Acidity (album)

Acidity is the fifth album by Indonesian avant-garde metal band Kekal. It was recorded in celebration of the band's tenth anniversary, and was an official reunion album for the band.[2][7][8] It marked the return of guitarist Leo Setiawan to the band, and includes the vocal talents of founding member Newbabe. The album was released following the band's successful 2004 European mini-tour, and a promotional concert and release party was held for the album on 13 March 2005 in Indonesia.[9] It was considered by many to be the band's strongest work to date,[10] and is one of four albums available for free download from the band on its website.

Acidity
Studio album by
Kekal
ReleasedFebruary 2005 (THT Productions/T.O.P/Musica Studios, cassette)
March 2005 (Fear Dark Records, CD)
RecordedVision Studio, Jakarta, Indonesia
Studio Vertigo, Melbourne, Australia
GenreAvant-garde metal, electronic, extreme metal, heavy metal
Length56:06
LabelTHT Productions/T.O.P.
Fear Dark Records
ProducerJeff Arwadi
Mixed at Vision Studio
Kekal compilations chronology
Spirits from the Ancient Days
(2004)
Kekal studio albums chronology
1000 Thoughts of Violence
(2003)		 Acidity
(2005)		 The Habit of Fire
(2007)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Arising Realm Magazine9.0/10[1]
HM Magazinefavorable[2]
Imperiumi.net5+/10[3]
Metal Storm7/10[4]
Powermetal.deHighly favorable[5]
"Psych Folk" RadioExtremely favorable[6]
Rock Tribune Magazine85/100
Terrorizer8.5/10

There is a music video created for the song "Dream for a Moment".[11]

Concept

The band has stated that while each song does not represent the overall sound of the album, each song contributes to the album concept.[8] According to Jeff, the title is referencing acid indigestion caused by urban stress and eating fast food, and represents the stress of city living and economic hardship.[12]

Style

Acidity continued with the experimental precedent set by 1000 Thoughts of Violence and included a wide variety of musical styles including avant-garde, black metal, classic rock, electronic, indie rock, progressive metal, progressive rock, psychedelic rock, and trip hop.[2][13] Other elements incorporated into the sound were jazz and ambient passages as well as double-bass drum blasts.[2] The vocals range from black metal shrieks to death growls to clean vocal styles.[2] A review by progressive.homestead.com, a division of "Psych Folk" Radio, listed the album style as including elements of "symphonic metal, heavy metal (more like early Iron Maiden), dark and brutal metal, even a few seconds of hiphop metal".[6] Other elements cited were "gothic wave", jazzy melodies and improvisations, "pop song orientation with metal background", "progressive techno-electronic", "wild" progressive rock, and "some mad freakout theatrical avant-garde vocals", ambient guitar feedback, and "perhaps of few seconds of some Indonesian element."[6]

In an interview on Ultimate Metal.com, Jeff responded to the band being labeled "avant-garde": "For us, avant-garde is not a classification of music. It is a state of being, a state of becoming... ...once your music can be classified easily, I don't think the word progressive or avant-garde fits. So that's why we mention in our bio that "avant-garde" is an ideal state for us, and not a classification."[14]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Jeff Arwadi

No.TitleLength
1."Characteristicon"5:59
2."Strength in My Weakness"4:56
3."Thy Neighbor's Morality"7:25
4."A Dream for a Moment"5:50
5."Broken"4:46
6."Envy and Its Manifesto"5:59
7."The Way of Thinking Beyond Comprehension"8:51
8."Romanitika Destruksi"2:25
9."Blessing in Disguise"5:38
10."Empty Space"4:08

Line up
Promotional poster for the album release party at The Avenue, Hotel Sari Pan Pacific, Jakarta, Indonesia

With special guests:

References
  1. Freitag, Michael. "Kekal - Acidity". Arising Realm Magazine. Retrieved 12 June 2012.
  2. Morrow, Matt (2005). "HM - Kekal Review". HM Magazine Sep/Oct Issue (#115). HM Magazine. Archived from the original on May 16, 2008. Retrieved 5 January 2011.
  3. Korpinen, Antti (3 October 2006). "Kekal - Acidity". Imperiumi.net (in Finnish). Retrieved 16 June 2012.
  4. Promonex. "Kekal - Acidity - Rating details". Metal Storm. Retrieved 12 June 2012.
  5. Lang, Stefan (2 April 2005). "Kekal - Acidity". Powermetal.de (in German). Weihrauch Median Verlang. Retrieved 26 April 2012.
  6. "Kekal : Acidity". Progressive.homestead.com. "Psyche Folk" Radio. Retrieved 12 June 2012.
  7. Neithan (2 June 2005). "Music is very unique and personal". Archaic Magazine. Archived from the original on 5 October 2011. Retrieved 5 January 2011.
  8. Kekal. "Acidity (2005)". Kekal.org. Retrieved 5 January 2011.
  9. Kekal. "Kekal Shows". Kekal.org. Archived from the original on 26 October 2010. Retrieved 5 January 2011.
  10. Rivadavia, Eduardo. "Kekal". AllMusic. Retrieved 5 January 2011.
  11. Spitonitself (1 June 2007). "KEKAL - A Dream for A Moment". YouTube. Retrieved 2 June 2012.
  12. Kekal (11 September 2010). "Flashback, 15 Years of Kekal (1995 - 2010) - Part III: Acidity". Facebook. Retrieved 5 January 2011.
  13. Wagner, Jeff (2010). Mean Deviation: Four Decades of Progressive Heavy Metal. Bazillion Points Books. p. 342. ISBN 9780979616334. Retrieved 6 August 2011.
  14. Jordan, Jason. "Kekal - UltimateMetal Revisits Indonesia". UltimateMetal.com. Archived from the original on 9 June 2011. Retrieved 5 January 2011.
  15. Lang, Stefan (28 April 2005). "Interview mit Jeff Arwadi" (in German). Powermetal.de. Retrieved 12 February 2011.
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