MUMBAI: After making metal music for years, Sunneith Revankar, vocalist of one of India’s most successful metal bands, Bhayanak Maut, has revealed plans to go in another direction. The singer is set to release his very first solo album titled ‘Shipperman’ next year, and offered some insight into the thought and story behind his upcoming creation.

Revankar revealed that he has been toying with idea of creating non-metal music for a while now. He says inspirations for the album are drawn from some people close to him. “For the past few years, I have been experimenting with different forms of music. I have always wanted to be part of a non-metal album, but cutting one was never on the cards. It just happened. Inspirations for ‘Shipperman’ are a few people I know and knew,” he added.

While Revankar said that the album is not based on any particular concept, there is a common underlying theme to the songs. And working with him on this non-metal album is Joy Gohil, Nikhil Singh and co-founder and guitarist for Bhayanak Maut- R. Venkatraman.

“I have been a friend, admirer, and fan of Joy, Nikhil, and Venky for quite some time now. It was only natural for me to work with them. Apart from that, I have a post-rock/trip hop project with Venky called ‘Old’. I have done a bunch of acoustic shows with Nikhil, and some really drunken private acoustic shows with Joy. Making music with each of them was always part of the plan. It just happened that when I decided I wanted to record a solo release, I knew I had to do it with these guys. They bring their own style to the table,” Revankar said.

Along with his announcement of his debut solo album, Revankar also released the artwork for it. A rather simple, but interesting cover, he said he leaves it to the viewer’s interpretation. “The album cover was shot and designed by Shalaka Pai, who excels at all things awesome. I asked her if she would be interested in doing the art, and she agreed. I just had to give her a brief, and it was done in a matter of days. I love the art so much. I associate certain thoughts to it in a certain way. Others might in another. The cover was shot somewhere near Prague,” Revankar said about the artwork.

Talking about plans for a concrete solo career ahead, he said ‘Shipperman’ is the current project, but he does not foresee a solo career yet. “I definitely want to keep writing, or attempting to write after this, but I do not know if there will be another (album).” ‘Shipperman’ is in its early stages and the recording process is yet to start. Fans and admirers have to wait to experience this different side of Revankar. The album is scheduled to release independently on Bandcamp in April 2016.