Given the wild scenario that the entirety of the Asian metal scene has to offer us nowadays, it was only a matter of time before names would start to come out of the woodwork that constantly impresses on all angles with their names and reputations slowly creeping across the globe. For a select few, however, their names have been cemented for decades now with their influence undeniable and legacy still ongoing. Hands down, Rudra has to be considered the reigning kings of metal in Singapore with their Vedic approach to metal something that has captured imaginations for several years now, and it’s with their tenth full-length album that they’ve returned to us yet again to only further that vicious and simple truth.

For years now, Rudra has been a name that demands to be known and deeply respected when it comes to what Asian metal is capable of with their specific sound and talent more than worthy enough to be considered amongst one of the most gripping and captivating bands metal that all of Asia has seen in some time. Hence, it’s only natural that any new material from the band should be met with immense excitement and speculation with all that was poured into “Eight Mahavidyas” furthering Rudra’s legacy of unstoppable glory. A continuation of Rudra’s Vedic metal identity with another masterful conceptual album that portrays women who broke barriers and became beacons of wisdom, I find myself sitting here wondering how this record could have become anything less than another outstanding victory for Rudra and all involved. Right from the beginning, “Eight Mahavidyas” establishes itself as a vastly gripping performance with its melodic and hypnotic elements in full swing from those very first moments as it quickly sprawls out to become an expansive array of riffs and atmospheres tied neatly together by the incredibly sharpened sense of musicianship that permeates every possible aspect of “Eight Mahavidyas” all the way unto its final fading notes. It could be said that Rudra’s music is never quite the same going from one album to the next, and it’s with that train of thought that one can come to the easy conclusion that “Eight Mahavidyas” has to be hailed as one of the most epic creations to come from these legends of Singapore with it effortlessly earning a reputation as one of the band’s mightier creations to date. Nothing that this band has ever done can be considered as uninteresting in any form or as anything to miss, but it’s “Eight Mahavidyas” that I yet again find myself deeming a Rudra performance as nigh on essential for any excavator of the metal underground.

Sometimes, the question of whether or not an album is quality is a significantly easy one to answer. I do not presume that Rudra can never make a mistake given their discography up to this point, but it really does make one wonder a simple question: what isn’t Rudra capable of? There is naught but utter magnificence to be had within the nearly hour-long runtime of “Eight Mahavidyas”, and I’ve no doubt that it will stand as a testament to Rudra’s continuous domination of the underground for years to come.

LISTEN to “Eight Mahavidyas” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Rudra on Facebook here.