Stigmata - The Ascetic Paradox (album review)


Stigmata
The Ascetic Paradox
October 17th, 2015
Independent

I got Stigmata's album The Ascetic Paradox today (January 7) and was trippin balls! It's wicked cool! It opens with some serious bass riffage. It's like funk with a punk twist. But that didn't last long. It segued into this heavy metal psychosis. Suresh de Silva, the lead singer reminds me of equal parts Dio and Bobby Blotzer. His vocals are deep and strong - like coffee. I was not expecting this from a band from Sri Lanka. But then, the only thing I know about Sri Lanka is that Duran Duran made a bunch of videos there and it's wicked pretty. There is nothing "pretty" about The Ascetic Paradox. The compositions are mind blowing. They are blending funk, progressive, groove, metal, and tribal and it works! But hell, Stigmata's been around for fifteen years. I'm agog that more people don't know the bass prowess of Lakmal Chanaka Wijayagunarathna. He's amazing. And the twin guitars of Tennyson Napoleon and Andrew Obeyesekere is how dual guitar work is supposed to be done. Roshan Taraka Senewirathne drumming is fukin' killer.

I can't gush enough about how complex and layered the compositions are. You have to hear it to believe it. There is an accessible technicality to the music. It definitely belonged in the Top 10 of 2015 lists.

http://stigmatasl.com/

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