Bloodywood – Nu Delhi
Release Date: 21st March 2025
Label: Fearless Records
Indian Nu-metal rockers Bloodywood are back with their second studio album, Nu Delhi, a tribute to their home, New Delhi, India. The 8-track release is Bloodywood through and through with heavy riffs infused with traditional Indian melodies and instruments, the very formula that makes Bloodywood stand out in the music scene today through their unique authenticity.
The song that surprised many is ‘Bekhauf’, a collaboration with Japanese titans BABYMETAL. The tri-language affair is fit for a hard-hitting movie fight scene, with an animated music video to match. The blend between English, Hindi and Japanese is seamless, which raises the question of why this has not been done before?! ‘Bekhauf’ does a fantastic job of fusing the style of both bands, with clear, hard-hitting Bloodywood riffs and melodies combined with BABYMETAL’s electronic influences, making a track that has a little something for all music lovers.
Hard-hitter ‘Kismat’ (‘Destiny’ in English) takes us on a journey about being your own soldier, winning hard battles for yourself and continuing to the next battle with unwavering confidence and strength to reach your full potential. If you need a soundtrack for inner strength, it should be this. The introduction invites us in with an almost storybook feel before being catapulted into an electronically laced power ballad. Jayant Bhadula’s powerhouse vocals and Raoul Kerr’s quick-fire rapping feel right at home with the accompanying instrumentals. A standout track on a consistently strong album.
While Bloodywood are renowned for their traditionally laced melodies and a pleasant blend of both Hindi and English lyricism, on ‘Tadka’, they showcase a further talent and love of the band – Cooking! ‘Tadka’ is an Indian cooking technique of heating spices in hot oil to release their flavour. ‘Tadka’ is a tribute to Indian food culture, a metal track that’s bound to make you a little bit hungry. The song makes cooking feel like an ancient battle of taste, with hard-hitting riffs, unforgivingly heavy vocals, and lyrics that perfectly encapsulate passion around food. Bloodywood also make a true feature of their ever-present Dhol, an Indian drum that they use in almost every song, but here it’s front and centre.
The closing anthem and title track, ‘Nu Delhi’, provides a direct commendation to their roots and hometown. The boys have a huge pride in their heritage, and this could be used to promote tourism so fans can connect with what it feels like to be in Bloodywood by visiting their beloved home. The heaviest single on the album is loaded with loving references to their home in both the song and the music video.
Overall, Nu Delhi is another strong addition to the Bloodywood discography. Full of the pride of their homeland, their inner strengths and heritage, Nu Dehli makes Indian laced metal seem like it has been heavily present in the scene for years.
Rating: 8/10
Catch Bloodywood on tour with Halestorm later in the year:
