It took more than two decades for genres like heavy metal to be born after rock first arrived in our country. It’s the year 1991. Bangladesh is being rocked by the downfall of the Ershad regime. However, the audio shops are being rocked by something completely different: a heavy metal mixtape called ‘Hooray’, released by the record label Sargam.
Covered by abstract art in black over orange, the cassette had a quite incongruous look - but once in the cassette deck it made its existence known. Screaming guitars and vocals filled with emotions that could drill their way straight into the marrow of your bones.
Pop lovers covered their ears, dubbing it ‘noise’. Heavy metal aficionados like me, however - who were already listening to the likes of Iron Maiden and AC/DC - we were overwhelmed. This was our music, being played by our own! Songs that later came to be immortal classics, tattooed themselves into our nerve systems. Songs like Shamanno Dusshopno by Rock Strata, Shadhikar by Warfaze and Eii Raat-e by In Dhaka, and more. This was the beginning of the ‘rock revolution’.
“The release of ‘Hooray’ was one of the most defining moments in the Bangladesh history of rock”, says Shakib Chowdhury, lead singer and bassist of Cryptic Fate. “It became a huge inspiration and boost for many bands that later became massive powerhouses, like Warfaze, Rock Strata, In Dhaka, Winning, Ark and more”.
During this time, there was no culture of album release events and there was no easy access to rock music in the country. One had to queue up in front of Kabir Bhi’s cassette recording shop Rainbow on Elephant Road and it would take almost a month to get hold of a recorded tape.
“For me, it was an almost religious thing to visit the audio shops in New Market and ask if any new albums had arrived. And one fine evening, we were finally blessed with Hooray”, Shakib says.
“With very limited recording facilities and record labels, bringing out an audio album during this time was no joke, let alone making a rock music compilation. Also, in our conservative society, no one had any idea if rock music would at all be accepted. The release of this album became a wake-up call for musicians that it is actually possible to perform and record different genres of rock music in Bangla”.
Another veteran musician, Sumon of Aurthohin (and formerly of Warfaze) says, “Hooray was followed by mega-hit debut studio albums of Warfaze, In Dhaka and Rock Strata, and it felt like the scene couldn’t get any better. Sargam was the first record label to make a move to initiate the array of these rock and heavy metal albums. If it hadn’t been for them, it may have taken ages for the rock scene to flourish as it does now. They definitely led the way in fusing something revolutionary into the sound of the existing bands.”
Hooray was never a huge commercial success, though. It was a revolutionary tape for the select few musicians and enthusiasts who were already sold to rock ‘n roll. Firstly, because of the novelty of the hard rock sound. Secondly, because the sound quality was so bad that only musicians understood what sophisticated notes and beats were actually being played. Thirdly, because all the featured bands except Ark, Warfaze and Winning quit making music and producing albums shortly after. Currently, only one band is alive from that generation - Warfaze.
Shakib ends by saying, “In a way, Hooray was a bittersweet album, since Rock Strata and the other bands didn’t continue. Rock and metal music could have started already back in 1991 and have become even bigger and louder by this time. It took almost ten years before the next milestone rock compilation was released - Charpotro, by sound engineer Duray. However, Charpotro would never have surfaced if there had been no Hooray.”
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