Kekal The Painful Experience
Clenchedfist Records CFR008 October 2001
By Russell Garwood
Indonesian band Kekal formed as a duo in August 1995, releasing a 4-track demo before fleshing out their line-up to four members. Following a period of inactivity, "Contra spiritualia Nequitiae" (which included remixed demo tracks and new material) was released, followed by 1998s debut album "Beyond The Glimpse of Dreams" and sophomore full length "Embrace The Dead". The Painful Experience is the bands latest album and was released in 2001 through three different labels. At the time of recording the band stood as Jeff (guitars/vocals/synths/additional bass), Azhar (bass/vocals) and guitarist Leo. Additional guitars were performed by Azhar and FXAJ, noises and samples by Jeff, FXAJ, and Doctor D, additional vocals by Doctor D, and drums by Sang Hitam. Since recording The Painful Experience, Leo has left and the band is a duo once more.
The bands hugely original, innovative and unique sound is an amalgamation of numerous genres. Amid a myriad of influences, the clearest are death, black, progressive, and avant-garde metal, with occasional ethereal/ambient-esque elements and industrial touches. Also among the eleven eclectic songs are nods to symphonic, traditional, technical and melodic metal, thrash, rock, electronica, goth and jazz. Despite the huge diversity of these influences the music clearly flows from a single creative source, and this cohesion helps make Kekals output more accessible than avant-garde metal tends to be. This accessibility is aided by excellent song-writing and a definite sense of direction, balanced by numerous twists and turns which hold the listeners attention and give the songs individual character.
The guitars are excellent, forgoing shredding and aiming at technical (yet catchy and emotional) leads that suit the musics atmosphere to perfection, whether it be extreme, haunting, melancholic or dark. There are prolific dual guitars throughout, which take sporadic odd time signatures in their stride while negotiating dynamic, character and time changes with ease. Synths and samples are used to full effect without intruding on the music or distracting from the feel; even in the most extreme songs well-placed keyboards help add another dimension. Sang Hitams drums are also good, sounding very electronic at times - it is likely some may be programmed, or at least triggered. This isnt very noticeable under the music, however, and the bass completes a competent rhythm section, providing solid support for the other instrumentation. There is a staggering range of vocals on The Painful Experience: effects-laden speech and singing, witch screams, punk-influenced shouting, more guttural death metal growls, male and female clean vox, operatic male singing, King Diamond-influenced falsetto and spoken sections, to name but a few. While some may not appreciate all of these (especially the falsetto) they are well placed and provide variety.
Standouts among these fast-paced, energetic songs are hard to pick. The Monsters Within is an extreme onslaught with dramatic violins, Crave For Solid Ground is an emotional effort with some excellent vocal hooks, while Like Theres No Other Way To Go is highly influenced by traditional/NWOBHM metal. Given Words is reminiscent of much Norwegian black metal at times, while the title track is a favourite, the melancholy guitar and bleak singing playing off one another well, a jazzy feel adds more variety and the eight minutes fly by. The tenth track, Via Dolorosa is entirely synth and reminds me of much ambient, while the hidden song Voice From Heaven (track seventy seven) has ethereal female vocals and an almost techno feel which ends the album on a reflective note. Also present are the words Holy Mary mother of God reversed at the beginning; like many of the lyrics on this release it is religiously themed, from a very different perspective to all of the bands Norwegian counterparts.
All in all this is an extremely impressive release and I can find few complaints. The artwork could be better and Im certain the vocals will put some people off. The lyrics can feel convoluted at times, but this has little impact on their strong message. The production is also very good, but slightly tinny to such a small extent I feel this was deliberate. Definitely not for the un-adventurous, Kekals music will appeal to all those looking for something extreme and ground-breaking.
Clenchedfist Records CFR008 October 2001
By Russell Garwood
Indonesian band Kekal formed as a duo in August 1995, releasing a 4-track demo before fleshing out their line-up to four members. Following a period of inactivity, "Contra spiritualia Nequitiae" (which included remixed demo tracks and new material) was released, followed by 1998s debut album "Beyond The Glimpse of Dreams" and sophomore full length "Embrace The Dead". The Painful Experience is the bands latest album and was released in 2001 through three different labels. At the time of recording the band stood as Jeff (guitars/vocals/synths/additional bass), Azhar (bass/vocals) and guitarist Leo. Additional guitars were performed by Azhar and FXAJ, noises and samples by Jeff, FXAJ, and Doctor D, additional vocals by Doctor D, and drums by Sang Hitam. Since recording The Painful Experience, Leo has left and the band is a duo once more.
The bands hugely original, innovative and unique sound is an amalgamation of numerous genres. Amid a myriad of influences, the clearest are death, black, progressive, and avant-garde metal, with occasional ethereal/ambient-esque elements and industrial touches. Also among the eleven eclectic songs are nods to symphonic, traditional, technical and melodic metal, thrash, rock, electronica, goth and jazz. Despite the huge diversity of these influences the music clearly flows from a single creative source, and this cohesion helps make Kekals output more accessible than avant-garde metal tends to be. This accessibility is aided by excellent song-writing and a definite sense of direction, balanced by numerous twists and turns which hold the listeners attention and give the songs individual character.
The guitars are excellent, forgoing shredding and aiming at technical (yet catchy and emotional) leads that suit the musics atmosphere to perfection, whether it be extreme, haunting, melancholic or dark. There are prolific dual guitars throughout, which take sporadic odd time signatures in their stride while negotiating dynamic, character and time changes with ease. Synths and samples are used to full effect without intruding on the music or distracting from the feel; even in the most extreme songs well-placed keyboards help add another dimension. Sang Hitams drums are also good, sounding very electronic at times - it is likely some may be programmed, or at least triggered. This isnt very noticeable under the music, however, and the bass completes a competent rhythm section, providing solid support for the other instrumentation. There is a staggering range of vocals on The Painful Experience: effects-laden speech and singing, witch screams, punk-influenced shouting, more guttural death metal growls, male and female clean vox, operatic male singing, King Diamond-influenced falsetto and spoken sections, to name but a few. While some may not appreciate all of these (especially the falsetto) they are well placed and provide variety.
Standouts among these fast-paced, energetic songs are hard to pick. The Monsters Within is an extreme onslaught with dramatic violins, Crave For Solid Ground is an emotional effort with some excellent vocal hooks, while Like Theres No Other Way To Go is highly influenced by traditional/NWOBHM metal. Given Words is reminiscent of much Norwegian black metal at times, while the title track is a favourite, the melancholy guitar and bleak singing playing off one another well, a jazzy feel adds more variety and the eight minutes fly by. The tenth track, Via Dolorosa is entirely synth and reminds me of much ambient, while the hidden song Voice From Heaven (track seventy seven) has ethereal female vocals and an almost techno feel which ends the album on a reflective note. Also present are the words Holy Mary mother of God reversed at the beginning; like many of the lyrics on this release it is religiously themed, from a very different perspective to all of the bands Norwegian counterparts.
All in all this is an extremely impressive release and I can find few complaints. The artwork could be better and Im certain the vocals will put some people off. The lyrics can feel convoluted at times, but this has little impact on their strong message. The production is also very good, but slightly tinny to such a small extent I feel this was deliberate. Definitely not for the un-adventurous, Kekals music will appeal to all those looking for something extreme and ground-breaking.
