KEKAL

Kekal - Beyond the Glimpse of Dreams THT
Productions/ Sonic Wave 1998
www.myspace.com/kekal
Proyek yang Cukup
Mengagumkan dari beberapa
Musisi yang cukup idealis dengan
Konsep yang mereka maenkan,
walo band ini belum pernah
secara langsung di Gigz tanah Air, namun nama mereka udah diakui
oleh kancah Metal Internasional,
Buktinya Label metal terkenal
semacam Candlelight Productions
merilis ulang dalam Format CD
materi ini ditahun 2000, memang Karakteristic Music yang mereka
maenkan asli ga maen2 en penuh
dengan talenta sejak dari
awalnya, apalagi album ke-2 ini
digarap Pol-polan dengan
melibatkan beberapa temen Musisi yang Seidealis dengan
mereka untuk menciptakan The
Best Masterpiece !! dengan Lirik2
yang Kristiani banget sehingga
akan menjauhkan beberapa
anggapan kalo band ini Memainkan Musik Black Metal
dengan tema lagu Yang satanik.
Komposisi Musik yang Keren bisa
elo dengerin dialbum ini.


Jeff Arwadi has personally
approved all Kekal videos.
Band: Kekal
Home: Jakarta, Indonesia
Styles: Black Metal, Progressive
Avant-Garde Black Metal, Avant- Garde Electronica
Similar Bands: Drottnar, Ulver,
Slechtvalk
Lyrical Themes: Society, Life,
Morality, Injustices, Philosophy,
Christianity Years Active: 1995 to date -
Kekal as a collective still actually
exists.
CD Discography:
"Beyond the Glimpse of Dreams"
1998 "Embrace The Dead" 1999
"The Painful Experience" 2001
"1000 Thoughts of Violence" 2003
"Acidity" 2005
"The Habit of Fire" 2007
"Audible Minority" 2008 "8" 2011
"Embrace The Dead" track listing:
1. Longing for the Truth 6:11 2. Embrace The Dead 5:24 3. The Fearless and the
Dedicated 7:51 4. Healing 3:22 5. The Final Call 5:16 6. From Within 4:48 7. Scripture before Struggle 6:48 8. Millennium 10:00 On "Embrace The Dead", Kekal
was:
Jeff Arwadi - lead vocals, guitar,
keyboards, bass
Leo Setiawan - guitar
Azharlevi Sianturi - bass, vocals, guitar
The Black Machine - drum
machine
"Habil" - keyboards
Vera - female vocals
BAND INFO: Inspired by the original Christian
bands playing black metal, Kekal
is and still remains its
representative in Asia
(specifically Indonesia) with their
original output, including the masterful "Embrace The Dead".
Although Kekal would move on to
an anomalous avant-garde
sound, the band remains
recognizable because of distinct
threads of experimentation, epic songwriting and lyrically
profound work. This video will
cover the first incarnation of
Kekal.
Initially, Kekal's brand of BM
utilized many different elements to build upon the genre's mission
of creating an atmosphere.
Gothic/symphonic influences are
frequent but never overbearing,
and together with Vera's
occasional wispy vocal injections, add an additional element of
ethereal, melancholy beauty. The
brief mellow and/or slow sections
scattered throughout this era of
their music absolutely drip with
this emotion (such as the tearjerking instrumental
"Healing"), which is really the only
element that I truly miss.
However, Kekal specialize in
innovative melodies, riffs and
varieties of emotions regardless of the era, which clearly mark
this band's genius.
The heavier side of old-school
Kekal is more reserved than
other BM bands; rarely does the
Black Machine speed up into blast beats, even when Jeff and
Azharlevi's vocals morph into
tortured howls. The production is
still raw, but it has a more
silvery edge, giving more space
for keys, vocals, or nothing. (Because Kekal had to use off
time in other bands' studios to
record "Embrace The Dead", each
song is produced differently.)
Guitars tend to drive the songs,
and with their innovative riffing approach, several different
emotions and dynamic senses can
be portrayed.
The antecedents of later Kekal's
more introspective, muted side
and their unique metal style can both be detected: many lyrical
plotlines are about sadness for
the state of the world, physically
and spiritually, and that we must
place our hope for the future in
Jesus Christ, else we shall have no hope or future. "Millennium",
the closer to this album, is a look
back on humanity as the year
2000 arrived. I must note that
"Embrace The Dead" is one of the
wealthiest spiritual treasures I own; listening to this album is a
religious experience in my house.
As the Kekal discography moved
on, the band's story moved from
praising the world to come
beyond to the reality that waiting for that world to come is
an arduous, often depressing
task. Terrible things happen no
matter how good or bad our life
is; such misfortunes are common
in Jakarta. The way this music is played, arranged and performed
with such passion at any stage
of development is the most
telling element that Kekal means
every word and note they write.
Black metal guitar is one style where this can be neglected.
When the distortion starts, the
riffs are often the usual tremolo
picking or some that sound like
simple black metal chording, but
which contain a strange groove element that would be fully
explored later on. The clip of
"From Within" is the beginning of
what Kekal would sound like in
the future; the surprising
difficulty and catchiness of the guitar parts is one sign you're
listening to Kekal of any era. It
sounds as if the guitar is
accompanying itself, just as a
pianist can play chords with one
hand and a melody with the other. The guitar counterpoint,
either by itself or integrated
with other parts of the music,
always makes a point to be
memorable, atmospheric, and
able to shift style and dynamics quickly whenever the
songwriting calls for it.
Among the elite in songwriting
skill, with the natural-born ability
of Asian Christians to unite
intellect, diversity and "been there, done that" philosophy,
Kekal are a band that can never
be overlooked when it comes not
just to metal, but to world
music, and indeed music. Truly,
they will be immortal.

Unknown EPIC Albums III: Kekal - "Embrace The Dead"