Stigmata (band)

Stigmata
Background information
Origin	Sri Lanka
Genres	Progressive metal, Death metal, Hard rock
Years active	1999–present
Labels	Rock Company, INDIE, M-Entertainment
Associated acts	Tantrum, Soul Skinner
Website	stigmatasl.com
Members	Suresh De Silva Andrew Obeyesekere Tennyson Napoleon Lakmal Wijayagunarathna Roshan Taraka Senewirathne
Past members	Yohan 'Berty The Great' Gunawardena Shehan Gray Javeen Soysa Anik Jayasekar Dilukshan Jayawardena Nisho Fernando Osanda Wangeesa Vije Dhas Ranil Senarath Chathuranga Pitigala

Stigmata is a Sri Lankan heavy-metal band based in Colombo, Sri Lanka, formed in 1999.

Suresh De Silva, Andrew Obeysekara and Tennyson Napolean formed the band in 1999 at S. Thomas' College, Mt Lavinia, where they were schoolmates. They chose the name "Stigmata" from the 1998 album Stigmata by melodic death metal band Arch Enemy. The band's style is a mix of thrash metal along with some death metal, and hard rock influences, laced with nuances of classical, Latin, jazz, blues, baila, and eastern rhythms.

With bass player Shehan Gray and drummer Anik Jayasekara, they released their first single, "Fear", which topped the local radio rock-chart show. In 2000 they recorded another, "Voices", which was a sensation in the stagnant local music industry, and was a chart-topping hit. In 2001 the band took on drummer Dilukshan Jayawardena, following the departure of Jayasekara due to personal reasons. The band released their first EP, Morbid Indiscretion, in 2002, containing the singles "The Dying Winter Sleeps" and "Thicker Than Blood" plus the instrumental "Andura". At the time, the band also covered music by international bands such as Deep Purple, Metallica, System of a Down and Led Zeppelin, as well as bands not so popular in the country at that time, such as Iron Maiden, Iced Earth, Judas Priest and Cradle of Filth, which made them revolutionary by exposing Sri Lankans to music many in the country had never heard before.

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