Tucked away in a node of traffic notoriety is the venue, WL Superclub. Prog Encounters 3.0 is the third edition of the metal festival, held in 5 cities across India, has been a hub for upcoming and seasoned acts. Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Gurgaon and New Delhi have been the centres of chaos. In the Bangalore edition, performances were brilliant.
The line-up for the Bangalore edition was as follows:
OrchidEyes (opening act)
Letterz
The Pulse Theory
Eccentric Pendulum (Headliners)
The energy was made up by the acts on stage. No performing group half-assed anything just because the crowd was dismal. They gave it their all–and the event turned out to be more like a private concert series than anything else.
The show was on the 20th of April 2025. That was Easter Sunday, so you could expect the crowd to be lingering in the few 100s. The scale of the venue, due to its rectangular nature, is known for its volume. There were some minor technical and mixing issues too, but nothing too crazy or disappointing.
OrchidEyes
The 2 member band (supported by an ultra cool bassist) brought live music the way it should be. You could hear the string scratches, the bass being thumpy and loud. The band has 2–3 releases, made sure they landed it hard. The vocalist was one of the best for the night, his range and control shining through.
A pretty strong opening set, and a good performance for a band that had their first live one. Worth the wait.
Letterz
The band from Mumbai literally flew in for this performance. I’m not kidding. Their suitcases were at the venue, and they really brought it. This is where the prog for the night began, and went really haywire, in the good way.
Playing all their music from Imagine Salt, their debut EP–they left us all speechless. The band had opened for Animals As Leaders in Mumbai, and we could see why. Odd time signatures were their starters, main course and a dexterous dessert. Also featuring a new single they’ll soon, the band with its 5 member monstrous developments brought quite the perspective.
The Pulse Theory
The band crushed their original compositions in every which way. Vocals were strong, compositions were complex and interesting. The order? It dwelt on me like a dream, for they would have had a more powerful reception for their storytelling style.
Personally, I would have shifted these two bands in the line-up. The Pulse Theory had some incredible epics to perform, but the mix was a bit off. The synths were loud, percussion went slightly off in places. The massive screen in the background showed AI generated faff video that was painful at times.
Eccentric Pendulum
Personally, there’s a bit of a bias here. Eccentric Pendulum sound smashing live, and their decade plus of experience shows. Tech glitches are leapt over. Tracks are mastered in muscle memory and time control. For Arjun Mulky’s last performance with the band, they made it worth their while.
Even though there were hardly 80 people or so in the room, they brought the house down. By the third track, they had captured the sound for the room, rhythms were booming, the bass was delivered and Vibhas turned into an octopus for the percussion.
The band is famously known for tearing up small rooms with the kind of punk energy they’re able to give out. Ridiculous with what they execute, always a pleasure to watch.
In a few short hours, they were able to make us forget about our mundane lives and enjoy escapism in the form it should be. Hopefully, Prog Encounters 4.0 is on a packed weekend, where everyone wants to let loose in a mosh pit. Until then, chins up and horns up, people. Keep on rocking.
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Self professed metalhead, moderately well read. If the music has soul, it's whole to me. The fact that my bio could have ended on a rhyme and doesn't should tell you a lot about my personality.
