For about the past year the one country that has yet to disappoint me is the nation of India when it comes to not only quality metal but also an abundance of new bands that undoubtedly carry the spirit of the genre with them, and it’s interesting to see them mature from playing in their apartments to the studio. And as if to earn up to the name of their local legend that is Godless, the men behind Hostilian are here to play tasteful death metal to show the world yet another offering of Indian metal.

Given that this is but Hostilian’s debut EP, there was bound to be plenty of room for improvement unless these guys were accomplished musicians beforehand, and that’s not the case here. So while there are an understandable amount of fallacies with “Monolith” such as some melodies that could’ve flowed better or the mastering going a little bit more refined or even something as simple as all the instruments fitting together a little bit more cohesively there’s no reason to call “Monolith” a bad debut in any regard whatsoever. Although it’s a tad too djenty for my personal taste, Hostilian manages to bring in several small samples from the progressive end of metal along with adding groove to their central core of death metal to bring a dynamic experience that’s not only engaging but an entertaining piece to listen to if you want to hear what the latest surge of Indian metal has to offer. Four tracks typically aren’t much to go off of especially for a debut to make an impression, but Hostilian did much more than make an impression here. “Monolith” is pretty self-explanatory with its name along with the sheer power brought to the table here that’s only matched by the potential that this band has. India has always been a well for quality during my investigations, and this latest excursion is yet another reason as to why more people should know of bands like Hostilian because they stand right up there with local favorites like Godless, Primitiv, Heathen Beast, and even the legendary Rudra.

It’s an incredibly small number of bands that can make an impression with only four tracks to call their own, and yet Hostilian proved themselves to be more than up to the task in ways many musicians can only dream of. Should this debut be any sort of inkling as to what we’re going to get in the future from this band then I cannot wait to see what’s in store! “Monolith” is a very solid start that is definitely worthy of investigation, and should you want a hint as to what all of the Indian metal scene has to offer then this is as good a starting point as any.

“Monolith” releases on September 15th!

LISTEN to the advanced track “The Culling” on Bandcamp here or below.