Daarchlea - Suns

Daarchlea is one of those bands that use elements that Metalheads are used to, elements that are familiar to the senses of those who dabble in such music yet are able to create something different. On the surface, one could easily throw names like Behemoth, Dimmu Borgir or to a certain extent, Emperor to describe the music played by this band.


While from their past releases there is a slight tinge of Middle Eastern scales in the music, the music on Suns barely has that but move on closer to the modern Black/Death sound, but with light clean vocals sprinkled on top. What is interesting about this band, and made them slightly different from their peers is that the band has decided to use Islamic themes and imagery in Suns.


From the lyrics, touching about creation from an Islamic perspective, to Islamic theology on Qhilav, the band was able to pull it off without feeling as if being forced fed while reading the lyrics or listening to the tracks. Everything is done in a semi-vague manner that uses Arabic terms, giving a sort of exotic feel, like the first time I read lyrcis by Norwegian bands who uses terms from Norse Mythology or how Anaal Nathrakh uses legal terms of Latin origin.

One may say it’s the band’s shtick. Considering how Islam plays a huge role in the daily affairs of a Malay-Muslim in Malaysia, this whole image is honest. In fact, as a non-religious man myself, I would say that this pretty bad ass.

Last I recalled, Malaysia wasn't as cold as Norway.

Since this isn’t an anthropology paper, let’s get back to the record. What struck me most is how every single element is represented greatly in the songs. Firstly, the vocal range by vocalist Al-Matin (Which actually translates to “The King” in French. I have no idea if he knows it though), is amazing. He could pull off deep growls that could very well fit in a Cattle Decapitation record and you could easily hear the words he enunciates. This isn’t some random growls that you could throw in a not figure out the words even when not reading the lyrics.


On the flip side of the coin, the Black Metal influence on the shrieks were done in a tasteful manner, that does not sounds like an annoying Dani Filth but sound closer to what Ihsahn pulled off in Anthems. To me, it was sort of surprising considering the band claimed to have Cradle of Filth as an influence in past interviews. While Nergal could be cited as an influence, none of the vocals were the mid-range bark that Nergal has.


As mentioned above, there were clean vocals here but don’t expect deep operatic vocals like Dimmu Borgir but you can expect vocals that are pseudo-calming like Ulver’s Bergtatt but used in a manner that wants to be operatic. The guitars were crisps clear and the modern production definitely helped a lot here. Every single riff had a purpose the transition between haunting guitar tremolos that they pulled off from a Norwegian Black Metal textbook really shines in between the modern Death Metal punches.


The Death Metal riffs aren’t the old school semi-thrash sounding riffs or even the New York, slam inducing riffs but its closer to the more to the straight up modern Death Metal of Kataklysm. There are NO GUITAR SOLOS here but who says you need guitar solos to create good extreme Metal? The riffs here are amazing enough that I don’t have much to complain.


However at one or two times the band sounds as if they were about to transition into a breakdown, making me fear that all that amazing energy accumulated might just go to waste. Then again, that is just a minor gripe and my bad experience of listening to the multitude of Deathcore clones that just doesn’t try to be different from one another.


Another thing that was ringing through my mind is that I wish the band has the bass cranked up higher. The bass here just sounds as if was a hitchhiker along with the ride. Like any traveller, he might have something interesting to say but at the end of the day he is not in the driver’s seat.

Daarchlea @ Rock The World '13. Sort of like a Malaysian Soundwave or Download Festival where bands of various genres play here so there will be Metal bands like Daarchlea thrown into the mix.

This is all layered by amazing drumming that uses the double pedals sparingly but has a knack of using the snare as every good Black Metal band should. The drum rolls to transition from part to another were amazingly connected that it felt like glue. If it weren’t present, the parts would just sound jarring and might fall apart. A lot of bands just skip the transition and expect that two drum beats could connect, and expect the band to just go on.


There are times it could work, say when the band is trying to pull off a surprise tempo change, just like how Cephalic Carnage does from time to time but a band that tries to put glue to different parts, will have to realize that you do need an adhesive, and that adhesive are those amazing drum rolls. Kudos on that.  


On the keyboards, yes keyboards. This is where the Cradle of Filth or Hecate Enthroned influenced comes in. Not only the keyboards replace the orchestra, they add a whole different atmosphere when the Death Metal sets in. It turns it from the conventional Death Metal to the soundtrack of a decapitator in medieval dungeons. Though I’m sure that is no what the band wants you to imagine with their lyrical themes but that is how it sounds like. The piano at times takes the leads and becomes the driving narrative.


