A Trainwreck in Wacken!

As Trainwreck got up on the near 'sacred' stage of the Wacken Open Air, Bangladesh's National Anthem played. A K Rahul, the band's guitarist, had our flag hoisted on his guitar, signalling that this one was not only for fulfilling their childhood dreams, but to tell the world that Bangladesh has arrived. 

Ten years ago, a bunch of youngsters tore through Bangladesh's underground scene with Lamb of God inspired riffs, putting forth the heaviest of sounds, becoming a sensation amongst metalheads in the country. A decade and many setbacks later, the brilliant resurgence of Trainwreck saw them destroy the competition at Wacken Battle Dhaka, then Bangalore Open Air, and after that -- making history by playing at the biggest metal show in the world, the Wacken Open Air.



"Over the years, we had taken a huge risk by making our original tracks in English, as that immediately limits our market locally. However, we always wanted our music to be international", A K Rahul had told me in a previous interview with the band, before they left to perform at Bangalore. The "risk" certainly did pay off, and their appearance at Wacken can only mean good things for the industry going forward.



As I watched the event unfold live on Facebook, I could not help but be amazed by the quality of sound they had delivered. It was, in my opinion, no less than any of the top heavy metal bands in the world. Crisp, brutal and most importantly, moving. Mark Don, the band's original drummer, had left the band recently. However, Asif Mahmood did a killer job replacing his counterpart. Abir Ahmed Shuvo, Ekram Wasi and Habibullah Farhan were equally fantastic.

As the audience headbanged with their killer originals, I did too, in my office desk, bringing back a 16 year old me who had regularly gone to RCC to see the mighty Trainwreck. Now that they have showed the world, and more importantly, our music industry, that anything was possible through determination, grind and passion -- we can hope that musicians of all genres step up their game. It certainly is long overdue.