Kekal

Kekal is an extreme metal band from Indonesia, formed back in August 1995 as a one-time project by two guys. Three months later they had a chance to record a 4-song demo (only 20 copies printed to be spreaded in the local tape trading circuit).

June 1996 was the month of the return of Kekal. Kekal became active again, but this time with a vision and commitment. Some changes in line-up came about. With Harry on Vocals, Leo on Guitar, Jeff on Guitar/Vocals, and Azhar on Bass/Vocals, Kekal continued to write new material. Early in 1998, the first full-length album entitled Beyond The Glimpse of Dreams was recorded and licensed to various labels. First is just on cassette format by a small Indonesian label THT Productions, and later being re-released on both CD and cassette formats by Singaporean label Candlelight Productions. Musically, they combine the strong elements of black metal, death metal, classic-metal, and presented with doom, gothic, and dark-wave influences which strongly present in some of their songs. Beyond The Glimpse of Dreams has got very good reviews from 'zines around the world and being considered as one of the best extreme metal albums ever coming from Asian bands.

The 2nd full-length album from Kekal called Embrace The Dead was recorded independently again and released on August 30, 1999 by THT productions as a tape version (and later by Fleshwalker Records and THT Productions as CD versions), which without a doubt shows every extreme metal lover once again, about the strength and uniqueness of Kekal's music.

Early 2001 Kekal entered the studio to record songs for next full-length project entitled The Painful Experience, their finest material with better production. Clenchedfist Records released the album in late 2001.