Interview: Nekrad. no comments

[TBB] Greetings. Can you please introduce yourself to the readers.

[Lufias] Greetings and hail. I am Lufias, lead vocal of Malaysia's extreme gothic band, Nekrad.

[Lycan] I am Lycan, permanent keys for Nekrad.

[TBB] Can you please give a brief history on how Nekrad was formed?

[Lufias] Nekrad was formed in 1999/2000, somewhere after "most of" the lineup were done with schooling. The founder of Nekrad, Deq Schizorenzo, was at that time jobless and still not going to continue his further  studies. He met Lycan Cloudygate, who then plays lead guitar ( now the permanent keyboardist ), and they started talking about forming a Gothic and Melodic based metal band influenced by the known ugly and filthy U.K band Cradle of Filth, supported by some other bands which at that time were the top notch bands in melodic and technical element influenced in their musical arrangements such as Dimmu Borgir, Agathodaimon, Children of Bodom and  Nightwish. 

At the same time, Auks and Mancer who were among the closest friend with Deq were excited to play in the band as a bassist and fill the drum post. They started to practice somewhere in mid 1999 I guess. Afterward, I finished my studies, and worked as a part timer in a studio in Ipoh. I accidentally met Deq when they came in for practice in that studio. We were from the same school but was in different grades. At first, I just wondered why they didn't have a vocalist whilst the music were pretty kind to listen to. I then joined them and made up words by screaming and growling. Unexpectedly they liked it. we kept changing the keyboardist since every time we went for practices, there was no keyboard. And the keyboard parts in "Realms of Darkness" were recorded separately. Its too long aye? Hahahahahaa thats the point when Nekrad started. 

[TBB] The idea of spelling Darken backwards was awesome but why Nekrad? Were there any other reasons why the band stuck with that name? Were there any other names used before?

[Lufias] The name was 110% inverted from the word DARKEN and it also represents one of the characters in the mythical epic TV series 'Cave of the Golden Roses'. An evil male witch-doctor. Anyway anyhow, its only Nekrad and no any other name being used. Stuck??? what the hell on earth jesus christ shitting for????? We like the name and pretty sure its more darken then 'darken itself'. dont u like it? hahahahahahaha [Its an awesome name - ED]

[Lycan] Yup,that part of Nekrad's brief history,and why Nekrad? Ewrmm,in my point of view,as common Nekrad is backward darken, its symbolizes of mirror, as we see a mirror, we see ourselves yet its not us, its the other dimension of us. A mirror just used to face ourselves, to confront what we desire and find out who we really look, hehehe. And why backward darken? In dark we all be prepared, the universe was formed just from nothing, a blast of big bang, things then started to form, its what science said, not me. Yet the idea, from darkness, where light arise, and all color of beauty were created. In coincidence all purpose mingling, sharing and life begun, and death end, creation continues, hehehe. Dark energy is somehow so mysterious. Its out of logic and its hidden, waiting to be discovered. It's like an imagination. We cant prove it, yet we all can feel it. Thus I agreed to name this band, Nekrad, and I concur what Lufias said just now that the origin of our name came from a character from The Cave Of The Golden Roses trilogy. I just feel that its more than that. To me, its not a coincidence, its a purpose.

[TBB] What about the line up. Who is in the band right now? Do you still keep in touch with any previous members of the band?

[Lufias] The current line-up are Lufias (gallery of serpentine and succubus throat), Belial ( 6 strings of nocturnal necromancy), Nero (4 pinky-pinky bloody veins), Lycan (keys to the world behind sight!) and Majestic (thunderblasts from the northern grim). Of course I still keep in touch with the old line-up. Since Lycan is still in the band. Deq have always been together with me working on the song compositions and Nekrad artworks. Auks is pretty busy with his death metal band but we frequently meet in local gigs somehow.

[Lycan] Yeah, I keep in touch in telephatic ways, haha. To us, once a comrade, always a comrade, hehehe, we all shall meet again right? Because from one to many to one again.

[TBB] In your own words, if you were an outsider, from listening to Nekrad, how would you define their sound? Any influences?

lufias - sounds? its changes by time.. and depends on their producer. its not always constant at 1 identity yet and thats what they need to recover. but as for live performance.. more they undergone for gigs and event the more tougher the identity in term of sound they gain. so.. call us if u are interested!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA am i still outsiders?

lycan - For sure we all also a listener,and as we all know,music is universal,yet not all ears can comprehend too much kind of genres,so in law of attraction,we play what we like to hear...About a question if I an outsider? I might be not listen to this kind of music,because this music just attracted those who insider,music is a language that who understand it can reply it and in my view,there is no outsider when we like what others presented,in delivered music is about wave influences mind...Thats why we called all our supporters that enjoy with our music is Nekrademus,because there are no outsider when we understand what we hear...Its an answer from me.......savvy,ahaks...

5. Back in 1999, Nekrad released its debut demo called The Realm of Darkness. Can you please tell the readers about the demo? Is it still available? If its not, would you consider rereleasing it for those who never got the chance to experience it?

lufias - the realm of darkness consist of 4 dark raw track recorded live and DIY. its been release in cassete format and only 200 copy available. most of the song such as lycanthropy massive invades and tranquility beyond disharmony which is appear in Dragonia Pegaso is taken and arrange by putting a new hades breath in it. and the other 2 song which is dragonism his feel and vampiric idealogy and principal will be fit in our next coming album nekradvaganza, the only thing is the 2 song will be with new name, new lyrics its the only music structure are similarly the same like the original one.dragonism his feel will be renamed to "1 little 2 little devil" and vapiric ideology and principal will be "old lucifer had a farm!". about the availability of Realm of darkness.. ermmm lets make it this way.., who still have the cassete and if its in good condition.. i am willingly to pay up to RM200.00 to buy it. hahahahaahahahahaha.. no.. we dont have anymore of that release.. in some cases.. we might interested to rerecord it back.. following the original of it.. still thinking on how we can achieve it.. whatever it is thank you for those who support the realms of darkness!!

lycan - If I not mistakes in myspace our comrade yet i still dont know who have put our songs there http://www.myspace.com/nekrad666/music/songs/vampire-idealogy-principles-20119090....Readest can experience it there,i just advice,its not what we meant to be,but its the effort we can do at that time ya,hahahahaha...As Lufias have mention that we already bring it forward in split and our soon release album that songs will be there,if readest like to do comparison,you are welcome to do that,what ever you all said,its what you all are anyway,ahaks....

