The Down Troddence, popularly known as TDT is a six piece Thrash metal band, originally from Kannur district in Kerala, India. The band consists of Munz (Vocals), Varun Raj (Guitar), Nezer Ahemed (Bass Guitar, Backing Vocals), Sushin Shyam (Keyboards, Backing Vocals), Ganesh Radhakrishnan (Drums), and Advaith Mohan (Guitar). The band released its debut album titled How Are You? We Are Fine, Thank You on 1 January 2014 to rave reviews.It was produced by Keshav Dhar (Skyharbor) at Illusion Audio, New Delhi.
TDT has always been noted for its unique blend of conventional Thrash and Groove Metal with a large dose of traditional Kerala folk music elements, art forms such as Theyyam in particular. The band also incorporates a lot of traditional folk sounds and instruments in the form of ambient layers in their music. Rhythm structures used in their songs too are primarily inspired by folk music.
Lyrically the band has a strong philosophy of talking about inequalities and injustices which are ever present in India’s social and political systems. A common theme in their music is the effort to project the voice of the under-privileged and down-trodden people. Another big influence on the band has been the Malayalam Folk Rock band Avial, who also speak about similar themes in their music.