Rants: My Fantasy Gig. 1 comments

1. I have to be honest that I am not really a gig goer but I have always fantasize about organizing my own shows with my favorite bands playing. Almost organized one back when I was still a teenage punk living in Kota Bharu, Kelantan (my hometown), but the owner of the premise bailed out last minute fearing rushes from the local authority, which was quite often, back in the day.

2. What if, all of a sudden, I became rich and got some money to spend on things of my fancy? If that were to happen, the first thing that I would want to do would be to organize a show. Not just any show but the ultimate crowd puller kind of a show. It will not involve international acts, just locals, and I got a couple of bands in mind. These are the bands and the reason why would I choose them to perform at my fantasy gig.

MISTIK

I chose Mistik to open the show. Mistik (Mistik is a Black Metal band from Penang, Malaysia) First, because they are a Black Metal band, and a good one at that and I guess in order to show that our local scene and metal is widely varied and colourful (excuse the pun), choosing Mistik to open should be a no brainer. The crowd at this point needs a good lethal injection of fresh melodic vibe to kick start their heads, and to set the tone and mood for the whole gig, having just came in into the venue, virgin and all, they would need something that can attract them closer to the stage and participate. 

I will specifically ask the band to include the 2 songs which they recorded for Storm of Nebiula compilation part 2, Demonic Deal (Sial Batara) and Journey Through The Forbidden Woods, into their setlist. That 2 songs will get everyone, anyone to bang their heads. Hands down, that 2 song were by far the best black metal songs ever recorded by a local band. Highly infectious, high on grooves, extremely melodic, elaborate and ambitious and constructed with perfection in mind. I can bet my pinky finger that you will not be able to name me any other song from any other local black metal bands that can compete or come close to the epic and grandness of Demonic and Journey. Man, I can just write about these two songs all day long. Lets move to the second act, before I do that.

HIDDEN SILENCE

After that high octane of a performance of Mistik, the crowd would need a really good band to continue the flow of the vibe and energy thus I chose Hidden Silence (a Melodic Death Metal band from Malacca, Malaysia) to be the second band based on the strength of their debut EP, Black Hearted Spiritual alone. One of the best pure melodic death metal band that ever to came out from Malaysia. This band is not your typical run off the mill twin guitars Gothenberg melodic death metal, it is something that you need to experience yourself.

I would ask them to open with Cast Away, a melancholic and extremely gloomy instrumental piece that they got on the EP. Let the guitarist blaze himself with his crazy solos before jumping for the opening riffs for Necromenicide, the second track off their EP. The opening riff to that song will definitely turn heads around and again towards the stage. Heavy with groove, a headbangable track and with melodies thats far from cheesy. The solo for Necromenicide was just out of this world. It has been a long while since I last heard a very very good solo recorded by a local guitarist. The crowd can not and will not be able to just stand still with this band. High on energy and virtuosity especially on the drums and lead department. To be honest they can just play any songs from that highly praised EP of theirs. The songs were all good. Next band.

ATHOTORGH

I will not give the crowd a chance to breath, like at all. I will have the local reigning king of Thrash twist the heads of the crowd. I have yet to experience Thrash with any other local bands the same way I experienced Thrash metal with the mighty Athotorgh (a Thrash Metal band from Perak, Malaysia). And you just got to see the best metal drummer in Malaysia, playing his craft to perfection. There are no two ways about it.

I will ask them to open with GMF, the first track from their debut, one and only EP, Promaster Dieyana, under their belt. The crowd will recognize that riff from anywhere. That, plus the crowd participation section at the chorus will bring down roofs. Their last song will be non other than, Promaster Dieyana, one of the most recognizable thrash riff ever composed by a local band. Man, this song is fucking intense and somewhat emotional. The crowd will love chanting Promaster! Dieyana! with the vocalist during the chorus, that I can bet my ass off. I chose Athotorgh because, after two bands, the crowd would be a bit exhausted by now, but they will stick with Athotorgh's set list because the crowd knows that their set would not that long. 

THE HEADLINER

Now for the headlining band. Its an interesting choice, but with a twist. Ill write about it in my next post. Stay tuned. You are free to give it a go at guessing it though. Cheers.

News: The Death Of Analog Psycho. 1 comments

Click for a larger image.

Rants: The Bullet Belt Facebook page. no comments

1. Yes, after so many long years since the inception and publication of this blog, I have now decided that it would be a good idea to have a facebook page for the blog. It would be easier for me, and hopefully for you too, to get the latest updates and information about new Malaysian heavy metal bands, new heavy metal events and new heavy metal releases via the page. Hopefully it will be a stepping stone towards a better medium of promotion for the local metal scene. Stay heavy and stay metal!

2. Do like the following:

http://www.facebook.com/TheBulletBelt

Interview: Punah Ranah. no comments

PunahRanah is a grinding death metal band from Kuala Lumpur. I used to feature them here in the Bullet Belt back in 2010, which you can read here. I managed to get hold of Azan, to answer a few questions about the band, the music and the future plans of the band. They will be releasing their album in the nearest future, so you better be prepared for some menacing meat grinding body decapitating metal! Take it away, me!

