Sceptre Bio

Take a handful of iron filings and scatter them over a tin sheet. Now rapidly move a large magnet underneath. THAT is what a Sceptre gig looks like.

For the benefit of clueless people, Sceptre are a four-member metal band from Mumbai. Having developed a formidable reputation for their live shows- their mean metallica, megadeth, pantera and sepultura covers have the crowds eating from the palm of their hands- they're regulars at Razz Rhino, Mumbai's rock haven at Juhu..
These guys been on the local metal scene for nearly 3 years now. Timir, Aniket n Janus officially got together as a band on December 1, 1998 and within a couple of weeks they were playing their first gig at IIT, Bombay. They've have been going strong ever since.

Member line-up:
Timir Chimulkar:
He does all of the songwriting and composing, plays rhythm guitar and is the lead vocalist in the band. He's forever playing 'daddy' to the band, calmly supervising, planning the band's future, looking over, watching out, the whole deal.
When he's not babysitting, he's testing guitars at Prosound, a guitar assembling company, where he works as the guitar technician.

Aniket Waghmode, Drummer:
He's the first guy who backed Timir up on the venture in the early stages of the band formation. The two have stuck together ever since. He's 20, slumming it out in college and has most fun beating the air out of his drums.

Janus Sanyal, Bass guitar:
He doubles up as the designer guy and is currently busying himself in doing-up the bands logo, website, t-shirt designs and other merchandise which they plan to be releasing soon.

Amar, Lead guitar:
The newest recruit and undoubtedly the best thing to have happened to the band. This seemingly quiet and unassuming 22 year old is considered something of a genius by many and when he starts to play the listeners usually just shut up and gawk.

History:
First there was the "big idea". It occured to Timir when he attended a Parikrama concert. The whole at'mosh'phere fired him up and he simply knew THAT this is what he ought to be doing. He got introduced to Aniket and all they were meant to do was to get together, get on the bandstand and play like madmen.
Thereafter it was a mad rush; first, to get a decent jamming place, then to get a decent lead guitarist. For the bassist they didn't have to go far- Janus a good friend of Aniket's, gladly volunteered. They had to go though a couple of lineup changes as far as the fourth guy was concerned(first Ajay then Vispy), before Amar happened.
The decision to call the band Sceptre (the royal ornament of sovereignty only associated with kings), was unanimous.

Music:
Their music slips most comfortably into the thrash-metal genre. Music-wise Sceptre are an angry bunch and their lyrics are a dead giveaway. There's angst and there's aggression, there's rebellion and there's revolution. Disillusionment giving way to verbal attack, all a backlash at the cesspool that is "the system"! OR To put it plainly, its Timir, writing (read ranting) about all the dirt under the carpet. Very punk-ish themes combined with super-fast riffs. This might be one of the reasons why they warm up to the crowds instantly.
They've composed 5 originals and are working on more songs before they release any material. Their first studio recording 'Nuclear', a heavy riff driven song with a catchy chorus is a favorite at their shows while other numbers are the straight ahead 'The Lost Empire', the slower 'The Search', and the new 'Revolution' and 'Quicksand'.
The versatility speaks for itself,as they have covered form metallica to maiden, from ozzy to satriani[there cover of summer song is a constant hit at shows] and more than that they keep on improving and improvising on their set-lists but still sticking to their image.

Other achievements:
Winners at Hoirizons 2000, the annual rock competition at RAIT, New Bombay.
Runners-up at IIT, Bombay 2001 and IIT, Delhi 2001.

The Single "Lost Empire" was featured on the Deep Throat CD released by Throatlatch records.

Another single "Nuclear" was on the FOK album a compilation of songs by bombay bands by Hangar Records.

"Revolution" their new single will be featured on FOK-3 by Hangar Records which will be released very soon.

Headlined numerous gigs in and around Bombay, Panvel, Raigad, Pune, Bangalore, Chennai, Pondicherry, etc.

Future: Sceptre are essentially a live band. They intend to play live at a lot of venues OTHER than Mumbai, and furiously promote their originals through a series of live shows.