Indian Death Metal

Akshay Ahuja wrote recently in Guernica on death metal in India as an example the influx of Western culture there, for better or for worse. He begins:

"It was near midnight on the eve of India’s independence, and I was at a concert called Freedom Jam, held at a club on the outskirts of Bangalore called only The Club. Watching the band perform from beside the stage, I noticed a girl with a nose ring. My grandmother’s nose was pierced when she married at thirteen; her nose ring was a sign that she adhered to a certain traditional image of Indian womanhood. For this girl, however, the ring indicated that she was not just westernized (such girls simply chose not to get their noses pierced) but a member of an alternative community that existed outside the mainstream of westernized Indian youth."

The writer goes to see his friend, the lead singer for Cremated Souls, and they head to practice and head to a show. It's simple story, but an interesting read.