Warfaze

Warfaze
Background information
Origin	Bangladesh
Genres	Hard rock, soft rock, metal
Years active	1984-present
Members	Mizan Rahman Sheikh Monirul Alam Tipu Ibrahim Ahmed Kamal Shams Mansoor Ghani Naim Haque Roger Oni Hasan
Past members	Babna Karim, Sunjoy, Russel Ali, Fuad Ibn Rabbi, Saidus Salehin Khaled Sumon (Bassbaba), Iqbal Asif Jewel, Balam, Biju, Cezanne, Sazzad Arefeen

Warfaze is a Bangladeshi hard rock band. The group consists of lead vocalist Mizan Rahman, Sheikh Monirul Alam Tipu (drums and percussion), Shams Mansoor Ghani (keyboards and vocals), Naim Haque Roger on bass and the virtuoso Oni Hasan on lead guitars. Although multiple changes have taken place in the line up, until his recent departure from the band, Ibrahim Ahmed aka Kamal, arguably the finest heavy metal guitar virtuoso to come out of Bangladesh, had retained a constant presence over nearly thirty years holding the band together with Tipu (former drummer of Winning who has been with the band from the second line up onwards in the 80s) taking over the reigns as the band leader over the course of the last two decades. Since their inception, the band's discography has grown to include a total of eight albums: seven studio albums; one compilation album & miscellanious singles in band mixed albums.

Considered one of the most successful heavy metal bands in the history of popular music in Bangladesh, Warfaze has featured the musical talents of premiere Bangladeshi musicians in the genre, most notably Kamal, the finest metal guitarist from Bangladesh along with the likes of Khaled 'Bassbaba' Sumon, the internationally acclaimed guitarist Russel Ali (who currently works with Elliot Yamin), the iconic metal vocalist Sunjay aka Sunjoy and one of the best guitarists to appear in the Bangladeshi heavy metal scene in the last decade Oni Hasan.

Formed on 5 June 1984, it pioneered the hard-rock/Metal genre in Bangladesh along with other bands including Rockstrata. The band has experimented with different subgenres of Hard Rock and Heavy metal over the years and played a key role in the development of progressive metal in Bangladesh, paving the ways for bands such as Artcell.

History

The First Decade & Breakthrough - Warfaze & Abak Bhalobasha (1984-1994)

The initial line up consisted of Kamal on bass, Helal on drums, Mir & Naimul sharing lead & rhythm guitar duties and Bappi on vocals. This initial lineup underwent the first of many changes with Helal, Mir and Bappi having to leave the band for personal reasons. The band was far from breaking through to the mainstream music scene in Bangladesh dominated largely by pop acts. Heavy metal music was virtually unheard of. The seeds of rock in Bangladesh so aptly sown into a fertile musical landscape by the likes of Azam Khan, Souls and other rock/pop acts like Miles were barely in their infancy.

Kamal took up lead guitar duties for the band at this stage and the rest of the positions were filled with Babna Karim as the bassist, Tipu as the drummer and Rashed as the vocalist. This second line up had to be discontinued when Naimul emigrated to the USA. At the time, there were three other Dhaka-based metal bands: Rock Strata, In Dhaka and Aces. Mashuk, lead guitarist of In Dhaka, and Fuad (of the same band) volunteered to help Warfaze as a guest members. At the time, Warfaze only covered American and British bands.

Most of the band members, including Kamal had made arrangements for further education in the United States by 1991. However, inspired by Maksud, former vocalist of Feedback, the band performed their own Bengali songs at a concert arranged by BAMBA at the University of Dhaka on 26 April, 1991. The bands at this concert decided to make a mixed album but as it turned out Warfaze had enough songs (and popularity) to be able to release a solo album. Armed with the high pitched screams of Sunjay, a tenor and Babna's husky bass vocals, the band went to release their self-titled album, Warfaze, in 1991. The album featured the songs Boshe Achi Eka & Ekti Chele. Showcasing Sunjay's vocal abilities and Kamal's sinister fretwork, the song remains ever popular at Warfaze concerts to this day. At the time, Bangladeshi music listeners were still new to metal. Any lyrics other than those inspired by romanticism or patriotism were rare. It took several weeks for the album gain popularity and today the album has developed into one of the revolutionary works in the Bangladeshi music industry.

The album was followed up by a concert on 07 January, 1992 at the Rawa Club. Russel, a prolific musician, had joined on keys. The next album, Obak Bhalobasha, released by Sargam around 1993/1994, featured some of his finest work in a Dream Theater & Deep Purple influenced progressive metal sound unheard of in Bangladesh. A critically appraised album, Warfaze fans cite it as their best work. The title track Obak Bhalobasha sung by Babna featured some of the finest fretwork in the history of Bangladeshi progressive metal from Kamal.

Rise to fame; Jibondhara, Ashamajik & the Departures of Sunjoy, Babna Karim & Russell Ali(1994-1998)

The band released the Jibondhara in 1997, the last time the classic lineup of Sanjoy, Babna Karim, Russell Ali, Kamal, Tipu & guest keyboardist Fuad would play together on the same album. The politically driven title track gave rise to a lot of controversy and made sure the album soared to the top of the charts. The album also featured some of Babna's best vocal work on songs such as Rupachand & Mounota.

Babna was replaced by the legendary & greatest bass guitarist in the history of Bangladesh, Sumon for the next album Ashamajik. Although not commercially as successful the previous albums, it was critically acclaimed for Sunjoy's vocals. The album was also a breakthrough for Sumon who was fast developing into one of the finest artists in the history of Music in Bangladesh.

Russell Ali left the band at this stage to start a successful musical career in the United States later that year and Sumon left to pursue a successful career both as a solo artist and with his band Aurthohin.

