Warfaze is a

Bangladeshi heavy metal Bangladeshi heavy metal or Bangla heavy metal was originated from the evolution of British rock music, British and American rock, American Heavy metal music, heavy metal bands of the 1980s. Bands like Iron Maiden, Metallica and Megadeth have had ...

band formed on 6 June 1984 in

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...

Ibrahim Ahmed Kamal Ibrahim Ahmed Kamal (born 2 May 1969) is a Bangladeshi guitarist, songwriter and producer. He is the lead guitarist and the founder of the heavy metal band Warfaze. He has been the band's guitarist and composer for three decades. In his early ...

, Meer, Helal, Naimul, and Bapi. They are one of the earliest heavy metal bands in Bangladesh. The band had numerous line-up changes since 1984 and since its inception, the band has released seven studio albums, one compilation album, and several singles. They have experimented with numerous sub-genres of

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

and heavy metal over the years.

History

1980–2024

The first lineup of Warfaze in 1980 consisted of Bapi on vocals, Meer and Naimul on guitars, Kamal on bass, and Helal on drums. This initial line-up underwent the first of many changes with Helal, Meer, and Bapi having to leave the band for personal reasons. By that time Kamal met Tipu in early 1986 and Tipu joined Warfaze as the drummer and co-founder. The band was far from breaking through to the mainstream music scene in Bangladesh and heavy metal music was not very popular in the country back then. In 1986, Kamal took up lead guitar duties and they took in Babna Karim as the bassist, and Reshad as the vocalist. This second lineup had to be discontinued when Naimul moved to the US. At that time, there were three other Dhaka-based metal bands: Rockstrata, In Dhaka, and Aces. Mashuk Rahman from In Dhaka and Fuad from Aces volunteered to help Warfaze as guest members (guitarist). The band opened a keyboard position and then Russell Ali joined. In 1988, Reshad had left the band for some personal reason and his place was filled by Sunjoy. Kamal had made arrangements for further education in the US by 1991. At the time, Warfaze was mostly a cover band, covering bands such as

Deep Purple Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock, although their musical style has varied throughout their career. Originally for ...

Whitesnake Whitesnake are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1978. The group were originally put together as the backing band for singer David Coverdale, who had recently left Deep Purple. Though the band quickly developed into their ow ...

Dokken Dokken is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1978. It split up in 1989 and reformed four years later. The band has had several hit singles which charted on the Billboard Hot 100, such as " Alone Again", " In My Dreams", and ...

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris (musician), Steve Harris. Although fluid in the early years of the band, the line-up for most ...

Guns N' Roses Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1985 as a merger of local bands L.A. Guns and Hollywood Rose. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band's "classic" line-up consisted of vocalist Axl R ...

. However, inspired by Maqsud, former vocalist of

Feedback Feedback occurs when outputs of a system are routed back as inputs as part of a chain of cause and effect that forms a circuit or loop. The system can then be said to ''feed back'' into itself. The notion of cause-and-effect has to be handle ...

, the band performed their own Bangla songs at a concert arranged by BAMBA at the

University of Dhaka The University of Dhaka (), also known as Dhaka University (DU), is a public university, public research university located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Established in 1921, it is the oldest active university in the country. The University of Dhaka w ...

on 26 April 1992. The band at first decided to make a mixed album, but as it turned out Warfaze had enough songs to be able to release a solo album. The band went on to release their self-titled album, ''

Warfaze Warfaze is a Bangladeshi heavy metal band formed on 6 June 1984 in Dhaka by Ibrahim Ahmed Kamal, Meer, Helal, Naimul, and Bapi. They are one of the earliest heavy metal music, heavy metal bands in Bangladesh. The band had numerous line-up change ...

