| Kekal | |
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Kekal in concert at Alter Gasometer, Zwickau, Germany in 2004 |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Jakarta, Indonesia |
| Genres | Avant-garde metal, extreme metal, electronic, progressive metal, progressive rock |
| Years active | 1995 – present |
| Labels | Open Grave Records THT Productions Fear Dark Whirlwind Records (current) |
| Associated acts | Altera Enigma, Doctor D, Excision, Armageddon Holocaust, Inner Warfare, Mournphagy, Worldhate[1] |
| Website | http://www.kekal.org |
| Past members | |
| Jeff Arwadi Azhar Levi Sianturi Leo Setiawan Harry Newin Atmarumeksa (Newbabe) Yeris |
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Kekal (sometimes stylized as KEKAL)[2] is a heavy metal band formed in 1995 in Jakarta, Indonesia. According to Allmusic, Kekal was one of the first heavy metal bands from Indonesia to make international inroads,[3] and according to Keith Kahn Harris was one of the few extreme metal bands from Southeast Asia to ever make more than a minimal impression on the global scene.[4] Founded by two musicians known simply Yeris and Newbabe, the band underwent some shifts in lineup in its early years, but emerged with a consistent lineup of three key-members, guitarist/vocalist Jeff Arwadi, bassist Azhar Levi Sianturi, and guitarist Leo Setiawan. Most notably known as avant-garde metal, Kekal plays a diverse range of musical styles, which has been described as black metal, extreme metal, progressive metal, and hard rock, and has included many other music genres such as ambient, electronic, jazz fusion, and progressive rock.
Throughout its entire career, the band has released eight full length studio albums, an EP, two compilation albums, two demo tapes, a split album with Slechtvalk, and several contributions to various collaborative albums, and in 2004 engaged in a successful European mini-tour. As of August 12, 2009, all key-members have officially left Kekal, but continue to contribute material. Though the band currently has no active members, former members of the band contributed to an eighth studio album entitled 8, which was officially released in December 2010 and was made available to purchase on January 23, 2011, and a free digital-only EP was released in 2011.
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The early history of Kekal started out in 1990, when 16-year-old musician Jefray Arwadi formed a self-styled "punkish thrash metal" band called Obliteration with some of his high school friends, but Jeff quit this group in 1991 to better learn guitar.[5][6] Kekal was officially formed on August 15, 1995, by two friends, simply named Yeris and Newbabe (revealed years later as Newin Atmarumeksa), as a more straightforward extreme metal band. The name Kekal was coined by Newbabe, and is Indonesian for 'Immortal' or 'Eternal'. The band was intended as a one time project, and recruited a vocalist known simply as "Harry" to help record a four-song demo tape. This demo began to circulate and caught the attention of future guitarist Leo, who expressed some interest in the band.[1][7]
In June 1996, Azhar Sianturi joined Kekal and the band recorded its official demo, entitled Contra Spiritualia Nequitiae, using the songwriting and production talents of Jefray Arwadi, who was also a member of the groups Excision and Inner Warfare. With the help of underground tape-trading circles and local fanzines, the demo soon caught the attention of the metal scene outside Indonesia and South East Asia, and few record labels began offering deals. Later that year Leo Setiawan joined the band, and in 1998 Kekal released its self-produced debut album, Beyond the Glimpse of Dreams. The album was licensed to and released by two record labels, allowing for Kekal to be known internationally, especially in the underground metal circles around Europe and North America. Harry left the band after this recording, and the remaining trio released Embrace the Dead the next year. A third album The Painful Experience followed in October, 2001, and the band contributed to a Living Sacrifice tribute album with a cover of that band's song "Mind Distant."[8] Shortly after this album was released, Leo Setiawan left the band and moved to Melbourne, Australia.[9]
In 2003, with the absence of Leo as a guitarist, the remaining members Jeff and Azhar Levi recorded a cover song "Dance Macabre" for a well received Cradle of Filth tribute album called "Covered in Filth", and shortly after they released the highly progressive and experimental 1000 Thoughts of Violence which was also well received and led to a two-week European mini-tour. The tour was arranged and promoted by their record label in Europe at the time, Fear Dark, and the band played a string of shows in Holland, Germany and Sweden in March 2004.[10][11][12]
Upon return to Indonesia, Kekal was back in the studio to record a fifth album Acidity which included guest musician Didi Priyadi on guitars, as well as playing some local shows with him as an additional live guitarist. Acidity was released in 2005 and was an official reunion album for the band, which marked the return of Leo, and a vocal contribution of a founding member Newbabe.[13] The album was well received, and in 2006 the band started recording their sixth album, The Habit of Fire.
