Bangalore Open Air 2015 concludes with heavy dose of metal

The heavy metal mania gripped music lovers here as they congregated for the fourth edition of Bangalore Open Air (BOA) 2015 to get a taste of heavy metal artists from the world and sway on the heaviest and loudest music.

Over a 1,000 heavy metal fans from all across the country gathered for the festival at the Royal Orchid Resort & Convention Centre on Saturday.

Globally acclaimed heavy metal bands Napalm Death (Britain), Inquisition (US) and Belphegor (Austria) gave the festival a fitting and foot thumping end.

The event, which began on May 31, featured 32 bands and spanned over a period of seven days.

On the concluding day, there was a lot to cheer for the hordes of black-clad, long-haired metal fanatics, who descended at the lush green locales of Yelahanka here to witness one of the most-talked about lineups in India's metal history.

The enthusiasm of the fans, who stayed at the venue for over six hours, was unparalleled as they screamed and shouted for their favourite acts.

Napalm Death played tracks from their new album "Apex Predator- Easy Meat". Their frontman Mark "Barney" Greenway said that he was glad to come to India and play a show.

"Bangalore has always been a good host for metal concerts. When I wasn't living here, I always used to travel here for the gigs. It feels good to come here to watch your favourite artists and meet all the people you know from the internet," Varun, an engineer and a regular concert-goer, said at the event.

Nishant Raj, a digital marketing professional, who travelled all the way from New Delhi to be a part of the concert became emotional after seeing the powerful performances.

"I was teary-eyed after I sang along to Inquisition, one of my biggest musical influences. Napalm Death and Belphegor wrecked the whole place apart with their power-charged stage presence. My life is now complete, I can finally die in peace," Raj said.

The fest is inspired by Germany's Wacken Open Air festival, one of the world's biggest heavy metal festivals and was created to promote heavy metal music in India.

The festival organisers plan to make fifth edition bigger as they will host Swedish heavy metal act Soilwork and Polish metal legends Vader on July 9, 2016.

(Ankit Sinha can be contacted at ankit.s@ians.in)