6. And then after that, the band went on a long hiatus. What was the reason for the long hiatus and what was the reason for you to reactivate the band? Hows the reaction from the local metalheads so far?

lufias - I like to say thats not only rely on 1 reason. there is couple of reason lead to where we need to be in a long hiatus. an issue of black metal that raise is affected us too, since some folks are thinking we are somekind one of black metal serenades. clearly we are more into gothic but in some reason might be due to the raw guitar sound thats make we been labeled as black metal. its a dark time for us anyway.. and i think its not only us, some other bands too.other thing is such as lack of commitment especially to their vocalist, its me.. hahahahaa.. other bandmates like to change their musical appearance.. i still remember at that time linkin park is on the move. and they intended to play such somewhat linkin park did.. i think thats another reason we can take into account.. some more.. i cant recall back. Let me take you Back to end of 2011, i attended metal event somewhere in ipoh, and the sensations come back, i keep remeber the feel to be on stage, delivering feels of gothic itself to the metalhead downthere. another reason to do a comeback is, i am intended to improve my vocal technic, in other words i need such an activity in regarding with music. start to gather material for it. look for someone that have an ability in doing recording and all other work for the release. once i had a recorded material in hand than start to gathers lineup. i would like to thank you Mr. Jadam because he is among the people who realize nekrad comeback. others than that is Dark-e who are too humble to offer doing a split.

lyccan -Yup,I agree with Lufias and I like to add something,in celestial work,i don't know what will happen,in prediction,we just can do our best,and by history I learn and see how this coincidence just a great picture to imagine,we start at time of dragon year in chinese zodiac,and we comeback also in dragon year again.....hahahahahahaha....Yup,its look mean nothing,yet why is that aite?ahaks...And for this 2nd comeback,in my heart,in full gratitude that a sacrificed and a good leader ship that Lufias bring to all of us to do what we like,to me thanks not enough for him,he has a vision for Nekrad,he do a lot of hardwork and as for me,i love to express myself with music,with this teamwork we make it in this league of metal......About the reaction of metalhead,its a bridge for us and them to coloured our scene,we enjoyed what we do,so they enjoyed with us,yup,its a moment to remember anyway when everytime we performed,we can saw a lot of metalhead energy clinging and we all feel good by that,yeay....

7. Dragonia Pegaso was an ultimate come back release. How do you feel about the release and how was the feedback so far? How many copies were sold, if you dont mind me asking. Why was it released as a split (with Vociferation Eternity) instead of an album of its own?

lufias - i feel the same like u.. ultimate release.. hahahaha as vociferation eternity is gthering with us. as for now there is a lot of positive and negative feedback, we sum it all and take it as the concern for us to do more better in future. yes, as an early plan to release an EP. but at the same times voci is also plan to release an ep, so instead of releasing 1 single product we admire to just straight compile it and release as a split. 1000 copy printed, few more left.

lycan - we love to collaborate with our friends,what i feel about it,its feel like having a baby,its excited to name,to nurture,to have time with,and what important to me,its a gud work to be done,why not doing it?hehe...

8. I read somewhere in your facebook page that Nekrad is currently in the studios recording new songs. What are the songs for and hows the current progress of the session? Can the metalfans expect something new added to the new songs?

lufias - we are planning for a full-length album this year. consisting of 10 brand new freaks extreme gothic opus and 1 re-record versions of tranquility beyond disharmony ( appear in dragonia pegaso ). as for now we are almost at the end stage. mixing are in progress as Dark-e ( vociferation eternity / silkhannaz/died / dissectomy ) is on the move of it, next is mastering session. what i can tell its a lot of changes and differences in term of musically and lyrically. its more gothic 'friendly' song and only listeners can judge it. as for us, we enjoying creating our material, so we are excluded to judge our own style and idea. also we are working on a project for a compilation from ipoh, and split EP with band from Kuala Lumpur and i still need to keep that as secret which band they are.

lycan - I love do magic,yet i can't do one,hahahahaha,and i doing it as not telling it now,its surprise it,hahahahaha...It is in process,and its feel good to doing it....Ewrmm,expectation? Tune yourself with our tune,so what will you have is goose bumps,hahahahahaha....

9. Can we expect a new release from the band this year? Maybe you can drop a hint or two in regards to that and how can the metal fans get in touch with the band?

lufias - yes, nekradvaganza album should be planned to release as earliest on june 2013. will keep you guys updated on the exact date of release. 9 new song, 1 cover song and tranquility beyond disharmony re-record versions. for sure song such as twinkle twinkle little scar and raging war and despair will be in there too.

lycan - welcome to be Nekrademus,yeay...

10. Last words to the readers?

lufias - last but not least, i would like to thanks to all listeners, supporters, haters, commenters, friend and family. appreciate what you did!! thanks to you too for the interview. HAIL NEKRADEMUS!

lycan - Thanks for this interview,and to the readers,when you read this,you already have a vibe with us,and when you have a vibe,you are in tune with us,thanks for that energy you bring to yourself and us,HAILZ NEKRADEMUS!

Interviews: Malapetaka. no comments

I wrote about them a couple of weeks ago, and here you have it, the interview that I made with them. I got Boon, the vocalist and Ashok, the guitarist of Kuala Lumpur Death Thrash metal band, Malapetaka to answer a few questions about the band. Well, I guess I am easily excited about new Malaysian bands coming out of the woodwork, playing heavy metal. So please, read through to learn more about Malapetaka, the newest inclusion to the Malaysian regiment of heavy metal band.

[TBB] Hello brothers, can you please let the readers know who is currently answering the question?

First of all, thank you brother, for giving us this interview. Hail to all our brothers and sisters in metal, this is vocalist, Boon and guitarist, Ashok here, from Malapetaka. 

[TBB] Can you please give a brief detail about the history and formation of the band? Who is the current line up?

[Boon] The band started late in 2009, with Abu (former rhythm guitarist) and Ashok (current main guitar) wanting to form a band, together, they recruited me, Boon as the vocalist, Alias as the bassist, and finally Azmer as the drummer.

[Ashok] We started because of our great appreciation for metal in general. And we have come a long way from covering our favourite metal songs to creating our own songs, sadly Abu left due to personal reason, but we are still going strong, learning and improving. For the passion, For Metal \m/

[TBB] Why Malapetaka? What does the name mean to you? Its sounds pretty metal though (laughs). I love the logo. Who made it?

