ALBUM REVIEW: GIRISH AND THE CHRONICLES - Disintegrate

Earlier this year Girish And The Chronicles came to Perth as part of The Oz Dhun Live Festival which celebrates South Asian Music. After the show Girish and I got the chance to have a great chat about music, the band and this new record a good few months before it was announced – the third installment of their three-album deal with Frontiers. I’ve been going to concerts for more than four decades now, and there are very few bands I’ve been as immediately impressed by as I was by Girish And The Chronicles that night. To top it all off, the guys were kind enough to sign my albums for me. It was simply a great night of Hard Rock.

So it’s fair to say that Disintegrate arrives with a fair amount of anticipation around these parts. Those first two Frontiers releases contain some of the best Hard Rock songs I’ve heard in the last few years, and having now witnessed the band live, I came away even more convinced that Girish And The Chronicles are the real deal. The question, of course, is where do you go from there?

The answer with Disintegrate appears to be somewhere darker, heavier and just nicely unpredictable.

There are bands that wear their influences proudly, and then there are bands that take those influences, throw them into the furnace and somehow emerge sounding unmistakably like themselves. Girish And The Chronicles have increasingly fallen into that second category. With Disintegrate, they haven’t abandoned the huge vocals, screaming guitars and melodic firepower that got us here, but they have definitely broadened the palette.

And then, of course, there’s Girish Pradhan.

There aren’t many singers around today who can do what this guy does. Power, range, grit and melody – Girish has the lot. But what makes him special is that enormous voice never feels like it’s there simply to show you what he can do. He serves the song. He can soar when the music demands it, tear into something with real aggression and then pull everything back and inject genuine emotion. Plenty of people can hit notes; considerably fewer can make you feel them.

The title track “Disintegrate” opens proceedings and immediately tells you that this isn’t simply going to be another run through familiar territory. There’s a darker edge, more weight and a sense that the band is deliberately stretching the boundaries of what a Girish And The Chronicles record can sound like. The song deals with things falling apart – relationships, dreams, life itself – and somehow finding the strength to keep going. Musically, that darker atmosphere fits the subject perfectly.

Starting with a sparse guitar and gentle drums, this one just burst to life before the vocal takes it down again, soaring towards the chorus. It’s the sort of song that is both refreshingly heavy, wonderfully fresh and yet has all the hallmarks of a great Hard Rock track. It’s a seriously impressive way to open up a third record.

“Fading Away” continues that journey

It’s another song that is wonderfully dynamic, ebbing and flowing with cascading guitars and silky melodies that thinly veil the power within. A power that bursts through in a chorus that fits like a glove. The heavy breakdown pushes it over the top and shows that these guys have grown so much over the course of three records. This one will be a monster live.

That is before “Mindhole” pushes things further. There’s still melody at the centre of everything, but the guitars feel even heavier, the grooves hit harder and there are flashes of something more contemporary and alternative sitting alongside the band’s classic Hard Rock and Heavy Metal foundations.

It’s a song that grows in stature with each play and again has wonderfully fluid dynamics, with voice and guitar wonderfully at counterpoints. The rhythm section sets this alive with a groove that drives it all. It’s a wonderful opening and importantly, none of it feels forced. At the minute it’s one of my favourite songs of the year.

That’s probably one of the greatest successes of Disintegrate. This isn’t a band announcing some dramatic reinvention because somebody decided they needed one. It sounds like four musicians who know exactly what they’re capable of simply allowing themselves more room to move.

“Ricochet Of Hate” is a wonderful title and exactly the sort of thing you want to see written on the back of a Heavy Metal record, it’s hits with breakneck speed like a metallic Van Halen in its opening but immediately hitting modern melody and guitars in full flight, there’s more of a more Metal Extreme in vibe than Van Halen, but the song is completely Girish And The Chronicles. Imagine a thinking man’s 80’s Rock band, unafraid to show you how well they gel, eschewing simple verse-chorus structures, but always letting it serve the song.

“A New Spark” again demonstrates that balance between darkness and melody that increasingly defines the album. Suraz Sun’s guitar work throughout is superb – plenty of fire when required, but always with an understanding that riffs and solos need to serve the song rather than simply decorate it.

The song starts with a hypnotic guitar and just grows organically. It’s another winner.