'', on 21 June 1991. The album featured songs like "Boshe Achi Eka" and "Ekti Chele". At the time, Bangladeshi music listeners were still new to metal and any lyrics other than those inspired by romanticism or patriotism were rare which we say pram they wanted the change Bangladeshi music..... It took several months for the album to gain popularity but it later succeeded. The album was followed up by a concert on 7 January 1992 at RAOWA Club. The next album, ''Obak Bhalobasha'', was released by Sargam in 1994. Warfaze's sound was developed in this album, featuring songs with heavier tones. "Obak Bhalobasha," the title track from the album was a big hit. This song was composed with soft melodic structures in a progressive way and is one of the earliest progressive rock songs in the history of Bangladesh. It was sung by Babna Karim (Warfaze's bassist), instead of their lead singer, Sunjoy. "Obak Bhalobasha" is one of the fewest hit songs recorded by the band which weren't sung by their lead singers. It is also one of the longest tracks recorded by Warfaze, spanning 8 minutes and 37 seconds. The song later got re-released on season 3 episode 3 of

Coke Studio Bangla ''Coke Studio Bangla'', also known as ''Coke Studio Bangladesh'', is a Bangladeshi television series which is the local installment of the Coke Studio franchise, featuring studio-recorded music performances by established and emerging Banglades ...

as part of Warfaze's Ruby Jubilee in 2024. After completing the album, Russel Ali left the band to start a music career in the United States later that year. Its Bangladesh's number 1 most popular band.

1996–1998

The band released the album ''Jibondhara'' in December 1996, with Sunjoy on vocals, Kamal on guitars, Babna on bass and vocals, Tipu on drums and guest keyboardist, Fuad played together on the same album. Ruchi joined as a guest backup vocalist. During the same period,

Iqbal Asif Jewel Iqbal Asif Jewel (born 1 March) is a Bangladeshi singer, songwriter, guitarist, composer and producer. He is currently a member of the band Miles and Artcell. Career Iqbal's first band was ''Legend'', whose first album was ''Onnobhubon''. After ...

joined as a guitarist and second vocalist from another rock band, Legend. Babna had to leave for his career and study in the U.S.A. and therefore he was replaced by Saidus Sumon who played for the ''Oshamajik album'' on 1 April 1998. After completing Oshamajik, Sunjoy left to pursue his career in 1999. Around the same time, Sumon left the band to pursue a career both as a solo artist, and with his band

Aurthohin Aurthohin is a Bangladeshi rock band formed in Dhaka in 1998 by Sumon (musician), Saidus Sumon (vocals and bass guitar), Tonmoy Rahman (lead guitar), Ponir (rhythm guitar) and Rumi Rahman (drums and percussion). They are considered to be one of ...

. Then Biju joined as a bassist, replacing Sumon. Iqbal Asif Jewel left the band to join

Miles The mile, sometimes the international mile or statute mile to distinguish it from other miles, is a British imperial unit and United States customary unit of length; both are based on the older English unit of length equal to 5,280 English f ...

as well as Fuad Ibne Rabbi, who left for his career.

2001–2003

The band underwent many changes in line-up over the next eight years. Their guitarist Balam, replaced Iqbal Asif Jewel. From 1999, Mizan replaced Sunjoy on vocals, Shams on keyboard and Biju on bass. Tipu and Kamal held their previous positions. This line-up released the album ''Alo আলো (Light)'' in 2001. Warfaze Current Lineup 2023 v3

However, 2002 marked changes in the line-up once again with Mizan leaving the band for personal reasons and Kamal leaving the band for his personal and family issues. Kamal later joined Sumon's band

in 2006. With Mizan's departure from the band, Balam took up vocal & guitar duties. Sazzad was recruited from ''Metal Maze'' as the lead guitarist replacing Kamal. Biju left the band to pursue higher education in Canada. All the while, throughout all these drastic changes, Tipu solely held the band together. Cézanne was then recruited as the bassist of the emerging progressive metal band

Artcell Artcell is a Bangladeshi progressive metal band formed in 23 October 1999, by vocalist and riff guitarist George Lincoln D'Costa, lead guitarist Ershad Zaman, bassist Saef Al Nazi Cézanne and drummer Kazi Sajjadul Asheqeen Shaju. The first so ...

