About the Artist
Serpents of Pakhangba was founded by multi-instrumentalist Vishal J. Singh in 2019. The band draws its name from the Meitei serpent deity; a shapeshifter symbolizing evolution and balance. The band—comprising Vishal, Akash, Hinoki, and Tamara—merges indigenous mysticism, folklore, and shamanic ritual with experimental metal, noise-rock, and neo-folk. They weave textures from instruments like pena and dotara, throat singing, and mantra-like chants into noise-rock and metal frameworks, to create a sound that feels both primordial and otherworldly.
Their studio album Air and Fire earned critical acclaim for pushing Indian metal beyond convention. Now, with their debut live EP Live Sacraments, the group redefines performance as sacred communion. Recorded across two venues, it transforms the stage into a shrine of improvisation. Each of the three tracks—And The Forest Belongs to The Maibi, Whispertace of the First Ones, and Soul of The Word—exists as both performance and ritual.
Whispertace of the First Ones surges with layered voices that chant, hum, and collide, reflecting collective possession. The Forest unfolds as an act of surrender, where guitars, percussion, and shrieks mimic the wild pulse of a living forest. Soul of The Word concludes with meditative rhythms and cyclical grooves, dissolving chaos into serenity.
Through sound and spirit, Live Sacraments rejects the sterile precision of digital modernity. In an era dominated by digital precision and artificial creation, Serpents of Pakhangba stand firmly for the organic, imperfect pulse of human sound.
As the band reveals in our conversation, every performance, recording, and creative choice flows from that same devotion to authenticity and spirit.
Vishal J. Singh on ritual, chaos, and shamanic metal in their debut live EP
For Vishal J. Singh, every Serpents of Pakhangba performance begins long before the first note. “It’s a part of our lifestyle as well, so it comes naturally on stage,” he explains. “Speaking of rituals, ‘Invocation of Pakhangba’ is the opening ritual of the show that we always start with. It’s not just about the chant exchange with the audience. Sonically, too, it all comes from our core spiritual life practices and musical theoretical study.”
This merging of discipline and devotion defines Live Sacraments. Unlike conventional metal performances, the record thrives on improvisation, what Vishal calls, “a hybrid combination of two different mindsets, a mental and spiritual artistic balance between controlled chaos (planned songs) and uncontrolled chaos (on-the-spot improvisation).” Yet, this freedom demands total vulnerability. “You literally have to throw all personal insecurities out the window, be completely naked, and be real in expressing as much as you can while also maintaining a certain discipline.”
Furthermore, the band’s creative chemistry depends on intense mutual awareness. “Onstage, there is eye-to-eye, ear-to-ear interaction between us while we do completely new improvisations,” Vishal says. “We incorporate the spirit and knowledge of Free Jazz into a shamanic theme while leaving space instead of cluttering it.” Occasionally, unpredictability pushes them to adapt. “My guitar cable started making extra noise during the improvisation set, so to make it part of the story, I added ambient delay and reverb to let it shine as a new element instead of stopping.”
However, for Vishal, improvisation is not rebellion against structure, it’s a different form of truth. “Studio albums are made with time, extreme care, a well-made plan, whereas live albums capture moments of fun doing things slightly differently for the adrenaline rush while observing the audience and taking calculated risks in impromptu pieces.” Therefore, the balance between the two becomes transformative. “When heavily layered, well-rehearsed tracks mix with improvisational pieces, it creates a push-and-pull dynamic that’s equivalent to spiritual transformation. ‘Air and Fire’ represents how the band thinks deeply within controlled chaos, while ‘Live Sacraments’ represents how the band reacts to uncontrolled chaos.”
Meanwhile, the audience is not a passive listener but an active force shaping each performance. “We let our audience chant with us during the ancestral call. It’s a mix of repetition and call-and-response. Together, we create a massive portal of energy in the venue by including our audience in the ritual,” he notes. “For example, the song ‘Whispertace of the First Ones’.”
Although the band’s foundation lies in Meitei shamanism, Vishal views their message as universal. “It’s not always about Meitei folk,” he clarifies. “That’s why we call it ‘Shamanic Art Metal’ and not ‘Meitei Folk Metal.’ In shamanism, every tribe with ancient roots shares one common message—the spiritual transformation of humankind, connection to the divine, self-awareness, and finding peace within chaos.” He adds, “Our message is essentially about unity among different tribes, focusing on bringing spiritual awareness.”
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Consequently, the balance between reverence and reinvention becomes their creative heartbeat. “I’ve never looked at tradition and experimentation as two opposing ends,” Vishal says. “For me, they’re both languages trying to express the same human emotion through different dialects.” That tension, between ancient ritual and modern sound, sustains Live Sacraments. “You can hear the folk pulse, the ritualistic chants, but they exist inside a chaotic, avant-garde, progressive, sometimes theatrical framework. Just like how identity itself behaves in the modern world…fragmented, layered, constantly evolving.”
Finally, Live Sacraments demanded an approach that honored the moment without sterilizing it. “We basically kept the arrangement quite standard, but we made the mix and master shine a bit,” Vishal says. “You can hear that the production is highly organic because it was all recorded live on stage with an audience. We were inspired by the live recordings of early ’70s bands like Pink Floyd and Blue Öyster Cult.”
In that choice lies the soul. Live Sacraments isn’t just about performance; it’s about presence. Every breath, every imperfection, every echo of the crowd becomes part of the ritual, keeping Serpents of Pakhangba’s music alive in the most human way possible.
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Figuring out my path while actively plotting ten others. Serious about my dreams with somewhat chaotic ambition. Will do anything for cats.
