NoVo is a five-piece nu-metal band from Haflong whose journey through the Northeast’s heavy music circuit has taken them from local Battle of Bands competitions to the Hornbill Music Festival. Their latest single, 'Puzzle Inside', follows a protagonist trapped in a cycle of hardship and uses his journey through a forest to explore the need to look inward when searching for a way forward. The song also reflects the band’s connection to Haflong, weaving their cultural identity and memories of home into a track that looks back at where they started while marking how far they have come.
The Northeast has had a long relationship with rock and metal, with Shillong becoming one of India’s most important centres for heavy music and scenes developing across Manipur, Nagaland, Mizoram, Assam and Sikkim. Bands from the region have also found ways to fold their own cultures into these genres. Shillong’s Dymbur, for instance, describe their music as ‘Khasi Thraat Folk Metal’, combining djent and progressive metal with Khasi instruments, while Tripura’s Horjwlai have brought tribal melodies into heavy metal. The region also has a strong live circuit, with competitions and festivals such as Hornbill giving independent bands a national platform, one of which is NoVo, a five-piece nu-metal outfit who have spent the last few years taking their music from local competitions to larger stages.
Formed in 2020, NoVo consists of Thanghoulien Lienthang on vocals, Jason Zote on drums, Immanuel Joute on guitar, Deepjyoti Das on guitar and Winsome Tariang on bass. The artists come from different tribal and communities, with one Kuki, two Hmar, one Khasi and one Assamese member, reflecting the diversity of the town they call home. Their run so far includes a first runner-up finish at the 2020 Battle of Bands, a win at the Karbi Youth Festival Battle of the Bands in 2022, along with Best Drummer and Best Bassist awards at those competitions. In October 2025, they won Ticket to Hornbill, India’s biggest band battle, beating bands from across India, taking home ₹20 lakhs and earning a slot at the 26th Hornbill Music Festival. Their drummer also won Best Drummer at the competition. They have since continued playing the Northeast circuit, performing at Jatinga Festival, Lungzubel Festival, Cherry Blossom Festival, Shillong Open Air, and most recently, Smash Fest.
‘Puzzle Inside’ is NoVo’s third officially released single, but it was the second song the band wrote after its conception in 2020. “It was written in 2021 right after Covid's second wave. It was a time of uncertainty, and live music was suffering a lot — no shows, no festivals and no outlet at all,” they share.
When the lockdown was eventually lifted towards the end of 2021, the song began to take actual shape. The music was ready, but vocalist Thanghoulien had to write the lyrics during what he describes as a very uninspiring time. He eventually decided to make the band members themselves a feature of the lyrics, turning the song into an introduction to NoVo and their sound. While the instrumental has evolved over the years, the lyrics have stayed the same. Following their victory at Ticket to Hornbill in 2025, the band decided to incorporate classical Indian elements into the song as a way of paying homage to the country and their roots.
The music video, directed by Duduk Zate, takes those ideas into a story about self-discovery and appreciating one’s inner struggles. It follows a nameless protagonist walking along a highway under harsh sunlight without any water before he collapses and finds himself in a dense, lush forest, stuck in a loop. He eventually wakes up on the highway with a bottle full of water. The story asks what happens when we stop fighting our inner demons in a never-ending struggle and instead break the mould to find the right path. It speaks to the idea that finding a way through hardship requires a difficult yet necessary inward journey, confronting the doubts and fears that shape how we see our circumstances, and recognising the strength and hope that were there all along.
"Self improvement comes when one accepts the roles played by everyone around them. It's never a one man show. The message of 'Puzzle Inside' was appreciating the journey and how life eventually always shapes us. We are but travellers who will one day surely reach our destination."NoVo
The band members also appear performing in the forest wearing attire belonging to their respective communities: Deepjyoti wears a Gamusa representing his Assamese roots, Winsome wears a Paila and Ryndai associated with Khasi culture, Thanghoulien wears a poncho with a traditional Saipikhup pattern, and Immanuel and Jason wear Hmar puon and shawls. Their cultural identity is important to the band, who have spoken about their music as an expression of their lives, their love for music and the communities they grew up around, especially the small town of Haflong. Born and brought up there, the band describes the town as a place that has given them a lot and it is what they remember in the single. The protagonist’s journey becomes a useful reflection of the band’s own: starting out in a small town, building a sound, finding audiences beyond Assam and eventually reaching one of the biggest music platforms in the Northeast. As NoVo keep moving forward, ‘Puzzle Inside’ becomes a love letter to where they started and how far they have come.
Follow NoVo here and watch the music video below:
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