Qayaas – Uss Paar (KM Album Review)

April 11, 2011

By Hasan Faridi

Qayaas - Uss Paar (Album Cover)Uss Paar” means “The Other Side”. So take a step into Qayaas’s world.

Qayaas are one of Pakistan’s finest rock bands to emerge from the depths.

Their main highlights include creating a punch-in-the-face video for “Tanha”, being included in the Metal Asia Compilation and making various radio and TV appearances. Qayaas have also won the JD Award for the best rock band from Pakistan 2010, hosted by Jack Daniels and the Rolling Stones Magazine in India.

This band is the real shizz.

And it consists of Umair Jaswal on vocals, Khurram Waqar & Sarmad Ghafoor on lead guitars, Shaheryar Ghayas (Sherry) on bass and Fifu on the drums.

The new album “Uss Paar”, is scheduled to be released on the 16 April 2011. But it has crawled its way on to ITunes and CD Baby already.

The album starts off with the title track “Uss Paar” and “Inquilab” kicking the album off with sheer power. The band is known for it, especially with “Tanha” which displays such aggressiveness in its official video.

Likewise, “Halaak” is also an aggressive number, consisting of heavy riffs and ghostly vocals similar to that used by American rock band Alice In Chains. The track after named “Shehrezade” gets into a funkier style, with catchy strums that segue off into a distant utopia.

The more mellow tracks are wisely put towards the middle. Some consist of “Pal”, “Umeed” and “Teray Liye”, where Umair’s vocals are left to shine to show us the softer band behind the frequent distortion. The only English named track (but not sung in English) is the longest track “Monsoon”. Is this what showers the band in the video of “Pukaar“? “Pukaar” is one of the best of the mellow tracks, soothing and hypnotizing. The only negative comment here is that those precious instruments in the official video of “Pukaar” get soaked in mud and what not. It’s heart-breaking.

This trend of mellow songs being put in the middle is like quicksand. You get sucked in and you can’t escape.

But when you do find a way out, your ears are pounded by the likes of “Mera Wana”, which hints at politics and corruption, clearly seen with disturbing yet effective voice clips of war sirens, gunfire and babies. The whiny guitars and howling vocals blend with the baby screams well. No babies were harmed in the making of this song. Promise.

“Ishq” is one of the best tracks off the album, which seems to have fitted more nicely in the Metal Asia Compilation instead of “Mera Wana”, with its Sufi-like guitar intervals and Pakistani style melodies, also displayed in “Charkha”. “Umeed” wouldn’t exactly fit with the head-banging compilation either, even though it has the best essence of Pakistani music within it. But Fifu’s drums do the trick.

Qayaas means “Deliberation”, meaning a long and careful consideration. This album can be seen as a pure reflection on the band name. The music has definitely been crafted to perfection.

Buy Album on Amazon, CD Baby and iTunes