Bands : Malapetaka no comments

Malapetaka

1. The band emailed me some information about the band the other day. Today I went and pay their facebook page a visit out of curiosity and I was immediately intrigued, first by the awesome logo, next by the proposed artwork for their debut release and later, although a bit mildly at that particular moment, by their music. Malapetaka is a new four piece Death Thrash band from the ever so muddy banks of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The component of the band comprised of Ashok on the guitar, Alias on bass, Boon on vocals and Azmer on drums.

2. What I love about the band is that there are a few stints of originality stamped all over their songs especially on the leads department. You must give this band a listen to appreciate the solos. Javanese melody driven guitar solos, and that my friend is originality in my book. 

3. Some of you might give them a smirk for incorporating eastern metal influences in their music but ask yourself, are there any local bands that have ever managed to exploit the true depth and potential of eastern metal to its fullest since the As Sahar and Langsuyr days? The answer would be an obvious no.

4. Playing wise, I think they need to improve on the synchronicity of the guitars because, man its all over the place. The bass was a bit high and rumbling on the mix which is good, but the lack of uniformity in the riff department made the bass somewhat out of place. But the songs which I base my judgments on were from a three track demo and since its just a demo, I shall not give them a hard time about it. I can not wait for their EP. Labels out there, give this band a try.

5. Lend your support. Visit them now.

Malapetaka | Facebook 

Download : Maqabir - Cold, Blackness & Death (2013) no comments

Maqabir - Cold, Blackness & Death

Maqabir was formed somewhere in the end of the year 2012 with the release of their debut demo titled Danse Macabre. Maqabir is a solo project of its main mastermind, Nath. After the release of their debut, Maqabir began to release a few more titles in the form of Ars Moriend (EP 2013) "Maqbara" (Tape 2013) which was released by the Ukrainian label, Depressive Illusions Records, "Endless Darkness" (Unreleased Demo 2012), "In Memoriam" (Experimental LP 2013) along with a few Singles and unofficial release under their mighty bullet belt. 

Besides their official releases, Maqabir was also featured in various compilation in the likes of Pest Records Online Compilation Vol.13, Darkest Side of Life and Death, and Jericho Vol.13 - The Book Of Life. Musically, Maqabir plays Black Instru-Metal, Dark Ambient and the amalgamation of both, with darkness, depression and death as its main themes. According to Nath, this special promo "Cold, Blackness & Death" was released to promote and introduce the band through webzines, blogs and any other available cyber world channels.

Artist: Maqâbir
Title : Cold, Blackness & Death
Format: Digital Demo 2013, .mp3 128kbps
Label : Self-released
Length: 24:40 minutes

Tracks:
1. Cold Death of the Earth (demo version) - 4:28
2. Obscure Prevails - 4:00
3. Maqbara - 4:07
4. Ars Moriendi (demo version) - 5.36
5. Funeral Depression (demo version) - 6.29

Nath - all compositions, instruments, programming & recordings

Contact:
qabr2013@gmail.com
nath.maqabir@facebook.com

Website:
http://maqabir.blogspot.com
http://maqabir.bandcamp.com
http://soundcloud.com/maqabir
http://facebook.com/nath.maqabir
http://youtube.com/user/maqabirband

DOWNLOAD

Videos: Born In The Basement. no comments

Born In The Basement | 66 Minutes | Kundrat Productions | 2007

1. Being a fan of his work in Get Thrashed, I made it a mission to find out, and possibly get my filthy hands on any of Rat Skates other film works. Wish granted, I got Born In The Basement. What I loved about Get Thrashed was its total honesty and sincerity. You will get that sensation that the video was made out of his love for the music and none other. It all rolls down to this video that I am about to review, Born In The Basement. 

2. Born In The Basement is basically some type of a memoir of Skates time struggling keeping his band, the mighty Overkill, afloat, back in the 80s. I do not consider this a full fledged documentary about the band, even though the focal point of BITB revolved around Overkill. Like I said, it is more of a memoir with Rat Skates recalling war stories from his days in Overkill.

3. Overkill is a legendary Thrash Metal band hailing from New Jersey and for you who are not in the know, Skates was the bands original founder and drummer. Despite Skates resignation from the band due to exhaustion, the New Jersey wrecking crew soldiered on releasing albums after albums through out the year without ever compromising their sound one bit (unlike certain famous big four bands), and remained one of the best Thrash Metal band, unchallenged till this day.

4. My experience with Overkill is rather new. Despite very familiar with the status of the band being one of the earlier Thrash bands from the States, I never had the desire to check their music out. Not until I feasted my ears to their come back highly praised critically acclaimed album, Iron Bound, which was released back in 2009, I became an Overkill convert. Who is the best thrash metal vocalist of all time? No, not Mustaine nor Araya. Belladonna came close. Hetfield is lightyears away compared to the deafening howls of Bobby Blitz. That guy is a freaking monster.

5. Back on the video, BITB recalls the band in its earlier formative years, back when the band was still wearing ghoulish make up and scary vampire capes. Rat Skates would do anything and everything to make his band successful. Extravagant live shows, extravagant stage props, crazy DIY merchandising, the blood, the sweat and the fucking tears made you want to stand up and give five salutes to the man. It was all Skates.

6. The dedication that this man gave to the band, the amount of hard work that this man put into the band, were nothing less then phenomenal. It was really sad that he decided to give up the band after all the years he sacrificed for Overkill. 

7. If you love Overkill or Thrash Metal in general, then you should go out and find this documentary. If you are not a fan but would like to discover the secret to success as a musician in a band despised by the society, then you should also try and get this.