Sutej Singh -  Restless Relentless

Sutej Singh - Restless Relentless

Independent/Bandcamp



Have you ever heard of the Indian guitarist Sutej Singh? I came across a clip of his on YouTube and was completely blown away. Turban, long coat, Music Man guitar, a drummer, and a bassist—and truly fabulous guitar playing. Sutej Singh combines the technique of John Petrucci with the ‘feel’ of David Gilmour.

I wanted to know more, so I looked him up and immediately bought two of his albums: The Emerging (2018), featuring Kylan Amos on bass and Scott Higham on drums, among others, and his latest release, Restless Relentless. On the latter, he is joined by Paarth Koser on drums and Aditya Negi on bass. While both albums are excellent, I want to focus on Restless Relentless here.

It’s an album with seven songs—well, actually six, as the opener ‘Flight in the Dark’ is just a minute and a half long and functions more as an intro. But after that, it really takes off. The majority of the tracks are instrumental, though 'Bring to Light' features lovely wordless vocals by Emma Pogosova.

Then there is the wondrous 'Kaadambari', which appears twice on the album. Both versions carry strong Indian influences. The first features beautiful vocals by Nandini Srikar, while the second (instrumental) version lets Arpit Manaktala’s tabla take center stage. The groove in this track is pure joy. If you get the chance, check out the gorgeous video on YouTube featuring two dancers—calling it 'Bollywood prog' might be going too far, but it is truly phenomenal.

Restless Relentless is a progressive rock album of exceptional quality: melodically incredibly strong and brilliantly executed. Sutej Singh makes his guitar sing, and the synergy with his band is fantastic. Jashandeep Reehal’s orchestrations also deserve a special mention—they are downright impressive!

This is an album you need to sit down for and play at high volume. Just turn it up and let it wash over you. I’m a huge fan—this man belongs on the stage at the biggest festivals!