[Boon] Thanks, haha, There were lots of suggestion that we came up with when it comes to name, but when Ashok suggested Malapetaka, it just sounds right to us. From calamity, rises devastation, from disaster rises suffering. Its origin, from sanskrit pronounced as mahā-pātaka, defines it as "the resultant actions of greatly sinful activities". 

[Ashok] I work as a designer when I'm not raping the guitar, so it was inevitably designed by myself, haha.

[TBB] Can you tell the readers more about the type of music that you play. Its death thrash right? Can you name any influences?

[Boon] In essence we are playing death thrash nusantara. Our riffs and drums are very thrash and death influenced, while we still managed to mix some nusantara sounds into it. We are still experimenting with new ideas to deliver our songs so keep a lookout. 

[Ashok] Some of our influences collectively are Kreator, Slayer, Cannibal Corpse, Death, Metallica, Napalm Death, Nile, Cromok, Terrorizer, Opeth and more.

[TBB] Malapetaka released a 3 track promo. Can you tell us more about the promo? Is it still available?

[Boon] The current 3 track promo is still available on our facebook page for download. The 3 tracks are 1.Purity in calamity (instrumental) 2. Malapetaka 3. Manmade Prophecy. 

[TBB] I like the structure of the songs in the promo but the guitar playing was not as tight as Ive hoped for. It lacked synchronicity in the doubling department. Are you satisfied with the promo?

[Ashok] It was a first time experience for us to do a recording and we opted for live recording due to budget. Myself personally think we could do a lot better and for our next recording we would be more prepared as we somewhat know the drill now ;)

[Boon] Overall, we did try our best, but we will still keep on practicing hard and experimenting to deliver the best to our listeners. 

[TBB] I have to give you kudos for the solos. Its kinda weird at first listening to a Malaysian traditional melody made into a metal solo, but I guess its an attempt to be original, something that I can appreciate. Who came up with the idea to put that kind of solos into the song? Will we be getting a lot more of that in the future release?

[Boon] Haha! Thanks again, that was very sharp of you to notice it.

[Ashok] Yes it's our humble attempt to inject something that we could differentiate our style. I didn't want our band to be just another thrash band. For example if you see how chuck's (Death) solos, one could never decipher what goes through his mind as he makes these solos and that my friends is simply what makes it unique as hell. Initially I got the ideas by listening to a handful of traditional tunes not just from Malaysia but even from Indonesia and also bands like Nile, Melechesh, Sil Khannaz etc who has been doing this for many years now. And yes, there's more to come from us! Haha

[TBB] I was made to understand that you will be entering the studio to record your first full length. Any new updates that you would like to share? How many song will Malapetaka record?

[Boon] Its not actually full length, but a proper demo, which consists of 5 songs which we have finalized so far: 1. Purity in Calamity 2. Malapetaka 3. Manmade Prophecy 4. Death Desensitized 5. Kejahilan Minda.

[Ashok] There is however a whole lot more songs coming up in the making. We hope to find a deal with this demo which would allow us to do a proper full length in the future.

[TBB] Has the band been getting exposures through gigs? How many gig have you guys played so far? How can a promoter contact Malapetaka if they were to invite you to perform?

[Boon] We have only performed in 1 gig so far. haha. Our debut performance was at H2H gig in Heartshape Studio, and of course we would love to perform live more. 

[Ashok] yup we are definitely looking forward to play more shows. Please get in touch with us via email: malapetaka.kl@gmail.com or just give us a shout through our FB: www.facebook.com/malapetaka.kl

[TBB] Any last word for the readers of the Bullet Belt Blog and the Malaysian Metal scene in general?

[Ashok] Thank you Hafeez for the spotlight, keep up the metal flame and metal spirit on. Hails!

[Boon] For the Bullet Belt Blog readers thank you for the support! We hope to see you soon at our shows! \m/ and do keep a watch out for us, because Malapetaka comes without warning!

So, there you have it. All you need to know about Malapetaka. Promoters, please contact them if you are interested to get them to play at your shows. And labels out there, please feel free to drop them a line. Malaysian death metal at its finest. Give a listen to their promo tracks:

Malapetaka : Purity in Calamity & Malapetaka (Demo) 
Malapetaka : Man Made Prophecy

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

Interview: Blood Legion no comments

Blood Legion is a Death Thrash Metal band hailing from the muddy banks of Kuala Lumpur. They got 1 demo and 1 promo under their belt. I was so impressed by the sound of their 2012 promo (read my review here) that I made it a mission to get an interview with the band. I managed to get in touch with the band and got Pat, their bass player to answer a couple of questions so that the metalheads around the world  (me included)can get to know more about these thrashing maniacs. One of the most exciting band for the year 2012 in my opinion. Read on.

The Mighty Blood Legion

TBB - Greetings. Hello there. Kindly let the readers know, who is answering this interview?
Pathman - Hey Hafeez! I’m Pathman, and I play bass for Blood Legion. Thanks so much for interviewing us. My apologies for getting back to you late.

TBB - Can you please give a brief write up on the History of Blood Legion? How it was formed, when and why?
Pathman - Blood Legion was formed in early 2008 by Shan, Jai and yours truly. It was quite random, honestly. We’re all fans of metal and being good friends for quite a while, we thought it’d be a great idea to start a band together and play the stuff we love.

TBB - Who is the current line up of the band and their respective instruments?
Pathman - The current lineup is Shan on vocals, Jai on guitars, myself on bass and Chris on drums.

TBB - To my ears, you guys played some sort of a Death Thrash metal with an awesome old school vibe. Cerebral Fix and Benediction came to mind. I am sure you got that a lot. But from the bands perspective, what sort of music that you are trying bring forward with Blood Legion? What are your influences?
Pathman - Ok I’ll start off with our personal favorites first cos they’re the guys who we grew up listening and influenced our playing:

Shan: Iron Maiden, Cannibal Corpse, Obituary, Slayer, Carcass, Entombed, Amon Amarth, Dark Tranquility, Hypocrisy.

Jai: Scorpions, Iced Earth, Slayer, Cannibal Corpse, Rage Against The Machine, Obituary, Deicide, Kreator.

Pathman: Iron Maiden, Rainbow, Cream, Motorhead, King Diamond/Mercyful Fate, Sepultura, Death, Atheist, Emperor, Sodom.

