The Rats of Gomorrah tour is spread across eight cities, starting in Guwahati and closing in Bengaluru
Anurag Tagat
Oct 06, 2022
German death metal duo Divide (top) will join Hyderabad metallers Godless across eight cities this month. Photos: Anshu Bhingradia, Courtesy of the artist
When Hyderabad/Bengaluru thrash-death metallers Godless headed out to Europe in 2019, they were sharing the bill with German death metal duo Divide. Godless bassist and founder Abbas Razvi says, “The chemistry between us was really good and it was one of my most easiest tours to pull off so we thought of getting the boys down here to let them experience how things go on in our part of the world.”
Divide, who have been around since 2009 and became a duo comprising guitarist-vocalist Daniel Stelling and drummer Moritz Paulsen in 2017, took advantage of just being two members and spent 2019 touring Serbia, Brazil, Peru, Ecuador and Chile on the back of their album From Seed to Dust. Now, they’ve set their sights on India. “Being able to tour again means the world to us, as we’ve been thinking about touring India since 2019. We are looking forward to get to know the Indian culture, as much as we are anxious about the climate,” Stelling says with a laugh.
The eight-city tour kicks off on October 9th in Guwahati and includes stops in Shillong (October 12th), Imphal (October 14th), Kolkata (October 15th), Hyderabad (October 16th), Mumbai (October 20th), Chennai (October 21st) and comes to a close in Bengaluru on October 22nd.
Even after all the experience Razvi has gained putting together tours for Godless within India (sometimes alongside Mumbai brutal death metallers Gutslit), he admits bringing in an international act is a challenge for heavy music in India. “It’s very difficult to pull something like this off. Even with a couple of local bands it’s a pain to pull off. We have to try and map the most sensible route for the tour with very little breaks in between. A day you don’t play is money wasted. So we had to really plan that out where we don’t waste days but also don’t burn out,” he says.
To that end, Godless will perform material from their recent album States of Chaos and a few new songs, now joined by drummer Vishnu Reddy. “There’s a lot of material off our last record which we haven’t taken live yet so it’s going to be fun to pull off such punishing songs live,” Razvi says. While Godless have a thrash metal edge to their sound, Divide often lean on black metal intensity to their repertoire. Stelling says, “Typical for Divide is a raw show, lots of good vibes. We don’t take ourselves too seriously compared to lots of old school bands. And don’t get fooled by us only being two guys, we still bring the noise.”
Outside of the shows, Divide say they’re keen to just make new friends out in India. “We’d like to see lots of stuff, with India being such a huge country, and we’d also love to connect with people. Seeing as there are some days off, there should be enough time for that,” Stelling adds.
Godless and Divide – Rats of Gomorrah India Tour 2022
October 9th – Urban Mantra, Zoo Road, Guwahati w/ Cadaverniectomy
October 12th – The Evening Club, Shillong w/ Breeding Machine
October 14th – Outbreak Zone at G.M. Hall, Imphal w/ Dead Soviet, Yuthak Wah, Atrocious Discrepancy
October 15th – Dethfest at 35 Bar & Lounge, Hotel Samilton, Kolkata w/ The Brutal Void, Fleshcrave, Abhishek Dasgupta Project
October 16th – Aggressive Tendencies at EXT by The Moonshine Project, Hyderabad w/ Moral Putrefaction, Maniacal Slaughter
October 20th – The Finch, Mumbai w/ Atmosfear, Infestation
October 21st – Gears & Garage, Chennai w/ Pavlov’s Truth, Orderealm
October 22nd – Fandom at Gilly’s Redefined, Bengaluru w/ Anorectal Ulceration, Amorphia
Get tickets here.
Read More
Photo Credit: