# Metal axeman Rajarshi Bhattacharyya of PRIMITIV, ALBATROSS passes away at 35

> Rajarshi Bhattacharyya, guitarist, composer, and producer famous for his work with bands like Albatross, Primitiv, Workshop, and others, has passed away. The 35-year-old guitarist suffered a stroke and passed away in Mumbai on the night of December 6, in a huge loss to the…

- Author: Sourav Das
- Published: 2021-12-08
- Updated: 2026-10-25
- Section: News
- Tags: Rajarshi Bhattacharyya, Primitiv, Albatross
- Source: https://headtilts.com/metal-axeman-rajarshi-bhattacharyya-of-primitiv-albatross-passes-away-at-35

Rajarshi Bhattacharyya, guitarist, composer, and producer famous for his work with bands like Albatross, Primitiv, Workshop, and others, has passed away. The 35-year-old guitarist suffered a stroke and passed away in Mumbai on the night of December 6, in a huge loss to the Indian metal community.

As one of the pioneers of the early Indian metal movement, Rajarshi has played and composed with a plethora of bands encompassing a diverse array of sub-genres and influences. Beginning with Apollonian Quest, a progressive metal band formed in 2006, Rajarshi quickly made a name for himself as a versatile guitarist capable of hooking the listeners deeply. In 2008, he was roped in by bassist and composer Riju Dasgupta to become a part of Mumbai-based metal outfit Albatross, who then went on to produce their debut EP 'Dinner is You' with the axeman.

In 2013, Bhattacharyya became a part of Primitiv, a death/doom metal group comprising of longtime friends of him and Riju as well. With Nitin Rajan on vocals (who also passed away last year), Kiron Kumar sharing guitar duties with Rajarshi, Pushkar Joshi as the drummer and Riju handling bass, Primitiv started pushing the ceilings of death metal with their slow, doomy and grinding approach to sound. Their debut record 'Immortal & Vile', released in 2016 under the Transcending Obscurity label, solidified themselves as one of the premier faces of extreme metal pool in India.

Regarding the sudden demise of his old friend and bandmate, Riju Dasgupta said, “Raj was the guy I turned to when I had the germ of an idea. ‘Hey, let’s write an album about cannibals’ – Done. ‘Hey, let’s write a song about a minotaur-like figure based on this bass riff’ – Done. We went from being kids in the audience singing along to Guns n’ Roses to opening for some of our favourite international acts. We never grew up.”

Apart from the aforementioned groups, Rajarshi also worked with the heavy metal group Hellwind, formed in 2012 and comprised of vocalist Akshay Deodhar (who passed away earlier this year), Sahil 'Demonstealer' Makhija, Aditya Kadam, and fellow guitarist Kiron Kumar of Primitiv.

Rajarshi Bhattacharyya is survived by his wife Gayatri and their son Riaan.

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