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Aggressive return: The Brandals reawaken after death, internal turmoil
Ten years after their last record, Jakarta’s The Brandals return with their fiercest album yet, Era Agresor.
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Big return: The Brandals (from left) bassist Radhit Syaharzam, vocalist Eka Annash, drummer Firman Zaenudin and guitarist PM Mulyadi. (Courtesy of The Brandals) (Personal collection/Courtesy of The Brandals)
T
en years after their last record, Jakarta’s The Brandals return with their fiercest album yet, Era Agresor. An album that encapsulates the veteran garage rock band’s anger and disdain toward the state of the world around them.
A lot has happened in The Brandals’ world during the past decade. The band saw the loss of its original drummer Rully Annash (the younger brother of frontman/singer Eka Annash) to a heart-related illness at age 39 in 2015. The band also went through some significant lineup changes that leaves Eka as the only original member left. Around them, the world they lived in was crumbling under the weight of oppression and general disregard for common sense.
Following up 2011’s electronic-influenced album DGNR8, the band spent years processing its observations into a new album, finally ending up with its fifth release Era Agresor, released on Dec. 18, which the members feel has the sharpest lyrics and concept of any album they have released in their more than two-decade career.
In a span of 10 years, frontman Eka Annash said a lot of things had happened that had affected not only their lives, but also the lives of their friends, fans and the general public. He was referring to the increasingly rampant cases of authority abuse, religious fundamentalism and the never-ending corruption in government.
Eka particularly noted such things as the Job Creation Law, the state of the music industry and environmental destruction for the sake of palm oil as things that bothered him the most, as the effects of these disasters could be directly felt and seen by many in the country.
“This album serves as a reminder to all of us to never sink that low as people. Ever,” he said.
Out of all the local indie bands that emerged during the 2000s heyday, The Brandals have always been the most abrasive both in terms of their sound, presentation and their themes. Eka explained that his songwriting method would always revolve around external themes rather than internal, personal issues.
