Sri Lankan heavy metal pioneers Stigmata successfully performed for their large fan base at ‘Stigmata Presents: ProAggressive’ recently, signaling their return to stage for the first time in nearly a year.
Held at The Joint Pub and Grill, Colombo, the sold out concert was a tremendous success that also featured several other artistes and bands including Man Till God, Rav David, Eshantha Perera and Din Philips. Stigmata’s customary high-octane performance included much-loved anthems from all their previous albums ‘Hollow Dreams (2003)’, ‘Silent Chaos Serpentine (2006)’, ‘Psalms of Conscious Martyrdom (2010)’, and ‘The Ascetic Paradox (2015)’. The band capped off with a much looked forward to reveal of two brand new tunes – ‘Devouring’ and ‘Trigger’ – off the band’s fifth album which is due to be released later this year.
Suresh de Silva, frontman, vocalist and lyricist of Stigmata stated, “ProAggressive is a play on the words of progressive and aggressive. Metal is known to have a very heavy, brutal and aggressive sound. The style of metal that the band dishes out is progressive metal or progressive rock which is a complex, intricate form of music where the band combines a lot of different music found around the world by combining fusion elements, various genres and styles, folk songs and focus on relating a musical story. The goal of such musically complex creations is to take the audience on an adventure so that they make a personal connection with the music when they listen to it and leave them wanting more. It is the absolute opposite of current music trending in global charts that are mostly simple and forgettable tracks.”
As the country’s first original heavy metal band, Stigmata has forged their own path during their musical journey of nearly a quarter century. The band has constantly evolved since inception and demonstrated longevity unlike any other band in its genre purely by producing and delivering amazing music, powerful lyrics and outstanding live stage performances. The band has successfully taken Sri Lanka to the world and toured and performed at festivals with massive crowds, notably 40,000 people at the Dhaka Cricket Stadium and 25,000 people in New Delhi at the SAARC Band Festival. They have also performed at shows across the world including in Australia, Malaysia, Dubai, New Zealand, and the Maldives. While international awards came in the form of the Asia Video Music Awards in 2018 for ‘An Idle Mind is the Devil’s Workshop’, they have also been featured on The Discovery Channel twice, on the BBC Arts Show, and interviewed by John Safran for Triple J Radio.
In today’s connected world, Stigmata regularly engages with its growing fan base by leveraging the power of social media to create and maintain a constant flow of communication on the details of what they are up to on the musical front. Although the band has understandably undergone a few changes in personnel over the years, it has been able to not only successfully forge a mind-blowing new sound, but have succeeded in expanding its fan base by reaching out to different crowds by performing at diverse concerts and events. Stigmata’s next concert is “Summer Storm” to be held on Saturday 1st June 2024 from 7pm onwards at Taphouse by RnR, Colombo. The gig will also feature several other bands and artistes.