Emerging Artist Reviews

Album Review: Rahul Mukerji "Mridhangit"

by The Metalverse

Updated March 23, 2026

Panama-based artist Rahul Mukerji released his new album "Mridhangit"on March 23, 2026. The LP is an instrumental indo-fusion that features several musicians like progressive metal drummer Leo Margarit (of Pain of Salvation), South Indian Mridangam player (an Indian percussion instrument) Praveen Sparsh, Spanish bassist Ruben Rubio, and Chaplin a pianist from South Africa. "Mridhangit" came to life during the pandemic as an opportunity for Rahul to connect with other musicians worldwide to create music.

The album starts with "Mr. Sinister" which introduces itself with clean guitar, dark ambience, and distant rattling, creating a distinct Indian sound. Suddenly, a bending guitar harmony leads into building drums that soon launch into groovy rock drums and an upbeat dance beat. Electric guitar with a phaser builds after a short silence, launching into full energy metal. Slamming drums, thumping bass lines, and shredding guitar leads create a clear metal sound that is vastly different from the beginning of the song.

"Bheja Fry" introduces Indian percussion instruments as clean guitar is layered behind upfront hard rock guitar riffage. In this track, I can clearly hear blues/jazz influences, while hard rock and traditional Indian inspiration are still quite noticeable.

Next is "Twelve Ganeshas" which continues jazz influences from the last track meanwhile drums are carefully layered as both a full drum kit and Indian percussion can be heard. Ascending scales really sell the blues vibe as reverbed clean guitar creates a smooth sound that fans of jazz will particularly enjoy.

"Enjoymaddi" introduces the first piano of the album, as lingering arpeggios, melancholy chords, and rapid scales create a powerful grand piano section that soon brings guitar, bass, and grooving drum lines to life. More jazzy instrumentals are layered over each other, creating an evolving sound as guitar, bass, piano, and drums fill in a massive scope of sound.

Self-titled track "Mridhangit" begins with isolated vocals speaking in what I assume is Hindi. Ambient guitar creates dream-like melodies in the background as very forward vocals cut through the mix, creating a highly percussive vocal delivery. The song eventually introduces woodwind instruments and full intensity drums before slowly fading out.

"Kalli Penn" starts with a funky bass line, cowbell, and shaker drums before bringing a keyboard organ and clean guitar trills into the fray. Rapid electric guitar leads continue a blues-rock sound throughout the 4-minute runtime.

"Funky Pakora" bursts into action with smooth jazz electric guitar leads as harmonies duel between 2 guitars. Full drums are introduced as jazz keys and funky bass lines further the clear jazz sound in this track. In the song's bridge, incredibly fast thumped bass shows off technical prowess before a booming drum solo.

Track 8 is "Dushtan" which brings back dark industrial ambience before launching into full Indian instrumentals, unexpectedly the song transitions to fully-fledged metal as dramatic chugging and slamming drums create a sound that feels like a classic heavy metal or doom metal sound. Indian percussive elements are met by bright guitar leads, blending Indian roots with metal influences as instrumentals play Phrygian notes that further the dark sound. So far on the album, this was one of the most memorable tracks for me, and the mix of a dark, doom metal sound with Indo-fusion was really interesting.

"Rahu Ketu" starts with gentle guitar as ethnic percussion is introduced alongside bending lead guitar. Thumping guitar and bass lines showcase progressive influences, with sections of this track reminding me of an Indo-fusion version of "Monomyth" by Animals as Leaders. At just over 6 minutes, "Rahu Ketu" skirts the lines between proggressive, traditional Indian music, and metal.

"Four Seas" brings back the complex piano composure that was featured earlier in the album as gentle melodies create a smooth sound. Percussion slowly builds before eventually introducing a full drum kit and booming bass lines as the piano really starts to spread out across the octave spectrum. The slow build grows as more instrumental melodies all blend together, creating a huge atmosphere before slowly fading back out.

The final track, "Mutabor" brings a dramatic woodwind to the forefront as drawn-out ambience builds a cinematic sound to your attention. Delayed guitar and Mridangam beats create an evolving sound that is soothing and acts as a calm exit to the album.

Fans of Indo-fusion, jazz, and unique metal genres should definitely check out Rahul Mukerji. With "Mridhangit" Rahul Mukerji reveals a sound that is a distinct mix of genres like jazz, heavy metal, progressive rock, and traditional Indian music. You can stream the album available on all streaming platforms now.