Chris: Iron Maiden, Symphony X, Dream Theater, Judas Priest, Metallica, Nightwish, Saxon, Helloween, Deep Purple, Genesis.

Individually we’re influenced by different bands and genres. As a band, we wanna play stuff we like to hear and the stuff that influenced us. That’s why we don’t filter or limit our music to a certain style. There’s a mixture of traditional heavy, thrash, and death metal. In other words, we’re a ‘rojak’ band. Shan’s growling vocals is the only reason we’re called a Death Metal band haha! I know this, to some, might sound as if we’re not focused or being ambitious about our music, but from our point of view it gives us freedom. Freedom to break the rules, to do whatever we want. As long as the shit’s heavy, we’re game. And that in my opinion, is what metal’s all about anyway.

TBB - You released your first demo back in 2008, Exsanguination. Took a break and began to play again in 2012 and released a 3 track promo. Does the sound of the band changed since the first demo?
Pathman - The demo was written when the band was merely months into its existence. It consisted songs we thrashed out in the studio during our jams and most of them were at skeletal level.We have improved since and you can say that our playing and songwriting now are more complex. But the core remains the same – janji layan. We love to hear and play headbangable stuff, and we intend to keep it that way.

TBB - Your songs gave a lot of emphasis on grooves and headbangable rhythm sections. Was it intended to be so or it was never planned?
Pathman - You could say a bit of both. Intended as in we want to write headbangable/layanable stuff. Never planned as in we never know what we’re going to write. I know it sounds contradicting and silly but that’s how we approach our songs. We never tell ourselves “Ok, we’re gonna write a typical or brutal song now. It’s gonna start with a particular rhythm, spiced with this and that scale on the bridge, have a LaRocque-ish lead, then end it with a doomy part”. Nope.We just hit the first note, and take it from there. See what comes to mind and what fits. As long as it’s heavy, catchy and fun to play. And to tell you the truth, all the songs we have were conceived when we were just mucking about with our instruments.

TBB - You have been sending the promo to all over the world. How are the feedbacks so far? Why do you think metalheads should check out Blood Legion.
Pathman - The feedback we’ve received is great. A lot of people have commented on our sound, just like you have in your earlier question. We’re really pleased that there are people who appreciate what we’re doing. As to why metalheads should check Blood Legion out, that’s a tough question. I personally don’t like blowing my own trumpet. But if you like the sound of a blender and animal mating calls, give the band a listen. Whether you like it or not, it’s totally up to you.

TBB - You have been doing gigs here and there. How was the reaction from the metalheads so far? Any awesome/unfortunate experience that you would like to share?
Pathman - All our shows since the beginning have been encouraging. A lot of people who have seen us play have said really nice things about us, and that drives us to keep improving show after show.For us, a show is to entertain the crowd and have fun at the same time. That’s why we treat every show, however big or small, the same. Whether its 3 or 30 people watching us, we’ll just get up there and give our all. And when we see people moshing and headbanging, we get more energetic too. That’s when we go back with sore backs and necks haha! As for experiences, I think all of them are good, even that once when Shan elbowed me right in the face, forcing me to hit the wrong note. I know that’s probably a ‘bad experience’ but it added comic relief to a show that’s normally full of brutal ‘aaarrggghh’ and ‘uurgghs’. And that’s good in my opinion.

TBB - Any future plans? A follow up release maybe? Merchandise? how can one get in touch with the band?
Pathman - We plan to release a full-length hopefully end of this year. We’re currently compiling whatever material we have and rehearsing them. We don’t have any merch at the moment but we’re planning to release some during the full-length. If anyone’s interested in Blood Legion, they can contact us on our Facebook page www.facebook.com/bloodlegion666. We still have our promos to give away for free, so interested peeps, hook us up!

TBB - Thank you for your time, mate. Any last shout outs to the readers of thebulletbeltblog?
Pathman - Once again, thanks Hafeez for your time, support and this interview. It’s a real pleasure. And to all you out there who have been supporting us, you guys are the best! Never stop supporting your local bands! Thank you!

Visit Blood Legion at their facebook page now.

Blood Legion | Facebook

Interview: Wynken Delirium. no comments

I present to you my interview with Wynken Delirium. A local band from the sourthern state of Johor, Malaysia, playing sludge/metal with oriental touch for your eargasmic Malaysian heavy metal experience. I am not really a big fan of sludge nor doom but citing the inclusion of the elements of nusantara (the malay archipelago) in metal never fails to get my attention. I have  listened to a couple of raw tracks uploaded by the band via their facebook page and found myself bobbing to their mystical tunes. 

Their vocalist got one helluva voice, that I got to tell you. In the interview, i kept referring to their debut album when in fact they are currently putting finishing touches on their second. It was a silly mistake on my part. The debut was released in 2009 called The Alchemy of the World. One thing that I appreciate is the effort to make it as professional as possible and with Wynken Delirium (referred to WD in the interview therein), I got everything from band photo, logos, presskit, tour dates and everything a writer would have wanted to write their piece. I appreciate that very much. Please contact and support the band. Therefor I give you the inteview:

Assalamualaikum bro... my name is Benign Nor Hafeez and I write for The Bullet Belt blog, a local kecil kecilan blog promoting local acts. would you mind answering a cupla questions for my blog?

Waalaikumsalam wrb. Yes sure we are honoured and humbled by your interest to interview Wynken Delirium.

Hello, how are you and may I know who is answering the interview?

Alhamdulillah we are doing great and we are fine. My name is Harris and i am the bass player for Wynken Delirium also I manage the band. I also run the label known as THE FOUR HORSEMEN or TFHM. 

Can you tell us a brief history of Wynken Delirium? Why Wynken Delirium?

Wynken Delirium started as Gobling way back in 2004 and when Gobling disbanded, Zaihas (guitarist) and me (harris) were looking around for same minded soul to move forward with a new band. Came along, Ajax (vocalist) and he brought along Fad (drums) and Andak (guitar). After few practice, Andak felt that the music was not suitable and what he was looking for. he left and Shah (guitar) join. This lasted for 2 years. After that, Shah and Fad when out to concentrate on their grindcore band and we recruited Yan (drums) and Zam (guitar). This current set up has been going on for 4 years. 

Musically, Zaihas started back in the 90's in central market. He was in Elizabeth Arden, Slum Scum and many more bands along the way. Harris was from the Penang scene and played bass for My Pet Alien. Ajax, Zam and Yan were from the Johor scene and with different background. Drastic changes in term of the personnel in the band, thus the name change from Gobling to Wynken Delirium.

