Home » Community & Culture » With Italian Death Metal Act Fleshgod Apocalypse As The Headliner The Uprising Is Back With Its Second Edition In Bengaluru

With Italian death metal act Fleshgod Apocalypse as the headliner, The Uprising is back with its second edition in Bengaluru

Published Oct 13, 2023 | 9:00 AM ⚊ Updated Oct 13, 2023 | 9:00 AM

Italian death metal outfit Fleshgod Apocalypse to headline the second edition of The Uprising. (Supplied)

Bengaluru-based The Indian Artist Collective (TIAC) is back with the second edition of The Uprising, their indoor metal festival.

The festival’s first edition, held in June earlier this year, had brought to the city European metal acts Vader, Hate and Thy Disease. Much to the delight of all the metalheads in the city, the highlight this time around is the Fleshgod Apocalypse, the Italian symphonic death metal band.

The festival will also showcase the first live show of Indian extreme metal act Moral Collapse and will feature the upcoming Hyderabad tech death act Septic Isle.

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Building a community

Founded by Hitesh Mittal and Chintan Chinnappa, the core mission driving TIAC is to provide a singular platform for top-tier Indian as well as global artistes. The collective aims to rekindle some of the lesser-explored music genres, with a particular emphasis on reviving the vibrant world of metal music.

Hitesh Mittal (left) and Chintan Chinnappa (right) founded TIAC earlier this year. (Supplied)

“Chintan and I have been musicians since the early 2000s. We played for multiple bands. Being musicians from a very young age, we always wanted to give back to the community. So we felt that it was time for us to create a collective to give back to the music community in some way. And one of the ways to do that is to curate events where we can bring down international artists who would otherwise have not come to India,” shares Hitesh. The main idea behind creating this collective is for people to come together and build a stronger music scene, he adds.

Chintan, who is the guitarist for the band Inner Sanctum chips in, “The first edition of The Uprising worked pretty well for us. The feedback we got from the community and the fans was amazing. We are not trying to change the formula in any way. So we are sticking to the same format at the same time aiming to make it larger so as to accommodate more people.”

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Baby steps towards bigger goals

Apart from curating shows in the city, the duo has a bigger motive — to put India back on the international touring map.

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“When it comes to India, international artists and outfits face a lot of obstacles to perform. It’s fairly challenging to host events here. That’s the reason international metal and rock bands do not include India when they tour. The artistes face a lot of logistical issues when they are performing here. As a collective, we plan to sort that out for them,” shares Hitesh.

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Bringing back the metal fandom

Heavy rock and metal being niche genres nowadays, the duo notes that the number of fans and concertgoers has dipped. However, Bengaluru remains a city where the two genres are still prevalent.

The first edition of The Uprising featured European metal acts Vader, Hate and Thy Disease. (Supplied)

“The metal scene in India is still in a nascent stage. We don’t have as many followers as techno or any others. As a genre, metal is not for everyone. It takes time for one to get into it, and appreciate the kind of music it is, as opposed to EDM, hip-hop or pop music. That said, there is still a good number of people who are into metal. We have the highest number of metalheads in Bengaluru,” shares Hitesh.

Chintan notes that the dip in the numbers is because of multiple new genres of music that are being pushed all across.

“People are gravitating towards softer forms of music. Besides, Indian independent bands are also putting out good material. That is possibly why there’s been a spread out of fans in general. At the same time, there are also people who realise that rock and metal still hold value. We are hoping for rock/metal concerts, through TIAC or other organisations, to make a comeback,” he shares adding that they are expecting over 1000 people to attend.

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Going big

As for what the future holds, the duo has plans for more, bigger festivals.

TIAC has plans for bigger open-air festivals. (Supplied)

Hitesh tells South First, “As a collective, TIAC has multiple properties, one of which is The Uprising. We plan to host it at least once every quarter. As for bigger festivals, we hope to conduct a big open-air fest annually or biannually. And hopefully, we want to take our events pan-India.”

Chintan adds, “In the long term, we are looking at creating a community that supports international acts, making India one of their pit stops in the tour. We want to get that kind of confidence where international organizers and promoters can feel TIAC is a strong partner that will ensure a successful show in India.”

Get tickets to The Uprising here