Dhrupad Anutpada (ধ্রুপদ অনুৎপাদ): Apophatic Ragas Of Non-Origination

vote
6.5

• Bands:
  NIRRITE
• Duration: 00:43:59
• Available from: 06/19/2026
• Label:

• Iron Bonehead Prod.

A big misconception about very chaotic projects is that they are ultimately easier to deal with than those with a lot of melodic content: it's very easy to think “It's so loud, what do you want to argue?”as if, on the contrary, investing everything in easy-listening melodies makes a record a product of greater depth.
In reality, when we are dealing with a particularly intricate sound it is quite difficult to take into account all the possible nuances and then draw a judgment of merit. Today we're talking about the debut album by Nirriti, a curious group divided between India and Canada, who attracted the attention of Iron Bonehead Productions a few years ago with the EP “Asuryasparsha (অসূর্যস্পর্শা)”.

Theirs is a very chaotic black/death metal, which takes inspiration from the most abstract and impenetrable fringe of the genre (see Antediluvian, Portal). The basic concept is all centered on issues related to the spirituality and metaphysics of the Hindu universe. So expect a composition as far from song form as possible, with each piece soaked in dissonances and blast-beats as if it were raining.
From the voice it seems like we hear Blasphemy on acid: growl similar to that of Black Winds but with an industrial dose of reverb and perennial delay, with the result that it is impossible to recognize a single word.
The guitar riffs, however, are not the classic monolithic powerchords typical of the genre: in their place we find many parts with the classic very fast alternating picking typical of black metal, together with very dissonant chords. It is clear that the objective is not so much to leave some particular song in the listener's memory, but to immerse him in a sort of trance, in order to reproduce in music the metaphysical imagery described in the lyrics.
In this, there are some choices that work and others that leave something to be desired: for example, starting a record with a song lasting over seven minutes like “Mandukya, The Primordial Toad Croaks At The Outer Edge Of Sushupti” is not a great idea, especially for a first listen. Pieces like “In The Hallways Of Pure Existence, Freewill And Determinism Play Their Futile Game Of Chess” are better, much shorter and with much more dynamic drumming and less focused on blast-beats.
Compared to the debut EP, the musical proposal hasn't changed much, except for a matter of sounds: the guitars can be heard a little better, but the sounds are a little weak. The voice is much 'clearer' (as far as this adjective can be used in such a context) and the riffs emerge a little more; on the other hand, the choice to introduce variations in the songs after a few bars is generally appreciable, to give a sense of dynamism to the whole.

In general, this “Dhrupad Anutpada (ধ্রুপদ অনুৎপাদ): Apophatic Ragas Of Non-Origination” can be considered a further step forward (albeit not particularly significant) in the evolution of extreme music with a ritualistic character. It doesn't overturn the cards on the table, but we recognize a desire to leave its mark in all this chaos.
If you are passionate about this genre, you might find this project interesting, otherwise move on. We advise Nirriti, for their next releases, to invest more in the sounds of the guitars, which here appear to be truly very sparse and with little bite; and maybe try looking at bands like Revenge, true champions of chaos, who have understood more than others how it is necessary to have a more massive and full-bodied sound even when you focus entirely on noise.