The world knows of Indonesia’s love for heavy metal.

Frank Mullen, a member of the iconic American metal band Suffocation said on stage when the band played in Jakarta in 2007, "We have traveled all over the world, and Indonesia has the biggest metalhead crowd we've ever seen. We never thought that there would be a sea of people willing to jostle for our concerts.”

Local metal names such as Deadsquad, Seringai and Burgerkill have legions of fans as dedicated as those for global stars like Metallica and Slipknot.

And yet, hundreds of local metal acts and releases receive little to no attention from the local market, which in general focuses on international bands and the bigger local names mentioned above. For one reason or another, certain names are celebrated abroad but ignored in their own country. The Jakarta Post took a look at three such names.

Exhumation

The 2010s saw the rise of the “brutal death metal” genre, with hundreds of albums released by local bands, almost exclusively independently. Most sounded similar, with grunt-like vocals and blast-beat drumming – almost-inhumanly fast kick drum marathons. This was the time that Yogyakarta death metal band Exhumation began releasing records, including 2012’s Hymn to Your God and 2014’s Opus Death, which took less from contemporary death metal and instead looked to the genre’s 1980s incarnations, which were decidedly darker and more theatrical, particularly in lyrical imagery.

Opus Death is today considered a monumental death metal album, at least internationally. The Metal Injection website from the United States called it “an extreme metal gem crafted in the style of the mid-80s”.

The band’s style has continued in their most recent release, last year’s Eleventh Formulae. Still it was Opus Death that made international audiences, specifically from the US and Europe, fall for them. The band released Eleventh Formulae internationally on Singaporean label Pulverised and US label Transelvania Tapes, and they plan to go on tour in Europe next year.

“They have been sharpening their riffs since forming in 2008,” wrote Decibel Magazine of the album, “reimagining vintage 80s deathrash with songwriting instincts that build worlds instead of just setting them ablaze. Their third LP Eleventh Formulae is an invigorating hot-shot of ectoplasmic energy. The album unveils Exhumation’s artistic evolution, and does so without sacrificing the grit that has defined them for over a decade.”

Yoga “Ghoul” Ghotama, Exhumation’s guitarist, talked to the Post about what it meant to be known abroad.

“To be brutally honest, I am beyond joyful that my pathway to recognition was secured through extreme metal, a lifestyle for which I'm still best known for over 13 years. It is also a good omen to all of us that we can conquer the world in the end, leaving the doors open for any possibilities, if we are staying true to the underground, manifesting relevant art and maintaining integrity.”

For Yoga and his friends, it is all the result of their hard work and their passion for music.

“I am content with where we are now, no matter what form it takes, because it was all well-earned. Money does not represent the ultimate safety net for the band.”

Masakre

Masakre is something of a supergroup, made up of people who have been in the local metal scene for a number of years, including the band Grave Dancers and goth-punk group Kelelawar Malam (night bat). Masakre itself plays death metal with elements of the crust punk genre in their repertoire. They marry Japanese and Swedish extreme music influences, which not many Indonesians have done. The band’s first EP, Crawling to Perdition, was released in 2018 and did not receive a lot of local attention, but international reviews were good, such as from Hong Kong’s United Asia, which stated that while the band had borrowed “influences from classic death metal band like Bolt Thrower, Repulsion and slow dismal pace from Anatomia”, they had managed to forge their “own sound”. Two labels from Malaysia, Glord Records, and Pissed Off! Records then rereleased Crawling to Perdition on 7" vinyl and cassette tape formats.

The band will release their debut full-length album, Morbid Extinction, later this year on Pulverised Records in various formats.

According to the band, their recognition abroad is a byproduct of the relationship they maintain with the international bands they’ve come in contact with.

The band’s drummer, Saiful Haq, said, “The friendships flourish when we help [bands and labels] with booking and accommodation when their bands tour Indonesia, and afterwards, we stay in touch with them through social media.”

Saiful added that he and his bandmates frequently traded releases and merchandise with foreign bands, which developed into strong friendships and networking.

“We are very grateful that our work is appreciated by our friends, both who live in Indonesia and abroad,” he said.

Vallendusk

Vallendusk is not a new name in the Indonesian music scene. They have long stood out for their atmospheric brand of black metal. Still, their local fanbase is limited to a niche group of underground fans.

Their debut album Black Cloud Gathering, which is filled with lyrics evoking mysticism and nature, was released by Chinese independent record label Pest Production. Vallendusk has, over time, won a number of fans at home, but they remain more popular abroad.

In May of this year, Vallendusk released their latest album, Herald of Strife, through German independent label Northern Silence Production.

Valendino Mithos, the band’s guitarist, said, “A lot of new [Indonesian] bands are emerging and being exposed to the world. It's great to witness how this whole thing mushroomed into what we have now.”

Mithos added that he was proud that Vallendusk had helped introduce international metal fans to even more Indonesian bands.

“I’m glad we were involved in the rise of a movement, which was not only musical but also presented a new mindset, perhaps. I think the genre and its development profited quite well from it.”

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