. Later on, Balam departed to pursue a solo career as a commercial pop artist. Kamal rejoined the band in 2007. The band recruited Oni Hasan from the band

Vibe Vibe, alternatively '' vibes,'' is short for ''vibration''. A "vibe" is an emotional reaction to the aura or energy felt to belong to a person, place or thing. Vibe may also refer to: People * DJ Vibe (born 1968), Portuguese DJ * Lasse Vibe (b ...

right after. This resulted in a major change in their tone and sound, with

neoclassical metal Neoclassical metal is a subgenre of heavy metal that is heavily influenced by classical music and usually features very technical playing,Stephan Forté, "Metal néoclassique" in ''Guitarist Magazine Pedago'', Hors Série #29, "Les secrets du m ...

influences especially in live performances.

2009

Following the release of a compilation album titled ''Poth Chola'' (sponsored by

Nokia Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications industry, telecommunications, technology company, information technology, and consumer electronics corporation, originally established as a pulp mill in 1 ...

) which includes re-recorded versions of their songs along with a couple of new singles titled "Tomake" and "Omanush," the band began touring extensively. With a new and stable lineup since 2007 that had stayed together for almost more than 5 years then, the band went on to celebrate their silver jubilee at a gala concert, which featured performances from both past and present members of Warfaze at the Winter Garden, Hotel Sheraton, Dhaka. Tipu announced that a live concert recording album was planned, along with a new studio album which later came out in 2012 titled ''Shotto''. The band continued to experiment with their sound with the release of a fusion album entitled ''Somorpon'', merging elements of heavy metal with traditional Bangladeshi

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

as a tribute to

Hason Raja Dewan Hason Raja Chowdhury, or simply known as Hason Raja (; 21 December 1854 – 6 December 1922), was a Bengali mystic poet and songwriter from Sylhet, Bengal Presidency (now Bangladesh). His unique style of music made him one of the most p ...

Lalon Lalon (; died 17 October 1890), also known as Lalon Shah, Lalon Fakir, Shahji, was a Bengali spiritual leader, philosopher, mystic poet and social reformer. Regarded as an icon of Bengali culture, he inspired and influenced many philosophers, ...

, and Baul Shah Abdul Karim working with Sumon's band Aurthohin and solo artist

Habib Wahid Habib Wahid is a Bangladeshi music composer and singer. He is the son of composer Ferdous Wahid. Habib gained prominence in the early 2000s with his unique fusion of traditional Bangladeshi folk music and contemporary pop elements, earning h ...

. Warfaze tributed the songs of Lalon, Aurthohin tributed the songs of Hason Raja and Habib Wahid tributed the songs of Baul Shah Abdul Karim.

2012-present

''Shotto'' was released on 21 October 2012 featuring the same line-up as in ''Poth Chola''. The album was a huge commercial success with hit tracks like "Purnota" and "Rupkotha." The album also included an unreleased single from the early 2000s called "Protikkha." At midnight on 13 February 2013, Warfaze performed at the Projonmo Chattar to show their support for the Shahbag protest in Dhaka, Bangladesh, in demand of capital punishment for Abdul Quader Mollah and all the other accused war criminals of the 1971

Liberation War Wars of national liberation, also called wars of independence or wars of liberation, are conflicts fought by nations to gain independence. The term is used in conjunction with wars against foreign powers (or at least those perceived as foreign) ...

of Bangladesh. It also marked the return of Kamal with his solos. Currently, they are working on their upcoming compilation album 'Pothchola-2' which will include re-recorded versions of their songs like 'Alo' and 'Hariye Tomake.'

