RUDRA was formed way back in mid 1992, then comprising of Kathir (bass, vocals), Shiva (drums) & Bala (Guitars). The band was known as RUDHRA. Taking a hiatus in early 1996, Kathir decided to resurrect RUDHRA later that year with a slight alteration to its name; thus RUDRA (the most common English transliteration for the Sanskrit word). Kathir teamed up with Shiva and started work on the self-titled debut album. Bala and Alvin were later included to complete the line up before the recording of the debut album in mid 1997. The band played a couple of gigs before starting work on their new material. RUDRA replaced their two guitarists with Selvam (rejoining the band) and Kannan in January 2000.
With that line up RUDRA released their second album, THE ARYAN CRUSADE, in September 2001. The Aryan Crusade broke new grounds and won them attention from all parts of the world. With many good reviews, this album created a cult following for Rudra. In July 2003, Rudra made their third release named after the battlefield which is featured in the great Indian epic Mahabharata, KURUKSHETRA. Kurukshetra broke new grounds which further won new fans for Rudra. After many shows both in their homeland and other countries, Rudra released its epoch making release BRAHMAVIDYA: PRIMORDIAL I in April 2005, which heralded the Brahmavidya Trilogy. This album received rave reviews for its groundbreaking Vedic Metal extremity.
In 2007, Kannan decided to quit RUDRA for personal reasons thus having Devan to fill in the spot. Rudra then started working on their fifth album, the second chapter to the Brahmavidya trilogy, BRAHMAVIDYA: TRANSCENDENTAL I which was released in April 2009 in Asia and July 2009 in Europe. In July 2009, Selvam departed from the band due to personal reasons for the band and was replaced by Vinod, a long time friend of the band. With the current lineup Rudra is actively working on the final chapter to the Brahmavidya trilogy targeting to release in mid 2010.
