Thread: Artcell (Bangla Band) - A progressive metal band in Dhaka

Artcell



Artcell (or ArtCell) is a progressive metal band of Bangladesh. The band is arguably the first progressive metal band of the country and usually experiments with tunes from other metal genres such as grunge and thrash.

History and formation
The current band members were school friends in Dhaka. Ershad used to be the guitarist of a band named Tantrik back in 1999. Current vocalist, Lincoln, joined Tantrik just before the group disbanded. They were looking for a bassist and a drummer, when through friends, they met Cezanne and Shaju.
The members later renamed their band to Artcell in August 1999 and the band was officially formed in November 1999.

Influence and lyrics
The band cites American metal group, Metallica, as its main influence, although they also name Dream Theater as a very important inspiration. They also occasionally quote Pink Floyd as an influence.

Their lyrics typically highlight anger about social injustice and hypocrisy. Although their first album also had philosophical songs with softer a tone. Like all other groups of the progressive sub-genre, Artcell plays significantly with timing and scale and a few drastic changes in a song is not new to their fans.

Although they have released very heavy suited-for-head-banging titles like Chile KoThar Sephai (Bangla: চিলে কোঠার সেপায়) - a song that incidentally shares name with a famous novel by Akhtaruzzaman Ilias - in general, their songs are targetted for an audience with a more sophisticated sense of music.

Members
The band stands on its four pillars:
Lincoln - Vocal and rhythm guitar
Ershad - Lead guitar
Cezanne - Bass
Shaju - Drum


From formation, the line up has not changed (till the writing of this article in 2005).

While still a member of Artcell, Cezanne also worked with legendary Bangladeshi metal band, Warfaze, as a part-time, fill-in bassist.

A few years after the band's formation, a tragedy struck it. In 2002, a close friend of the members and the main songwriter, Rupok, passed away after being infected by the fatal disease, cerebral malaria. The incident happened when the band was working on their first solo album, Onno Shomoy, and the album was dedicated to Rupok. The fourth track on this album is titled Rupok - Ekti Gaan, "Rupok - a Song"