RUEBEN BHATTACHARYA

Visual Amnesia is Indian born artist Reuben Bhattacharya known for highly conceptual art in the rock and metal circles. Coming from a design background he forayed into the independent music scene when roped in by Rock Street Journal as Creative Head & Editor to design India's first full color rock glossy. Starting out as a musician and independent artist Visual Amnesia quickly became one of the pioneers of illustrated album art from India in the past 12 years. He has created art for Demonic Resurrection (Dashavatar), Bhayanak Maut(I Am Man, Pindakaas), Joint Family (Hotbox), 1833 AD (My Dark Symphony), Zygnema (What Makes Us Human Is Obsolete), Chaos (All Against All), Kryptos, Providence, BIG 69 Metal Festival, Bangalore Open Air and a host of bands and gigs from the subcontinent. Not to let only metal cred do the talking, Reuben also created art for Delhi electro rock artist Fuzzculture's debut 'NO' on Universal Records, Pune synthwave producer Dreamhour's debut 'VLLNS' on New Retro Wave Records and Melbourne synth producer Future Fate's futuristic album "Mechanism". Recent years saw him foray into the international metal scene by creating art and prints for Slipknot, Black Sabbath, Skyharbor, Monuments, Textures, Aliases, Allegaeon, Underside, Sleep Terror and more. Visual Amnesia is also the chief artist for Aussie metal icons Twelve Foot Ninja and handles all design duties for the band. 1. Tell us your experience with Dymbur and what you feel about their music? - Dymbur have been working with me for a long time now and we have struck up a great friendship based on mutual respect and creativity. I was first commissioned a couple of years ago by the band, to design their logo based around the English meaning of the band name, which is "fig tree" to signify the band ideology. I work with a lot of bands in the tech / djent / prog metal space including some top names and it's refreshing to see these guys try and do something with their roots. In fact, it's that very same ideology that acted as a catalyst and led to "The Legend Of Thraat" dark fantasy folk tale for the new album.

2. What was the most challenging part about creating this artwork?

- The art itself is some of the most detailed work i have done, there's a lot of dense natural elements because its set in an ancient rainforest, a lot of intricate traditional inkwork and atmospheric feeling as well as fantastical characters to balance. The bigger challenge was coming up with the story and tie together the different shades of the album into a single concept album. We were dealing with songs written over lineup changes, older and newer material, there was a certain evolution in sound and ideas. I went back to my own childhood and the Khasi folktales and lore heard from my mother, grandmother and her ancestors. "The Legend Of Thraat" is a work of fiction of course, but it's rooted in these Ri-Khasi tales that have been passed through generations. I'm really proud that this first time that a band from the region has had the guts to go in this direction of reinventing its own folklore in a modern metal sphere. The mission was to set a new standard here. 3. What are some of the projects that you are involved in at the moment? - Well, this is the only second Indian indie release i have been involved in this year. Mostly been busy with my regular gig of being the designer at Twelve Foot Ninja. There's album art coming out for Seattle tech-death act Sleep Terror (includes members of Animosity, Six Feet Under) few releases of some previously shelved stuff for a couple other bands that I often work with, plus a print for what is arguably the most shred heavy death metal release of this year on Metal Blade. What I'm also really excited for is my new art book set to come out later this year. Can't give away any more details but stay tuned on my Instagram for exclusive previews and releases.