Promoting thrash metal in Bangladeshi music scene

Members of the band

POWERSURGE (vocalist: Jamshed, guitars: Nahian and Samir, bass: Arefin, drums: Samiul) is a band with a strong thrash metal influence on their music. The band first came to spotlight after winning the DRockstars contest.
Thrash metal music is not a very familiar sound in the Bangla band music scene. The genre is characterised by high speed riffing and scathing lyrics. The genre is however quite popular in the underground band music scene.
Powersurge was formed in 2006 by Nahian and Samiul, both ardent followers of thrash metal. “We wanted to promote and popularise this genre in our music scene,” says Nahian, one of the founding members.
Jamshed joined the band in March 2006. Next was Samir and the fifth and final member Arefin joined the band during the DRockstars contest.
“We wanted to generate some energetic, electrifying performances on stage, so we picked the name Powersurge,” Nahian says.
“We staged our first show in 2006 and received much appreciation and support from the audience, which was very important because at that point we were unsure about how they would react to our music,” he continues.
Talking about DRockstars, the band members recalled how they first came to know about the contest, their experiences and so on.
For the band, the most interesting part was the audition rounds. Apparently they had nothing to do then -- no shows, no exams and they were getting bored. So when they saw the advertisement for the contest, they just decided to check it out.
It was only after they auditioned that they really understood the gravity of the situation. That's when they started to take matters seriously, say the band members.
“I consider DRockstars a major step forward for us. We performed metal songs throughout the contest. It was something different to a section of the audience who are used to the traditional mellow sounds,” says Nahian.
As the contest moved forward our confidence grew. The SMS votes from the audience decided the outcome of the contest so there was no doubt that the audience accepted their music, say the band members.
The band is now gearing up for its first music album. The recording is scheduled to start this month.
Talking about the album, Jamshed, vocalist of Powersurge, says, “We are very optimistic about our upcoming album, which is likely to hit the market in April this year.”
“Most of the songs have strong thrash metal influences. The album also features some experimental rock numbers,” informs Nahian.
While asked about the subjects, Nahian, who has written all the songs, says that the numbers address contemporary social and political issues -- some contain anti-drug messages, while some are simply influenced by philosophy.
According to the band members the unreleased tracks -- Mitther agrashon, Auprostut juddho and Shesh Shimana -- are already getting a good response from the audience when performed at concerts.
Talking about their muse, Nahian shares, “We draw inspiration from the music of Metallica, Sepultura, Kreator, Lamb of God, Dream Theater and Pink Floyd. We are also interested in German thrash metal.”
The band members have a busy schedule ahead. After the album release, the band will be touring the country and has plans of doing some shows abroad.