Artist: Depredation Netra
Country: India
Label: Iron Bonehead Productions
Formats: Demo Tape
Year: 2025
Depredation Netra is a new band out of India. Given the insane size of the country’s population, there is hardly any metal scene to speak of, and for that reason you can’t really call it an “up-and-coming metal country” – correct me if I’m wrong. But it is undeniable that in recent years more and more good Indian bands have been emerging. When it comes to the most extreme forms of metal, most eyes will be focused on Aparthiva Raktadhara and, most prominently, Tetragrammacide, but whenever a few bands from a specific area receive some attention, there are always followers. This is clearly one such band, and given Iron Bonehead Productions’ ties to the aforementioned bands, it is perhaps not surprising that this German label is also releasing this debut demo.
On a visual and spiritual level, these Indian bands definitely have something new to offer opposed to the Western- and Latin American standard of goats, guts and killing Christ. Yet, on a musical level, they are not all that different. Well, not like a whole different world of sonic violence, that is. It is evident that the War/Bestial-like Black/Death Metal framework is not particularly conducive to any experimental tendencies or other subtle ideas that fall outside the established norms. Not that it is necessarily essential for new bands to add something to the monochromatic palette for which this genre is known, but at least we know where to place Depredation Netra on a musical level.
‘Third Eye Predation’ is a rather short affair that clocks well under the 15-minute mark, but leaves very little to the imagination. In rather straight-forward fashion, this new band pummels through two tracks (not counting the intro) which makes us clear that these lads were set out to do one thing and one thing only. That one thing doesn’t include originality or pushing any creative boundaries, instead they went for a one-dimensional, mildly chaotic and especially punishing formula. In the more or less ten minutes of real music your ear drums are getting thrashed and ripped, but they don’t really go off the rails anywhere, both in terms of musical compositions and in productional values. In other words: ‘Third Eye Predation’ is a solid start, but is clearly a first offering that could use a little tweaking here and there. Still, if you’re in for a relentless sonic beating that sometimes feels a bit like a less-dynamic and more straight-forward Angelcorpse, this is a great demo to pick up.
