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Stigmata is a Sri Lankan heavy metal band based in Colombo, formed in 1998.

This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. (August 2010)

Stigmata
Background information
Origin	Sri Lanka
Genres	Heavy metal, progressive metal, power metal, thrash metal, melodic death metal
Years active	1998–present
Labels	Rock Company, INDIE, M-Entertainment[1]
Members	Suresh De Silva Tennyson Napoleon Thisara Dhananjaya Hafzel Preena
Past members	Andrew Obeysekara Lakmal Wijayagunarathna Roshan Tharaka Seneviratne Yohan Gunawardena Shehan Gray Javeen Soysa Anik Jayasekar Dilukshan Jayawardena Nisho Fernando Osanda Wangeesa Vije Dhas Ranil Senarath Chathuranga Pitigala Udaya Wickramage Shafeek Shuail
Website	stigmatasl.com

Biography

Early years

Suresh De Silva, Andrew Obeysekara and Tennyson Napoleon formed the band in 1998 at S. Thomas' College, Mt Lavinia, where they were schoolmates. They chose the name "Stigmata" from the 1998 album Stigmata by melodic death metal band Arch Enemy.^{[citation needed]}. The band's style is a unique style called "Pure Sri Lankan Metal" a mix of Sri Lankan origin fused rhythms and Eastern arrangements mixed cohesively into a framework of progressive metal and rock, thrash metal, speed metal, power metal along with tech death, death metal and hard rock influence, laced with a global sound incorporating multiple genres like jazz, Latin rhythms, classical, fusion, middle-eastern and Baila. They played their first ever concert at S.Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia in February 2000.

With bass player Shehan Gray and drummer Anik Jayasekara, they released their first single, "Fear", which topped the local radio rock-chart show. In 2000 they recorded another, "Voices", which was a sensation in the stagnant local music industry, and was a chart-topping hit. In 2001 the band took on drummer Dilukshan Jayawardena, following the departure of Jayasekara due to personal reasons. The band released their first EP, Morbid Indiscretion, in 2002, containing the singles "The Dying Winter Sleeps" and "Thicker Than Blood" plus the instrumental "Andura" which inspired the Gajaga Wannama. At the time, the band also covered music by international bands such as Deep Purple, Metallica, and Led Zeppelin, as well as bands not so popular in the country at that time, such as Iron Maiden, Iced Earth, Judas Priest, and Cradle of Filth, which made them revolutionary by exposing Sri Lankans to music many in the country had never heard before.

Hollow Dreams and Silent Chaos Serpentine

In 2003, drummer Nishantha Fernando joined the band, following the departure of Dilukshan for higher education. The success of the original singles released up to this point culminated in the band launching their first album, Hollow Dreams, in August 2003 on the local "Rock Company"[2] label. The band continued to influence many youth in the country to form their own heavy metal bands and carve a unique Sri Lankan heavy metal sound.[3]

In 2004, Vije Dhas became Stigmata's bass player, after Shehan Gray left for Australia. Former drummer Dilukshan temporarily stepped in after Nishantha Fernando left the band earlier that year. In 2005 the band found permanent drummer Osanda Wangeesa, and the range of the band was further increased, with the addition of double-bass drumming. In late 2004 the band also recorded the successful^{[citation needed]} acoustic track titled "Lucid" which made innovative use of the Indian tabla, played by Sri Lankan percussionist Jananath Warakagoda.[4] This was a prelude to the heavier, electric version of this song released on the bands' second studio album, Silent Chaos Serpentine, in February 2006. This was followed up by concerts in the Maldive Islands in June 2006. Drummer Ranil 'Jacky' Senarath joined the band in August 2005, after the departure of Osanda. Vije Dhas left the band in 2008 and was replaced by Javeen Soyza. In October 2008, the band was listed on Ultimate Guitar's Unsigned Artists of the Month, with a rating of 7.[5]

In 2009, Stigmata released "A Dead Rose Wails for Light"[6][7][8] which was also available on the band's Myspace site. The band was interviewed and asked to perform "A Dead Rose Wails for Light" for Ian Wright's Out of Bounds, a travel series on the Discovery Channel. The band headlined[9] for the SUE (Southern Ultimate Explosion) 2009 metal music festival in Johor, Malaysia.[10]

Psalms of Conscious Martyrdom (2010–present)

The band's third album, Psalms of Conscious Martyrdom, was released on 26 June 2010.[11] The album was popular enough to help Stigmata get a tour of Australia as part of the Melbourne International Arts Festival under the artistic direction of Brett Sheehy in October 2010 and performing at the historic Forum Theatre Melbourne alongside Dead Meadow (USA), Blarke Bayer / Black Widow (Australia), making them the first-ever Sri Lankan heavy metal band to tour there.[12][13][14]

On 17 October 2015, the band released their fourth album, The Ascetic Paradox.

Style and lyrical themes

The lyrical themes of the band are generally from poetry by the bands' vocalist lyricist, Suresh, and cover topics such as apathy, child abuse, politics, war, social degradation, and inner struggle. However the band's third album sees Stigmata dealing with fresh themes like psychic voyages, spiritual and para-psychological endeavors, suicide, etc.

Discography

Studio releases

• 2003: Hollow Dreams
• 2006: Silent Chaos Serpentine
• 2010: Psalms of Conscious Martyrdom
• 2015: The Ascetic Paradox

EPs

• 2002: Morbid Indiscretion

Various artists compilations

• 2003: Rock Company Compilation I[2][15]
• 2005: Rock Company Compilation II[16]
• 2008: Sri Lankan Heavy Metal Compilation Volume 1[17]

Singles

• "Fear" – (1999)
• "Redemption" – (1999)
• "Voices" – (2000)
• "Thicker than Blood" – (2002)
• "The Dying Winter Sleeps" – (2002)
• "Extinction" – (2003)
• "Lucid" (Acoustic) – (2005)
• "Solitare" – (2006)
• "My Malice" – (2007)
• "A Dead Rose Wails for Light" – (2008/9)
• "Purer (Libera Nos a Malo)" – (2010)

Music videos

• "Falling Away"[18]
• "On the Wings of the Storm"
• "An Idle Mind Is The Devil's Workshop"[19]

Band members

References

External links

• Official website

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