Introducing: The Shiva Hypothesis
With an apocalyptic sound born from anintense blackened death metal style, The Shiva Hypothesis are Holland’s latest metallic export, specialising in a 90s extreme-metal-inspired style. The band themselves are self-defined as “A grotesque melting pot of different types of dark and obscure music”, though they admit that “genre-wise, we would be most comfortable describing ourselves as ‘blackened death metal’".
The band’s instrumental section met during their studies, and came together in 2012 to use their shared love for brutal metal to form the group now known as The Shiva Hypothesis. In 2014, the group found their vocalist in MVS, and have worked relentlessly ever since towards releasing new material. The band are devoted to their music, with writing being meticulously thought about and discussed amongst the band. “Sometimes there are conflicting opinions within the band and we all rigorously judge and discuss new material,” the band say. “But the end result is something we all hold very dear.”
This process has delivered a relentlessly abrasive sound, with the band’s recorded material showing promise. ‘Caduceus’ chugs along with untameable momentum, whilst the lengthy ‘Maze of Delusion’ sees gloriously punchy guitar and hypnotic atmospherics, and ‘Praedormitium’ opens up into a hugely engulfing track with gory riffs and an otherworldly destructive nature. “There is a broad spectrum of music we listen to and draw our inspiration from,” the band explain. “Besides more obviously recognizable influences like Behemoth, Gorgoroth and Death, it can also be said that we are inspired by non-metal artists like Fields of the Nephilim, Yat-Kha and Wagner.”
Musically, The Shiva Hypothesis are untameable in their heaviness, but clever when it comes to their song-crafting, ensuring to create a murky atmosphere that envelops you in its vast size. “One of the driving elements in our music is the concept of destruction versus creation,” the band say. “This duality can be found in the music, given shape through switching between forceful black metal and more atmospheric passages.” This style is a core part of the group, and is even reflected in their name. A quick Google search will tell you that the band’s name is a hypothesis that attempts to give a cause to extinctions caused by celestial objects. The band explain that the name “was appealing on multiple levels. Besides just being an elegant name, it embodies the concept of destruction versus creation, a theme that is most interesting to us.”
Lyrically, the band draw inspiration from anything that interests them, with them noting the fields of occultism, mythology and philosophy as primary topic areas. The band also avoid political, social or overly religious lyrics in their writing, claiming that “The issue with politically charged bands is that the message often becomes equally or more important than the music. We'd rather have the listener create their own idea of the [lyrics’] meaning than force something down his or her throat.”
The band want simply to ensure that their goal of keeping the music as the most important factor is upheld, and will be keeping this in mind as they put the finishing touches on their debut full-length, which is due out before the end of the year. If existing music is anything to go by, it could be a huge release with immeasurable scope and unsurpassable heaviness.
