Arbovirus (band)
Arbovirus is a Bangladeshi rock band formed in 2002 in Dhaka. Their current line-up consists of Sufi Maverick as the vocal, Suharto Sherif, and Asif Asgar Ranjan as the guitarits, Aldnane Alam on bass, and Nafeez Al Amin on the drums. They have released three Studio Albums, one EP, and twelve singles through various mixed albums. History. Formation and early years (2002-2005). Suharto formed the band with Ranjan on 2002. The line consisted of Suharto and Ranjan on guitars, Shovon on vocal, Himel on drums. Bassist Salek from Reborn played as a guest member. Around mid-2003 , Ishtiaq Jishan, and Farhan Tanim joined as a bassist, and drummer respectively. In the same year Sufi joined as a vocal to complete the line up. Band's early releases includes singles like "আর্তনাদ (ARTONAD)" in the mixed album ""আগন্তুক (AGONTUK)"", which earned them their first record deal with the label G-Series. Section::::"64m 53s" (2006). Band released their debut album "64m 53s" on July 20, 2006, under the banner of G-Series. On 26 January 2006, Arbovirus performed their first international show at the Salt Lake Stadium on the eve of Indian Republic Day along with Warfaze , Artcell, Metal Maze, Lakkhichhara, Cactus (Indian band), Insomnia (band), and Fossils. Struggle with the line up (2007-2011). In early 2008 Jishan and Tanim moved abroad to pursue higher education. Aldnane Alam joined shortly after Jishan left. Shuvo (Ex Aurthohin) joined as a drummer, but he also left the band as he would permanently move to Australia. In 2011 drummer Nafeez Al Amin joined the band, and the same year they started recording new material. Section::::"Montobbo Nishproyojon" (2012-2013). In 2012 - partnering with Livesquare, and Apex Footwear Sprint as a sponsor - band signed a deal for the second album. In  December 2012 the band performed in the "Urban Youth Festival". They made two collaborative tracks with Beatbaksho, rapper Amewu and one of the Voice of the Germany producer DJ Werd. They also performed the entire set on the Ekushey TV, including their title track "Raise Your Voice", and "Grime Time". Arbovirus released their second album "Montobbo Nishproyojon" on 5 July 2013 at the Russian Cultural Center. The album consists of eight tracks. In order to bridge the seven years gap with their audience the band decided to give it away as a free digital download, and never released any physical  version of it until the release of "Bishesh Droshtobbo". Section::::"Bishesh Droshtobbo" (2017). Their third album, "Bishesh Droshtobbo", was initially planned as a B-side album of the second album with the left over tracks from their second album. But later on the band decided to add more songs to it and release it as a full-length album which now consists of nine tracks. Band organized their first ever solo concert since their foundation to commemorate 15 years of the band and the launching of their third album. The concert was held on 13 January 2017 in Russian Cultural Center . The album was released on their YouTube channel, and double CD of both "Montobyo Nishproyojon" and "Bishesh Droshtobbo" was made available through pre-order home-delivery. Since the band did not sign up with any record label, they took over the CD production and packaging among the teammates. All the packaging were personally done by the band members and associated teammates. Lyrics. Almost all of the lyrics are in Bangla, mostly written by Ranjan, except for 'Artonad' by Shobhon, 'Ja Ichhe Tai' by Sufi and 'Shopnadishto' by Rumman. The band's lyrics broadly covers various elements including self-recognition, the  political disarray of Bangladesh, the 9–6 corporate life, middle-east peace politics, and the incoherent feeling of letting a loved one go. Their later releases are more vocal about the moral bankruptcy and political hypocrisy that all the members experienced over time. Several of their songs contain elements of suicide, war crimes in Bangladesh, religion, atheism, Middle East, Identity Crisis, exobiology and other issues. Associated acts. Guitarist Ranjan has been contributing to different bands as a lyricist for quite a long time, even long before he formed the band. He has contributed lyrics to many prominent musicians including Miles, Artcell , and Aurthohin. Besides – he has an experimental project named Purple Haze, and Lare Lappa. On 15 January 2015, Sufi along with Polash from Warfaze, Shakib from Cryptic Fate, Jamshed from Powersurge performed at the curtain closing show of Rockstrata, one of the pioneering Heavy Metal bands of Bangladesh. Bassist Aldnane also have been playing and writing lyrics for the experimental rock band Kral. He is also a part of the Progressive Instrumental super group Air and Air who has released their first studio album in 2014. Drummer Nafeez has been a regular session player; among them are Dethrow, Breach, Kronic , Elita Karim and Friends, and Jazzy Chopsticks. In 2019 Nafeez got the endorsement from Soultone Cymbals.