And having seen these guys live earlier this year, I think that’s something you appreciate even more. There is some serious musicianship in this band, but it never descends into four people trying to prove how clever they are. It’s all about the song.

The rhythm section deserves equal credit. Yogesh Pradhan, who also handles production, and drummer Nagen Nags give this record a wonderfully muscular foundation. The added groove the band talked about before release is definitely there, and it’s one of the elements that distinguishes Disintegrate from what they’ve done previously.

“Take Me Home” arrives before one of the songs we’ve already heard, one of the most melodic here but gives you a good feel for the sound of the album if not completely the depth. This is great Hard Rock with modern sensebilities and Metal leanings that just get it so right.

“Generation Coward.” Is another great title and a great song to boot, and one of those moments where the harder, darker GATC of 2026 really comes into focus. There’s bite here. This isn’t simply music designed to remind you how much you loved Hard Rock thirty or forty years ago. It sounds like a band with something to say right now.

At this point in time it’s right up there with my favourites on an album with not a hint of filler. This one hits harder than most and stays with you longer after the last crashing chord and scream.

This isn’t a record that peters out though, it stays focused until the end and the quality never wavers. “Against Yourself” maintains that intensity and reworks that groove – you can just imagine the crowd bouncing along to this one live with Girish stalking the stage and controlling the room. It’s like Soundgarden’s early intensity translated to 2026 and indeed glancing back that’s not a bad vibe to create.

Penultimate track “You” changes the shape again. This one takes the pace right off, gentle guitars, breezy vocals and an acoustic moment that not only shows a completely different side to the band it acts like a primer for that final song. It does of course surge and scream for the final minute, but retains that melody throughout.

COMMENTS:

And there’s something else worth celebrating here: ten songs.

That’s it.

In an age where albums are too often stuffed with material simply because digital formats allow it, Disintegrate feels like a proper album. There’s no sense of padding things out to hit an arbitrary running time. It gets in, makes its point and leaves you wanting to go around again.

And then there’s “KAAL.”

Saving a song with a title like that until last almost demands that it deliver, and it provides an appropriately intriguing conclusion to an album that sees Girish And The Chronicles looking beyond the obvious. By the time it’s over, you’re left with the feeling that you’ve heard a band moving forward rather than simply polishing what already worked.

This is real Metal, rebel-rousing rock and roll that makes you think of bands like prime Megadeth. You’re almost throwing your fits in the air by the end. A ‘live’ certainty and the absolute best way to close.

It’s important because the last few years have been extraordinary for these guys. Once described as one of India’s best-kept Hard Rock secrets, that secret is well and truly out. Extensive European touring has put them in front of an increasingly international audience, while their appearance on America’s Got Talent introduced Girish’s frankly ridiculous voice to millions who might otherwise never have encountered the band.

The danger when that sort of attention arrives is trying to second-guess what the expanded audience wants next. Girish And The Chronicles haven’t done that. Instead, they’ve made the record they wanted to make. I think it might even be their best so far.

There are still monster melodies. There are still huge guitars. There are still choruses built to be played loud, and Girish still sings like someone left the gates to Rock and Roll heaven open and he wandered through looking for a microphone. But around those familiar elements there’s more darkness, more groove, more weight and enough experimentation to suggest that this band’s best music might still be ahead of them.

And maybe that’s the biggest compliment I can give Disintegrate. I came into this one with unusually high expectations. After those first two Frontiers records, and especially after finally getting to see just how good this band is onstage in Perth earlier this year, anything less than a great record would have felt like a disappointment. It isn’t.

Disintegrate doesn’t take the easy route and just repeat what made those records so good. It takes that foundation and pushes outward. Some fans may initially miss a little of the immediacy of what came before, because this feels like an album with more shadows and shape, and perhaps one that needs a little more time to reveal itself. But that’s also precisely what makes it so interesting.

After four decades of watching bands come and go, it’s rare to encounter one that genuinely makes you excited about where they’re going next. Girish And The Chronicles are one of those bands.

For all the wonderful echoes of Hard Rock’s past, they’re not interested in living there.

They’re moving forward – and Disintegrate is another huge step along the way.

9/10

“Disintegrate” Tracklist:

1. Disintegrate
2. Fading Away
3. Mindhole
4. Ricochet Of Hate
5. A New Spark
6. Take Me Home
7. Generation Coward
8. Against Yourself
9. You
10. KAAL