Hailing from the city of Kolkata (West Bengal, India), Infernal Diatribe are a horde that roams our planet for about a decade and a half in the meantime. After a first EP in 2016, called Videha Mukti (initially released by the Indian division of Transcending Obscurity Records), things went silent for quite a while. At the beginning of the current decade, the band was part of two splits, being one with Portuguese sweeties Sonneillon (2022) and one with Norway’s finest Moor (early 2023). Both were released, for your precious information, via Masters Of Kaos Productions, which did re-release the debut-EP as well. The lengthy EP (or full-length, if you want to, for it clocks over half an hour) Vengeance Of Garuda followed in June 2023 (released this time via Black Shrine Studios).
Enter the very end of Autumn 2025. In a partnership in between Satanath Records from Georgia, More Hate Productions (Russia), and The End Of Time Records (Ireland), the quartet [*] releases the first ‘official’ full-length, Mahabhuta Pralaya. The title can be translated as great elemental annihilation, which refers to the fairytale-like, cozy and charming concept and execution. Not… Conceptually, it does focus on the dark-cosmologic chaos that might occur (cf. an archaic Hindu tradition), mirroring the dissolution of the five fundamental elements: Earth (Prithvi), Water (Ap), Fire (Tejas), Air (Vayu), and Ether (Akasha), that constitute the universe, leading to its total destruction before a new creation can begin (taken from the bio). Physical matter, cf. these five elements, must eventually dissolve in order to start a new cosmic cycle, as a metaphorical end, and beginning, of expiration and creation. It’s a process from within Hinduist tradition to describe the permanent cycle / circle of birth, death and rebirth, not from a mortal being, yet seen from a cosmogenic order. The Mahabhuta Pralaya might refer to the destruction leading towards the dissolution (the end of a cycle of creation aka Kalpa) and preceding reformation, with pralaya referring to a period of static rest in between the collapse (Lord Shiva as Destruction Deity) and the resurrection (Lord Brahma as Creator) of eras, as far as I think to understand these theological / philosophical / ceremonial / metaphysical process.
[*] Kalkin (vocals + lyrics) / Naz Taz (drums & percussions) / Asmodeus (guitars & lyrics + layout) / Kala Vikrama (bass guitars)
The eight compositions last for almost thirty-seven minutes and offer an intense, rough mixture of Death and Black Metal in general, added with elements from Thrash Metal. I admit: this is quite a general description. More specific, Infernal Diatribe create a timeless form of Black Metal in the first place, universal in approach (meaning: with influences from the Scandinavian scenes, yet exceeding the limitation of the Swedish and / or Norwegian approach) and picking prevalence from the Old School (especially the famous Second Wave trend) as well from a more topical current.
The whirlwind-of-sound - because this album really is a twister-laden experience - is based on gurgling voices, rapid and rabid four-strings, flaming solo-work, thunderous drum-eruptions, shrieking six-strings and even some extremely fine acoustic excerpts. It works, it really does. Despite the brutal, all-overwhelming approach, it’s a nice detail to discover that the production, the variety, the atmosphere and the own-faced frantic execution are of a really high quality. The variety goes for the speed, for example. Most of the time, the album swirls and hustles, with more than a handful of uncontemplated vehement eruptions. Several Thrash-edged intermezzi (like solos) fortify this brutality. Then again, once in a while, things (seem to) slow down too, offering a fine counterbalance to the intensity of the more intense pieces. And it surely goes hand in hand (or better: claw in claw) with the different shapes of spherical imagination and ritual that determinates this effort.
I also mentioned the high-rated production in the former paragraph. Well, the sound quality of Mahabhuta Pralaya is extremely callous, yet that does fit to the sonic terror that defines this release. At the very same time, I think the equilibrium in instrumentation and vocalization (read: the mix) is top-notch. There are no exaggerated moments for any instrument (vocals included), for all of them are nicely balanced, despite the sometimes labyrinthine textures. Besides, the final sound is very decent, yet it lacks that unnecessary, and therefor ridiculous and irritating, surgically purified counterfeit. Nice, nice, nice indeed!
Finally this. The material on Mahabhuta Pralaya was recorded at Studio X and BlooperHouse Studio, and eventually mixed and mastered at the Anomaly Studio with Aapash Sherpa. The labels involved were mentioned above. The physical release is a ‘normal’ compact-disc (jewel-case, if you want to), printed in an edition of 500 copies. It comes with a sixteen-page booklet, including artwork by the talented B D Dahlia (BlackDollDahlia).
https://satanath.bandcamp.com/album/sat412-infernal-diatribe-mahabhuta-pralaya-2025
https://satanath.com/releases/item/sat412.html