Formed in Singapore in 2006, Kalodin later made Kathmandu their base and gained popularity for displaying their corpse-painted faces during live performances. Besides indoor gigs, the band have also performed at large open-air concerts like Nepfest Music Series and the Silence Festival.

Kalodin literally translates into ‘black day’, but there’s more to it than just mere darkness. According to its members, the name also stands for the dark days of the past, reminding us of times that have vanished both from collective memory and historical documentation.

The band currently have Sanjay Maharjan on vocals, Davin Shakya on lead guitar and backing vocals, Himal Thapa Magar on guitar, Aayush Shrestha on keyboards, Zanardhan Tandukar on bass and Ashish Senchury on drums. The band believe that their former drummer Govind Senchury played a major role in Kalodin’s popularity with his unique drum skills.

Kalodin’s debut album, The Bestial Ritualism of Harlotry, was released in 2010. The album had a total of nine songs, which, both lyrically and technically, stayed true to the European roots of black metal. The songs in this album were loud and intense, punctuated by groans and shrieks, and the lyrics were dark, hate-filled and angry. The vocalist was Kiew Jay Joel, a former band member, from Singapore. The album was created over the Internet because the band members lived in different places, and the record was produced independently by Davin Shakya, a founder member of the band as well as a qualified sound engineer, who also runs a home studio.  

Departing from their previous attempt at staying true to their musical roots, the band decided to experiment with some native cultural elements in their next venture. Their EP, released in 2012 and titled Sarv (as in Sarvanasham, which means ‘destruction’ in Sanskrit), had a song inspired by the deities of the Hindu pantheon, Lord Shiva in particular. The song Trishula made use of Sanskrit words along with Eastern classical music, and became extremely popular among the audience, thus making the band realise the importance of giving the audience things they can relate to in their songs.

Kalodin are currently working on their next full-length album. According to the band members, this one will follow up on the ideas they experimented with in their 2012 EP, as it will be a tribute to the different incarnations of Lord Shiva. The songs in their forthcoming album will explore the darker sides of the Hindu mythologies based around Lord Shiva and the Bhairavs. “We’ve been travelling to different places, mostly religious, to pen the lyrics for the upcoming album. We’ve also been talking to priests and scholars of Hinduism to learn more about Lord Shiva. We also plan to use a lot of chants and mantras,” said the band. The band played a teaser from the album at Silence Festival V, which took place on October 18, 2014.

Given the lesson the band has learned about creating a relatable content, something which creates a familiar atmosphere for the audience, we can only expect their upcoming album to be better and more enjoyable than before.