There might be no genre too wild for Project Mishram. The Bangalore-based outfit is known for combining everything from gent metal to electronic and jazz with ragas. These compositions are only as they see fit for I doubt there are many projects that are willing to weave such complicated patterns in a seemingly effective and beautiful way. This is their latest track with Varijashree Venugopal, called “Congruence.”
Finding new avenues through melody
The band in itself is no stranger to collaboration. Joining forces with YouTuber Kmac2021 and Rajhesh Vaidya, the song decides who is going to be the best or most surprising fit for it. Sometimes I feel like Project Mishram like to surprise and shock themselves out of the water they might get comfortable in. In this song, vocals and the rhythm take two different roots to a time signature that combines in surgical accuracy eventually in certain brackets. Vocals are in Kannada, performed with Carnatic flair by Shivaraj Natraj that have the same intensity, versatility and swell he’s known for live as well.
Fittingly for this math-metal song, they choose talented Carnatic vocalist and flautist Varijashree Venugopal to give colour to an intense part of the song. From the vocals we slide into a complex rhythmic section that only Project Mishram can execute with class and finesse, like no other contemporary in the country or maybe even the world right now. It shows every member of the band either in unison or complementing each other’s melodic forte, making something that appreciates and pushes the art form.
If this is your first-ever listen from this band, I suggest you dive into the treasure trove that their Spotify (and preferably Bandcamp) offers. Apart from being a prolific project that releases music without fail quite regularly, you can always catch them live around the world. People might know them from the refresh pull that is “Tamasat” on many algorithms but take a chance to truly harness what the band is capable of. “Congruence” shows that they’re not worried about pushing the envelope of the genre but constructing their very own:
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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.
