23 hours ago15 min read

神的指引 - 尼泊尔Death Metal乐队Ugra Karma专访

说到尼泊尔的地下金属场景大家会想到那些乐队？的确在中国尼泊尔的地下金属场景并不被很多人熟知，其实尼泊尔的极端金属也是很强大的，Death Metal，Black Metal，Grindcore，Brutal Daeath Metal，Thrash Metal，Stoner/Sludge Metal等风格在尼泊尔都有很多不错的乐队，其中我关注的一些来自尼泊尔的乐队，比如The Exorcist，Serpent Gaze，Narsamhaar，Maranatha，Laash，Krur，Kaal，False Brain Tumor，Dying Out Flame，Discord，Chepang，Cecostomy，Carnal Engorement，Broken Hymen，Bloody Rage，Animality等乐队都是非常优秀的乐队，虽然有一些乐队是刚刚组建的乐队新乐队，但是被很多歌迷和乐评人关注，由此可见更多的尼泊尔乐队已经走出了自己的国家被其他国家的歌迷支持，关注，今天杂志采访到的就是一支来自尼泊尔的Death Metal乐队Ugra Karma，他们是尼泊尔的第一支同时也是第一支走出尼泊尔的Death Metal乐队，1999年Sunil和他的弟弟Subash以及他的同学Aayush组建了Ugra Karma乐队，组建不久之后乐队就参加了几次现场演出并且录制了他们的第一张Demo作品“The Himalayan Metal of Death”在2000年发行，虽然在缺少良好的设备和录音环境但是这Demo依旧深受很多的歌迷的喜爱，同时也展现出乐队的才华，2001年乐队的第一张正式专辑“Blood Metal Initiation”，这张专辑是尼泊尔Death Metal发展史上最重要的作品，一张忠于Old School Detah Metal的作品，粗糙原始的音色瞬间让人回想起80 - 90年代的一些乐队，第一张作品发行之后乐队，乐队在2002年宣布解散，宣布了一段经典的回忆落下帷幕，10年之后乐队的创始人Sunil重新燃起了对Ugra Karma的热情，2012年宣布重新组建了Ugra Karma乐队并且在2015年发行了他们的EP专辑“Mountain Grinders”，依旧还是我们熟悉的Ugra Karma乐队，还是那支忠于Old School Death Metal的乐队，还是那支原始，粗糙的乐队，没有任何的妥协，只有对于Old School的热情，2022年乐队的发行了他们的第二张正式专辑“Photonic Death”，同样深受好评，2024年日本Darker than Darkness Records厂牌为乐队发行了一张Compilation，这张专辑包含了乐队的2015 - 2022年的两张专辑作品，在前不久杂志与乐队的创始人Sunil取得联系进行了一次专访！

（V: 代表笔者 S: 代表Sunil）

What bands come to mind when talking about Nepal's underground metal scene? It's true that in China Nepal's underground metal scene is not well known by many people, in fact Nepal's extreme metal is also very strong, Death Metal, Black Metal, Grindcore, Brutal Daeath Metal, Thrash Metal, Stoner/Sludge Metal and other styles are found in Nepal. There are a lot of good bands, some of the bands I follow from Nepal are The Exorcist, Serpent Gaze, Narsamhaar, Maranatha, Laash, Krur, Kaal, False Brain Tumor, Dying Out Flame, Discord. Chepang, Cecostomy, Carnal Engorement, Broken Hymen, Bloody Rage, Animality, etc. are very good bands, although some of the bands are new bands that have just formed, but they are being noticed by many fans and critics, which shows that more Nepali bands have come out of their own country to be noticed by other countries' singers. Today, the magazine interviews a Nepalese Death Metal band, Ugra Karma, who are the first Nepalese Death Metal band to come out of Nepal. In 1999, Sunil, his brother Subash and his classmate Aayush formed the band Ugra Karma. In 1999 Sunil, his brother Subash and his classmate Aayush formed Ugra Karma, and soon after the formation of the band, the band played several live shows and recorded their first demo ‘The Himalayan Metal of Death’ which was released in 2000, despite the lack of good equipment and recording environment the demo was still well received by many fans. The band's first official album ‘Blood Metal Initiation’ was released in 2001, the most important album in the history of Nepalese Death Metal. Detah Metal's rough and raw sound instantly recalls some of the bands of the 80‘s and 90’s. After the release of their first album, the band announced their disbandment in 2002, bringing the curtains down on a classic memory, and a decade later, the band's founder, Sunil, rekindled his passion for Ugra Karma, announcing the re-formation of the band in 2012 and the release of Ugra Karma in 2015. Ugra Karma re-formed in 2012 and released their EP ‘Mountain Grinders’ in 2015. It's still the same Ugra Karma we all know, the same Old School Death Metal band, the same raw, gritty, no-nonsense band. In 2022 the band released their second album ‘Photonic Death’, which was also well received, and in 2024 the band was released on Darker than Darkness Records in Japan. In 2024, Darker than Darkness Japan released a compilation of the band's work from 2015 - 2022, and recently the magazine got in touch with the band's founder Sunil for an interview!