Wynken Delirium was derived from the combination of Wynken, Blyken and Nod, a children poem and Wynken actually referring to the eyes. Delirium was taken from a poem written by Arthur Rimbaud, The 7th Delirium. Combination of both word meant like what we see, think and ponders. In short, its the world through our eyes. We are not young man anymore, so sometimes we can be very observant and we would like to give our 2 cent worth on it. Some of the guys in the band have been in the scene since the 90's and we have seen the scene transform and seen many genre changes along the way. What we wanted to do with Wynken Delirium was to make good music, metal music and still not forgetting our roots. We are Malaysian and we are Asian too. We have various background, interest and we think, we don't have to be fast to be heavy, hence the tag line LEMBAB & BEGHAT came around. Since our love of Black Sabbath, Led Zeppellin , grunge music, rock and other forms of metal music, its tends to be "rojak" in our song structure. Its a lot of element in our songs. That comes from the diverse background musically of each band member.

Wynken Delirium

Ive read in your facebook page that WD plays sludge with oriental/nusantara flavour which is quite a unique amalgamation by itself. Can you please give a thorough overview in regards to your music? 

Sludge is a mix of doom and hardcore. Our music revolve around being heavy and mid tempo. We love Black Sabbath as much as we love Sepultura, Pantera and we listen to Lamb of God too. So its kinda mix in the song writing. Practically, we wrote metal music which have dirty metal vibe, a pinch of hardcore spirit and tonnes of groove laden riff. That practically sums up Wynken Delirium music. We also have , Saron and Gong , a traditional music equipment used in gamelan. That is incorporated in our performance and music.
The oriental/nusantara sound come from incorporating the Sundanese, Balinese, zapin, joget melodies into our song. We believe tat we should not forget our roots at any time. We are Malaysian and we have rich culture. It comes from the South East Asian influences also as we tend to blend it up. Our region shared a lot of similarities musically with Indonesia. Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and we have rich sound. If Sepultura did it with their Brazilian heritage, we should do be proud of our own heritage.
What do you hear when you listen to Wynken Delirium, I hope everyone can hear a good metal song with good grooves and musicianship, great lyrics which has meaning and also realize that, its different from any other band. 

Let me impress you with my vast knowledge on sludge metal. St Vitus played sludge right? haha Ok Ok.. I am not really a big fan of sludge but what band would you recommend me if I were to ask you for recommendations? Fans of what band do you think would be interested to check WD out?

Hahahaha St Vitus is more doom metal band i guess (there goes my vast knowledge on sludge, hahaha-ED). Sludge band.. you might want to check Eyehategod, Down, Kingdom of Sorrow and you can check out bands that comes out from NOLA ( New Orleans metal Scene) and also Georgia Metal scene such as Kylesa, Zoroaster, Baroness and few more great groove laden band. When you think of Sludge, its about metal with heavy influence of Sabbath, Southern sound and hardcore style singing. Fast, angry and never forget the groove. Hahaha. You can wikipedia search for sludge metal and see what that is all about. Nowadays its much easier comparing to the early days in the 90's as its depend mostly on zine.
WD is not so trendy so we are not sure whether we have fans. We do have friends. I believe we make new friends after every shows, cuz most of the people who came and watch WD perform are not sure what to expect. You will get good show, hopefully good music and a great performance whether its in front of 2000 people, 200 people, 20 people or 2 people and that is a promise. 

WD love to perform in shows that is consider not our type of music. We love the challenge to convince this new music lovers to alternative metal music that exist in our scene. We love to add colour in that mix. It would be fun. 

WD have played all over Malaysia and all across the neighbouring region. Hows the reception so far? Care to tell us about your touring history? How can organizers book you for shows?

Alhamdulillah, TFHM as a label has organised many shows throughout Malaysia. Not only for WD but also featuring bands that is working together with TFHM such as Atrocious, Scent of Carnage, Kolbenfaust, Maosun, Predicate Not Defined, Controlled Issues, D.I.E and Sacwrath. So we have tour under Dredging The Sludge Tour, Tyranny of Eight Tour and many events and shows. The reception so far has been great, alhamdulillah. We are doing more tours for 2012 such as

Trudging Through Tradition Philippines : 23 Feb 2012 - 27 Feb 2012 ( details as attached flyers)

24 Feb - Headstock Bar, Marikina City, The Philippines25 Feb - Inggos Gril, Malate City, The Philippines

26 Feb - Red Capz Resto, Paranaque City, The Philippines

26 Feb - Amnesia Bar, Laguna, The Philippines

* Yes.. that is 2 shows on 26 Feb

TFHM Revolution Tour 2012 : 1 June 2012 - 3 June 2012

1 June - Embrace Hall, Skudai, Johor

2 June - Soundmaker Hall, Penang

3 June - Batu Gajah, Perak

We are also performing in many other events. Do check our FB for the details. the address are as below

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Wynken-Delirium/175349005854882

If any organiser would love to have WD on their shows, they can get us on

email : saronproduction@hotmail.com or
Telephone : Harris @ 016 718 2694

You are currently in the studio finishing your full length debut. I heard that one of the most prolific producer in the local entertainment industry is helping you out with the mixes. How did Mr.Roslan Aziz came on board? Hows the experience so far?
On the album matter, may I correct you a bit on it. Its not our début album, actually its our second album. Its title THE OPINIONS and its in the mixing process (aarrrggh...thats embarassing, sorry guys for not doing a better research before sending the interview-ED). We should see its ready by March and after that off to Crystal Mastering Studio in Australia for the final mastering. The album contains 12 songs, that has been written over the years and this round we have better equipment recording it and all of us used BUGERA Heads for our equipment. Zaihas and Zam used BUGERA 333 Guitar head and a Marshall 4x12 cabs. Harris used BUGERA 5500 bass head with a Hartke HyDrive 4x10 bass cabs. All recording of guitar and vocals was at Zaihas home studio. Only the drums were recorded at our friends studio in Gelang Patah.
How does Abg Roslan Aziz came on board. We met him few years back with our first album, that time we did everything ourselves. Then from talking to him, he did propose to us in our next album, he is interested to work on it. So once, we finished recording, Zaihas got in touch with Abg Roslan Aziz again. Working with him and his sound engineer, Hafizz at Tune Studio in Klang, its just awesome. Great studio, great equipment and the most important things is great engineers. We got what we want in term of the sound and direction of the album. he has been very vocal and yet very understanding in our need to maintain our sound and vibe on the album.
What we believe is, every band that wanted to produce an album and sell it, has to produce the best album so it's worth the money for people to purchase it. We are very critical in that manner. We want people who bought it, feels like its a good album. We will be going again into Tune Studio sometime soon to record a special project for a Vinyl EP. We have about 5 songs ready which was not put into the 2nd album. In short, workign with Tune Studio with Abg Roslan Aziz and Hafizz has been great and we have more coming soon on more projects involving them.

