Welcome to the lair of the Heladiva warrior: Heavy as Heavy Gets

Yes i was in Kandy last week too, that was for "ROCK XMAS", Organized by the KRM. This time for "HEAVY AS HEAVY GETS" Organized by our very own Rock Company!

Saturday (22nd Dec)4.00AM. Was waiting all week for this. Couldnt meet the guys at the studio cause i always had some fucking exam at college almost every day of the week. Gave "Ring-cut's" to both Nda and Kelum and messeged Dinna. Cant trust 'em to wake up at 4 in the morning on their own. The plan was to meet Nda, Kelum and Dinna in front of the "Swarnamahal" in Maharagama at 5AM. I got there at about 5.10. Made some calls, change of plans. Nda and Kelum were meeting us (Dinuk and me)at the Kandy bus stand in Pettah, as Nda couldnt get a vehicle from his place to Maharagama and Kelum's area didnt have busses going around till 5.30. We got into a 138 and got to Pettah at around 6.10. One by one the guys showed up. Sohan, Rakitha, Shiva, Shamil and Nisala from the Sri Lankan Melodic Death Metal band "Fallen Grace". Dumidu, Sajith, Dimuthu and (DJ)Niro from SL Power/Thrash Metal band "Merlock" were scheduled to perform today. Sandy showed up 5 mins after. After having a smoke with the guys we got into the queue for the bus.

It started to rain a bit. Not heavily though. Problem was the fucking roof had a holes in it, (Reminder - This is Sri Lanka) Our equipment was unsafe. We some how managed to cover up our stuff and get in the next bus as we were first in line. Got the back seats and bought tickets 180 each. The trip to Kandy was fun. Nda was entertaining us with his stupid jokes as usual, Niro had half a bottle of Red Label in his bag (Which we finished on the way). Didnt forget my earphones as they were the first thing i packed my bag with. Was hooked up on Gorgoroth's latest, Ad Majorem Sathanas Gloriam, all the way from Colombo to Kandy.

By the time we got to Kandy it was raining a bit like last time. There were about 14 of us so we took some taxi's to the shop where we had our lunch the last time, Dirt cheap prices, great food. After we had our lunch and small hiccup with the bill, We mingled around for a while talking to people (We met Delaine [Forsaken] and Madawa [Guitarist for Forlorn Hope and President of the Kandy Rock Merger]at the place where we were having our lunch) while Sohan and some other's went to Cargills to get intoxicants.

After about 15-20 minutes we got ourselves into some Taxi's and got them to drop us at "The Palace", which was where we were planning to spend the night. The Palace was a well kept 2 story house, caretaken by a 30 year old guy named Chinthaka. The rooms were 1000 bucks each. 5 guys could sleep in one room without any problem at all. So we went into our rooms and freshened up. Fallen Grace and Merlock had to go to the venue (OTSC, which is 10 mins away from The Palace) for their sound checks, Whilst we (Kelum, Nda, Dinuk and myself) started intoxicating ourselves through the means of herbs and beverages.

By the time the two bands returned it was 5.30PM. The gig was scheduled to start at 7PM sharp. By this time, Arosha and 3 of his friends arrived at The Palace, including his brother and one of my old friends named Marlin. We took our time and got ready by around 6.30 (The bands went before us as they had to be at the venue at 6.30), lit up some ciggerettes and walked from The Palace to the OTSC.

It was 7PM when we got to the venue, there allready was a crowd outside and inside the venue, i was greeted by some of my friends at Rock Company and Ruwanthi, whom i gave 400 rupees in exchanged for the ticket. I met some of my friends from Kandy whome i met last week, including Nalaka (a.k.a. Mordecai), Risitha and the guys from In Leiu of Fault. It was good to be at a Rock Saturday, as i got to meet alot of my friends i couldnt meet because of the busy weeks i had with my Exams.

Merlock opened Heavy as Heavy Gets with their original, Crimson Skies. Merlock's set list included "I Could Care Less" by Devil Driver and another one of their originals entitled "Path to Ruin".

Karmic Sulphur took the stage after Merlock. I think they opened with their original "No Potential", if my memory doesnt fail me that is. And they did an superb cover of Black Sabbath's "Children of the Grave". Kudos to the Sulphides for pulling off such an awesome cover.

Next up were the Sri Lankan Melodic Death Metallers Fallen Grace. As the guys got on stage and started to setup, the crowd gathered in front of the stage. Once Fallen Grace started opening their set with their new original "Putrid Remains", a huge fucking moshpit broke out. As i saw Nda, Dinuk and some others flinging their bodies everywhere smashing into people. Fallen Grace played an all originals set. Next up was one of their first originals "Preach Me Dark", which was also one of my favourite tracks off the SL Heavy Metal scene. Their last song for the night was "The Illusionist" which right now is #1 on my Top 10 SL Heavy Metal tracks list.

"Agony unto thy heart
Agony unto thy soul
The fathers son and the holy ghost
Cannot hear your sorrow"
Cant wait 'til this is recorded and released.

Couldnt catch Sword of the Spirit 'cause i was invited to the bar by one of my good friends. A guy who calls him self Dr.Jekyl by day, Mr.Hyde by night. A metalhead who is also a doctor at the Asiri Hospital, Colombo.

After a couple of drinks and a chat with some of the guys who were there that day, i made my way towards the stage where local metal giants Stigmata were setting up on stage. They played an awesome set of some of their originals including "March of the Saints" and "Summoning Cry for Aries" (Which is also in my top 10 of SLHM tracks) from their upcoming album.

After the mighty Stigs, Kandyan Grunge Metal Metallers Paranoid Earthling took the stage as the final act for the night. These guys too did a awesome job with their originals and the superb cover of Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall". P.E. replied to an encore with one of their hit singles, "Rock 'n Roll Is My Anarchy".

After hanging out with the guys for like an hour we headed back to The Palace. We invited my Doctor friend (Who insisted on buying one more bottle of Old Reserve) and Nalaka to spend the night with us.

By the time we got to The Palace it was around 12AM. We changed and gathered in the room opposite ours, once again to intoxicate ourselves (Yes we do love doing it). After about 1 1/2 hours of debauchery, Shiva, Kelum, Rakitha, Nda and myself went to get some sleep 'cause we had to get up early and catch the 6.30 train back to Colombo.

Had a hard time waking up Sohan at 5.10AM. We said our farewells to Nalaka, Sandy and Ravindu, (my Doctor friend was gone by then) and made our way towards the train station which was about 30 minutes away on foot. After grabing a bite at the shop we bought our tickets and quickly ran towards the train as we were 5 minutes late. As we couldnt get seats at the back we made our selves to the front where we found empty seats for all the guys.

The ride back was really fun. Couldnt get to sleep (at all) on the train. Had to share my seat with Dinuk, Arosha, Rakitha and Marlin. Enjoyed the scenery alot, a wonderful combination of the fog, forests and hills. I spent most of the ride with Raju (Forlorn Hope) on the footboard of the train, smoking and enjoying the nature.

It was around 10.30AM when we reached Pettah. After bidding farewell to some of the dudes who had to take different bus routes, we went into a shop and had our last smoke and got on to the 138 Pettah-Kottawa bus home.

Awesome experience, I got to attend a Rock Company gig which is something iv been waiting for a long time. Had an awesome time getting thrashed in Kandy with the guys, Here's to another trip to Kandy filled with fun, debauchery and Heavy fuckin' Metal!

Fallen Grace half an hour before the gig