The 12th edition of metal festival Bangalore Open Air (BOA) held on February 8 this year, was arguably not just about metal offering something for lovers of heavy music, but also in their own capacity. That is often the true mark of a festival’s growth.
There is something to be said about choosing between staying the course and evolving and Bangalore Open Air has steadily done that since 2012. When they returned a full four years after the pandemic-enforced break in 2023, American metalcore band Born of Osiris were among the headliners alongside black metal veterans Mayhem. Then, in 2024, the festival ambitiously scaled to a two-day edition at a new venue, hosting thrash metal legends Kreator and Swedish melodic death metal favourites, In Flames.
While a two-day edition was promised for the 2025 edition as well, plans were readjusted when the lineup came out — progressive metalcore band Jinjer from Ukraine and avant-garde American act Cynic were headliners and BOA returned to its home in Royal Orchid Resort and Convention Centre in Yelahanka.
Scenes from Bangalore Open Air 2025
| Photo Credit:
Mohit Sharma
This time, there were more bands and two stages, which BOA had not done in a while, plus stalls ranging from fashion to art and a wheelchair-accessible ramp. Meet and greet sessions, another time-tested tradition at the festival, also took place. More ticket packages included accommodation and airport transfers, as well as an elevated area for viewing.
One of the highlights of the 12th edition was seeing the indoor area — the Kadence stage officially named Halford’s Altar after Judas Priest’s legendary vocalist Rob Halford — in total light and sound mode for Sweden’s synthwave duo Midnight Danger, who played the penultimate set. The hypnotic synthwave doled out by these gents, complete with wild haircuts reminiscent of 80s glam metal bands and ghoulish facepaint, was captivating.
Oscillating between guitars and a synthesizer, while the drummer stayed put thrashing dramatically behind his elevated kit, Midnight Danger proved that fans in India, like metalheads globally, enjoyed synthwave.
Scenes from Bangalore Open Air 2025
| Photo Credit:
Mohit Sharma
Of course, there was plenty of brutal, primal metal for fans who know the festival — Greek act Suicidal Angels were clear favourites for the crowd, who showed up in numbers and milled about in the moshpit early in the evening. While Sweden’s death metal band Necrophobic had a few sound issues starting off, they kept it to business as usual when they steadied their performance flow. Early on, Pune thrash metal trio Kasck at the indoor stage received plenty of mosh action and fists pumped in agreement, while veteran act Demonic Resurrection’s first Bengaluru show in more than five years was met with plenty of reverence.
Bengaluru’s very own Inner Sanctum — now led by Delhi-based vocalist Shashank Bhatnagar — were in their element as well, with a short four-song set that still managed to bring the house down. This was a band confident and well-adjusted to putting a high-quality show together even if they were handed a shortened performance slot.
The night then went to Cynic and Jinjer, the headliners. Granted they are not everyone’s cup of tea, Cynic first grew to fame in the early 1990s, so that makes them pretty old-school. Their style of jazz-fusion and progressive metal traversed their entire discography, from Focus in 1993 to Traced in Air in 2008 (an early part of their set included the song ‘Evolutionary Sleeper’) and more recent albums Kindly Bent To Free Us and Ascension Codes.
Playing in honour of his late bandmates, Sean Reinert and Sean Malone, founder, vocalist and guitarist Paul Masvidal was leading the way like a shaman or magician, weaving together captivating progressive rock/metal for everyone in the audience. Often folding his hands in a namaste, the self-identified Indophile was beaming throughout.
Scenes from Bangalore Open Air 2025
| Photo Credit:
Mohit Sharma
Jinjer, for its part, were led by vocalist Tatiana Shmayluk. The Donetsk-origin band represents a more recent wave of metal led by a female voice that can growl as well as sing, which perhaps surprised anyone who were just discovering Jinjer at Bangalore Open Air. It was all in a day’s work for the band, which ran through crushing breakdowns, grandiose choruses and everything in between.
Sounding as massive as ever, Jinjer played off their new album Duél — released just a day before they came to India. Alongside fresh songs such ‘Fast Draw,’ ‘Kafka’ and ‘Someone’s Daughter’, there were hits like ‘Pisces’, ‘I Speak Astronomy’ and others.
BOA provided an alternative in that anyone not into modern metal could watch Midnight Danger at the indoor stage, but Jinjer were unmissable in many ways. There were messages of gratitude transmitted from onstage by Jinjer, about being in India and at one point, Shmayluk made a larger point, “Cherish your motherland, my friends,” she told BOA. Thousands in attendance acknowledged, with chants of “Jinjer” echoing.
Published – February 18, 2025 01:49 pm IST
