit’s heyday. There’s a naivety that recalls the frenetic, anything-goes approach of rap-metal forerunners like Senser and Urban Dance Squad, who were throwing everything they could grab into a musical blender before nu metal became its own codified genre. It’s a don’t-give-a-hang attitude that has resurfaced with acts like Wargasm, Poppy and even Babymetal – who make an appearance here on the superb Bekhauf, a trilingual explosion of floaty keys, dislocating grooves and kawaii bubblegum hooks.
Alongside that ever-present energy, Bloodywood’s unique selling point has been the vibrant Indian folk elements that they weave through the metallic sounds and structures. These are still very much present, but they’re now more integrated into the whole. Songs such as Halla Bol and Dhadak have some of their heaviest passages yet, but there are musical tendrils – dhol drums, horns, flutes and more – skittering everywhere. The interplay between sung and rapped vocals is better than ever, and Nu Delhi is an exhilarating rush that should see Bloodywood’s star rise still further.
New Delhi is out this Friday, March 21. Order our exclusive Bloodywood x Metal Hammer bundle via the official Metal Hammer store
