You don’t need to be a fan of Megadeath, Black Sabbath or Metallica to accept Takatak’s first single, ‘Fault Lines’. Off their debut album Acrophase, it is a brilliant piece of music production.
With an advanced line-up, this guitar-heavy single features Luke Azariah (guitars, synths), Zain Peerzada (guitars), Isa Najam (bass), Yusuf Ramay (drums), Ali Suhail (vocals) and Altamash Sever (vocals).
Additional programming/synths and additional harsh vocals also feature Luke Azariah. Equally special is the role of Shamsher Rana (Wisdom Salad) as well as Keshav Dhar from cross-border band, Skyharbor.
Some of the aforementioned also play music in other music outfits. But the coming together of all of them has resulted in a piece that sounds purely metallic with messy guitars at first but keeps surprising you. To make matters interesting, it is backed by a music video that complements the single. The band appears, disappears, head-banging along the way and it feels just right.
For those who follow the indie music scene regularly, this is a complete change of form sonically. Shot like a band music video by Hybrid Imaging (Amar Ali and Umair Khwaja), it is a fine re-introduction to the group, who have an original full length album coming. The music video captures the artists the way it should - in their element.
As Ali Suhail and Altamash Sever sing, “I’ve lost my feet/The floor beneath me is never ending/it’s getting harder to see/My world has come undone/This isn’t where I’m to be/I’m sinking away to my beginnings/It’s getting harder to see/My world has come undone/” – it is obvious that getting Sever and Suhail to sing as a unit was a masterstroke. It adds value to the song.
If you’ve ever heard of bands like Tool, System of a Down, Fuel or even Nirvana, giving the music video and the single at least one chance shouldn’t be out of the question.
‘Fault Lines’ varies from heavy-metal harshness to progressive rock tones. This is not an alienating song that should be condemned for appearing as metal music. It needs to be embraced for it evokes a world that is irate and cathartic. The guitars shine when you take into account those juicy guitar solos.
Produced by Umair Dar of A for Aleph (in Karachi) and Takatak, engineered by Daniel A. Panjwaneey and Adeel Tahir and mixed by the very accomplished Keshav Dhar, the album from the group is around the corner.
Dropping the album’s coolest song, ‘Fault Lines’ just last month, Takatak hope to release their second single with another video next month. It will be followed by the rest of the singles that complete Acrophase, scheduled for a 2020 release.