What can the fans expect from your debut album?
What to expect from the 2nd Album ; THE OPINIONS; great grooving metal music with dirty vibe, a lot of headbanging riff and we hope to bring this album out to the world and hopefully get it recognise for some good festival oversea. InsyaAllah.
We hope the Malaysian metal crowd would give it a listen and like what we wrote and recorded. If it can make us get a good Million dollar deal, its even better. Its everyone dream I guess.

I guess thats all... any last word for The Bullet Belt blog readers? I hope this will not be the last word between us and the friends that we have. We hope and thank you for the continuous support and time to interview us and put us in your blog. Keep up the good work. We appreciate the opportunity given to us and hopefully to see you in one of our shows soon.
To all our friends and scene lovers, Malaysian band are as good and as talented. believe in yourselves, believe in your music and we can do this.
Support our independent DIY music scene. 

--- Thank you Mr.Haris for your prompt and friendly reply. Do keep in touch with this band via:

Wynken Delirium | MySpace

Wynken Delirium | Blog

Wynken Delirium | Facebook

Wynken Delirium | ReverbNation 

Wynken Delirium | Youtube

Interview: In Torment. 4 comments

In Torment

How are you and In Torment these days? 

Im fine here thank you. About IN TORMENT, not so well now. We've been re-formating members and as for now, the only commited members is just me and Bai Grinder.
 

Can you please brief the readers about the formation of In Torment, the current line up and the releases so far? Any new materials that we can expect in the near future?
I think we started around 2001, jamming and so. we start as a death metal band. before, all ov us originally from Kota Bharu, Kelantan. after years ov surviving and line-up changes, the last show consist ov me and Kemma (guitars) from KB, Bai Grinder (drums) from Shah Alam and Devoured (Vox/Bass) from Singapore. Due to commitments and so, now it is only me and Bai Grinder. we release couple ov demo's and promo's. included in some compilations but no albums so far. looking forward to do so in near future.
 

In Torment plays fast, intense brutal death metal. Why this genre? What made In Torment different from other brutal death metal bands? 

Brutal death metal now falls into more variety ov sub-genres. i dont consider it brutal death metal in any way. we just play death metal with more blasting and faster riffs because we like it. the term extreme is far more linear to us. many bands nowadays plays far more intensely brutal than us. they used to label Krisiun, Nile a brutal death metal band but not anymore and now Disgorge and Defeated Sanity are. with a lot ov sub-genres goin on, people cant really define what is brutal death metal nowadays.

You guys have been playing shows all over malaysia. Hows the acceptance of the audience so far?
We dont give a damn about the acceptance ov the audience. we play what we want to play. we dont play just to please others. if its only two people came forward at our shows, hell yeahhh!! we've been thru everything ever since. mineral bottle thrown at us, middle fingers, we dont give a damn! punk show, indie shows, private party, formal gatherings, metal shows, bike week shows, we play it all.

The heavy metal scene back in Kota Bharu Kelantan is developing rapidly. Can you name any good new bands from Kelantan thats worth checking? I know those Horrified dudes plays this awesome metal with a bit of rocknroll riffs here and there.
Yup, its good to hear some potential bands from Kota Bharu mainly and yes, Kelantan formally. lots ov bands everyone needs to check out! DARKREGIME, INCARCERATE, SLAUGHTERSOUL, OMEN, SACRED IMPIRIUM, POLONG, and so on. and yes, HORRYFIED is a good metal band. i think they play metal+some metalcore as well in their veins. junior crowds envy them in every shows. its great.
 

If I got my facts right, you got a metal shop back in kota bharu? Any possibilities for other local bands to send their materials for your shop? If so, how can they do that?
Hahaha. no more metal shop for now. its a long story. u can guess it out I think. People dont buy metal stuff at metal shops nowadays. They prefer buying it online.

Any last shout outs man? How can the readers contact In Torment?
Thanx to u for this short interview. to all who believe in our existence, we salute u. for those who want to contact us, just hit us at http://www.facebook.com/intorment.malaysia or maybe hit me directly at http://www.facebook.com/rimie.tormenized. cheers!!!

Interview: Kazanna. no comments

Kazanna

Assalamualaikum and hello. May I know who is answering the questions?

Waalaikumsalam Hafeez. Salam 1 Malaysia.This is Amar and thank you for having the interest to interview Kazanna.
 

Can you please brief the readers on the history of Kazanna?

Kazanna was formed and conceived in late 2010. All current members of Kazanna were actually former members of another band called Pasca Tragedy, a Shah Alam (Selangor) band playing power/gothic metal. Due to some unfortunate reasons, Pasca Tragedy was dissolved and from its ashes, we formed Kazanna. Kazanna plays Symphonic Metal exclusively, a kind of music where not many Malaysian bands dare to thread. We took this opportunity to introduce this genre to the local metal audience. Kazanna's current line up are Rezal on the drums, Fiza on vocals, Jack on bass guitar and Amar on guitar. 
 

Kindly brief us a bit about Kazanna's awesome debut EP, Will of Heroes.
 

Will of Heroes EP was released on May 1st 2011 during the KL Metal Camp 4 gig which was held at One Cafe recently. This EP contains 5 songs plus 2 arrangement scores as bonus tracks. The title of the EP was chosen based on a song of ours called Will of Heroes. This song was about a sacred will made to his friends, by a hero. The guitars, basses and keys were recorded at my home studio while the rest were recorded in various studios all over Klang Valley. Most of our songs were about war, peace, love and the world in general. 
 

Who orchestrated the awesome orchestral arrangements? To be honest, I was very impressed with the arrangements and honestly felt that it gave a grandiose and epic feel to your songs.

The arrangements were all done by me. My deep fascination with full scale symphonic orchestra and scores in all those epic films led me to learn how to compose those sort of sound through myriad of researches and videos on the internet. But on a personal note, I think there are still so much more to learn and improve. For the next release, hopefully a more mature orchestral sound and arrangement shall be produced.  
 