(V: for the author S: for Sunil)

采访对象：Sunil（Ugra Karma乐队创始人）

采访时间：2024.10.21

V: 你好Sunil先生很高兴见到你，非常感谢你参加这次采访，我想这是你们乐队第一次接受中国杂志的采访首先向中国的乐迷们问好，Ugra Karma是一支历史悠久的尼泊尔乐队，成立于 1999 年，你们是尼泊尔第一支Death Metal乐队，你们当初是如何组建这支乐队的？还记得当时的情景吗？

Hello Mr. Sunil, nice to meet you and thank you very much for participating in this interview, I think this is the first time that your band has been interviewed by a Chinese magazine, first of all say hello to the Chinese fans, Ugra Karma is a Nepalese band with a long history, formed in 1999, and you guys are the first Nepalese death metal band, how did you form this band in the first place? How did you form the band and do you remember what it was like?

S: 向所有人致敬！是的这是我们第一次从中国接受采访，尽管我们两国之间有着共同的陆地边界。乐队的成立源于我们三人的相聚，我们的目标是创作原创金属乐。我和弟弟Subash以及他的同学Aayush组成了Ugra Karma乐队的核心。1999 年我们在加德满都进行了几场演出并录制了第一张小样“The Himalayan Metal of Death”。后来我们的阵容发生了一些变化，我们录制并发行了第一张专辑“Blood Metal Initiation”。当时的场景极其原始，再加上缺乏好的场地/工作室以及缺少合适的乐器/设备。但我们内心的火焰是如此狂暴，没有什么能阻挡我们克服一切挑战，勇往直前。

Hails to all! Yes this is the first time we’re being interviewed from China, even tough we share a land border. The band came about as a result of the three of us getting together with the goal of writing original Metal. I, along with my younger brother Subash and his classmate Aayush formed the core of what is Ugra Karma. We played a few shows in Kathmandu and later recorded our first demo "The Himalayan Metal of Death" in 1999. Some lineup changes later, we recorded and released our first album "Blood Metal Initiation" . Back then the scene was extremely primitive, plus the lack of good venues/studios and the dearth of proper musical instruments/equipment. But the fire within us was so furious that nothing could stop us from overcoming all challenges and bulldozing ahead.

V: 你们乐队现在只剩下你一个原始成员了，其他成员都被替换了，第一代成员为什么要退出乐队？新成员是如何加入乐队的？你对新成员的工作满意吗？你们的吉他手Joshua Hernandez来自澳大利亚，你们不在同一个国家，他是怎么加入乐队的？他现在住在尼泊尔吗？

You are now the only original member left in your band, all the other members have been replaced, why did the first generation members quit the band? How did the new members join the band? Are you happy with the new member's work? Your guitarist Joshua Hernandez is from Australia, you are not in the same country, how did he join the band? Does he live in Nepal now?

S: 乐队的阵容变化非常大，我们的鼓手Bikram在2020年移民到了美国，就像我们在2000年代初移民到美国一样--Subash和我。2021年我们的贝斯手Bijay结婚并移居英国。正如你所看到的，这里有一个模式，大部分的阵容变动都是因为移民。这就是为什么我决定在COVID-19灾难期间在美国重新组建乐队，我们在中美洲进行了一些隐藏演出，当时的阵容是：我担任贝斯手和主唱，Kevin Reiner担任鼓手，Joshua担任吉他手和主唱。他在美国出生长大，一直住在这里，因此这似乎是错误的信息。

The lineup changes have been pretty extensive. Our drummer Bikram emigrated to the US in 2020, as we had done in the early 2000s - Aayush and I. That was the reason for the band's hiatus during the 2000s. Our bassist Bijay got married and moved to the UK in 2021. As you can see, there is a pattern here. Most of the line-up changes have been due to emigration. That is why I decided to re-form the band in the US during the COVID-19 plague. We did some hidden shows in Central America with the lineup of me on bass and vocals, Kevin Reiner on drums and Joshua on guitars and vocals, although he is not from Australia. He was born and raised in the US and has always lived here. So, that seems to be wrong information.

