''Panchi'' (Urdu: پہنچی, literal English translation: "bird") is the debut studio album of the Pakistani

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...

band Mizraab, released in April 1999 on Sound Master. Mizraab's debut album is considered by many to be the first progressive rock album in Pakistan. The album was recorded and composed by founder, lead vocalist and guitarist

Faraz Anwar Faraz Anwar (Urdu: فراز انور; b.15 July 1976) is a Pakistani musician, composer, singer-songwriter, bandleader, and a guitarist who founded the Mizraab, a heavy metal music and hard rock genre band based in Pakistan. His musical act o ...

. According to Faraz, the album was an experiment in exploring new musical styles, as the album contains fast tempos, instrumentals, and aggressive musicianship blending with eastern classical music like the use of

tabla A ''tabla'' is a pair of hand drums from the Indian subcontinent. Since the 18th century, it has been the principal percussion instrument in Hindustani classical music, where it may be played solo, as an accompaniment with other instruments a ...

s and traditional Pakistani folk music elements. ''Panchi'' was not a commercial success. However, the release of the album earned the band a growing fan base in the underground music community and critical acclaim and thus the album was regarded as the first

album in the country.

Background

Although initially, the album was not meant for release and Faraz did not want it to be more than an experiment. "The album was good but I felt strongly about re-doing it. Not revamping but redoing it," he says. However, Akhtar Qayyum went on to strike a record deal with Sound Master and the album was released in 1999. "I had no idea that Akhtar would go out and release it, which he did. It did well but I wasn't expecting the album to hit the market," says Faraz. This led to strained relations between Akhthar and Faraz, and Akhthar soon left the band due to musical differences. The album included fast

tempos In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for 'time'; plural 'tempos', or from the Italian plural), measured in beats per minute, is the speed or pace of a given composition, and is often also an indication of the composition's character or atmos ...

instrumentals An instrumental or instrumental song is music without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to ...

, and aggressive

musicianship A musician is someone who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate a person who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters, ...

that placed them as one of the pioneers of

progressive metal Progressive metal (often shortened to prog metal) is a broad fusion music genre melding heavy metal music, heavy metal and progressive rock, combining the loud "aggression" and amplified electric guitar, guitar-driven sound of the former with t ...

music in Pakistan. The release of the album also earned the band a growing fan base in the underground music community and critical acclaim and thus the album was regarded as the first

album in the country.Mizraab – Panchi
Retrieved on 16 March 2011

Track listing

All music composed & arranged by Mizraab. All songs written by Akhtar Qayyum.

Personnel

All information is taken from the CD. ;Mizraab *

–

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

*Akhtar Qayyum –

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

*Khalid Khan –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

, backing vocals ;Additional musicians *Irfan Ahmad –

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

*Jamal Mustafa –

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a guitar technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse (music), pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., d ...

;Production *Produced by

*Recorded & Mixed in Karachi, Pakistan

References

External links

Official WebsiteMyspace Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Panchi 1999 debut albums Mizraab albums Urdu-language albums