Did you ever use any pre recorded music for live shows?

Of course we used those pre recorded orchestra as our backing track for live shows, you know, in the likes of bands such as Edenbridge, Unsun and Epica. We have yet to have a capable keyboardist to do all those orchestra sound live. (editor- Its too bad that I only knew how to arrange those sounds via computer softwares, or else you would be holding my resume in your hands right now, mate haha).
 

Ever thought of experimenting with Bahasa Melayu (Malay Language)? I seriously believe that it will definitely help push the band to a more mainstream audience.

We are still in the process of producing some songs in Malay language to penetrate the mainstream market although the process to properly amalgamate the language with this sort of genre is still in its infancy. We are still in the midst of doing a thorough reasearch process in order to produce something more suitable for  the radio airplays. (editor- Well, Malaysian are suckers for good pop melodies and hooks, figure that one out and I can guarantee, you will be able to garner and generate excitement and interest for the band. Although all the limelight will most probably go to your hot front women. Thats Malaysia for you mate, pffftt)

Whats your future plan? How can the buyers buy a copy of Will of Heroes?

As of current we are busy working on our new songs for our full lenght. We hope that there will more people who would want to invite us for shows. You can buy Will of Heroes EP via our facebook, www.facebook.com/kazannaofficial. Just leave a message on our facebook wall and we shall inform you the details. We will be selling the record at our shows.

Karl Cromok The Interview: 6 comments

Cromok is a widely known and popular thrash metal band coming out from the shores of Malaysia. They first made their name within the Australian Underground Thrash Metal scene rising the ranks along with Australian Godfather bands in the likes of Enticer, SSDC, Mortal Sin, Frozen Doberman, White Trash, Addictive and Detriment. Cromok consist of Tarmizi Mokhtar - Drums, Shamsuddin Ali - Bass & Vocals and Khairul Anuar Shariff - Guitars.

First of all, it is an honor to be able to interview this legendary icon, on of the many reason why a lot of young kids were attracted to heavy metal in Malaysia back in the middle of the 90's. Everybody knew the band and everybody knew the riffs from the 1993 Forever In Time and everybody went over the top for Another You. It was the year 1995 when I first listened to them. I have heard of the name quite a lot before but was never bothered to find out. I was too busy with my radio rock ballads.

Until one fine day, I decided to fulfill my overstaying curiosity about this rock band with this odd (kelantan-isque) name, Cromok. I persuaded my uncle to buy me Forever in Time at a local record store in Kelantan, my third cassette with the first two being Helloween's Keeper of the Seven Keys and Kreators' Endless Pain, went back and played Forever In Time on the cassette player. Once Karl's first chord and solo note in the introductory riff to Memories, weighted with Miji's thundering bass drum kick followed with chugging guitar section moving along with Sam's spoken words, stomped my ears like nobody's business, I was never the same again. I believe at least a few younger metal heads out there shared the same story as mine.

It took me quite some time to really appreciate Cromok's first album, Image of Purity which was released in 1991 most probably due to the ugly sound. Now, I listen to Image of Purity more than I listen to any of their later albums.

I consider myself a big fan of Cromok and just like everybody else at that time, went gaga crazy when I first heard that Cromok will be releasing Yours Truly, a new album in 1996. I also bought all the albums by D'Cromok, Din's solo project (Din was the original guitarist, another founding member of Cromok who left the band in the midst of the bands biggest break in their carrier in Autsralia, an opening gig for Motorhead).

I followed the silent war between the two camps (Cromok and DCromok) via their thank list, made obvious to those who were sharp and die hard enough to notice. Cromok chose not to mention Din in their Forever In Time thanklist. Din, in the thanklist for his IIV Years IIV Days part 2 album, thanked Cromok for not mentioning him as a sign of frustration. However in the later 1996 album Yours Truly, Cromok mockingly mentioned Din in its thanklist with the tag: a very special mention. It was funny and I loved both bands to death but I honestly think Cromok was being a bit harsh on Din at that time. Din later died of Malaria in 1997.

i stoppped following the band after original guitarist Karl left the band. Although his replacement, Hillary Ang, was a guitar maestro and a legend in his own league, truthfully he does not belong in Cromok. I stopped buying Cromok's albums post Yours Truly. Not as a sign of protest but because Hillary's riffs and solos were not that appalling to me. I was too familiar with Karl's melodic solos and not in good term with Hillary's ultra technical yet less melodic solos. I parted ways with Cromok, the band responsible for introducing me to Malaysian Metal.

A couple of years ago, there were some rumours that Cromok will be reuniting with Karl. I was so excited. This is my interview with Karl Cromok made via FB. I would like to thank Abang Chot for his warm welcome and answers. Thank you. Here it goes:

1- How are you these days?

Great! Apart from writing songs for my new solo album, i am running my seminar in educating people on how to evaluate a business opportunity using the 16 fundamental criteria.

2- There were a few events in the likes of the April showcase, the inspiring moment showcase etc signifying your return to the music scene. Is this a definite return?

Yup definitely. I met some very talented musicians and i was so disgusted with music industry now. So I decided to do something to help those fellow musicians and other artistes. These musicians are so talented but they have no avenue to promote themselves. SO perhaps by collaborating with me, I can help promote them.

3- What inspired you to return after all these years? Fans? Passion? Heavy Metal?

Tangan gatal nak main! Ha! Ha! I met a frined of a friend 2 years ago in one of the concerts in KL and he mooted the idea of my comeback. In orincipal I agreed with the idea but could not find time to do it. After 2 years I decided to do it. So in december 2009 I started writing songs for my solo album. I started my facebook in January 2010 and up to now i have 3700+ friends. The support from fans has been very encouraging and that has kept me going till now. I am still passionate about heavy metal as you know my motto is Metal Forever!

4- How does it feel to be back on stage in front of a very driven crowd?

It feels great! Karl & Friends in MyEvo Clubhouse was a fun project. We enjoyed ourselves and actualy I was testing myself to see if I could play again on stage. See whether i still have the guts and skills to be on stage! Ha! Ha! I still have butterflies in my stomach everytime before going on stage especially after 14 years of dissappearance! Those friends (Shah & Zali nrocinu and Affey) were really good and actually they make me feel comfortable on stage knowing that i was performing with one of the best heavy metal musicians in Malaysia.