V: 你是一位经验丰富的音乐家，能否向我们介绍一下你们的乐队的创作过程？我相信你的演奏经验会激励很多年轻音乐家！

You are an experienced musician, can you tell us a little bit about your band's creative process? I'm sure your playing experience will inspire many young musicians!

S: 当只有一个人写歌时，通常是在家里完成音乐部分。之后整个歌曲结构会在练习时作为一个乐队一起演奏。如果是多人创作，就会有人先想出一两个旋律。然后我们会在乐队练习时尝试一起演奏原始的旋律。我们在其中加入旋律和模式，调整歌曲的结构，使其成为一个连贯的整体。经过几次乐队练习后，我们或多或少就有了歌曲的最终版本。然后我们会在声乐模式上下功夫，最后添加歌词。歌词的主题通常是根据我们演奏这首歌时的感受共同决定的。

When it's just one guy writing the song, it's usually done at home - the music part. Later the whole song structure is played together as a band during practice. When it's multiple people writing, someone comes up with a riff or two first. We then try to play the original riffs together during band practice. We add riffs and patterns to it, play around with the structure of the song and make it into a coherent unit. After a few band practice sessions we have a final version of the song, more or less. We then work on the vocal patterns and finally add lyrics to it. The lyrical topic is usually decided together based how the song makes us feel when we play it.

V: 你们的每张专辑在录制效果上都有非常明显的进步，你们都是在哪个录音棚录制专辑的？哪位制作人制作了你们的专辑？

Each of your albums has been a very noticeable improvement in terms of recording results, what studio did you all record your albums in? Which producer produced your albums?

S: 我们的每张专辑都是在不同的录音室录制的，由不同的工程师制作。我们之所以每次都要在不同的录音室录音，是因为当我们再次录音时，原来的录音室已经不复存在了，我们的第一个录音室--加德满都的Sacred Soundz录音室。我们的录音师是Iman Shah，他是一位非常出色的吉他手，也是一位训练有素的录音师。他主要负责录制和混音我们的样带和第一张专辑，我们能找到他真的很幸运，因为我们敲了好几个月的门，找了很多录音室，在整个城市都没有找到其他愿意或有能力录制金属音乐的人。第二张专辑是在几个不同的地方录制的。鼓是在一个已经不存在的录音室录制的。凤凰工作室的Sanzip Rai为EP混音。吉他、贝斯和人声也是在该工作室录制的。这个工作室现在只做视频，不再录制音频。最新专辑也是在几个不同的地方录制的，由罗林斯工作室的Sushil Manandhar负责工程。我想我们去了五个不同的地方录制和混音每个乐器/人声。

Every recording we have done has been recorded in a different studio with different engineers. The reason we had to record in a different studio each time was due to the fact that by the time we came around to record again the original studio would cease to exist. This happened with our first studio - Sacred Soundz Studio in Kathmandu. Our engineer was Iman Shah, a very accomplished guitar player, and a trained recording engineer. He was very much responsible for recording and mixing our demo and the first album. It was truly a stroke of luck that we found him because even after months of knocking on the doors of many, many studios, we hadn't found anyone else willing/capable of recording Metal music in the entire city. The second release was recorded in several different places. The drums were recorded in a studio that does not exist anymore. Sanzip Rai at Phoenix Studio mixed the EP. The guitars, bass and vocals were recorded at the studio too. This studio only does videos now, no audio-only recording anymore. The latest album was similarly recorded at several different places and was engineered by Sushil Manandhar at Rollins Studio. I think we went to five different places to record and mix each of the instrument/vocals.

V: 你们乐队的Logo设计非常独特，是谁为你们设计的这个Logo？你们的专辑封面设计也发生了很大变化，从早期的血腥封面变成了非常内敛的封面设计，是谁为你们设计的这个封面设计，2022年的封面设计有什么含义吗？

Your band's logo design is very unique, who designed this logo for you, your album artwork has changed a lot as well, changing from the early bloody covers to very introspective artwork, who designed this artwork for you, is there any meaning to the 2022 artwork?