[TBB] Greetings bro. Kindly introduce yourself to the readers.

[Azan] Hello, hola and greetings to all! I'm Azan, from behalf of PunahRanah.

[TBB] Punah Ranah was formed back in 2008. Can you please give a brief run through on the history of the band and why that name?

[Azan] PunahRanah was actually formed back in 2006 [my bad - Ed]. We participated in a lot of jamm sessions with other bands before we played the actual and the first gig in Gegey Fest, Ayer Keroh in 2009. The response from the crowd is quite awesome. they thought that we are playing in a funny grindcore band, due to the name of our band.haha. they were wrong when they heard our song started.

[TBB]Who is in the band right now? Any line up changes since the first demo?

[Azan] The line up are Bess-bass/vocals, Ashie - drums, and me, guitar and vocals. We used to have Epool as a vocal but he quits in January 2011 due to some other problems. We've remained a three piece band until now.

[TBB] First Chapter of Killing Process was released back in 2010. What have you guys been doing since then and how was the response from the crowd at gigs and shows?

[Azan] We are now preparing for the upcoming release. Probably around 10 songs. The response for the first EP was great. We sold more than 350 copies including trades with other bands [that is indeed awesome - ED]. RMPP or "Rosmah Mansur Perempuan Puaka" is a must to be played in any gig or show as requested by the crowd. Haha!

[TBB] The demo itself, how satisfied are you with the demo? Can you please detail us a bit about the demo and the reception of the local metalheads of the demo?

[Azan] We are quite satisfied with the songs in the demo that were recorded live, although the sound engineer at that time messed our songs up pretty bad, by reformatting his PC and we have to record back 4 songs because he accidentally deleted it. It should have been released in mid 2009. Thankfully after the release of the demo, we got a lot of gig/shows invitations from the organizers. We are not satisfied with the quality of the sound though.

Punah Ranah

[TBB] Do you consider PunahRanah a pure grindcore band or a death metal band? Or maybe some sort of hybrid between the two. What I like about your songs from the demo was that it got the intensity and political edge of a punk band and the sheer chugging heaviness and groove of a death metal band.

[Azan] PunahRanah is actually a mixture/combination between death metal and grindcore, or we would rather say DeathGrind. There's a lot of Deathgrind bands that are out there now such as Misery Index, Cephalic Carnage (although they stated that they played "hydro-Grind) Cattle Decapitation and etc etc..

[TBB] Being in a metal band, you cannot run from putting quality of your music before everything else. How important is quality to you since political bands usually tend to give more emphasis on their lyrics than the music.

[Azan] Both are important. Quality means everything to us. That is why we will record in a proper way and have a good production for our upcoming material that we are working on it now. 

[TBB] What do you think about the local grindcore scene in Malaysia today? Do you have any local grindcore heroes that influences your music?

[Azan] I think it is growing bigger and stronger. Since there are grind bands started touring the Europe and the US region. Band that inspired us to play Grindcore such as Negation, Torture Incident, etc. Glad that Negation have made a comeback.

[TBB] Any upcoming releases? Can we expect new songs from Punah Ranah this year? How can the readers or organizers get in touch with the band?

[Azan] We've just uploaded a new song in our band page and in Youtube, title "Dismantling of the Stupidity" earlier this year. We hope that we can release it by this year.

[TBB] Any last words for the readers?

[Azan] We would like to thank hafeez for the interview. we hope that our scene is stronger and unite despite of our differences in ideology or beliefs. Wait for our upcoming album soon! It's gonna be awesome!

[To those who wanted to know more about the band or wanted to know more on how to get hold of their releases, do not hesitate to communicated with them as soon because they will not hesitate to write a reply as soon. I got the answers to these questions in one day. Thumbs up to that. If you like heavy chungging cruchy Deathgrind, you need to experience PunahRanah. In Grind We Trust, motherfuckers! - ED]

Punah Ranah | Facebook

Review: Tarantulah no comments

TARANTULAH - Kedamaian Jalan Hitam

1. Tarantulah is a four piece band playing thrash metal/grindcore hailing from Kuala Lumpur. The band was formed in 2007, but it was only 2012 that the band becan to actively releasing demos/promos and being featured in compilations. The band emailed me their promo for review and it took me quite sometime before I could find the time to really sit down and listen to their 4 track promo.

Tarantulah Battling Legion

2. The demo was raw but you still can listen to the songs. Musically, I found them more of a punkish grindcore band rather than a thrash band. Think Napalm Death scum era grindcore. Dirty and extremely raw. The songs were simple and straight to your face.  Faithful to the typical grindcore song structure, three of the four songs were all under three minutes, not giving you any room to breath.

 

3. The instrumentation were a bit muddy and bassy, but what do you really expect from a live promo? It would be more enjoyable if it were a bit cleaner though. If you like punkish grindcore, you should definitely check this band out.