5- Everybody is waiting for a cromok reunion. Will it ever materialize?

Only time can tell.........

6- What have you been doing all these years being out of the band? Are you in constant contact with the other two?

I have not contacted Sam for 10 years until we jam recently in Hot Sound studio in Wangsa Maju. Check out my facebook photos. With Miji, I think we only spoke about 3-4 times in that 10 years. I spoke to him recently though. All these while I have been busy building my career in the marketing communications industry.

7- Did you bought any of the post Yours Truly albums? What do you think about the all the albums recorded with Hillary Ang?

I have never heard any of their songs!

8- Can we expect another showcase/product from Karl or Cromok? Another album maybe?

Insyaallah my single will be released during this fasting month. I am collaborating with one of the legendary singer in malaysia. I will announce it soon. My solo album is schedule to be released after Hari Raya and many more stories and activities to come. I will announce all those when the time comes. So stay tuned!

Karl Cromok Website | Facebook

Silent Death the Interview: no comments

It has been a while indeed since my last post. The hectic life again. What do we have here then? This is an interview with Stone of the legendary Malaysian Death Metal band, Silent Death. The band was formed in 1987 and was originally called Bacteria before the change of moniker to the now Silent Death.

The band recorded a demo in 1990 titled Eternal Damnation and went on to sign with a local label called Dark Journey records. In 1992 Silent Death went on to release its debut album called Before The Sunrise and provided 2 new songs for a local metal compilation called Dark Live Collection in 1993. In 1997, Silent Death managed to release an EP titled Breaking The Silence under Psychic Scream Ent. Silent Death recorded a tribute album called harbinger of Devastation and recorded 2 new songs for a compilation called Storm of Nebiula which was released by Nebiula Productions in 1998. Silent Death also contributed one song for another local compilation called Tribute to Rusty Blade in 1999 before going on an indefinite hiatus shortly after.

December 2009, the Malaysian Metal scene embraced the reformation of Silent Death with Stone leading the band and the scene into the fire of death metal! I managed to interview Stone via Facebook and he was kind enough to provide me with the answers with regard to the new long awaited album from the masters themselves. Here goes:

Hello there. Can you please introduce yourself?

This is Stone, the vocalist and bassist for the band Silent Death.

Silent Death is currently in the middle of recording a new album. Can you please update the readers with the progress thus far?

As of current, we have already recorded all the drum parts since our drummer, Ian Han, will be off to Europe. The initial plan was to release the album in July but certain things did not went out the we planned. Right now, we are pleased to inform you that we have managed to finish of 70% of the recording but for the bass, guitars and vocal parts. the completed songs were as follows: Budak Botak, Mati Senyap and Diam Mati. There are 5 more songs to be completed not including the intro and the outro by Joe Slaughter.

Ian Han off to Europe? How it is then for Silent Death to perform and promote the new album with out him? Will you be using session drummers?

Yes. Silent Death will be using session drummers to fill the line up while Ian is away. As of right now, we are using Art, from the band, Forsaken.

What do you think of the current Silent Death line up? Any comments on their contribution to the composition of Silent Death's songs?

I like working with this current line up. We worked for the album together, sitting down writing songs and sharing all the ideas for the album. Which part goes with which part.. What should be included in this part.. It was fun. Not like when I used to do everything all by myself. Joe Slaughter contributed 2 songs, E.Jal contributed 1 and the rest were composed by me. All of the songs are killer songs! I truly hope that this album will become a Silent Death killer album after all these years of indefinite hiatus.

Do you think that with all the contributions from Joe and Ejal will, let us say, disrupt the Silent Death Death Metal sound which is synonymous with your compositions?

I dont think that it will. The contributions from Joe and Ejal will provide an extra taste or something different to Silent Death. The old Silent Death sound which was synonymous with my compositions will still be intact. It will not disrupt Silent Death's brand of Death Metal at all.

I am very sure that this album will be more varied and colorful so to speak. Will Silent Death remain loyal to the old style of death metal in the likes of the previous albums or will we be seeing Silent Death experimenting with the now popular Gothenberg sound?

Death Metal in the likes of our old albums of course. If there are any changes it would not be that obvious I think. It basically goes back to the personal influence brought to the table by each of the band members.

Can you please brief the readers with the behind the scenes of the production of the new album? The recording studio, sound engineer, producer.

The studio we used was Sutra Studio, in Damansara Perdana. It was engineered by Mr.Yusalman Azua and mixed by Zairi. The executive producer is Affi Ibrahim. This album will be produced by me and Silent Death.

4. The new drummer is Ian Han. Can you please tell us more about Ian. Will Ian Han be able to compete with the strokes of the mighty Ollie (Silent Death former drummer)?

We chose Ian Han for his commitments. He is so committed towards each and everything that he is doing. It was not just about the skills behind the skins that we cherished but also his contributions in terms of ideas, financial, experience and a whole lot more. He is a funny little fella and humble too. He is the youngest member in the Silent Death family and guess what? He taught drums in Bentley. You should buy the new album and then judge his skills yourself whether can he or can he not compete with Ollie.

Although I think it has been quite a while since the last time we saw Silent Death as an active unit, but the metal fans from all over the country still gave their fullest and biggest support. How do you feel about it? For me, it was like Silent Death had never been away at all.

Yes. It feels like Silent Death had never went away. I blessed with all the support and the reception of the local metal fans. I was stunned and left in disbelief that there are still so many Silent Death's fans out there and that every body is waiting for a new release from Silent Death. I used to gave up Silent Death but after seeing so many supporters and loyal fans out there, I marched through.

I think, maybe the older bands like Silent Death or Brain Dead for example has that sentimental values to the fans. What do you think?

It think it is true. There a lot of people out there who really wanted to see Silent Death reformed and putting their hopes on me to go out and reform the band. Back then life was a bit unstable. Now that I am more organized, i felt that I was finally ready to reform the band with the help of my manager. Yes. Sentimental values. I was quite shocked to learn that quite a number of people out there grew up listening to our music. Unbelievable indeed.

Now, for the last question, why, in your opinion, should the fans go out and buy the new album?

A long awaited album after 18 years since Before the Sunrise album which was released in 1992. Should i say more? Do you need any more reason to go out and buy this album? hahahaha. Experience the changes in me and Silent Death after 18 years ok?

(We need no reason to go out and buy this album once it hits the record store. Its fuckin Silent Death!-ED)