S: Logo是Tejas设计的，他是一个金属党的朋友。我们研究了几种不同的设计，所有设计的概念都一样，都是一个倒置的三叉戟。经过几十次修改后，我们确定了现在的Logo版本。从第一个Logo开始，我们就从未改变过。“Mountain Grinders”的美术设计由来自加尔各答Qayin Mandala Graphex的Samit Das完成。“Mountain Grinders”的封面设计由Norman Trinidad（逝世）完成，他是菲律宾一位备受尊敬的地下艺术家。“The Himalayan Metal of Death”的封面设计由我们的一位非常要好的艺术家/音乐家朋友Anish Lohani于1999年完成，他也是我在大学乐队中的队友。

The logo was designed by Tejas – a fellow metalhead and a friend. We worked on several different designs all with the same concept of an inverted trident. After dozens of modifications, we decided on the current version of the logo. We have never changed the logo since the very first one. The artwork for ‘Photonic Death’ was done by Samit Das of Qayin Mandala Graphex from Calcutta. ‘Mountain Grinders’ cover art was done by Norman Trinidad (RIP) – a highly respected underground artist from the Philippines. ‘The Himalayan Metal of Death’ artwork was done by a very good artist/musician friend of ours - Anish Lohani in 1999. He was also my bandmate in our college band.

V: 你与许多唱片公司合作发行过专辑，甚至有一些唱片公司重新发行了你的作品，这些唱片公司是如何与你联系合作的？你对这些唱片公司的工作满意吗？

You've released albums with a number of labels and even had some labels re-release your work, how did these labels get in touch with you to collaborate? Are you satisfied with the work of these labels?

S: 当然满意，他们对我们都很好，大多数国际唱片公司都是通过互联网与我们取得联系的。

Certainly. They have all been great to us. Most of the international labels got in touch with us through the interwebs.

V: 你们的乐队在2002年宣布解散，是什么导致了你们的解散，又是什么让你们在2012年宣布重组呢？

Your band announced that you were breaking up in 2002, what caused you to break up and what brought you back together in 2012 when you Tsai announced your reunion?

S: 移民导致乐队在2002年中断，我和Aayush都移民到美国求学。在此期间我一直在美国玩乐队--Blood Havoc（波特兰，俄勒冈州）、Lost Lady Saloon（大瀑布，马萨诸塞州）、Anthrovore（卡斯卡德，马萨诸塞州）、Shroud of the Heretic（波特兰，俄勒冈州）2012年晚些时候我决定回到尼泊尔重新组建Ugra Karma乐队，以便在尼泊尔演出并录制新歌。

Emigration caused the band to go on a hiatus in 2002. Both Aayush and I had immigrated to the US for our studies. During this time I had been playing in bands in the US - Blood Havoc (Portland, OR) Lost Lady Saloon (Great Falls, MT), Anthrovore (Cascade, MT), Shroud of the Heretic (Portland, OR). Later in 2012, I decided to return back to Nepal and re-group Ugra Karma in order to play shows in Nepal and record new material.

V: Nihilism, Atheism, Rituals, Gore是你们乐队音乐的一些主题，你们为什么选择它们，想通过它们表达什么？你们也写歌词，这些歌词是谁写的？

Nihilism, Atheism, Rituals, Gore are some of the themes of your band's music, why did you choose them and what do you want to express through them? You also write lyrics, who writes these lyrics and what inspires him?

S: 我想说，死亡是Ugra Karma最突出的主题。我们确实写过反宗教、亵渎神明、无神论和虚无主义。尼泊尔有很多血祭和动物献祭活动，所以我们也写这些，还有天灾人祸、各种临终仪式、连环杀手、登山者之死、恒星、星系等。

I would say that Death is the most prominent topic in Ugra Karma. We do write about anti-religion, blasphemy, atheism and nihilism. There are many blood rituals and animal sacrifice events in Nepal, so we write about those and about natural and man-made disasters, various types of last rites, serial killers, deaths of mountaineers, stars, galaxies, etc.

V: 首先祝贺你们今年发行的新专辑，当然这张新专辑是你们早期专辑的再版，你们的作品给我留下了深刻的印象，你们的乐队受到了Sepultura、Possessed、Sodom、Death、Cannibal Corpse等乐队的影响，此外还有很多Grindcore音乐的影响。你们乐队的作品给我留下的深刻印象是，你们的专辑充满了无尽的力量和炽热的激情。这张专辑充满了对宗教最邪恶、最纯粹的仇恨。你对自己的作品有什么看法吗？新专辑与旧专辑相比有什么变化吗？

First of all congratulations on your new release this year, of course this new release is a reissue of your earlier albums, I was impressed with your work, your band has influences like Sepultura, Possessed, Sodom, Death, Cannibal Corpse plus a lot of grindcore. that's what impressed me about your band's work, there is no drummer on this album. What impresses me about your band's work is that your album is full of unrelenting power and fiery passion. It's an album filled with the most evil, pure hatred for religion. Do you have any thoughts on your work? Has the new album changed at all compared to the old one?