In 2006, right after the recording of The Habit of Fire, founding member Jeff Arwadi moved to Canada while the rest of the members were in Indonesia, leaving the band unable to play shows and do touring. At the same time they left their longtime record label Fear Dark and status of the band was in question. After few months of uncertainty and rumors of break-up went around among their fans, they all decided to remain together and to keep the band only as a studio project. They quickly signed licensing deals with two record labels to release The Habit of Fire in 2007. The album was received very well and was named CD of The Month by UK's music technology magazine Sound on Sound,[14] as well as being nominated as The Best Avantgarde Metal Album in 2007 by Metal Storm.[15] Later in 2007, Jeff announced on the band's Myspace blog that a new Kekal album was on the way, which he had been working on all by himself.[16] It was revealed later on that the new album was entitled Audible Minority, and it was meant to be released officially on December 25, 2008 as two versions: A free download and a limited edition Digipak with total 11 songs including an A-ha cover song.[17][18] Unfortunately the CD version was never released, and the album ended up being offered only as a free download instead.[19]
In March 2009, Azhar Levi decided to step down from Kekal. Jeff Arwadi said that although this closed a door, Kekal would continue as a musical unit in a "new era" of the band's history.[20] On August 12, 2009, Jeff announced that he and Leo had left Kekal, and that the name would continue but without active members.[21] He said that, as well as unspecified personal reasons, he decided to leave the band because, after being closer to nature and in a less densely populated city in Canada, he was unable to continue to make dark and angry metal music which he did in the past with Kekal. Shortly after, Kekal put up an offer of three albums for free download on its website, including its best-selling album to date, 1000 Thoughts of Violence.[22][23]
Many of its fans perceived that Kekal had technically split-up/disbanded at the moment band leader Jeff announced his departure from the band, despite the fact that Kekal as an institution still existed and the institution itself was not affected by any founding member leaving. To end the confusions among the fans, the band issued a statement posted on its official Facebook Page: "KEKAL IS NOT DEAD!!!! When Jeff left Kekal it doesn't mean the band is dead!"[24] The band's MySpace and Facebook pages are still active and currently being moderated mainly by volunteers from the band's Street Team members, as well as Azhar and Jeff themselves.[25]
On January 13, 2010, Kekal announced that a new album was in the works, and that former members Jeff, Leo, and Levi were all contributing.[26] Then, on February 15, Jeff posted a music video on his Youtube channel for an, at that time, untitled new album.[27] The music video was for a song entitled "Tabula Rasa", which was also released for streaming.[28] On June 23, 2010, the band announced on its Myspace and Facebook that it would release its eighth album entitled 8 in late 2010, and that further details would be forthcoming.
On August 15, 2010, a remastered, limited-edition version of the band's second album, Embrace the Dead, was released as a free-download for up 1000 downloads in celebration of the band's 15 year anniversary.[29]
Kekal's newest album, 8, was made available for pre-order on December 22, 2010 by Whirlwind Records, which included an offer of free shipping within Europe up to December 24.[30] The album was released on January 23, 2011.[31]
On March 2, 2011, Jeff Arwadi announced on the Kekal Facebook page that he and Leo are recording new music, and said that another album will probably be released sometime in 2012.[32] On April 2, Kekal announced that a download-only EP would be released in June or July, and would contain two brand new tracks recorded in 2011, as well as separate guitar and vocal tracks of "Tabula Rasa" for the purpose of remixing by the general public.[33] On April 26, Jeff uploaded a music video for the song "Futuride" from the upcoming EP, which was promised to be released in July.[34][35] The official release date for the album, July 10, 2011, was announced over Facebook on June 23, 2011.[36] The title of the EP is Futuride EP, and three tracks from the album are made available for public use under Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike license.[36][37]
Although most notably known as an avant-garde metal or experimental metal band, Kekal has origins in black metal,[38] but even with its debut album the band demonstrated a unique style, and on its third album, The Painful Experience, the band fused its black metal style with progressive metal.[39][40] In a 2001 interview, Jeff expressed ambivalence to what style the band was described as, as long as it was "metal."[41] On its fourth, highly technical album, 1000 Thoughts of Violence, the band plunged into ultra-progressive experiments,[3] and its well received fifth album, Acidity, used double bass drum blasts and saw the band incorporating styles such as electronic, black metal, progressive metal, progressive rock, classic rock, indie rock, psychedelic rock, trip hop, jazz, ambient, and avant-garde.[39][38] Jeff Arwadi responded to the "avant-garde" label in an interview with Ultimate Metal.com: “For us, avant-garde is not a classification of music. It is a state of being, a state of becoming... ...once your music can be classified easily, I don't think the word progressive or avant-garde fits. So that's why we mention in our bio that “avant-garde” is an ideal state for us, and not a classification.”[42]
On the next album, The Habit of Fire, the band maintained its use of styles such as electronica, psybient, and jazz fusion,[43] but shed its black metal roots and introduced atmospheric soundscapes and an industrial vibe.[43][44]
