Tribute to the gods of heavy metal

After paying a tribute to Lemmy Kilmister and Motorhead back in April, Mumbai-based heavy metal band Albatross is going back to their musical roots with a tribute show for Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath this week.

The band that released its first full-length album, Fear from the Skies, in 2015 says that they’ve been highly Black Sabbath’s music. “Toni Iomi from Black Sabbath invented the power chord, which transformed the metal music scene,” says Riju Dasgupta, aka Dr. Hex, bassist and founding member of Albatross, adding, “If not for them, the metal scene wouldn’t be what it is now.”

The tribute show will focus on songs by Ozzy and singer-songwriter Ronnie James Dio, who was briefly associated with Black Sabbath after Osbourne left the band.

Albatross is known to play traditional heavy metal music and clean vocals, with each of their original songs being based on a horror story they write and compose. The band was formed in 2010 when Riju tried to blend his love for music and literature into a single form of expression, with the other members joining in eventually.

“We usually do sets with our own songs and incorporate a couple of numbers by Ozzy or Black Sabbath,” says Riju. He continues, “This is a great opportunity to break away our usual line-up and just have fun.”

Vocalist Biprorshee Das says he has been deeply influenced by both Osbourne and Dio too. “They are, what some can call heavy metal gods,” he says, “Dio holds a very special place in my heart, but we’ve all grown up listening to these guys.” Although guitarist Vigneshkumar Venkatraman is a huge fan of Metallica’s frontman James Hatfield and Chuck Schuldiner of Death, he is equally excited to be playing the tribute to Black Sabbath. “Power chords are both fun and easy to play; at the same time these guys basically made metal, so it’s a great honour.”

The band says that one can expect popular Black Sabbath numbers like Paranoid, Children of the Dead and War Pigs, along with Dio’s legendary single, Holy Diver besides some Ozzy Osbourne favourites like Mr. Crowley. “When you play a tribute, it has to be to someone who is special to you,” says Biprorshee. “Black Sabbath definitely fits the bill because without them, bands like ours wouldn’t have existed.”

On June 16, at 8.30 pm, At Hard Rock Café, Worli