S: 是的，我们最近通过日本唱片公司Darker than Darkness Records重新发行了我们所有唱片的CD版本。从我们的Demo到2022年的最新专辑，我们一直在演奏我们所热爱的音乐。我们从未尝试过跟风或追随最新潮流。我们演奏的是疯狂、激进、快速、残酷和激烈的Death Metal。我们将坚持自己的风格，绝不在金属乐上妥协。

Yes we recently reissued CD versions all of our recordings via the Japanese label - Darker than Darkness Records. From our demo to the latest album from 2022, we have always played what we love. Never tried to jump on a bandwagon or follow the latest trend. We play a version of Death Metal that is frantic, aggressive, fast, brutal and intense. We will stick to our guns and never ever compromise on Metal, never.

V: 你的乐队参加过很多音乐节和巡演，哪些音乐节或巡演给您留下了深刻印象，你能描述一下现场气氛吗？

Your band has played a lot of festivals and tours, what festivals or tours have impressed you and can you describe the atmosphere, and what other festivals are you going to play in 2024?

S: 我不太喜欢参加大型音乐节，我更喜欢在阴暗的室内场地与一小群铁杆乐迷一起演出，但有一个例外那就是Obscene Extreme Festival，虽然这是一个户外音乐节，但它的乐队和观众都非常疯狂，这简直是我参加过的最疯狂的Metal/Grind Festival。

I am not a big fan of playing at huge festivals. I prefer dark indoor venues with small groups of die hards. However, there is one exception to this - Obscene Extreme Festival. Even though it's an outdoor festival, it is insane because of the bands and especially the crowd. Simply the most insane metal/grind festival I have ever played in.

V: 我听说过你们国家的一些乐队，我一直很喜欢你们，因为你们是尼泊尔的第一支乐队。我想通过你们了解更多尼泊尔的金属场景，你们能向我们大家推荐尼泊尔的其他乐队吗？能给我们介绍一下尼泊尔现在的金属场景吗？

I've heard some bands from your country but I've always loved you guys as the first band from Nepal, I'd like to learn more about the Nepalese metal scene through you, can you recommend some other bands from Nepal to all of us? Can you tell us about the metal scene in Nepal right now?

S: 尼泊尔的金属场景很活跃，从上世纪90年代就开始了。这里有大量的金属乐队和狂热的金属爱好者，尤其是在加德满都。唯一的问题是，这些乐队大多来来去去，持续时间不长。移民到其他国家是乐队解散的主要原因，Ugra Karma就是一个例子，尼泊尔有很多很棒的Death Metal乐队。博卡拉的Kaal、加德满都的Krur和Binaash就是其中一些活跃的老牌乐队。Sluge/Doom metallers Shree 3也非常出色。

Nepal has a vibrant metal scene and has had one since the 90s. There are a ton of metal bands and rabid metalheads, especially in Kathmandu. The only problem is that most of these bands come and go and don't last a long time. Emigration to other countries is the main reason of the discontinuation of bands, as happened in the case of Ugra Karma. There are/were lots of awesome death metal bands in Nepal. Kaal from Pokhara and Krur and Binaash from Kathmandu are some of the established ones that are active. Sluge/Doom metallers Shree 3 are very good too.

V: 你们是一支伟大的乐队，你们也是尼泊尔的骄傲，我希望通过这次采访，能有更多的中国乐迷关注、支持和认可你们的乐队，我会一直支持和关注你们的乐队，最后你们有什么想对中国乐迷说的吗？

You are a great band, you are also the pride of Nepal, I hope that through this interview more Chinese fans will pay attention to, support and recognize your band, I will always support and pay attention to your band, in the end, do you have anything you want to say to your Chinese fans?

S: 我们非常感谢。谢谢你们!!! 致所有的中国金属乐迷--让永恒的金属之火永远燃烧下去!!!

We appreciate it. Thanks and hails to you!!! To all Chinese metalheads- keep the eternal fires of metal alive forever!!!