The Flashcards: Kekal - Quantum Resolution (2020)

70+/100

Genre: Avant-garde metal/electronic

The sole avant-garde metal unit in Indonesia releases their 12th album. This is my very first experience with them, and it instantly left my head spinning—spinning trying to figure out how on earth to deconstruct their music.

A synthesizer opens "Quiet Eye" before transitioning into a progressive/black metal style with a rather promising blast beats, a momentum that continues straight into "Spiritual Anarchism." Elements of hip-hop, electronic, trap, and jazz are scattered absolutely everywhere. "Inward Journey" delivers a majestic yet synthetic orchestral touch and even features vocals from Hatsune Miku. "The Sleep System" leans closer to conventional progressive metal, save for a brief snippet of black metal with a distinct local atmosphere from the 03:10 to 04:33 mark. "Driven" is equally wild—a track that truly drives forward with the harsh grating of avant-garde black metal until the 03:15 mark.

"Testimony" and "Zoe" stand out as the lightest tracks, completely devoid of any metal elements, while "Apocalypse: Quantum Resolution" opts out of harsh vocals entirely; it feels relatively safe and could have been an option for me, if not for a mid-track hip-hop segment thrown in for the resolution. The outro, "Pneumatic Union," feels like a comforting synth ambient piece, marking the end of this difficult-to-comprehend quantum vortex.

Well, in the end, I can see that Kekal can't entirely escape the influence of mainstream genres in Indonesia; the black metal roots and a local accent are highly apparent whenever the clean vocals step up, but it isn't too much of an issue. At the very least, they are fair enough to showcase that vocal style, given the heavy dominance of extreme genres (death metal and hardcore) over there.

Tracklist:

1. Quiet Eye

2. Spiritual Anarchism

3. Inward Journey

4. The Sleep System

5. Testimony

6. Driven

7. Zoe

8. Hidden No More

9. Apocalypse: Quantum Resolution

10. Pneumatic Union

Comments

Breakcore: Subheroine - End. (2025)

77 / 100 End. is Subheroine ’s most immersive and emotionally textured work yet ... Is being a week late enough to make a new release feel cold and stale? Maybe it’s the effect of our fast-paced modern world and the FOMO trend. Who knows. Whatever. Alright then, let’s welcome a new breakcore/drum & bass album (though it runs under 30 minutes) from Subheroine : End. ! End. by SUBHEROINE Released just on November 7 via Japan’s veteran breakcore label, Lost Frog Productions , End . delivers a noticeably more atmospheric vibe this time. So, tagging it as atmospheric drum & bass makes perfect sense, while the “depressive” tag seems to apply only to the cover art. But is that really the case? As always, there are surprises when reviewing music—those unexpected moments that make certain tracks sound more intriguing than expected. The most prominent depressive elements appear in the sampled voice of an anime girl sounding shocked or weakened in...

Electronica/IDM: 4T Thieves - Humanoid (2018)

70 / 100 Humanoid is a compact and tastefully crafted slice of IDM-leaning electronica that blends futuristic elements without overwhelming the listener. I opened my December with an electronica release by 4T Thieves , an EP titled Humanoid , which came out back in February 2018. A brief profile and the project’s track record can be found on RYM or Last.fm , and it’s clear that this act has been active since the 90s, although only arriving on Bandcamp around 2018. Humanoid by 4T Thieves As the name suggests, Humanoid presents a modern environment tinged with a futuristic sci-fi atmosphere, supported by drum work leaning toward IDM and prominent synth/bass that paints the image of a future city gate on “ Elemental .” This is followed by “ Codex ,” which is given a special dose of classic IDM-style glitch effects , and the rest continues into “ The Looking Glass ,” which gives off a nighttime-shadow feel through its slightly dark synth melodies. “Band...

Listening Notes: Playlist Clearance Vol. 1

If a store has a term called clearance sale, then I have a new agenda called playlist clearance . This agenda is meant to clean up releases sitting on my playlist shelves—sometimes for months—without any written listening notes. This matters a lot to me personally, since I prefer listening to music offline rather than streaming, even though platforms like Spotify also offer offline features. I’m already too used to downloading music, even if it means I’ll probably never really get into mainstream artists, which automatically reduces public attention. Hahaha… As for that issue, I do have my own alternative—but for now, I don’t yet have a map to avoid being overwhelmed and confused when diving into streaming platforms just to consume popular releases. Alright, back to cleaning up the playlist. What’s in here this time? Let’s take a look! Abraham – Débris de mondes perdus (2022) 73% Sometimes music can feel like a stab—or a cause of headache—like this fourth album from Sw...

Search This Blog