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Five extreme bands from across India: Mumbai's brutal death crew, a Delhi groove-death institution, a thrash-death touring machine, Bengaluru's gore-grind veterans and a Mizoram band with two decades behind it.
India's death metal scene is small, loud and spread across the country, held together by DIY tours, independent labels and festivals such as Bangalore Open Air.
This list covers five Indian death metal bands, from groups formed in the early 2000s to bands still releasing new music in 2025 and 2026.
Each entry covers who they are and three tracks to play first.
For more heavy music, see 5 Essential Indian Metal Bands and Mumbai Indie Scene: Venues, Labels, Rising Acts.
Gutslit is a Mumbai brutal death metal band formed in 2007 and led by founder and bassist Gurdip Singh Narang, with drummer and visual artist Aaron Pinto designing much of its artwork. Its albums are Skewered in the Sewer (2013), Amputheatre (2017) and Carnal (2023).
Carnal, written mostly by guitarist Prateek Rajagopal, added a modern, industrial edge and serial-killer themes. The band launched it with a festival set at Obscene Extreme in the Czech Republic and a single, "I, Berzerker", followed in 2026.
Undying Inc is a New Delhi extreme metal band formed in 2004 by bassist Reuben Bhattacharya and guitarist Biswarup Gupta. Early records Preface to Erase (2006) and Evilution of a Manimal set up its heavy, groove-driven take on death and thrash metal.
The 2010 album Aggressive World Dynasty, which the band described as pure rage at life in Delhi, earned it Jack Daniel's Rock Awards nominations. The Ironclad EP (2014) and singles such as "Open Source Degenerate" (2022) followed.
Essential tracks
Godless is a thrash-laced death metal band with roots in Hyderabad and a base split with Bengaluru, founded by bassist and composer Abbas Razvi. It built a following with the EPs Centuries of Decadence (2016) and Swarm (2018) and with steady DIY tours across India.
Its debut album States of Chaos (2021), mixed and mastered at Poland's Hertz Studio, reached No. 1 on Bandcamp's thrash metal chart. The band was booked for the 2023 comeback edition of Bangalore Open Air and returned with the Genesis of Decay EP in 2025.
Essential tracks
Gorified is a Bengaluru death/grind band formed in 2004 that mixes brutal death metal with goregrind, drawing on horror films, anatomy and disease. Its 2006 demo Ruptured Within Seconds came out worldwide on Sevared Records, and in 2010 it co-headlined Malaysia's Dismembering Asia Fest with Putrid Pile and Wormrot.
Line-up changes kept it quiet for a decade, but the debut album Reeking Mass of Festering Remains arrived in 2020, a compilation followed in 2021, and the band returned to the stage in Bengaluru in 2023.
Essential tracks
Third Sovereign is a brutal death metal band formed in Mizoram in 2003 and one of the North East's longest-running extreme acts. Its debut EP Horrified Visions (2006) came out on Demonstealer Records, followed by the album Destined to Suffer in 2007.
After a quiet spell it returned with Perversion Swallowing Sanity on Transcending Obscurity in 2015, featuring Swedish death metal veteran Rogga Johansson and the Mizo-titled opener "Sakei Ai Hla". The band opened for Dying Fetus at Rain Revolt in Shillong in 2014.
Related reading is linked in the article above.