Kekal has identified itself with the punk rock and early metal scenes, and considers itself a “street-progressive” band that is aesthetically more akin to Sonic Youth or The Mars Volta than to bands like Dream Theater.[45] The band claims roots in 1980’s forms of heavy metal as pioneered by bands like Iron Maiden, Bathory, Trouble, Helloween, Celtic Frost, Sodom, Death, and Massacre.[46] Dimebag Darrell has also been cited as an influence, and the band claims that one of its ‘trademark’ riffs was invented by Darrell.[6]
Currently, Kekal has cited an influence from many styles of music and now lists a large host of artists as an inspiration, including a-ha, Amebix, Autechre, Björk, Black Sabbath, Camel, Celtic Frost, Chroma Key, Cocteau Twins, Chick Corea, Miles Davis, Depeche Mode, Discharge, Duran Duran, Gazebo, Godflesh, Iron Maiden, Joy Division, King Crimson, Led Zeppelin, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Massive Attack, Curtis Mayfield, Merzbow, Pat Metheny, Wes Montgomery, Gary Moore, Napalm Death, N.E.R.D., Outkast, Pan Sonic, Paradise Lost, Parliament, Pet Shop Boys, Pink Floyd, The Police, Portishead, Radiohead, Red Snapper, Return to Forever, Rush, Soft Machine, Talk Talk, Tangerine Dream, U2, and Voivod.[47]
Jeff has stated that starting from the album The Painful Experience they incorporated their own approach to record drum tracks in the studio which they call "hybrid drums", a mix of real-time performance and software-based matrix programming.[48] He also mentioned the efficiency of using the hybrid drumming compared with getting a drummer: "About the drummer, it is still very hard to find a right drummer because Kekal music is ranging from very extreme-metal with blast beats and fast double-kicks, to powerful rock beats that demand steady tempo, and to some polyrhythmic playing and time-signature shifts in the characteristics of jazz and prog drumming. We would need 2 or 3 kinds of drummer for Kekal. That's why the best thing for the recording is to make the hybrid drumming."[46] In other interview, Jeff mentioned the process of recording of The Habit of Fire, starting from collecting samples and creating MIDI information, then manipulating the sounds to create what he called the 'skeleton'. Then riffs, MIDI-triggered instruments, synthesizers, and melodies would be added and the structure re-arranged once again. Once the song structure was set, the guitars would be re-recorded, then bass and drum tracks would be put on top, then vocals.[49] Jeff also mentioned during the interview about the 2011 Futuride EP, that he has experimented with additive synthesis on the recent songs he has recorded and uses guitars to counter-balance the sounds generated by the additive synthesis.[36]
Kekal claims to have followed a strong DIY ethic throughout the majority of its career. Kekal owns the copyrights of the band's recording masters and has 100% artistic control over music, production and artwork.[49] Kekal has recorded and produced most of its albums in its own studio/workstation, manages the band itself, does its own photo sessions, and designs its own album artwork and covers. As Jeff stated "So far, we've been known as an independent band who never want to get signed by record label, to maintain our independency and control over our artistic freedom, and also to own our recording masters and copyright.. Instead of band signing, we always prefer to license our finished albums to record labels."[48]
Kekal has acknowledged in interviews that the band members, at the time interviewed, subscribed to a Christian ideology,[1][50][51] and has been described as one of the first black metal bands to profess Christian beliefs.[3] Known to have fans from different religious backgrounds, the band has stated on its Facebook page that as an institution it is not a Christian metal band and does not endorse any particular religion or ideology, and has always maintained that it is about music, life, and universality, and stands against any form of elitism and exclusivism in today's culture.[2] Kekal has been with associated the unblack metal scene,[38] but in a 2001 interview Jeff stated that the band didn't really care what it was labeled as.[41] Although Christianity has comprised a part of the band’s lyrics,[51] the band has said that from The Painful Experience onward its lyrics have not been associated with religion or ideology at all.[42] In an interview with HM Magazine, Jeff Arwadi said that the band had never been involved with a church or ministry, and that it never would. He also asserted that in Indonesia there was no specific Christian metal scene, and Kekal was considered just like any other “secular” band. He further stated that while it was “cool to know” that the band was accepted by the Christian metal scene, at the time of the interview that scene was less than 50% of the band’s audience.[12]
Jeff Arwadi in particular has expressed a belief that Christianity is not a religion, as in his opinion most religions are about laws, organizations, rites, and dogmas, while Christianity is about Faith.[11] In an interview with Avant-garde Metal.com, Jeff clarified that for him personally, faith is something that drives the human life, and, just like diet and exercise, does not have to be associated with religion whatsoever.[48] When asked by Lords of Metal webzine to clear up the "confusion" surrounding the band's stance regarding God, Christianity, and religions in general, Jeff responded that his views about religion are "very different than the view in western countries," and further said that "in Indonesia, religion is not an issue of faith nor tradition. It’s more the constitutional issue, that means the legal and political ones. I am not anti-religion person, but I do against [sic] religion in a political and legal context."[52]
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