The Raven of Dawn

by VISHAL RAI

FROM ISSUE # 107 (November 2004) | IN THIS ISSUE
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"Come out, Dawn's Radiance
Emerge from the monotony of nocturnal existence
From the Raven-esque dawn's emergence,
To greet the dusk, come out Dusk's Radiance"
- Raven of Dawn

As harbingers of death or givers of life, the raven has always been looked upon with awe. Through the ages, poets have used them as symbols and metaphors, including Edgar Allan Poe in "The Raven," and it's no wonder a budding young poet in Kathmandu decided to name his band Raven Of Dawn. "The raven of dawn symbolizes the coming light or darkness," explains Niranjan, singer and frontman of the band.

Formerly known as Wildflower, the band started playing as Raven Of Dawn in 2001, and have always laid a strong emphasis on experimenting. The members come from completely different musical backgrounds, but a common bond between them is their love for early-era grunge bands (Alice In Chains in particular) and other classics like Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne, but they're quick to admit that they "never copy" from their influences.

"Grunge-Psychedelic Rock" is what Raven Of Dawn has termed their music and if you're familiar with these two styles, it seems like an unlikely combination. What has music born out of angst got to do with lengthy, trippy music, you might ask? "Grunge, to us, is about our feelings and what we are going through. The theme of our songs are grunge, but our music is psychedelic," they explain. For the band, their music is all about exploring life in its complexities. "Our lyrics are basically about life and death," says Niranjan. "We lay a lot of importance on the words and write about everything we go through."

"Raven EP", a 2-track affair is already doing the rounds amongst their friends and a full-length album too in the offing tpp, though it might take time. The album will be titled "Wildflower," which is "a collection of poems with the central theme being the Wildflower," as says Niranjan.

ROD are:
Niranjan - Vocals
Yogesh - Lead Guitar
Aditya - Rhythm Guitar
Bibhor - Keyboards
Bikash - Bass
Som - Drums