Reviews: Jugra Promo 01 no comments

Posted at 10:00 AM in

JUGRA


1. The front man of the band and I got acquainted via Facebook and he then emailed me the promo of his band, Jugra, for us to review in the Bullet Belt. I have heard of the name of the band before but I have never got the time to check them out. Thankfully the band were kind enough to send me the promo.

2. Being a history buff myself, I was first attracted to the name of the band. Jugra is a name of a historical place here in Malaysia. Well, lets get down to business. Jugra is a three piece band hailing from Petaling Jaya, Selangor. The band consists of Daeng Andika on guitars and vocals, Daeng Kepalang on bass and vocals and Daeng Lumania on drums. If I got my facts correct, Daeng Andika is also the same person behind Singhasari, one of the better new black metal band that got into my radar a couple of years ago. 

3. What about the music? The music is a weird mixture of street rock with black metal vocals, something that I am not that familiar with. I appreciate the effort in trying to be original though. The 3 track promo started with an ambient intro of Malay traditional instrumentation, something I am quite familiar with since I used to follow my late grandfather to events playing these type of instrumentation, in my younger days. 

4. The guitars were high on the mix, something that I can really appreciate. The bass were audible while drums were losing the bass drum sound. Over all, the actual songs that were featured in the promo have that thick street rock vibe. Its like listening to 4 Skins or The Oppressed but with black metal vocals. No, this is not Black And Roll or is it? I dont know, I can not really make them out. But I guess it is safe to say that this is the closest thing you that can get here as far as Black And Roll goes. Awesome. 

Bands : Malapetaka no comments

Posted at 10:00 AM in

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

Posted at 2:16 PM in

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


Worshippers.