Bands: Punah Ranah. 4 comments

Punah Ranah

1- Punah Ranah is a political grindcore + brutal death metal band from the muddy banks of Kuala Lumpur. Punah Ranah (a malay word for Collateral Damage) consists of Epul (growls and shrieks), Azan (Guitars and shrieks), Ashie (drums) and Bess (Bass). I believe the band will be recording and releasing a proper record pretty much soon I guess. Their debut two live tracks promo have been circulating through out the net for quite some time now. Search for it your self, fuckers.

2- There are 3 songs in their Myspace page and man the songs were heavy. The first song, R.M.P.P, started with some radio excerpts before the heavy guitars came down plundering the earhole of any unsuspecting assholes with your typical five fast notes of grinding riff with a nice chugging parts at the end of the riff. Headbangable. The second song, Trichuris Retaliation, was supposed to be a live song. If it was really a live recording then I am impressed. The guitars were heavy. The vocals? Your typical cookie monster growls doubled with your typical banshee shrieks. Typical from top to bottom but give this one a chance.

3- Visit the band at their Myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/punahranah   

Rants - New Malaysian Metal Releases. no comments

1- Since it has been a while since I last myspace walk so some of the releases below may be not as up to date. Well, better late then never, right.

The grim regiment of Immolate.

2- Immolate is a black metal band from Sarawak. The band was formed way back in 1998. It was in September this year that the band finally released a demo titled Immolate the Night Clewoon. You can try and give their songs a listen via their myspace page. There are a couple of songs in the page for those out there who like grim, dirty and raw black metal, one being the title track and another called Confession of the Enchanted. Nothing outstanding with those tracks, same old same old. Try and check their Myspace out at: http://www.myspace.com/immolatetian. Get their demo for RM10 or USD6.

Larrong Mighty Death Squad.

3- I believe the Malaysian metal scene is familiar with Larrong. I was introduced to this band through a compilation called Panggilan Pulau Puaka, a compilation produced and released by Psychic Scream Entertainment a long long time ago. But the band itself was formed somewhere in 1992 unleashing their first demo called Curse of Devastation. Blackened Death Metal? I do not know since I was never any good in determining the genre. The MCD was called Dakan Perana Tana and it was released way back in March, earlier this year. They got some catchy riffs. Check the songs out at their myspace: http://www.myspace.com/larrong.

Books: Heavy Metal In Baghdad - The Story of Acrassicauda. no comments

Heavy Metal In Baghdad - The Story of Acrassicauda by Andy Capper and Gabi Sifre.

Title: Heavy Metal in Baghdad - The Story of Acrassicauda.
Authors: Andy Capper & Gabi Sifre.
Publisher: MTV Books/Pocket Books.
Additional Information: Paperback, 290 Pages, RM 60.17, Kinokuniya Bookstore Kuala Lumpur.

1- I have watched the awesome video, Heavy Metal in Baghdad and now this is the book version of the same video. For those who have watched the video I believe you are familiar with story of Acrassicauda, a striving heavy metal band from the war torn city of Baghdad.

2- While the movie received a lot of positive attention and I personally think that the movie was awesome, unfortunately there is nothing awesome about this book really besides the fact that this is just another channel to milk for some more extra cash from the acrassicauda phenomenon. The book followed The Dirt formula, instead of an author telling the story of the band from a third person point of view, they let the band members themselves do the talking and story telling, a style made famous by that awesome Motley Crue autobiography, The Dirt.

3- I dont know but some of the word structures used were quite week grammatically. I am not a grammar nazi and not even grammatically proficient myself but come on, I paid a hefty lot of money to buy and read the book, I expect at least a good structure of sentences. So uninspiring for a very inspiring story. They even got one third of the book filled with the movie transcript. What the fuck? Why the fuck would I wan to read the fucking transcript? Was this a move to thicken the book?

4- Well, unfortunately I am not going to recommend this if you have already watched the movie. It's a waste of good money. By the way, if you are curious, Acrassicauda is now in the States and they have recorded an awesome EP, Only the Dead See The End of War with the mighty Alex Skolnick of Testament behind the producers chair. Get the EP not the book. Will they release a book about the process of recording that EP? I guess only time and greed will tell. Haha.