years ago, a night before a radio interview, a family member suggested the name Takatak to the original outfit. As Zain Peerzada recalls, “It’s also onomatopoeia of the sound and it’s a very musical sort of name for us.”

Since releasing an EP called Out of Something (2018), particularly after headlining Lahore Music Meet 2018, Takatak has reinvented itself. With a combined line-up that at present includes Ali Suhail and Altamash Sever on vocals, Luke Azariah (also from Keeray Makoray) and Zain Peerzada on guitars, Isa Najam on bass and synth, Yusuf Ramay on drums (‘The Fault Lines’, ‘The Whale’, ‘Phantom’) and Daud Ramay, on drums (‘Volition’, ‘Voyager, ‘Flash Your Bones’) with additional programming/synths from Keshav Dhar from Skyharbor, a band from across the border and Gentle Robot handling synths on ‘Voyager’ and ‘Phantom’, this is a mighty strong record. With additional harsh vocals provided by Luke Azariah (‘Fault Lines’ feat. Keshav Dhar and Shamsher Rana of Wisdom Salad), this is, as co-vocalist Ali Suhail puts it, a very collaborative record and about the right people being in the right space at the right time.

Recording their debut album in two weeks, the nu-metal outfit is not about pandering to populist attitudes and yet has found a loyal fan following, at home, and especially abroad.
Co-produced by Takatak and Umair Dar of A for Aleph, and engineered by Daniel Arthur Panjwaneey (who also plays music under the moniker of Alien Panda Jury), Adeel Tahir (also known as Eridu), Zain Peerzada and Luke Azariah, Acrophase has been mixed by Skyharbor’s Keshav Dhar and mastered by Ermin Hamidovic. The latter has mastered acts like Plini, Periphery, Ola Englund and several metal bands.

In other words, in some ways, Takatak have gone all-out to create a metal album that has some serious effort, especially by inducting certain individuals who collectively form the indie scene. And, technically speaking with no rival of such a soundscape in sight, they have upped the stakes.

Knowing fully well that this scope of music isn’t for everyone and is even looked down upon, it is therefore certainly for curious music aficionados, as well as those who enjoy nu-metal, metal and guitar-heavy singles.

The word metal alone might scare a lot of people away but imagine this: what happens when several musicians from the counter culture movement come together, leaving their egos aside? They can live up to the promise that guitar-wise, Acrophase is perhaps one of the coolest records to happen in Pakistan in nearly a decade.

The very word Acrophase, in the album context, refers to a collective mood achieved by all members and that’s when the music starts to make sense. This is a radical band, and each of the eight songs pays testimonial to it.

The debut release from the album, ‘Fault Lines’ which also features Keshav Dhar and Shamsher Rana (Wisdom Salad), sets the temperament for the rest of the album. One of the strongest singles on the eight-track record, ‘Fault Lines’ isn’t just about a heavier production or gorgeous solos courtesy of Keshav Dhar and Shamsher Rana; the trick is also the vocal and lyrical prowess that makes the progressive, Djent song so very cutting edge.

As ‘Fault Lines’ lyrics go at one point, “Devoid of reason to wake up to be me/I’ve lost my feet/The floor beneath me is never ending/It’s getting harder to see”, it is the abyss that follows when a person loses their bearings, gradually.

‘The Whale’ already out, also with its own music video, is a lot more vulnerable in terms of lyrics. It paints a world where you are being asked to look beyond your own self but also makes you think of, in my head at least, the rebellious or non-conformist under fire while a whirlwind of guitars, bass, synth and more guitars set up the background.

“Once you see beyond yourself/You’re bigger than defined/Now you’ve done it, now you’ve coloured beyond the lines/The red sirens/Now you’ve done it, there’s a flaw in the design/The red sirens, To correct you.”

There is a Kafka-esque incredulity to the lyrical trajectory, while the eight tracks including ‘Voyager’, ‘Volition’, ‘Phantom’, ‘Flash Your Bones’ have a landscape that has a scintillating hook here or guitar solo meshed with synth so effectively that the imperfections feel deliberate and effective.

Alienation, loneliness, blood-bath are just some of the themes Takatak combat in Acrophase without deliberate device to get noticed but what they collectively feel. It’s this feeling, palpable lyrically and musically, that makes this metal band such a riot.

The album from the Lahore-based band is probably among a handful of metal albums produced in Pakistan and yet when Takatak headlined one edition of Lahore Music Meet, they inspired A for Aleph’s chief Umair Dar enough that he decided that he would produce their work, come hell or high water.

As for the songs, if you’re a fan of heavy guitar, grunge, progressive, Djent and so on, this album just became approachable. It’s like you’re in a moshpit and this is the album made for it.

Some of it reminds me of certain Linkin Park songs almost visually with two guitars, synths and drums and the late Chester Bennington on mic while some of it is like Fuel. We do tend to find our favourite bands in local music and that’s true for any local act. You might find an influence of another act, maybe Led Zeppelin or even Nirvana’s heavier grungier material.

In reality, Takatak is none of those acts. It’s a sonic landscape that Takatak simply wanted to create and in doing so, made a good record. Even though they have released just three of the eight with ‘Voyager’, the three remain impressive as the boys let the meatier guitars be the anchor to this ship. All hands on deck.