Review of Stigmata - "The Ascetic Paradox"
INDEPENDENT INSANITY
By: Geoff Teach
Off the southern tip of India, in the Indian Ocean, lies the small island nation of Sri Lanka. Supporting just over twenty-million people of various religions, languages, and cultures, Sri Lanka is a melting pot of spiritual ideas, ancient history, and Western society and structure. From this beautiful and diverse land’s largest city, Colombo, comes a not-so-new power metal force to be reckoned with, Stigmata.
In an industry where it has become incredibly hard to get noticed, even if you ply your craft right around the corner from the Capitol Records tower in Los Angeles, metal acts today have other choice but to spend good money and to work their asses off to put out quality recordings. Sri Lanka’s Stigmata have been doing exactly that for fifteen years now (and that in a country with virtually no metal scene of its own to speak of).
With the recent release of their fourth studio album, The Ascetic Paradox (M Entertainment), Stigmata have put out an accomplished album that is noticeably well-produced, beautifully adorned, complex, and blended with a twist of Sri Lankan music and culture, adding a world flavor to their art that is not found in most metal today.
Sounding most like a cross between Mercyful Fate, Iron Maiden, and Opeth, Stigmata’s The Ascetic Paradox is powerful, cacophonous, progressive, and assailing – and Suresh de Silva’s vocal performance is astronomical, to boot. Highlights from this eight-track effort include “II: An Idle Mind is the Devil’s Workshop”, “III: (Still) Born Again”, “VI: Axioma”, and my personal favorite, “VIII: And Now We Shall Bring Them War!”.
Give Stigmata a chance. These Sri Lankan metal-heads just might surprise you.
Keep it Metal! \m/
To listen to “II: An Idle Mind is the Devil’s Workshop” from The Ascetic Paradox, just press play below:
And to visit Stigmata on the web, please click the following links:
http://www.facebook.com/stigmatasrilanka