Musical style and influences

The band has been consistently cited as an inspiration by most active heavy metal artists today in Bangladesh as one of the first bands to introduce metal to the people in their country. The band used to play cover versions of bands like

Scorpions Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the Order (biology), order Scorpiones. They have eight legs and are easily recognized by a pair of Chela (organ), grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward cur ...

and

, etc. in their early years. Throughout their career, the band has experimented with multiple genres of rock and metal music

Discography

Studio albums * ''

'' ( Sargam, 1991) * ''Obak Bhalobasha (Surprising Love)'' (Sargam, 1994) * ''Jibondhara (Lifestyle)'' (

Soundtek Soundtek is one of the famous old record label companies in Bangladesh, which produces cassettes, CDs, VCDs and DVDs. Soundtek is one of the premier record labels in Bangladesh. The owner of the company is Sultan Mahmud. History In 1992, So ...

, 1996) * ''অসামাজিক (Antisocial)'' ( G-Series, 1998) * ''আলো (Light)'' (Soundtek, 2000) * ''মহারাজ (Your Majesty)'' (

Ektaar Music Ektaar Music (; a reference to the Ektara instrument) is a Bangladeshi record label based in Dhaka. It was founded by Feisal Siddiqi Bogey, Sheikh Monirul Alam Tipu, and others in 2002. Ektaar was also known for its opposition to piracy. It was ...

, 2003) * ''পথচলা (Walking Paths)'' (G-Series, 2009) * ''সত্য (Truth)'' (

Deadline Music Cleopatra Records is a Los Angeles-based independent record label that has the sub-labels Hypnotic Records, Goldenlane, Stardust, Purple Pyramid, Deadline and X-Ray Records. History Founded in January 1992 by Brian Perera, it specializes in go ...

, 2012) Compilation albums * ''Best Collection – 4 in 1''(1999) Mixed albums * ''Dhun – 6 Band Mixed Album'' (ধুন) (1997) * ''Hit! Run! Out!'' (1998) * ''6 Band "99"'' (1999) * ''Tribute Album – Somorpon'' (সমর্পণ) (2011)

Members

Present members *

Sheikh Monirul Alam Tipu Sheikh Monirul Alam Tipu (born 15 July 1970) is a Bangladeshi musician, known as a rhythm composer, drummer, lyricist, and music producer. He is best known as the co-founder and Band Leader of Warfaze, a popular heavy metal and rock band from Ban ...

– drums, percussion, band leader *

– lead guitar ; bass * Palash Noor – vocals * Samir Hafiz – lead guitar * Soumen Das – rhythm guitar * Naim Haque Roger – bass guitar * Shams Mansoor Ghani – keyboard Past members * Sunjoy – vocals * Babna Karim – bass, vocals * Balam – vocals, guitar * Mizan Rahman – vocals *

– guitar, vocals * Sazzad Arefeen – guitar * Oni Hasan – guitar *

Saidus Salehin Khaled Sumon Saidus Salehin Khaled Sumon (born 8 January 1973), popularly known by his nickname Bassbaba Sumon, is a Bangladeshi rock singer-songwriter, bass player, composer, music producer and founder of the Bangladeshi rock band Aurthohin. He is the ba ...

– bass guitar, vocals * Biju – bass guitar * Saef Al Nazi (Cézanne) – bass guitar * Russel Ali – keyboard, guitar * Romel Ali – keyboard * Fuad Ibne Rabbi – keyboard, guitar * Helal – drums, * Bapi – vocals * Meer – guitar * Naimul – lead guitar * Reshad – vocals

