I found Bloodywood through their 2020 documentary Raj Against the Machine, which followed their first big tour through Europe. I wasn’t even deep into metal back then — I was just curious. But something about them stuck. Not just the music, but the energy. The conviction. The way they spoke about what they were doing.
Their new album NU DELHI is the kind of record that reminded me why I listen to music in the first place. It’s loud, yeah. But it’s also focused. Confident. Rooted. And most importantly, it’s fun as hell. With a wide smile plastered on my face and head banging to the music, I had the time of my life.
The album’s only eight tracks long, but it doesn’t feel short. That’s because each track packs something different. Halla Bol kicks things off in full Bloodywood style — no slow build, just chaos and command. Hutt and Kismat are straight-up bangers, with some of the strongest, catchiest choruses they’ve written. Bekhauf, their collab with BABYMETAL, is mad — in the best way possible. There’s even an anime-style music video for it that’s just as wild as the track. The other video, for the title track Nu Delhi, is more grounded, but it hits home. You can tell this one means something personal.
Sonically, it’s still very much Bloodywood — heavy riffs, Indian folk instruments, rap verses, and group chants that feel made for festival stages. But there’s also a willingness to experiment. The second half of the album especially plays with form: intros that catch you off guard, grooves that take their time. But then, as expected, they bring it back — that signature Bloodywood punch. The blend of traditional and modern sounds is sharper than ever. It doesn’t feel like fusion anymore. It just feels like them.
The production is layered — like really layered. There’s always something new you catch on a second or third listen. The Hindi verses flow naturally and carry that groove you can move to. The English lyrics sometimes feel a bit clunky — not always, but enough to notice. Still, they never take away from the overall energy.
Where the album really shines though, is in how much it reflects the city it’s named after. “Delhi made us who we are. It’s chaotic, intense, diverse, and full of contrast, just like our music,” they said in the press release. And you hear it. NU DELHI feels like the city — noisy in the best way, unpredictable, sometimes beautiful, sometimes brutal. It’s an album that leans into the rough edges that make the city.
“There’s an element of danger to the sound of this album,” Karan Katiyar mentioned. And it’s true — some tracks catch you off guard. They throw things in that shouldn’t work, but somehow do. The percussion, the rap flow, the melodic hooks — it all feels bigger, more refined than Rakshak, but still raw where it matters. Rakshak had the weight of proving a point — this one feels like they’re just making the music they want to make.
There isn’t a single track on the album that feels like filler. That’s rare. You might not have a “Yaad” moment — nothing that hits you emotionally in quite the same way — but what you get instead is a consistent, punchy, thoughtfully made record.
And honestly, they’ve won me over again.
What’s even more exciting is how naturally they’re scaling without losing the plot. They’re not watering anything down. They’re not bending themselves into trends. They’re just turning up the volume on what they already are. “Wrapping up our European and UK tour was nothing short of incredible, the energy, the love, the sold-out shows across the EU and UK… it’s been surreal. On top of that, we just dropped our second album NU DELHI, and the response has been overwhelming. We’re just a few guys from New Delhi who dreamed of playing metal for the world. We kept our heads down, worked hard, and it finally feels like we’re taking our first real steps toward that dream. From YouTube covers to magazine covers, from local gigs to sold-out shows around the globe, it’s been a wild journey,” they add.
I didn’t think I’d end up this invested when I first clicked on their documentary. But here we are — a few years later, and they’ve dropped an album that’s somehow louder, tighter, and even more bloody fun.
