Rat King (Chennai)

Biography:
Rat King is an experimental/ambient/industrial music project based in Chennai, India consisting of members Deepak Raghu and Murari Vasudevan (both ex-Maelstrom). The music draws influences from significant metal origins and ambient moods, as well as tropical tones, instruments, and the use of orchestral and classical elements to narrate a tale, which is the pivot around which the albums revolve. The story, or concept, is told through layers of diverse instruments and often contrasting musical styles, creating an atmosphere that can suspend the listener in its portrayal.

Rat King’s debut album, titled “The Plague Of Hamelin” is an instrumental concept album based on a morbidly distorted version of the Grimm Brothers’ classic tale, “The Pied Piper of Hamelin”, and the second album, titled “Larva” is about a man’s unremitting dream and his crawling descent into physical disintegration. The artwork for “Larva” was done by none other than noted artist and musician Emerson P Williams (Veil Of Thorns, Choronzon)

Rat King’s music can not be categorized into any specific genre, although it probably appeals most to fans of psychedelic, ambient, folk, industrial, progressive and experimental metal.

Rat King is presently signed on to Roadcrew Records and is in the process of writing their third album which should be released by the end of 2010.

History:
Rat King has its roots in the Chennai based death metal band Maelstrom of which Murari and Deepak were a part of. When Maelstrom disbanded in June 2008, it left the two of them with crazy musical concepts in their head but no band to play it with. They soon realized that the music was far too eclectic and surreal to actually play with a band. Thus, Rat King was formed. A studio project with completely programmed instruments, with influences as diverse as David Lynch, Fantomas, Philip Glass and Andrei Tarkovsky, Rat King was like nothing the Indian music scene had heard before. The ‘Plague Of Hamelin’ demo was an independent release by the band and was given free of cost to a limited audience in December 2008. Based on the success of this album, the band decided to go on to write another album, which we now know as Larva.

Critical Acclaim:
• Rat King has been interviewed and their albums reviewed by some of the world’s best and most recognized zines such as Industrialized Metal, Avantgarde Metal, Headbangers India, Rolling Stone magazine, Metalwave, Kvltsite etc. The verdict from all the sites is the same: The music is a class apart.
• Rat King’s original “The Plague Of Hamelin” (from The Plague Of Hamelin) was featured along with Heretic as one of two National Artists on the inaugural TNT Magazine’s Great Eastern Rock Vol 1 compliation.
• Rat King’s music has been played and requested for on some of the world’s best and most listened to industrial metal internet radio stations such as Digital Gunfire, Black Channel, The Flaming Skull Podcast etc.

Discography:
• The Plague Of Hamelin (2008) [Independent Release]
• The Plague Of Hamelin (2009) [Remaster] [Roadcrew Records]
• Larva (2009) [Roadcrew Records]