Saturday, December 16, 2006
Rock The World 7 is upon us! It is that time of the year again where rock music fans of all shapes and sizes gather for 8 hours of non-stop music that knows no boundaries, no limits and abso-fucking-lutely no clean toilets! Yes, I’m talking about your emo wannabees, your goth kids, your metalheads and your friendly neighbourhood punks and skinheads all coming together to enjoy fifty bands that are all out to destroy the three stages at their mercy. There are sure to be lots of moshing, head-banging and bodysurfing going around amongst 40,000 people that are going to be in attendance. In commemoration of this annual festival, I am going to review two albums that were released by two bands who were/are involved in the Rock The World concert series (Langsuyr in 2005 and Sil Khannaz this year).
Langsuyr - Asyik (Clockwork Records/EMI) March 2006
To begin with, this album prides itself with killer artwork all through the album’s sleeves. Orchestrated by the band’s founding guitarist Azmaniac, the very artsy layout of this album would make even the fussiest art gurus proud. Wish I could say the same about the music though. Not that it’s lack of memorable riffs and catchy tunes that will stick in your mind, hell no. On the contrary, this album is punch-drunk full of that, maybe even a little more “commercial-sounding” than it should be. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not the self-proclaimed “Metal Purist” type who despise any vocals that sounds better than a masturbating cat, and accepts nothing more than a studio production done in a 17th century toilet.
What I’m saying is, this album emphasizes too much on its melodic part at the expense of technical riffs and dark, and almost melancholic lyrics. How could they possibly shift from their early days of the “Occultus Mysticism” Demo and “Eastern Cruelty” EP to this? From mind-blowing, highly technical song structures of “My Oath for Thee”, they have now moved on to lyrics that talk about love (Mata Ayer), and also about becoming Hip-Hop listening Rempits (Sunut). Gosh! For a band that dons corpse paint and sports the Necronomicon symbol on their logo back in the day, Langsuyr sure have made a 360 degree turn-around. I guess age must’ve caught up with them, and being contracted to a major label could’ve played a part in that as well. At least, those factors got them a place at last year’s “Rock the World”, a headlining gig at Planet Hollywood, and also airplay at some radio stations (Traxx, Suria, Muzik FM). Good on you boys, I certainly hope you r band gets an AIM someday. As for moi, all I could say is, Rest in Peace Langsuyr (1991-2005).
Sil Khannaz – Berdiri Antara Panji-Panji (Interglobal Music)
The Malaysian Metal Gods have done it again! Although Sil Khannaz have barely disappointed ever since their first demo “Doctrine to Hell” came out in 1990, I was initially skeptical of this release since there was a definite shortage of local metal albums for the past couple of years, let alone good ones. So my initial thought was that Silkz (nickname given by fans) would just release a mediocre album that will still sell well considering the market’s extreme thirst for local metal. Boy, did I shit my pants when I first put this CD into the stereo! Of course I didn’t, but I nearly did, since I suffered from food poisoning the night before (damn you cannibalized chickens!). From the opening Swedish-styled riffs of “Intravena Tantrika” to the closing guitar instrumental of “Airmata Palestine”, this album would definitely convert every single one of you metalheads who, prior to this, believe that local metal sounds no better than David Beckham’s voice.
Lan Bye’s backing out of the band for family reasons and CD Naz’ departure for a solo career did not cause Sil Khannaz to crash as many expected. If anything, that actually made them stronger with the new recruits i.e. guitarist Joe Slaughter and drummer Adjeez. Joe’s chemistry with Dark-E on the guitar works of this album is amazing, especially during the remarkable twin guitar solos and unprecedented riff changes. Adjeez, also known in the underground scene as the ‘Malaysian Portnoy’, truly gave justice to that title, with impeccable drumming that compliments the progressive nature of this album. Compared to Silkz’ earlier albums, this record might be a little less aggressive, nevertheless it is much more progressive and technical. And also, the band members are using their real names instead of their pseudonyms this time around in the album sleeves (no longer known as Jaie Jokhannaz, Dark-E, Joe Slaughter, Hashim Pestilence and Adjeez). Rock The World 7 today will definitely be a blast with Sil Khannaz promising to belt out two songs from this album and three classic tracks from their glorious past. Come one, come all to Stadium Merdeka this evening and let Ramzee, Azrin Daharie, Zulkifli, Neer Hashim and Mohd Afzal take you for a neck-breaking trip onboard the majestic extreme metal vessel that is Sil Khannaz.
4 souls that need closure
