Indian Black Metal Bands: 10 Acts and the Albums to Start

An anonymous band that took aim at a sitting prime minister, a symphonic act that won a Metal Hammer Golden God, and a new wave of post-black bedroom projects.

Black metal is the most underground corner of Indian metal, and also its most political. It's a genre built on anonymity, corpse paint and anti-religious rage, practised in a country where religion is in everything, including the politics. When Sahil "The Demonstealer" Makhija started out around 2000, he reckons India had no more than 15–20 extreme metal bands in total. The black metal end of that list was tiny. In the 2020s it is thriving, mostly on Bandcamp and mostly as one- and two-person projects.

These are the bands to know, old guard first. For the wider map, see our Indian metal bands guide.

The bands at a glance

Demonic Resurrection — symphonic death/black — The Return to Darkness (2010)
Heathen Beast — raw black metal, later grindcore — Kolkata — Ayodhya Burns (EP, 2010)
1833 AD — second-wave black metal — My Dark Symphony (2012)
Insane Prophecy — black/death — Apogee of an Inquisition (2012)
Infinite Redemption — melodic black — Face of Disaster (2012)
Demonstealer — black/death — The Propaganda Machine (2023)
Démonos — black metal — Anno Daemonium (2023)
Lesath — atmospheric / post-black — Sacred Ashes (2020)
Raat — post-black — Enchantment (2024)
Cingulate — post-black — Sentience (2024)

Demonic Resurrection

This is where Indian extreme metal starts. Makhija formed the symphonic death/black band at the turn of the millennium and made it India's first internationally known metal act. It won the Global Metal award at Metal Hammer's Golden Gods in 2010, the year of The Return to Darkness and of the Brutal Assault set on our cover. Makhija also started India's first metal label, Demonstealer Records. Read our Demonic Resurrection songs guide.

Heathen Beast

An anonymous Kolkata band (formed 2010) that made black metal into protest music. Early Heathen Beast was raw second-wave black metal with Indian instruments woven in and lyrics aimed at organised religion. The Ayodhya Burns EP (26 November 2010, first given away as a free download) and The Drowning of the Elephant God (2012) are the key records. They later moved to grindcore, and one EP went after Narendra Modi's role in the 2002 Gujarat riots. "Every scene needs a band that just says 'F* off' to everything and everyone," Makhija told Metal Hammer. "That is the music of protest."

1833 AD

The purist's pick. My Dark Symphony (2012), their only album, is jagged second-wave black metal in the Gorgoroth line, with Nishant Abraham Varghese snarling through it. The band went dormant in 2019 and reunited in 2022, but there's no new music yet. Start with the album front to back.

Insane Prophecy

Apogee of an Inquisition (2012) blurs black and death metal and is one of the most highly rated Indian records in the genre on fan-ranked lists. It's the heaviest record on this page.

Infinite Redemption

The melodic end of the 2012 class. Face of Disaster has tremolo riffs with real hooks, a good way in for listeners coming from melodic death metal.

Demonstealer

Makhija's solo project took on the blackened death sound after Demonic Resurrection. The Propaganda Machine (2023) is the album, and The Holocene Termination EP brought in guests from Marduk and Fleshgod Apocalypse.

Démonos

Anno Daemonium (2023) is straight-ahead black metal, proof that the old-school strain is still alive in the 2020s.

Lesath

The most prolific act in the new wave. Lesath plays atmospheric and post-black metal: long, foggy, melancholic pieces. Sacred Ashes (2020) is the starting point. Since then there has been a steady run of albums and EPs, including A Beautiful Dream (2023), Under the Moon (2024) and Cold Silence (2025).

Raat and Cingulate

The post-black side of the 2020s: blast beats under shoegaze-wide guitars. Raat released Enchantment in 2024, and Cingulate followed with Sentience the same year. If you like our Indian shoegaze bands page, start here.

Beyond the list

The experimental fringe is where Indian black metal sounds most like nowhere else. Tetragrammacide, Kaal Nagini and Bidirna Dhamani make black/death that's closer to noise. Tetragrammacide's 2025 EP is titled Cyber-Tantric Paradigm of Radical Sri-Vidya.

FAQ

Is there black metal in India?

Yes. Indian black metal goes back to Demonic Resurrection around 2000. Today the scene includes Heathen Beast, 1833 AD, Insane Prophecy, Lesath, Raat and Démonos.

What is the best Indian black metal album?

Fan rankings usually put Insane Prophecy's Apogee of an Inquisition (2012) and 1833 AD's My Dark Symphony (2012) at the top, followed by Lesath's Sacred Ashes (2020).

Who is Heathen Beast?

Heathen Beast is an anonymous Indian black metal band known for political, anti-religious lyrics. Their key records are Ayodhya Burns (2010) and The Drowning of the Elephant God (2012). They later moved toward grindcore.