Rebirth of Jatisunda

It’s been a while since I posted about Indonesia. Of course, I always have the Indonesian metal scene in mind, as it’s one of the craziest, most passionate and dedicated scenes in Asia. They have a really strong death metal scene, and the city of Bandung in particular is strong in the brutal death metal scene, and they know how to make brutal death metal.

Jasad’s album “Rebirth of Jatisunda” is one such example of the awesomeness that is the Indonesian death metal scene. this album was released in April 13th, 2013 under Extreme Souls Productions. When I was travelling to Bandung for my winter vacation a year ago, I saw a plethora of metal merchandise shops. In one of the shops, I found this slab of brutality and most curious on the album cover art and being told that they sang about Javanese culture, decided to get it, and I’ve never been happier about getting it.

There are a few breakdowns, which I am not typically a big fan of, particularly in the earlier tracks of the album. However, they don’t take over entire songs, as there are also plenty of riffs, solos, a few of which can also be quite melodic and catchy. There’s a very good mix of brutally aggressive chainsaw riffs, grooves, melodic solos, and breakdowns throughout this album. They do a great job at mixing things up here and there so that the listener can stay hooked. Blastbeats are plenty, yet not overpowering the guitars, which is a sign of a very good job on the producer’s part. The blastbeats, brutal as they are, are also not domineering of the music, always done at appropriate times.

The vocals are also really great. The lyrics are sang in Javanese, perfect as the lyrics are about the band’s Javanese heritage. One thing I really like about Indonesian metal is that a good number of the vocalists choose to sing in their native tongues instead of singing in poor English, adding more power to their music plus making them stand out more from other Western bands. He is a very versatile vocalist, able to do high screams as well as low, guttural growls, and even a pig squeal here and there.

Great album, I would strongly recommend this album for any brutal death metal fans, fans of Asphyxiate (also from Indonesia) or Abysmal Torment may enjoy this band.

Rating: 8.5/10

Written for Asia Metalhead - www.asiametalhead.com