Stigmata

Stigmata
Background information
Origin	Sri Lanka
Genres	Progressive metal Death metal Thrash metal
Years active	1999 – present
Labels	Rock Company
Members
Suresh De Silva Andrew Obeysekara Tennyson Napolean Javeen Soysa Taraka Senewirathne<br
Notable instruments
tabla

Stigmata is a heavy metal band based in Colombo, Sri Lanka, originally formed in 1999.

Biography

Suresh De Silva, Andrew Obeysekara and Tennyson Napolean formed the band in 1999 at S. Thomas' College, Mt Lavinia, where they were schoolmates. They chose the name Stigmata from the 1998 album Stigmata by melodic death metal band Arch Enemy^[1]. The band's style is a mix of thrash metal along with some death metal, and hard rock influences, laced with nuances of classical, Latin, jazz, blues, baila, and eastern rhythms.

With bass player Shehan Gray and drummer Anik Jayasekara they released their first single, "Fear", which topped the local radio rock-chart show. In 2000 they recorded another, "Voices," which was a sensation in the stagnant local music industry, and was a chart topping hit.In 2001 the band took on drummer Dilukshan Jayawardena following the departure of Jayasekara due to personal reasons. The band released their first EP, Morbid Indiscretion, in 2002, containing the singles "The Dying Winter Sleeps," "Thicker Than Blood," and the instrumental "Andura." At the time the band also covered music by international bands such as Deep Purple, Metallica,System of a Down and Led Zeppelin, as well as bands not so popular in the country at that time such as Iron Maiden, Iced Earth, Judas Priest, and Cradle of Filth, which made them revolutionary by exposing Sri Lankans to music many in the country had never heard before.

In 2003, drummer Nisho Fernando joined the band following the departure of Dilukshan for higher education. The success of the original singles released up to this point culminated in the band launching their first album, Hollow Dreams, in August 2003 on the local Rock Company ^[2] label. The band continued to influence many youth in the country to form their own Heavy Metal bands and carve a unique Sri Lankan Heavy Metal sound. ^[3]

In 2004, Vije Dhas became Stigmata's bass player, after Shehan Gray left for Australia. Former drummer Dilukshan temporarily stepped in after Nisho Fernando left the band earlier that year. In 2005 the band found permanent drummer Osanda Wangeesa and the range of the band was further increased, with the addition of double bass drumming. In late 2004 the band also recorded the successful^{[citation needed]} acoustic track titled "Lucid" which made innovative use of the Indian tabla, played by Sri Lankan percussionist Jananath Warakagoda^[4]. This was a prelude to the heavier, electric version of this song released on the bands' second studio album, Silent Chaos Serpentine, in February 2006. This was followed up by concerts in the Maldive Islands in June 2006. Drummer Ranil 'Jacky' Senarath joined the band in August 2005 after the departure of Osanda. Vije Dhas left the Band in 2008 and the Band now have their long time friend and bassist extraordinaire Javin Soysa (Tantrum) who performed with the Band in Maldives in 2006. Tenny, Andrew, Suresh, Jacky and Javin are prepared to take Stigmata to a new, unprecedented terrain creating monumental music while proving they are untouchable as a Live entity.

The lyrical themes of the band are generally from poetry by the bands' vocalist cum lyricist Suresh and cover topics such as apathy, child abuse, politics, war, social degradation and inner struggle. However the Band's highly anticipated Third Album sees Stigmata dealing with fresh themes like Psychic Voyages, Spiritual and Para-Psychological Endeavors, Suicide etc. The Band was featured on Ultimate Guitar's Unsigned Artists Of The Month: October 2008 ^[5]

Stigmata just released a crushing new single 'A Dead Rose Wails for Light' ^{[6] [7] [8] [9]} which you can listen to on the Band's myspace www.myspace.com/stigmatasrilanka, while the Band was recently interviewed and asked to perform 'A Dead Rose Wails for Light' for Ian Wright's "Out of Bounds" a new travel series on the Discovery Channel ^[10]. The Band have over 26 thousand hits on their Myspace, have over 70 thousand collective views on www.youtube.com and the Band's Silent Chaos Serpentine has been on Australia's top metal site wwww.themetalforge.com's top 50 reviews of all time for over a year now and is currently at no.9. ^[11] Enter 2009 and Stigmata is not only the pioneering Heavy Metal Band in Sri Lanka but have chiseled and carved out a sound that has evolved; epic landscapes that ebb and flow with intensity and evocative grandeur.The band headlined^[12] for the SUE (Southern Ultimate Explosion) 2009 in Johor Malaysia^[13] Stigmata's Third Album is a work in progress and the Band are targeting July/August to launch the record ^[14]. Songs like 'Spiral Coma', 'The Summoning Cry of Aries' and 'March of the Saints' showcase the Band's ability to weave technical/extreme tapestries into their melodic and infectious musical palette.

Discography

Studio releases

• 2003: Hollow Dreams
• 2006: Silent Chaos Serpentine

EPs

• 2002: Morbid Indiscretion

Various artists compilations

• 2003: Rock Company Compilation I ^{[15] [16]}
• 2005: Rock Company Compilation II ^[17]
• 2008: Sri Lankan Heavy Metal Compilation Volume 1 ^[18]

Singles

• "Fear" - (1999)
• "Redemption" - (1999)
• "Voices" - (2000)
• "Thicker than Blood" - (2002)
• "The Dying Winter Sleeps" - (2002)
• "Extinction" - (2003)
• "Lucid" (Acoustic) - (2005)
• "Solitude" - (2006)
• "My Malice" - (2007)
• "A Dead Rose Wails for Light" - (2008/9)

Members

Current members

• Suresh De Silva - vocals (1999- )
• Tennyson Napolean - rhythm guitar (1999- )
• Andrew Obeysekara - lead guitar (1999- )
• Javeen Soysa - bass (2008- )
• Tharaka Senevirathne- drums (2009-)

Former members

• Yohan 'Berty The Great' Gunawardena - drums (1998-1999)
• Shehan Gray - bass (2000-2004)
• Anik Jayasekara - drums (1999-2001)
• Dilukshan Jayawardena - drums (2001-2003), (2004)
• Nisho Fernando - drums (2003-2004)
• Osanda Wangeesa - drums (2004-2005)
• Vije Dhas - Bass (2004-2008)

References

External links

• Stigmata on MySpace
• Stigmata on Rock.LK
• ReverbNation Page
• Encyclopedia Metallum