On tracks like Qhilav, the piano sets up the battlefield before the battery charges in, creating that mystical feel, almost Goth-like set up. To add another twist to the band’s style, the piano takes it’s time to shine when all the other instruments are set to rest for a minute and gets accompanied by the sound of a Kompang in the instrumental track, Ascend to Arasy.


Kompang for the uninitiated is a Malaysian folk instrument that is similar to a tambourine with Arab origins, normally played during weddings.


I could assume that in future albums the band would add more of the Malaysian influence into the music.

#Hornthrone
Check out Daarchlea playing Suns in it's entirety on the 27th. Don't forget to stop by.

By the end of the record, it will dawn to you that this is a great example of a great modern sounding album. Everything is glued together without sounding so jarring. While many bands decide to combine various genre to create something unique this band combines the genres to make something that feels familiar on the surface but then later on closer inspection shows something slightly different.


The tone, or probably the musical “accent” that the band has, gives the band identity. I remember a while back in an interview that Mirai of Sigh said that them speaking Japanese 24/7 probably have accidently led to the band putting in their accents or the more melodic elements of the Japanese language into their song writing elements.


That probably made the band sound different from their other Black Metal peers. Daarchlea’s Suns, just like the amazing Malaysian record, Langsuyr’s Asyik has accidentally added the tone, the accents of the language or elements they pick up in life. It sounds Malaysian, it has the musical feel of a Malay-Muslim musical heritage and that is probably what made Daarchlea sound different from the rest. Get it for excellent Malaysian Black/Death Metal.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/daarchleaofficial

Slugdge - Gastronomicon

Slugdge's Gastronomicon is a post-modernist Black/Death/Sludge Metal masterpiece, that can only exist today, due to the establishment of tropes. Matt Ross and Kev Pearson are the Dan Harmon of the Metal scene and unfortunately like Mr. Harmon, isn't given enough attention. For those who don't know what is postmodernism, may have difficulties in reading this post but here's a short definition, courtesy of Lord Google;

noun: postmodernism; noun: post-modernism

1. a late 20th-century style and concept in the arts, architecture, and criticism, which represents a departure from modernism and is characterized by the self-conscious use of earlier styles and conventions, a mixing of different artistic styles and media, and a general distrust of theories.

There are many ways this band reminds me of Dan Harmon's Community. It takes the conventions, typically seen their respective media. Dan Harmon takes the tropes he has seen through television and movies while Slugdge takes the over the top lyrics of bands singing Lovecraftian themes, mythology, cosmic dangers and blends all of them to create their own folklore, with intergalactic cosmic slug conquerors in the place of Chthulu this time.


Using that gimmick and not going so serious about it, the bands glorifies these tropes, celebrates them as it is the identity of the subculture, while pulling off something comedic. We don't laugh at the tropes, we laugh at the comedy created through the tropes. Just like how Community, glorifies pop culture and nerdery (for a lack of a better term) making you laugh along with the nerds, rather than laughing AT the nerds like a certain TV show. How can one not feel the majesty of the Ancient Slug One when reading quotes like this;

"Rhaexorog the lord of all protector of what lies beyond
the greatest of the chosen ones, anointed of the netherslugs "

 And not laugh at the same time that the destruction of our universe and galaxy is at the hands of a creature known to be killed by our Grandmothers using kitchen salt in our garden. Surely somewhere out there a little kid is screaming "ewww" while pouring salt all over these slimy creatures (You're welcome, now you have your weekend schedule filled). At that point, the band is not what you are laughing at, but the actual content of the lyrics. As if rewarding us, the bands uses puns as reference to great bands of yesterday, as an audio equivalent of a battle vest.

Exactly how Community is already fun as it is, but you could spot the Stanley Kubrick or West Wing references in the episodes, you will get an extra kick and feel special. Dan Harmon managed to pull in the people who understood those complicated reference in the background and make them belonged in the universe of Community.

They feel as if they are part of that universe, a universe that understands their sense of humor and that is what this band is also doing through their lyrics and song titles. Salters of Madness is truly streets ahead. Same as the lyric content, you feel as if you were pulled into that universe. What may seem as something alien, becomes familiar to you as only the ones who know the genre conventions know where it is heading.

Where slugs roam free

Just like the elaborate set-up, and the genre pastiche that Community uses, Slugdge were not afraid to combine every single influence they have and they wear it proud. Community uses the sitcom format while presenting tributes to Mad Max, John Woo action movies, and Doctor Who being channeled through Inspector Spacetime, while Slugdge doesn't give a fuck about the genre conventions and did something honestly original.


While primarily using Death Metal as their template, the Black Metal influence comes in the tremolo, and the atmosphere, reminding me of mid-era Behemoth. Rather than purely blasting their way through with double bass and picking up the pace like Nile, the band balances their slow parts in the verses with blistering speed only when necessary.


