2001-2003: Early years
Stentorian’s first line-up had Torsha Khan (Vocals), James Kabir (guitar), Shams Alim Biswas (bass), Golam (guitar), and Bobby Khan (drum). After hard practice and patience of 10 months Stentorian got their first ever break at a concert in the Indian High Commission Auditorium, Dhaka (27 October 2001). From the very first show, Stentorian had a kick start. Torsha’s vocal performance was widely praised among the critics and other fellow musicians. Around 2003, Golam left the band and went abroad for higher studies. However, the band continued performing on shows and kept on writing songs.[6]
2003-2004: Adrissho Juddho
Stentorian got their first big break to participate in Aguntuk -2, a band mixed album coordinated by Bassbaba Sumon. Nevertheless, they had to sacrifice Torsha because that’s when he had to leave Bangladesh for higher studies (later immigration). Members somehow managed to record the vocal tracks for Adrissho Juddho & Bhoy. Both the songs were later released that year respectively in the mixed albums Aguntuk-2 and Dinbodol. Adrissho Juddho instantly became both commercial and critical success over the nation (later, a cult classic).[6]
2004-2006: Bishonno Adhaar & Protimuhurtey
In 2004, when Stentorian’s fate was at stake and members were thinking about breaking up and forming own projects; Torsha, who was still with the band suggested his childhood friend’s name who was none other than Tanim. After Torsha’s repeated request Tanim (previously working with D.o.B) joined Stentorian in September 2004. On the first concert with his new band Tanim literally smashed all the bands away and put a full-stop to the “just-standing-up-with-a-microphone-age” with his energetic and powerful performance. Tutul Rashid and Rafiul Habib also joined at this time.[7]
Tanim’s powerful performance took Stentorian into a whole different dimension. James and Tutul’s dominant guitar playing along with Rafiul’s drums and Shams’ bass playing; it was not a surprise that the band had performed in more than 100 concerts in 2005 alone. During this era, Stentorian was often quoted as “The most popular band of underground” in so many places including internet forums, newspaper, magazines, etc.[3][8][9] Stentorian took the major leap to their mainstream success as Bishonno Adhaar was released, which featured Bassbaba Sumon from Aurthohin (Bishonno Adhaar is the first ever featured song in Bangladesh). Bishonno Adhaar became an instant success all over the nation and Stentorian got their second classic. Stentorian received almost 100% positive reviews from the leading musicians and legends of Bangladesh. Tanim and James gained cult following with the song as they were fondly nicknamed by their fans “MeTaL GuRu” and “Rocket Roll V” respectively. With the huge success of Bishonno Adhaar, Stentorian did their first ever national tour. After the tour, they signed up with G-Series, a major musical label of Bangladesh. Stentorian concentrated on recording of their debut album.[3][4][8]
Torsha came back to Bangladesh only for a month in August 2005. Stentorian took a quick approach and recorded six songs with Torsha. Torsha couldn’t perform any concert due to the shortage of time. After Torsha’s departure, Stentorian fully concentrated on the album and on October 2005 Stentorian’s debut album Protimuhurtey was released. Protimuhurtey became people’s popular band with the sales of more than “way above five figures” copies nationwide (considered Gold).[4] Songs like Jolosrot, Mone Pore na and Onubhuti became people’s favorite, and they are often sung by the young generation.
2007 – Present: Come back, 2nd album & Future
After 1 year of irregular activity and ultimate departure of Torsha and Shams from the band, Stentorian restarted its journey once again with a track on the mixed album Rock 101, Choritrohin. Anabeel Sen replaced Shams on Bass. Choritrohin gained much critical attention as the song narrates secret desires of a perverted rapist. Stentorian announced that they are releasing second album soon enough, which is expected at Christmas 2010. Stentorian started national tour once again and started to appear at media regularly. In 7 March 2010, a brand new song was released from the second album as an album preview, Chhobi. The song was also made available for free download. Chhobi gave Stentorian a new image, and it statistically proved as the most popular song of Stentorian as this song was downloaded more than 45000 times from its original hosting only.[3][4] Stentorian’s 4 June 2010 live show at ABC Radio was attended by thousands of fans around Dhaka city. Till date Stentorian is working on their 2nd album and so far 8 songs have been recorded.[3][4] In December 2011 again Tanim left Stentorian due to some personal problems. In January 2012 another young blood “Rabiul Awal Real” joined as Tanim’s replacement, and in March 2013 Sumit Gaurab joined the family replacing Tutul Rashid. Ahmad Abdullah Saquib recently joined the band in 2015, replacing Rafiul Habib on drums.
Stentorian 