Timeline

ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:22 PlotArea = left:130 bottom:90 top:10 right:20 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1984 till:11/04/2024 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Colors = id:vocals value:red legend:Lead_Vocals id:back value:pink legend:Backing_Vocals id:lead value:teal legend:Lead_Guitar id:rhythm value:brightgreen legend:Rhythm_Guitar id:bass value:blue legend:Bass id:drums value:orange legend:Drums,_Percussion id:keyboards value:purple legend:Keyboards,_Piano id:Lines value:black legend:Studio_Album Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:4 ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:1985 ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1985 LineData = layer:back color:black at:28/06/1991 at:01/01/1994 at:05/02/1996 at:02/04/1998 at:01/01/2001 at:01/01/2003 at:01/01/2009 at:21/10/2012 BarData = bar:Bapi text:"Bapi" bar:Reshad text:"Reshad" bar:Sunjoy text:"Sunjoy" bar:Balam text:"Balam" bar:Mizan text:"Mizan Rahman Mizan" bar:Palash text:"Palash Noor" bar:Naimul text:"Naimul" bar:Kamal text:"Ibrahim Ahmed Kamal" bar:Babna text:"Babna Karim" bar:Sumon text:"Khaled Sumon" bar:Biju text:"Biju" bar:Cézanne text:"Cézanne" bar:Roger text:"Naim Haque Roger" bar:Meer text:"Meer" bar:Jewel text:"Iqbal Asif Jewel" bar:Sazzad text:"Sazzad Arifin" bar:Oni text:"Oni Hasan" bar:Samir text:"G Samir Hafiz" bar:Soumen text:"Soumen Das" bar:Russel text:"Russel Ali" bar:Fuad text:"Fuad Ibn Rabbi" bar:Shams text:"Shams Mansoor Ghani" bar:Helal text:"Helal" bar:Tipu text:"Sheikh Monirul Alam Tipu" PlotData= width:13 bar:Bapi from:01/01/1984 till:01/01/1985 color:vocals bar:Reshad from:01/01/1985 till:01/01/1990 color:vocals bar:Meer from:01/01/1984 till:01/01/1985 color:rhythm bar:Naimul from:01/01/1984 till:01/01/1988 color:lead bar:Soumen from:01/01/2018 till:end color:rhythm bar:Palash from:01/01/2016 till:end color:vocals bar:Mizan from:01/01/1999 till:01/01/2002 color:vocals bar:Mizan from:01/01/2007 till:01/01/2016 color:vocals bar:Balam from:01/01/1999 till:01/01/2007 color:vocals bar:Sumon from:01/01/1997 till:01/01/1999 color:vocals width:3 bar:Jewel from:01/01/1997 till:01/01/1999 color:vocals width:3 bar:Sunjoy from:01/01/1990 till:01/01/1999 color:vocals bar:Babna from:01/01/1986 till:01/01/1996 color:vocals width:3 bar:Kamal from:01/01/1984 till:01/01/1986 color:bass bar:Kamal from:01/01/1986 till:01/01/2003 color:lead bar:Kamal from:01/01/2007 till:end color:lead bar:Samir from:01/01/2015 till:01/01/2018 color:rhythm bar:Samir from:01/01/2018 till:end color:lead bar:Oni from:01/01/2007 till:01/01/2014 color:rhythm bar:Sazzad from:01/01/2003 till:01/01/2007 color:lead bar:Sazzad from:01/01/2001 till:01/01/2003 color:rhythm bar:Balam from:01/01/1999 till:01/01/2007 color:rhythm width:3 bar:Jewel from:01/01/1996 till:01/01/1999 color:rhythm bar:Fuad from:01/01/1994 till:01/01/1999 color:rhythm width:3 bar:Russel from:01/01/1990 till:01/01/1994 color:rhythm width:3 bar:Roger from:01/01/2003 till:end color:bass bar:Cézanne from:01/01/2002 till:01/01/2003 color:bass bar:Biju from:01/01/1999 till:01/01/2002 color:bass bar:Sumon from:01/01/1996 till:01/01/1999 color:bass bar:Babna from:01/01/1986 till:01/01/1996 color:bass bar:Shams from:01/01/1999 till:end color:keyboards bar:Fuad from:01/01/1994 till:01/01/1999 color:keyboards bar:Russel from:01/01/1990 till:01/01/1994 color:keyboards bar:Tipu from:01/01/1985 till:end color:drums bar:Helal from:01/01/1984 till:01/01/1985 color:drums

References

{{Authority control 1984 establishments in Bangladesh Bangladeshi hard rock musical groups Bangladeshi heavy metal musical groups Musical groups established in 1984