Sri Lankan heavy metal pioneers Stigmata are kicking off their 25th Anniversary celebrations with their first gig of the year “Silver Jubilee: 25 Years of Steel” on Saturday, 29th March 2025 at the Main Sports Bar and Restaurant – Havelock City Mall.
The band rounded off a hugely successful 2024 by taking part in at the mammoth “Desert Inferno XXVIII and XXIV” festivals organized by Resurrection Metal Events Dubai where they shared the stage with a host of international bands from around the world and the U.A.E, with the highlights being Project Renegade from Greece, UK Thrash metal icons Evile, and legendary Death metal legends Malevolent Creation from USA. The official After Movie of the band’s Dubai tour that provides an exclusive peek behind the scenes of all the fun adventures will be released this February.
One of the key highlights of the band’s Silver Jubilee is the unveiling of more new music off their upcoming new album, the band’s fifth since 2015’s ‘The Ascetic Paradox’ 10 years ago. The album is being exclusively recorded at their home studios with the drums and vocals recorded at Pearl Bay Music Maharagama, and will be mixed and mastered in the USA. Stigmata will be the first quintet in Sri Lankan music history to release 5 full length albums. The first new song off the new album is due to be officially released in the coming weeks as well. The band gave fans a taste of what they can expect in the new album by playing a few tracks at their gigs last year. It helped them gauge fan reactions at different concerts and the responses have been overwhelmingly positive.
Looking back at the band’s 25-year journey, Suresh de Silva, frontman, vocalist and lyricist of Stigmata stated, “I don’t think many other bands and artists in Sri Lanka have survived the ups and downs, trials and tribulations, the tragedies and triumphs that we’ve been through and endured to reach this 25-year milestone mark. We are very excited about all the fantastic plans we have lined up in 2025 – from overseas tours, killer merch, and the 5th album dropping – for our fans and especially thrilled about our first Silver Jubilee: 25 Years of Steel concert kicking off in our home country; Sri Lanka this March.”
Beyond the launch of the new album, the year-long Silver Jubilee celebration will include new music videos, more international tours, innovative merchandise, exclusive gigs in some of Colombo’s hottest nightspots and much more. With a packed calendar full of exciting activities and engagements lined up for the Silver Jubilee Stigmata has decided to play only a limited set of concerts in Sri Lanka as it shifts focus to their upcoming overseas tours where they are set to perform in several countries in 2025 and 2026.
Stigmata is the country’s first original heavy metal band formed that has constantly evolved and demonstrated longevity unlike any other band in its genre purely by producing and delivering amazing music, powerful lyrics and outstanding live stage performances. Stigmata has proudly taken Sri Lanka to the world and made its mark in several countries including Australia, Malaysia, Dubai, New Zealand, India, Bangladesh, the Maldives and many more. To date, the band has released four studio albums – ‘Hollow Dreams (2003)’, ‘Silent Chaos Serpentine (2006)’, ‘Psalms of Conscious Martyrdom (2010)’, and ‘The Ascetic Paradox (2015)’.
Tickets for ‘Silver Jubilee: 25 Years of Steel’ will be out with details available on the official event page soon.
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