Stigmata concocts a storm at ‘Resurrection Dubai’

Sri Lanka’s favorite Metal heavyweights carved yet another piece of history, by raising a merry Lankan storm in the Middle East earlier this March when the quintet headlined Resurrection Dubai at the Music Room at the Majestic Hotel. 

The event was a scintillating success according to international reviews on Metality, in leading Tabloids and Magazines and the favored feedback on social media having dubbed the concert as “the most exotic and diverse Extreme Metal gig staged in the desert realm after a very long time”. 

Metality (the leading site for Metal and Rock, easily the Blabbermouth of the Middle East) said in its concert review “The Asian and Middle Eastern Metal scene melted into a brutal and unforgettable night of mayhem.”

Habib Tabaja of Metality even mentioned the following in his Review of the show “Stigmata put out a brilliant, mesmerising set full of guitar solos, sexy bass lines and varied vocal techniques and ranges. A magnificent set from an underappreciated scene.”  

Performing on Friday 13 March were also extreme punk act Maticrust (UAE/Philippines), followed by Black/Death metallers Smouldering In Forgotten (Bahrain), Thrash/Death act Devoid (India) and Grind Core Creative Waste (KSA) and finally Sri Lanka’s children of the lion were said to have concluded an epic night on an extraordinary note. 

‘Resurrection Dubai’ 

‘Resurrection Dubai’ was Stigmata’s third concert in the band’s 15 gig plan to celebrate its 15-year anniversary in 2015. The concept is that Stigmata have chosen or will pick only 15 of the most special concerts/tours from overseas and locally as well. Stigmata have laid a trail blaze of fury performing at Guitarfest 2015 at Nawarangahala, The RED Festival alongside Indrachapa Liyanage and Kasun Kalhara at Viharamahadevi Open Air Theater and now the quintet reflect on their tour of the Middle East, being their first time in Dubai. 

“The hardships and obstacles we faced for Resurrection Dubai were truly immense. Some of it was…hmmm… inevitable, a fraction of it we were accountable for I believe. We had some trouble with the respective airline that wasn’t very supportive nor were six guys travelling for an international tour with instruments high on their corporate agenda. Their professional etiquette was thoroughly lacking. In a nutshell we experienced everything from missing our flight to literally landing in Dubai just moments before we were to perform. No sound check, no time to freshen up and rest, no time for waltzing in complacency,” said charismatic and charming front man Suresh de Silva.

He added: “The organisers were actually amazing and they did everything they could to accommodate us and make our stay memorable. And if you know us… well… let’s just say it was quite memorable. We had a responsibility as headliners performing at an international gig to keep our reputation intact, to maintain our standards as one of Asia’s more professional quintets. To make Sri Lanka proud, to represent the Asian scene at large as well. The odds seemed stacked against us and yet we stuck together – believed in each other and our music – and we made it through. Hell, we blew a hole in the sky and gave a truly mind-blowing performance. Seeing our boys (and our friend Udaya Wikremage) rise above the storm – trusting each other in those situations, to me that was priceless and a profound thing to behold in our 15-year career.”

No strangers to tribulations 

and tragedies 

Stigmata are no strangers to tribulations and numerous tragedies – having being marked as musical outcasts with no place to call home when they started Stigmata as a bunch of school kids in Mount Lavinia. Anyone who has supported the band through the years or recently joined their ever-growing “Family of Saints” may recall (or be aware) how their struggle and fight to gain a foothold as an alien entity in a society where convention and trends are worshipped over open mindedness and basic human principals was never easy. 

He laughs sinisterly as says: “We were different. We couldn’t be categorised and slotted into people’s little mental boxes of this and that. We were feared because we were a breed apart. We were naturally misunderstood. And it’s a normal thing for society to fear that which it cannot understand, no?  Sometimes you only truly realise where you are heading and the impact you are making when the obstacles and hurdles you face grow in number. 

“What it comes down to is that we had something special and we were unique. It took us awhile to develop our own sense of individuality and identity. Look at the scene now. It is not only a respected art form taken seriously and looked up to, inspiring thousands around the country but it is a part of our musical backdrop and culture now. In terms of lifestyle, in terms of relevance, as a positive medium to enact change, it’s a way of life and the voice of the disenfranchised. Right now, at this moment, listening to what are buggers are achieving in the studio with the new music: there isn’t anyone else out there that sounds like us. That’s the whole point, is it not?”

Fast forward to 2015

The legendary Kumar Sangakkara walked in to play his last match at the ICC World Cup quarter Finals having selected ‘Andura’ (Stigmata’s instrumental). The quintet is the only Asian band to have been featured on the Discovery Channel twice.

Perhaps the only Lankan band to have their original material selected for Top 10 Metal and Rock Album lists through the years in the US, France, Australia and Europe, the band has also had the distinction of being the only local act to perform for over 30,000 people at an Army Stadium in Dhaka, Bangladesh. 

They have headlined festivals around the world, have released numerous EPs, three Full Length Albums, one Limited Edition Double Album, a DVD and are now busy as bees (killer bees) working on their fourth album, rumoured to be a work of astounding beauty and brutality. They have gotten down and dirty working on the highly anticipated fourth CD with Ravin David Ratnam (R.A.G.E, FuzzMechnix) at Paragon Muzik Studio. 

The band is careful not to reveal and leak too much although they update their social media whenever studio sessions are in place. By the sounds of teasers and snippets, glimpses and mutterings all round it would appear that one genre busting slab of musical ecstasy is in the pipeline.

Stigmata is spoken of in almost revered tones, respected by even those who dislike them and adored by their fans for their uncompromising will power to forge their art not bowing or bending the knee to anyone, any trend or any institution. Their 15 years is a testament to their hard work, almost obsessive focus, and strong fellowship, the life-long friendship of the founding members, the musical integrity and most of all their survival. Their ability to survive for 15 years and still go strong only proves that these guys are the real deal, eerily ferocious and unstoppable when it comes to their music.

Their influence has reached not just across Asia and the globe with many acts citing the band as one of their biggest inspirations, but they have impacted musicians from a variety of genres and styles in the industry. 

The simple fact is the obvious one we all seem to know but never candidly utter out loud. Stigmata isn’t just a talented bunch of bad boys raising horns and rebelling against the world (or raging against the machine more likely) anymore. They aren’t the same band that played competitions and club/pub shows over a decade-and-a-half ago. Some wild attraction that’s worth checking out because your adrenaline levels are low. Neither are they five lost souls looking for their 15 minutes of glory to be identified as the crème de la crème of a temporary scene. 

If they were in this for the money, the fame and the perks (although one cannot argue that the members haven’t on occasion known to use some of said rock ‘n roll perks) they would have taken the easy way out and churned out commercial music effortlessly. Actually they could churn out so much mainstream material without so much as breaking a sweat – that they could do it away from each other, in their sleep. They have chosen to remain loyal to their craft and ideologies.

You must remind yourselves that they are beyond radio, TV and mundane daily gossip now; 15 years is a long time to brave the winter in this musical empire of a game of thrones. These guys care very little for the throne. It’s funny how their focus has never shifted from the music. And maybe there’s something to be learned from that. They have defied the norm and remained a constant in a cut-throat music business ripe with lip-syncing icons and button-pushing pundits. Trends will come and go. Except when one talks about Sri Lanka today, one also talks about Stigmata. These guys are here to stay. 

They may not like it, admit it or even accept it. But hey, no one deserves that throne more than them. 

– The Lady of Lycans (KSA)