There’s scope for improvement and hopefully with better equipment and expertise, the quality difference will be minimal. Gigs do happen frequently though and there are many recording studios here, although they may not yet be internationally renowned. They do exist of course but it’s definitely not as entrenched as it is in Europe, for instance. What is the scene like in India for music shops, venues for gigs and recording studios? It’s still better off than other countries in the region and I must say that I’ve witnessed a lot of growth in terms of professionalism and output. Moreover, most people in the country listen to Hindi/regional music but that’s changing and more and more people are getting into English music which is a prerequisite of some sort before you get into rock and metal. It’s the same like everywhere else – metal is never going to be as much as mainstream music simply because it’s sonically extreme and not everyone can get that. How is the extreme and heavy metal scene in India? Is it growing to become a real force in music in India or will it always be an underground scene in your opinion? And then I discovered that there’s a lot of music like that, what with the subgenres in metal, and I couldn’t be happier and devoted most of my time to getting to know them all. It gave me a very strange sense of satisfaction. I couldn’t put it in words but I knew that my search had ended. It was when an engineering colleague of mine lent me his Metallica Master of Puppets tape. How did your life in heavy/extreme metal begin? What was it that brought you to this form of music? Looking back, I want to know that I did my best and I can live with that.

I’m just very thankful to people like you who help out and the customers out there who keep it all going, even though I’m based in India. I’m not the best businessman out there but it does affect me greatly when I feel I haven’t done enough to promote the album. Are you mad running a record label in the world of internet downloads? How do you survive and flourish as a label and sign new acts under the severe pressure of a diminishing market? Respect to you Kunal and I wish you every success with your label and endeavours. Kunal should earn each and everyone’s respect for his dedication for overcoming obstacles on a daily basis in order for bands, music and fans to survive. Metal is in his blood, ladies and gentlemen, and he works tirelessly to give us listeners an opportunity to listen to fresh newer bands such as Jupiterian as well as keeping the flame burning for the older acts like Paganizer. He has amassed over eighty releases through his label and Kunal simply doesn’t want to stop there.

Kunal is from Mumbai, India from where you would not think it possible to build a record label from scratch but Kunal has devoted his whole life to the metal scene, starting off with the Diabolical Conquest webzine right through to where he stands today with Transcending Obscurity Records. I started to get to know Kunal from reviewing and interviewing a couple of bands on his ever expanding roster.

Transcending obscurity