Artist Detail

For over 13 years Stigmata have pioneered and etched a foundation for extreme progressive music in a country and an industry with a zero infrastructure for Rock music. 

Stigmata have never compromised their artistry; always exploring new musical avenues while staying true to their Rock and Metal roots. The charismatic quintet’s music is evocative, carved out of passion & purpose. Extreme Metal & Hard Rock that is created with a prominent Sri Lankan sound, interwoven with an authentic Eastern Flavor mixing Jazz, Baila, Fusion, Funk, Classical, Blues, Tribal & Progressive Power/Thrash/Death Metal. 

Celebrating a decade in 2010 in true grit & style Stigmata launched their 3rd epic & widely revered album ‘Psalms of Conscious Martyrdom’ through the M Entertainment Label (Maharaja Network). The Band’s sound is a unique fixture in Asia and their music has won over thousands of fans globally. Their sound cannot easily be defined. It is melodic yet ferocious, intricate yet accessible, a therapeutic sonic assault of complex themes, mesmerizing poetry & powerful musical textures woven as one spiritual musical prodigy.

The Band’s reputation drew the interest of legendary travel icon Ian Wright (Lonely Planet, America the Wright Way, Globe Trekkers) who featured the Band live on his Discovery program Out of Bounds, and re-visited Sri Lanka for an exclusive 2 week shoot again this year to feature Stigmata on a new program called ‘Invite Mr.Wright’ (http://press.discovery.com/asia-pacific/tlc/programs/invite-mr-wright/) where he hung out & traveled around Sri Lanka with Stigmata exclusively for The Discovery Channel. 

Stigmata is also one of the most sought after Live Bands in Asia, and their historical stint performing at the Melbourne Arts Festival in October 2010 for a full house at the prestigious Forum Theater, the monumental response it is still garnering is a testimony to Stigmata’s legacy. Proving that they are one of the most hard working, entertaining and energetic Bands to walk this earth. Stigmata’s music received airplay on the mammoth Triple J Radio and the Band was interviewed by John Safran on his show. 

Stigmata has headlined the Rock Storm Festival in Maldives, was the band that opened the doors for Sri Lankan artists by performing at the SAARC Band Festival in Central Park, New Delhi for thirty thousand people & headlined The Southern Ultimate Explosion in Johor, Malaysia. The Band has also performed & organized over 300 concerts in Sri Lanka alone. 

Stigmata’s albums have received stellar reviews worldwide. The Band released the first Heavy Metal/Hard Rock album of Sri Lanka “Hollow Dreams” in Sri Lanka in August 2003, followed by their critically acclaimed second album ‘Silent Chaos Serpentine’ in 2006 which was dubbed a contender for Metal Album of the Year on international sites www.tmetal.com andwww.themetalforge.com to name a few. 

‘Psalms of Conscious Martyrdom’ the Band’s new opus has not only received a much greater response but was picked as one of the Top Ten Albums of 2010 on mammoth US site Metal Insider : www.metalinsider.net/lists/our-contributors-year-end-lists. 

Stigmata’s online presence is also unrivalled with the Official Stigmata Myspace having acquired over 100,000 views www.myspace.com/stigmatasrilanka, Stigmata having over 30, 000 fans collectively on Facebook with over 17, 600 fans on the customized & Official Stigmata Facebook Fanpage alone:www.facebook.com/stigmatasrilanka.

The Band was number 1 for two years (and has since managed to always remain in the Top 3) on the globally popular Reverb Nation’s Metal Charts for Sri Lanka with 
24,769 Fans – www.reverbnation.com/stigmata. 

Stigmata is an integral part of Asia’s musical culture and the Band continues to spread its wings further and further winning more Saints & Rock Fans to the Stigmata family. 

 

"PSALMS OF CONSCIOUS MARTYRDOM“ Makes Chris Colgan's Top 10 list as an Album of the Year" "Most of you probably haven’t heard of this power-prog group from Sri Lanka (not one of the many other Stigmata’s out there), but they’re one of the most interesting groups I’ve discovered in recent years. Much of Stigmata’s material makes some of the biggest prog bands sound like their songs were composed on a Casio children’s keyboard. If you want to hear something fresh and exciting from the power-prog underground, then Stigmata is what you’re looking for" 
- Chris Colgan, Metal Insider (Dec 17, 2010) 
Read More at - http://www.metalinsider.net/lists/our-contributors-year-end-lists

"Silent Chaos Serpentine" 7.5 out of 10, "Psalms of Conscious Martyrdom" 8.5 out of 10. "Metal is not exclusive to any one country or location, as any fan of the genre knows. Where the spirit and drive to play heavy and loud exists, metal will find a way. So it is with Sri Lankan group Stigmata, a powerful and unique group with the heart of metal deeply embedded in all five members. "
- Chris Colgan, The Metal Lab (Oct 21, 2010) 
Read More at - http://relativationofjustice.blogspot.com/2010/10/double-review-silent-chaos-serpentine.html


"The band formed in 1999, and built a loyal following for themselves around the Asian Metal scene. Ever since they formed, the band have been hard at work, spreading their music, and the feedback they've been getting from fans, local radio stations, and shows has been more then great. Their 2006 studio release "Silent Serpentine Chaos" is placed at number 13 on Metal Forge's list for top 50 reviews of all time." "Jazz Theory" is a thrash metal song, that falls into a Spanish acoustic solo, only to be roared into a soaring guitar solo...one of the high points on the album." 
- IROAR, METALITY.Net (Mar 10, 2009) 
Read More at - http://www.metality.net/search/label/Reviews?updated-max=2009-06-20T13%3A55%3A00-07%3A00&max-results=20


" I’m not convinced that the band members are 'viciously good looking’, but the music does it for me, and that’s what I’ll leave you with" 
- sam rgini, UltimateGuitar.com (Oct 31, 2008) 
Read More at - http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/reviews/summaries/unsigned_artists_of_the_month_october_2008.html

"Sri Lanka's Biggest Band ever" "Sri Lanka isn’t exactly a country known for metal, nor known for anything really. So when I happened to come across this full length release, Silent Chaos Serpentine, I was certainly surprised to find out this was from Sri Lanka. They had a certain flair and weird combination of styles that isn’t exactly found a lot in metal; weird aggressive thrash mixed with semi-Gothenburg styled vocals overlapping with fun and melodic solos that highlight this to more of a distinct style. Even some weird ass flamenco/Spanish folky acoustic picking sections are thrown in on one song throwing a curve ball; like where the fuck did that come from? Is this Carlos Santana mixed with the guy from Krisiun??" 
- The_Boss and Technogoat, Encyclopedia Metallum - Metal Archives (Jul 29, 2008) 
Read More at - http://www.metal-archives.com/reviews/Stigmata/Silent_Chaos_Serpentine/132837/#reviewAnchor47053


"Genre busting metal with a thrash backbone" "After hearing the start of the speed inflicted opener Swine Maker, you’d be forgiven for thinking Stigmata was a fairly straight ahead, old school-esque thrash band. Before long however, the band deftly weaves a bit of mid-nineties melo death into the mix to keep things interesting. The genre fornication doesn’t stop there however; with other tracks spitting out segments of grind (Jazz Theory), prog (Lucid) and traditional heavy metal (Solitude). Overall, Stigmata’s unique style is certainly an enjoyable one, the band making their formidable compositional skills well and truly heard" 
- Aedan Siebert, The Metal Forge (Sep 28, 2007) 
Read More at - http://www.themetalforge.com/modules.php?name=Reviews&rop=showcontent&id=1422