Amra Bir: The riffs inspired by a rebellion

Up until the 21st century when rap music transformed into a global phenomenon influencing music, fashion and culture, the larger narrative surrounding the genre was about expressing social and political issues; about addressing racism, poverty, and political oppression.

Perhaps that's why the handful of songs released by our young musicians in light of the quota reform protests and everything else that followed were rap songs. However, in music history, no other genre has stayed truer to sentiments of revolution and rebellion than good old heavy metal.

Explaining his choice of genre, Oni Hasan passionately declared, "Nothing describes people's anguish and the sound of revolution better than metal."

Oni released 'Amra Bir' on 2 August, a day after his birthday on YouTube, making him one of the first mainstream musicians to release a song centred around the protests.

"Amra Bir was inspired by the bravery of all the students who spoke up for justice and sacrificed their lives. I wanted to stand by their side. If I were in the country, I would have gone out myself with my guitar. So this was the best I could do to support our people through my music," said Oni.

The guitarist wasn't alone in this venture. He was joined by Kazi Zohad Yazdani, vocalist of the band Bagdhara and by Taawkir Tajammul Nisshobdo who produced the song and also took care of the synths, drums and the ambient layers in the song which is in the key of C minor.

However, with the recent internet shutdowns and curfew, the crew barely had any time to make and release the song. Taawkir informed that the bulk of the work was actually done in two days.

"I started working on the song the moment I read the news about Abu Sayeed. It came out of anger and emotion. It was around that time the internet blackout happened and I took the opportunity to finish the song within a couple of days, working day and night," recounted Oni.

Once the internet was back, Oni sent the demo project to Taawkir and asked Zohad to chip in with the vocals, who also lives in Taawkir's building, enabling them to complete the project quicker. 

Taawkir added, "Even though our preparation was rushed, our intentions were clear, and I think that's what allowed us to produce the song the way we wanted."

No Oni Hasan song is complete without a kickass guitar solo and 'Amra Bir' is no different. However, personally I found the bridge of the song, which would be the thirty seconds leading up to the solo, particularly interesting. 

The segment features some galloping and excruciatingly aggressive riffs from Oni and if you're paying attention to the music video along with the music, you'll realise the riffs perfectly mimic  the sound of an assault rifle bursting bullets at the speed of light.

Oni acknowledges the visuals and the sound were intentionally planned as such.

"It was deliberately made to mimic the sound of weapons and shooting. I must mention Mir Hisham, who did the visuals. He surpassed all our expectations and the video perfectly exhibits all that's been going on," he said

Right after the riffs fade to black, Taawkir, in a deep distorted voice, recites the opening lines of Kazi Nazrul Islam's poem 'Bidrohi' which goes "Bolo bir, Bolo unnoto momoshir…(you know the rest)." This part of the song feels particularly gripping.

"The recitation idea came from the lyricist Sajjad Kabir and I felt that part only completed the entire picture I was trying to portray. That poem described the current students' attitude perfectly," exclaimed the guitarist.

And as the recitation concludes, Oni slides into a descending minor run to kickoff his solo. You could then hear him play some powerful, yet soulful bends which he follows up with a couple of presses on the whammy bar before ending the solo with another sweet pull on the strings.

'Amra Bir' has already garnered 150k views on YouTube and is soon to be released on Spotify.