In fact, at times, the band sounds doomy and may very well stay in the mid-paced Death/Doom region but then all of a sudden Black Metal comes in to rip off your face. The sound resembles exactly their subject matter of slugs. They may come off slow when you see them from a far, but when you look at their gross faces you, feel as if you were just sucked at rapid pace into that horrendous black hole of terror.


Then when you thought that the tracks were just on the brutal end of the spectrum, clean operatic vocals strike in. Like God Dethroned's In The Sign of the Iron Cross, the clean vocals serves as a menacing though of how majestic is this. In any good pseudo-opera vocals, the clean vocals in this album were served with echo, simulating an experience where the music consumes you and surrounds you, despite being in a massive cavern.


Just when you thought they ran out of tricks, songs like The Sound of Mucus come in and play a hard hitting Sludge tempo and catchy riffs, that could easily remind you the heavier tracks of Kylesa. The semi clean vocals on this part sounds less operatic and visceral, as if trying to remind you that the threat you are about to see is real and will cause grievous hurt.

Just like Slugs, real versions of college aren't that fun. Slugs must be spelled with capitals now.

All in all, Slugdge just like Community, can even be enjoyed even if you were to just enjoyed Death Metal for a year. Maybe you would pass it off as another record, just as many decides to skip this and watch Parks & Rec instead but you cannot deny the brilliance of it. However, it's the ones that understood what were the band was talking about and why did Dan Harmon decide to pull off an action movie in a 30 minute sitcom with paintballs, that will enjoy the full extend of this record.


Oh, did I mention it was free on their bandcamp? It's free!

Bandcamp: http://slugdge.bandcamp.com/
Slugdge: https://www.facebook.com/Slugdge

If you are too lazy to download:

Terence A. Anthony commutes between Kuala Lumpur and Kuching. Co-Founder of Aural Chaos. He also writes for Greater Malaysia and Opinions Unleashed.

Daarchlea - Dher Phalse Mesaya

I'm not a Muslim, nor am I a religious man. In fact, agnosticism and skepticism, has always been proper descriptors to my "belief system" ever since my teens. So when I first heard that there is a band that uses Islamic imagery and Arabic/Middle Eastern influences in their music I was a bit skeptical.


Not so much on the usage of Middle Eastern influence in the music but how well do Islamic teaching goes with metal, and in this case Melodic Death Metal with Black Metal influences. Bands like Melechlesh, Behemoth, and even Nile have well integrated Middle Eastern influences in their music. Christianity has also dabbled with Black Metal, ranging from utterly cheesy "I love Jesus" but in a pagan-esque way, to the old testament, vengeful God portrayal that could make me say "Hallelujah" in a heartbeat.


The closest I thought an Islamic tone ever work in Extreme Music was in a sarcastic manner like what the Hardcore Punk band, Fearless Iranians From Hell had as a gimmick. Even Taqwacore Punk bands were sort of cheesy.

By the time I saw this videoclip, let's say my skepticism has sort of quelled. The Islamic imagery seems to work well, akin to the Old Testament vibe that most Christian Metal bands have. The band however employs a sense of Sunni-Supremacy ideologue (to a certain extend, I suspect anti-Shiite), for the lack of a better term. Also, clearly showing the influence on their song title. "Dher Phalse Mesaya." Reminded me of the Muslim Hardcore Punk badasses at the end of the movie Taqwacore, Bilal's Boulder. Whether they should be celebrated for those views, it's up to you to judge. I'm not here to be Reza Aslan or to debate the tenets of a religion that I only understand the basics of.

Now on the music instead. The band employs quick paced melody lines, and by quick paced I mean alternating between blast beats, complex rollings and your regular Death Metal double bass.Now judging from that song only, the band does not seem shy to show their Black Dahlia Murder influence. At times they jump to Dimmu Borgir like clean vocals that somehow managed to fit well into the song. Normally when bands copy Demon Burger, they order an extra slice of melted cheese with it. The droopy ones were my concern. All in all, I can say the track sounds like a very melodic Behemoth, with clean vocals towards the end.

Now these, bad boys (maybe holy would be a better adjective) also have an album, coming out this 27th of August. Even their album inlay has the Arabic influence all over it. To be honest, I thought this was a nice alternative to the typical artwork most Metal bands had.

Don't forget to check out Suns, on the 27th of August and their album launch where they will be playing the whole album, on the 27th of September at Alt HQ, Bukit Bintang. Will definitely be there.

https://www.facebook.com/daarchleaofficial

Terence A. Anthony commutes between Kuala Lumpur and Kuching. Co-Founder of Aural Chaos. He also writes for Greater Malaysia and Opinions Unleashed.