X-mantra—the band widely credited for bringing the heavy metal sound to the mainstream—released their sixth studio album War in my Head at an event held at the Reggae Bar in the Capital on Saturday. The event also celebrated the band’s 16th anniversary and was a culmination of a nationwide tour that saw the band perform in cities like Damak, Dharan, Narayanghat, Butwal and Pokhara. 

X-mantra was formed in 2000 and released their first album Crying for Peace that same year. Their last studio album, Pralaya, was released in 2012. Following a five-year hiatus, the band is now back with a new line-up that has seen guitarists R.K. Senchury and Rohitaj Gurung, join drummer Bikram Shrestha and vocalist/bassist Rojesh Shrestha. The newly released album is also the band’s first production that is completely in English. 

Speaking about the album and the transition into English, frontman Rojesh Shrestha said, “War in my Head screeches with real and raw human expression about 

darkness, but balances it with positive light. Because the music market in Nepal has narrowed down in recent years, we have crafted the album in such a saw that it resonates with the international metal scene.”

Shrestha also added that while the band has made alterations to their music to encompass a larger musical spectrum in the album, they have stayed true to their inclination to ‘groove metal’.

The words to the eight-tracks included in the new album have been lent by lyricist Bhalasa Shrestha.