Frequent changes in lineup- Aalo & Moharaaj (1999 - 2007)

The band underwent many changes in lineup over the next 8 years. Balam, a promising guitarist replaced Russell Ali, much to the chagrin of true Warfaze fans. Mizan replaced Sunjoy on vocals while Shams became a full time member from 1999 onwards on keys.

This lineup released the highly successful Aalo album in 2001. Although he sounds quite different from Sunjoy in terms of vocal performance, he outdid himself on the hugely popular Jotoduray thako.

However, 2002 saw marked changes in the lineup once again with Mizan leaving the band for personal reasons & Kamal taking a break after almost 20 years on non stop action. Kamal joined Sumon's band Aurthohin in 2006. Balam was forced to take up vocal duties & Sazzad was recruited from Metalmaze as a second guitarist. All the while Tipu held the band together and recruited the services of Cezanne, bassist of the upcoming progressive metal band Artcell. In spite of its strengths, Balam's vocals just didn't click with the fans & the next album Maharaaj was a commercial & critical failure. The fans rejected the album and Balam's departure came as a blessing in disguise for the band.

Kamal rejoined the band in 2007 & recruited the young virtuoso Oni Hasan of Vibe resulting in a major change in their sound, with neoclassical metal influences especially in live performances. This partnership took the band through to the next decade, reminiscent of a young Jason Becker & Marty Friedman coming together for Cacophony. With a more mainstream rock sound, the band has returned to becoming the most wanted live bands in Bangladesh.

Poth Chola (2008)

Following the release of a long awaited compilation album (sponsored by Nokia) which includes re-recorded versions of their hit songs along with a couple of new numbers called 'Tomake' & 'Omanush', the band has been touring extensively. With a new and stable line up that has stuck togther for almost 5 years now and armed with the amazing guitar talents of the newfound talents of Oni Hasan, formerly of Vibe, the band went on to celebrate their silver jubilee at a gala concert which featured performances from past & present members of Warfaze at the Winter Garden, Hotel Sheraton, Dhaka. Tipu announced that a live album featuring recordings from the concert is planned along with a long awaited brand new studio album which finally came out in 2012 titled Shottyo.

The band has recently released an experimental fusion album entitled Somorpon merging Heavy Metal with traditional Bangladeshi folk as a tribute to Hason Raja & Lalon Fakir working with Sumon's band Aurthohin and Habib Wahid.

Shottyo (2012) & beyond...

Shottyo, the new album was released on October 21,2012 to critical acclaim featuring the same line-up as in "Pothchola". The fans took the album to their hearts as after a long wait of nine years, Warfaze fulfilled the demands of their fans with great music and lyrics. Tracks from the album such as Agami, Na, Purnota, Shottyo, Jedin, Rupkotha, Jonosrot and Projonmo were appreciated all over the nation. The album also included an unreleased hit from the early 2000s called Pratiksha. Sadly, it was also the last lineup to feature the talents of Kamal.

Side Projects

Kamal has been working as a guest member of the prolific metal outfit Aurthohin since 2006, who after overcoming recent setbacks regarding former Warfaze bandmate Sumon's health have released a new studio album Aushamapto-2. He has also been helping out another underground outfit called Moshpit.Shams has already released a new album with his symphonic metal supergroup De-illumination, featuring the young and talented bassist Anabeel Sen, of Stentorian fame.

Image and legacy

The band is the one of the most respected and commercially successful heavy metal outfits in the history of Bangladeshi popular music. Of the former members, guitarist Russell Ali has garnered international fame working with the likes of Elliot Yamin & the renowned industrial metal band Fear Factory. In September, 2008, along with Babna Karim & elder brother Rommel Ali, Russel Ali released a jazz fusion album called Shanti'r Bornon in a side project of their's called RBR under the label of Rage Records. Khaled 'Bassbaba' Sumon has gone on to reform the underground music scene of Bangladesh giving breakthroughs to multiple bands including Stentorian. At the same time he has successfully continued his career with Aurthohin in spite of setbacks regarding his health.

Musical style and influences

The band is consistently cited as an inspiration by most active heavy metal artists today in Bangladesh as one of the first bands to introduce metal to Bangladesh. The band's senior musicians such as Kamal & Tipu were self taught. The band used to play covers of bands like Iron Maiden, Whitesnake & Dokken in their early years. Kamal has consistently cited the late legendary guitarist Niloy Das popularly known as 'Niloyda' to aspiring guitarists in Bangladesh, as a major source of inspiration. Throughout their career, the band has experimented with multiple genres of rock & metal. From the progressive metal sound of Dream Theater so aptly caught on their 1994 album Abak Bhalobasha to a more streamline rock sound on their recent album Shottyo, the likes of Russell Ali, Kamal & off late Oni Hasan have captured the imagination of Bangladeshi youth for almost 3 decades.

Band lineup

Current

• Sheikh Monirul Alam Tipu - Drums and percussion (since 1984)
• Mizan Rahman Mizan - vocals (1999-2002 and since 2007)
• Shams Mansoor Ghani - keyboards and voice (since 1999)
• Naim Haque Roger - Bass (since 2003)
• Oni Hasan - Guitar (since 2007)

Former

• Babna Karim - Bass and Vocals (1986-1996)
• Sunjoy - vocals (1990-1999)
• Russel Ali - keyboards & guitar (1990-1994)
• Fuad Ibn Rabbi - keyboards & guitar (1994-1999)
• Khaled 'Bassbaba' Sumon - Bass & vocals (1996-99)
• Iqbal Asif Jewel - Guitar & vocal (1996-99)
• Balam - Vocals & Guitar (1999-2007)
• Cezanne - Bass (2002-2003)
• Sazzad Arifin - Guitar(2001-2007)

See also

• List of hard rock musicians (N–Z)
• Music of Bangladesh