It was late in the evening and I was really really tired after a hard day’s work. As I was getting ready to head home, I saw Shakib Bhai, THE Dhatob Danob of Cryptic Fate, standing outside our office and having a smoke (yes, I work where Shakib Bhai works :D). Immediately, the fanboy in me came out and I went and said “Shakib Bhaiya, kemon achen?” Shakib Bhai, in his usual tone said, “Josh!” Given the fact that I’m a hugeeeee fan of Cryptic Fate, my questions and fascinations for the band never ends. So, I decided that it was a golden opportunity to strike up a conversation yet again about the band’s recent activities and the possibilities of a new album.
So, the conversation started and it lasted almost for an hour. And the conversation where Shakib Bhai himself discussed Fate’s upcoming album ‘Jantrik Golojog’. A few months back I had the opportunity of listening to a short clip of one of the demos from the new album and it sounded so heavy that I couldn’t stop myself from asking Shakib Bhai about the heaviness of the new album. He was being very comical about the fact that the new album is going to please a lot of fans and people will think that CF worked their asses off and nailed another ‘great’ album. Well, according to Shakib Bhai, this album will be just about fun and not putting in a whole lot of effort. He was saying, “Manush jon bujhbei nah je amra kono koshto kori nai kintu amra bujhbo. Amra ‘Danob’ compose korar shomoy fatai khatsi and we proved to everyone that we can put out a great album.”
Shakib Bhai says that the first song has been done and they knew it was the first song when they played it as a band. “From day one, it just felt like the first song of the album. However, we are still trying to crack the beginning of the song as it always is the hardest part.” He is very happy with the way things are shaping up but due to a lot of factors like work, Bhoutist and the cricket world cup, he feels that work for the album is getting pushed to the back gear. He also said that there were some obvious progressions that CF has been through like the fact that the first album was just full of influences ranging from Iron Maiden to Pantera to Metallica; the second album still had that touch of influences but keeping some originality to it and the third album is the LEAP that has made them from good to great. And rightfully so! He said that all the great bands in Metal have been like that.
It’s nothing new that Shakib Bhai is a great lyricist and he is the composer of many of the songs of the band. He believes that Bangladeshi lyrics are lagging behind in comparison to the western bands. He said that Bangladeshi Metal bands can’t infuse the aggression, delivery and the authenticity of lyrics. He was saying, “Shobai jodi ‘adhar’, ‘akaash’ aar ‘prem’ niye lyrics lekhe taholey toh hobe na. There can’t be any sweet emotions in Heavy Metal lyrics. Heavy Metal depends on three factors mainly: aggression, magnificence and the fact that it has to be over the top.” He was very proud of the latest CF single, Ondho. He was commenting about the fact that it was a very dark and a very heavy song at the same time; through the lyrics, he portrayed darkness with having a lot of power and in a positive light. What it all comes down to is the fact that Shakib Bhai CAN deliver brilliant lyrics with a lot of aggression.
At this point, I felt like I had a thousand more questions. So I went on and told him that the solos in the last song were just way too brilliant. Shakib Bhai then goes and says, “Gaan e jei solo shunso, those weren’t how they were written initially. I’m a person who’s very fidgety about solos; there are certain ways I want them to be done and if it’s not done the way I want it, taholey just HOI NAI! I’m very critical about the overall feel and the delivery of how a solo should sound and I disagree with my band members a lot of the times. But in the end, you know who’s right.”
I went on and on about how great CF is during live shows and how my first ever concert was a seeing CF live in a school show back in ’93. I also brought up conversations of ancient underground shows of CF and what songs they covered and what gears they had used and it was just awesome that Shakib Bhai was confirming all the facts along with me. My joy was just uncontrollable.
Coming back to what we were talking about, I was asking Shakib Bhai about some of the themes on the Danob album. He went on to explain that the song Daako Tumi Amar Naam is a first person view of God himself and when are the times that a person might call Him and the consequences of calling Him. The song Danob is about politicians living amongst us and controlling us and Jatra is about friends living abroad and making trips back to the country every now and then. Shakib Bhai said that many of his influences rooted from Grunge bands like Alice In Chains, Soundgarden etc. He said that the Grunge bands in the early 90s brought a sense of realism into songs in general. He proudly said that Heavy Metal lyrics in general suck and it’s all about the same thing. So, Grunge as a genre inspired him and his band and that lead to a new conversation.
This is the last leg of the conversation where we were talking about Grunge and how that partially gave birth to another project called The Watson Brothers. TWB was an amalgamation between friends and members from CF. The album Ohom from TWB also has an English version just like Srestho and songs from that album were totally different in the underground scene back then. Shakib Bhai commented on the album, “We wanted to start Ohom as a happy album and end it on a totally depressing note with an epic and sad song, which we achieved. An album that can contain songs like Akaash and Rong and songs like Jhor and …Shorey Darai Shesh Barer Moto is an achievement in itself.” He said Jhor is about a conversation of two people, one being a recluse and the other being an extrovert, where the recluse person likes being the person he is. This is followed by the song Prachir, which is about the recluse person saying that he likes being the person he is and the fact that he doesn’t want to change.
At this point, Shakib Bhai has already had his 7th cigarette and I felt like I was asking too many questions. Being the fan I am, I felt super happy and I was giddy with joy with whatever I got to learn from the Metal Monster himself. So, I left the office being super contented and instantly thought of putting it into my blog and sharing the wealth of knowledge I had gained about the band.
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