Artcell

Artcell is a Bangladeshi progressive rock band formed in October 1999. According to The Daily Star, a leading English national daily, Artcell is "one of the leading rock bands of the country".

Formation

Prior to forming the band, the four current members were school friends from Dhaka, and used to get together to play Metallica songs. Eventually Ershad came up with compositions of his own and the group began to play them at shows. The response they got was encouraging, which led to the formation of a band. What started off as an underground band is now one of the most recognised mainstream bands in the Bengali metal music scene.

The name "Artcell" was decided upon because it was softer sounding than a typical heavy metal name. In Cézanne and Shaju's words:

Onno Shomoy (1999–2002)

Artcell released its first studio album Onno Shomoy in 2002. It was both critically and commercially successful. The band lost its main songwriter Rupok to cerebral malaria while working on this album. Onno Shomoy was dedicated to him. One of the songs was titled "Rupok – Ekti Gaan" in his memory.