Stigmata Live – The Victory Show
The Stigmata Live Show, celebrating their recent victory at Asian Music Video Awards, was held at the Floor by O on 4 November, and it was a colourful evening with keen fans of the band and lovers of heavy metal music in attendance.
Fans started flowing in from 5.30 p.m. and after a few rounds of food and drinks, the show started at 7.00 p.m., with some of the favourite hits of Stigmata.
Playing pure Sri Lankan heavy metal, only songs sung by the band in the past were played. For those of you who don’t know, the band comprises Suresh De Silva (lead vocals), Tennyson Napoleon (lead guitar), Thisara Dhananjaya (bass guitar), Shafeek Shuhail (rhythm guitar), and Hafzel Preena (drums). While “Inspired”, “Forgiven, Forgotten” and “Andura” were some of the hits played that evening as the main act, several surprise guest performances were also thrown in – Salvage with their song “Voices”, Shehara Napolean with “The Dying Winter Sleeps” and Sanjeev Niles with “Lucid”.
“2019 will be a big year for us”
Speaking to Suresh, we found out that Stigmata had a great year in 2018 and that they have big plans for the coming year. “We released two music videos this year, which were submitted to the Asian Music Video Awards, and we won. We plan to work on the fifth album next year, and after that, we will have a touring cycle where we hope to tour and play in as many countries as we can,” he said.
He added that they are looking into launching merchandise: “We haven’t decided on what exactly, but t-shirts for sure.” In the spirit of giving back to the community, Stigmata is planning to conduct music workshops.
“It was an outstanding show”
The audience was rocking along to the incredible tunes throughout the evening. Here are some of their comments”
Hiruni Witharana: “It was an outstanding show. We didn’t think a Sri Lankan band could perform this good, live. We are huge fans; we were there for a majority of their shows.”
Sudupa Fernando: “The show was obviously incredible and the amusement in between the performances was great too. They engage with their audience, and I think that is key for any performer.”
Lilanka Botejue: “We are having the best time. Stigmata has always being amazing. I have been following them from day one. I do realise that this kind of music is not everyone’s cup of tea, but it is so refreshing to see something so different.”
Andreene: “They are great performers, and it is so nice to even say that this is an original Sri Lankan band.”
Maduka: “I love Stigmata, they are tight. Today’s show was tight. We are having a great time, and this is quality music.”
Stigmata is a Sri Lankan heavy metal band that started in the year 1998 by Suresh De Silva, Andrew Obeysekara, and Tennyson Napoleon in St. Thomas' College, Mt Lavinia.
The name “Stigmata” was inspired from the 1998 album Stigmata by melodic death metal band Arch Enemy. The band's style is a mix of thrash metal along with some death metal, sludge metal, groove metal, progressive metal, and hard rock influences laced with elements of eastern rhythms.
[gallery columns="2" size="full" link="file" ids="11827,11828,11825,11823"]
Official websites: puresrilankanmetal.com and stigmata.lk
IG: @stigmataofficial
By Pujanee Galappaththi
Photos Pradeep Dambarage
The Stigmata Live Show, celebrating their recent victory at Asian Music Video Awards, was held at the Floor by O on 4 November, and it was a colourful evening with keen fans of the band and lovers of heavy metal music in attendance.
Fans started flowing in from 5.30 p.m. and after a few rounds of food and drinks, the show started at 7.00 p.m., with some of the favourite hits of Stigmata.
Playing pure Sri Lankan heavy metal, only songs sung by the band in the past were played. For those of you who don’t know, the band comprises Suresh De Silva (lead vocals), Tennyson Napoleon (lead guitar), Thisara Dhananjaya (bass guitar), Shafeek Shuhail (rhythm guitar), and Hafzel Preena (drums). While “Inspired”, “Forgiven, Forgotten” and “Andura” were some of the hits played that evening as the main act, several surprise guest performances were also thrown in – Salvage with their song “Voices”, Shehara Napolean with “The Dying Winter Sleeps” and Sanjeev Niles with “Lucid”.
“2019 will be a big year for us”
Speaking to Suresh, we found out that Stigmata had a great year in 2018 and that they have big plans for the coming year. “We released two music videos this year, which were submitted to the Asian Music Video Awards, and we won. We plan to work on the fifth album next year, and after that, we will have a touring cycle where we hope to tour and play in as many countries as we can,” he said.
He added that they are looking into launching merchandise: “We haven’t decided on what exactly, but t-shirts for sure.” In the spirit of giving back to the community, Stigmata is planning to conduct music workshops.
“It was an outstanding show”
The audience was rocking along to the incredible tunes throughout the evening. Here are some of their comments”
Hiruni Witharana: “It was an outstanding show. We didn’t think a Sri Lankan band could perform this good, live. We are huge fans; we were there for a majority of their shows.”
Sudupa Fernando: “The show was obviously incredible and the amusement in between the performances was great too. They engage with their audience, and I think that is key for any performer.”
Lilanka Botejue: “We are having the best time. Stigmata has always being amazing. I have been following them from day one. I do realise that this kind of music is not everyone’s cup of tea, but it is so refreshing to see something so different.”
Andreene: “They are great performers, and it is so nice to even say that this is an original Sri Lankan band.”
Maduka: “I love Stigmata, they are tight. Today’s show was tight. We are having a great time, and this is quality music.”
Stigmata is a Sri Lankan heavy metal band that started in the year 1998 by Suresh De Silva, Andrew Obeysekara, and Tennyson Napoleon in St. Thomas' College, Mt Lavinia.
The name “Stigmata” was inspired from the 1998 album Stigmata by melodic death metal band Arch Enemy. The band's style is a mix of thrash metal along with some death metal, sludge metal, groove metal, progressive metal, and hard rock influences laced with elements of eastern rhythms.
[gallery columns="2" size="full" link="file" ids="11827,11828,11825,11823"]
Official websites: puresrilankanmetal.com and stigmata.lk
IG: @stigmataofficial
By Pujanee Galappaththi
Photos Pradeep Dambarage