Haridwar Cremation Ground

Last Ride Funeral: Echoes from the Cremation Ground of Haridwar

Last Ride Funeral is one of the very few metal bands that have the ability to contrive the fusion of absolute spiritual profoundness and sonic weight in the metal genre. It's a conceptual project in metal that draws its core (thematic and sonic) atmosphere from one of India's most important and profound sites of transition - the Haridwar Cremation Ground.

Last Ride Funeral is not a musical project; it is a ritualistic experience. They have coined the term Ghat Metal to describe their music - a hybrid of doom metal and stoner metal which also incorporates field recordings of the Ganga to metaphorically bring the listener to the Haridwar Smashan Ghat.

The Thematic Forge: The Spiritual Weight of Haridwar

Haridwar literally translates to 'Gateway to God', and it is one of the most spiritual cities in the world. It is where the Holy River Ganga leaves the mountains, and where, to millions of Hindus, it denotes the most important site for the last rites. The band’s exploration of philosophies surrounding the Haridwar Crematorium is what gives their music an ethnographic touch, a flair that is not present anywhere else in the world.

The tracks from Ashes & Flow have nothing to do with death, but Ashes & Flow is about Moksha (liberation) and the cyclicality of existence): they deal with the universal phemomena of Haridwar Cremation Ground's daily performed rituals. The Sound of Last Rites Haridwar is Last Ride Funeral's Absence. Last Ride Funeral's music is heavy, slow and, hypnotic, and corresponds to the tempo of Hindu funerals procession.

The Riffs and the River

Monolithic, detuned guitar riffs characterizing the core slow, doom, and dragging relentless ambient of the entire instrumentals’ sound, are overlaid with drumming that lacks technical intricacy, and emphasizes ritualistic recurrence, to evoke the image of the Ganges’ slow, eternal stream. There is nothing but stone-hammered heavy, beat of void resonance to recall Haridwar's Antim Sanskar.

• Doom Riffs: Slow, dragging and heavily distorted.
• Ambient textures: Synthesized and belled, chanting, slow-burning fire, and heat, the sound of fire and, body of burning heat together with recording. Vocally, deep, and heavily dragging to evoke a moan ('mantra growl') which characterizes both sad and accepting.
• Percussion: features the Indian row of traditional percussion instruments, djembe, and tubular lots of closed and heavy drum set in to evoke a rhythmic backdrop funerals’ drums.

Asthi Visarjan Haridwar and Conceptual Art

In addition to the music elements, Last Ride Funeral’s multi-genre artistry and poetry also deserve appreciation. The group often showcases their art on monochrome album covers that feature ghats and the rising sun along with silhouette smoke. Immersion of the deceased in the holy river is the ritual the group focuses on in their albums.

One of the albums includes the 15-minute song, Visarjan, which artfully portrays the process in verses through which the deceased’s ashes are released (Asthi) at the holy site of Asthi Visarjan Haridwar, along with the inner spirit, especially in reference to Horatios, the ancient philosopher.

Note. The focus here is not trivializing, but rather, is an appreciation and recognition of the artistic and philosophical depth of the Hindu death rituals.

The Ritual: Hindu Funeral Haridwar in Performance

Last Ride Funeral’s ceremonies are not simply performances; they are smoke-filled sacred ceremonies.

• Stage Design: The performance space is often adorned with large, stylized funeral pyres and marigold floral arrangements.
• The Attire: Band members wear ochre and white robes, the ideal colors of mourning and Hindu renunciation, befitting the Hindu Funeral Haridwar tradition.
• Audience Experience: The band promotes a contemplative and trance-like state formed through low-frequency sound waves that envelop participants in a profound auditory experience. Attendees are encouraged to mentally and spiritually relocate to the banks of the Ganges River, where the Last Rites of Haridwar are being performed.

The Legacy of the Ghats

Last Ride Funeral is embodying the philosophy that true inspiration can blossom from the most profound and unexpected places. By not merely treating the Haridwar Cremation Ground as a stage but rather as a spiritual source code, they are able to provide a deeply and respectfully crafted sonic interrogation of the inevitable end to all life. The Ghats Metal they have created is a genre that commands substantial introspective thought as the finality of life is scored in metal.