Bloodywood is an Indian metal band from New Delhi, formed in 2016. They began as a parody band that uploaded metal covers of pop songs on YouTube, but later went on to write their own original material.
History
Prior to forming the band, Karan Katiyar would regularly upload parody metal covers of popular Bollywood songs on YouTube, but he had trouble finding a suitable vocalist. Katiyar met Jayant Bhadula, who worked as a talent manager at an entertainment company, at a local gig, and was impressed by his vocal range and versatility. In 2016, Katiyar quit his job as a corporate lawyer and together with Bhadula formed a two-piece band with the intention of "destroying pop songs". In 2017, Bloodywood re-recorded Linkin Park's song "Heavy" in Linkin Park's early nu metal style, catching the attention of many music websites such as Loudwire and Metal Hammer, the latter of which declared it "what Linkin Park's Heavy should have sounded like." The band made more covers in 2017 and released the compilation cover albumAnti-Pop Vol. 1 on their Bandcamp page. This was followed by a metal cover version of the popular Punjabi song "Tunak Tunak Tun" by Daler Mehndi, featuring guest vocals from Bonde do Metaleiro. On 1 May 2018, Bloodywood released "Ari Ari", a composition based on the Punjabi folk song "Baari Barsi". The track featured rapper Raoul Kerr, whom Katiyar had invited to take part after working on a lyric video for him. Kerr would be featured in further Bloodywood songs, until he eventually became an official member of the band. Fan reception to the song was much better than to their previous covers, which encouraged the band to write original material and take more inspiration from Indian folk music. Later, Bloodywood partnered with the online counseling site HopeTherapy and released the song "Jee Veerey", dedicated to fighting depression and mental illness. On 15 January 2019, the band released "Endurant", a song dealing with the topic of bullying. On 21 April 2019, it was announced that Bloodywood would be performing at Wacken Open Air. Two days later, the band released the song "Machi Bhasad ", initially intended for the upcoming Ubisoft game Beyond Good and Evil 2, as well as announcing that Kerr is becoming a permanent member of the band and that Bloodywood is embarking on their "Raj Against the Machine Tour".
Social work
Along with the messages included in their songs, the band aims to support various social/charity causes. With the release of the video for their song "Jee Veerey", they gave away pre-paid online counseling sessions. Upon returning to India after their European tour, Bloodywood asked their fans on Patreon to help support The Posh Foundation, a local NGO that cares for homeless animals, and donated the profits from their tour earnings to purchase a new ambulance for them.