TARANTULAH | Facebook

TARANTULAH | Blogspot

Videos: Black Metal Satanica. no comments

Black Metal Satanica | 80 Minutes | Doom Films Production | 2008

1. Black Metal Satanica is a documentary about, well, satanic Black Metal. The focus point is Scandinavian Black Metal, mainly Swedish. It starts with a few musicians giving a brief run through on Norse mythology, the history of the vikings and their uncompromising attitude toward Christianity, which was allegedly the rooting puzzle in answering the question why Black Metal was and still are so popular in Scandinavia.

2. To be honest, its a little bit cheesy for my liking. Everything in the documentary are nothing new to me. Their hatred towards Christianity, Norse mythology, Satanism, you know, the whole nine yards. I was expecting something different or at least something new.

3. The production was a bit gloomy and dark. Certain individuals giving interviews in the dark and all, and I was like, come on. Enough with that dark imagery and go straight to the music. Nobody gives a shit about your "darkness". 

4. Some of the interviewees, like Bjorn Almar, gave decent interviews and some were meh. I believe this was due to the fact that some of the individuals had to answer questions in english, it was a bit difficult to really make out what they were actually saying. 

5. Being a Swedish produced documentary, the documentary gave emphasis on the influence of Swedish black metal personalities, for example, highlighting Dead and the importance of his recruitment into Mayhem as being the focal point of the wave turning of Black Metal. I would rather have the documentary put more emphasis on Quarthon and Bathory instead, if they really wanted to highlight influential Swedish figures.

6. The documentary also touched on the evil acts that have been associated with Black Metal in the instance of grave desecration, church burnings and what not. And I was like, come on. And when you thought it would not get more funnier, you will also have a Blair Witch Project like segment where the crew was interviewing this one mysterious figure (so mysterious that they had to distort his voice) about grave desecration and all that pure evil stuff, and then the lights went out, they heard a bang and the mysterious person just vanished into thin air. The crew then went into some jungle to look for him. What the fuck? The comedy just wrote itself.  

7. The narrators. Oh man, do not get me started with the bloody narrators. They were trying too hard to sound evil and creepy and it ended out being funny as hell. The narratives were poorly written and was clearly written to spook everybody. And Euronymous? The grandfather of Black Metal? Really? It was called the second wave of black metal for a reason, asshole. How can he be a grandfather, if he was not from the first wave of Black Metal? If it were all up to me, that title would go to Quarthon. And Troll metal? What the fuck is a Troll Metal?

8. Well, this is just a poor poor production. But you can try and watch this video for the Blair Witch part. Hilarious. Sometime, I often wondered why nobody even tried to elaborate the character of its music instead of just focusing on the controversies and image. Why black metal sounded the way in it sounded. Why that particular chords or that particular progression. Anybody up to the challenge?     

Books: My Appetite For Destruction - Sex & Drugs & Guns N Roses. no comments

My Appetite For Destruction - Sex & Drugs & Guns N Roses.

Title: My Appetite For Destruction - Sex & Drugs & Guns N Roses.
Authors: Steven Adler with Lawrence J. Spagnola.
Publisher: Harper Collins Publishing - 2010.
Additional Information: Paperback, 286 Pages, RM 65.90, MPH Bookstore, Kuala Lumpur.

1. If you are a hard rock or a hardcore 80s rock music lover, then you must know Guns N Roses. One of the biggest hard rock band in the history of hard rock. If you are a fan of them Guns, then you must know who Steven Adler is.

2. I am not a big GNR fan. I hardly knew any of their songs. Okay, maybe the opening riff for Sweet Child of Mine. Well, come on. Everybody knows that riff, even if they were just a couple of fans of Justin Bieber. One of the most known riff ever to be composed by the likes of man. On the note that I am not a big GNR fan, the name Steven Adler was a bit alien to me.

3. I bought this book solely on the premise that its a book about rock musician. Being the biggest band on the planet with a short list of incredible albums under their belt and the laughable antiques of its undeniably charismatic diva of a singer in the form of Axl Rose, it was just a must have. I love biographies anyway.  

4. Steven Adler was the original drummer for GNR back in their early formation, back in 1985. He played on GNRs first album. Appetite For Destruction back in 1987 and the follow up, GNR Lies in 1988 and was fired from the band in 1990 while the band was in the midst of recording their epic double album, Use Your Illusion and was replaced by Matt Sorum.

5. This book is 286 page thick and was divided into 23 chapters. The first five chapters dealt with Adler's early years living in Cleveland, his initial meeting with Slash (guitar) and his introduction to drums. The next few chapters were about the early years of GNR and the process of writing their debut. The rest were about life on the road, drug addiction, sex, controversies, more sex and drugs and the usual whole ten yard.

6. One thing for sure. This book was an easy read. It was from a first person perspective and within those 23 chapters, each chapters were divided into various different headings. So you would not get bored waiting to end a chapter.