Album Description

***ALBUM CURRENTLY SOLD-OUT & OUT-OF-PRINT***

The band's 2nd full-length album "Embrace The Dead" was recorded back in 1999.

Despite all the hard ways the band had to walk through since the process of the recording until the release date of the CD (low budget, label rip-off, etc.). It has been a real blessing that all those burdens were proven failed to block this album from its way to be spread independently all around the world, without even a little help from major music industries. After the release of this album, still many media and individual reviewers grant the band good comments and reviews.

Release Dates:

- August 1999 (THT Productions, cassette)
- July 2000 (Fleshwalker Records, CD)
- February 2001 (THT Productions, CD)

Track Listing:

1. Longing For Truth
2. Embrace The Dead
3. The Fearless and The Dedicated
4. Source of Existence (bonus track)
5. Healing
6. The Final Call
7. From Within
8. Scripture Before Struggle
9. Millennium
10. Given Words (bonus track)

(bonus track only available on THT Productions version)

Credits

Album Line-Up:
Jeff : guitars / vocals
Azhar : bass / vocals
Leo : guitars

Produced by: Jeff with KEKAL
Engineered & mixed by Habil Kurnia, Prastowo Aklisugoro, Denny Andreas, & Jeff
Recorded & mixed at: Yaski Studios, Jakarta, Indonesia, February - July 1999
Mastered by: Habil Kurnia at Dunia Digital Mastering House
Cover lay-out design by Jeff / Soundmind Graphics
Keyboards by: Jeff & Habil
Additional guitars by: Azhar
Additional bass by: Jeff
Female Vocals by: Vera
Drums by: The Black Machine

Media Reviews of "Embrace The Dead"

Words simply cannot express the sheer amazement I felt upon hearing 'Embrace the Dead'. I was already floored by Kekal's talent upon hearing 'Beyond the Glimpse of Dreams'. How could I have imagined that in the course of one album their talent could go leaps and bounds beyond even their own aspirations? This is one of the best black metal albums I have ever heard. I was enthralled and humbled by their mere ability to play upon a riff, build a rhythm from it, then build a melody to something utterly pleasant and musical, only to suddenly create a brand new riff and build upon that, only to have this new musical pattern perfectly align with its predecessor. Sheer unadulterated talent from this Nordic band (yes, they are from Indonesia, but their style, their sound and their essence is pure Nordic). Get this CD, I cannot stress highly enough!!! --Phil Powell (S.O.A. zine)

Yes, this isa true masterpiece of 1999!! Very COOL and very GREAT album!! This band that has under THT Production can say as band which is very successes from Indonesian Underground Scene. Their first album "Beyond..." was sold more than 4000 copies in CD/Tape format in all over the world. That is very impossible selling for other Indonesian Underground Bands. With the newest album, they are back to prove their class as a band which is professional. But very regret, they didn't prove their intensity in stage because until now they never joint or make a concert. But who cares? 9 tracks that was featured in this album is really incredible, mixed all elements of Black Metal, Death Metal, Classic Metal, Doom, Gothic and Darkwave with spiritual lyric, plus pretty female voice in several tracks. For you that like Iron Maiden, King Diamond until Cradle Of Filth or Dimmu Borgir must get this album.....or Satan will kill you aaaarrrrhhhhh......!! --Putra Pande (Anorexia Orgasm Promotions)

This band plays really intense black metal and one would not believe the musicianship of this band. Very talented. Although this was recorded with drum programs, they go beyond what the norm of it would be. Sounds like a real drummer that is just super tight. The guitars and bass fit with the drums like a glove! Never heard a band so tight in my life! These vocals are very cool also. I hear sounds of older Emperor's vocalist Ihsahn mixed with Satyr of Satyricon and John of Hecate Enthroned. Very high pitched but goes into lower vocals and some eerie type clean vocals and a female singer. Normally the female singer would ruin it for me as I am not into that style of black metal... but these guys utilized every aspect they could and it shows. The guitars are very technical and show much talent within the aspect of melody and harmony and utilized this well. Everything in this album is perfect and that truly says alot! I look forward to hearing much more of this band! -- Rate: 10/10, Shannon (Thunderline zine)

Kekal is a very hard band to describe. Thier first album "Beyond the Glimpse of Dreams" was a complete black metal feast with some older thrash influences and a couple melodic songs with female vocals. This new offering, "Embrace the Dead", is very much along the same lines only I am hearing even more melody and more '80's style thrash/power influence in the guitar playing. For the most part the vocals are black metal oriented with some clear male and female vocals to compliment to sound and give it atmosphere. I have got to hand it to these guys, they do have some of the finest black metal vocals in the scene today. The drums on this (as well as their previous effort) are prorgammed and are absolutely amazing!!! You can NOT tell that it is a drum machine and I have never heard programming done this well. The production is overall very good but varies from song to song and actually helps to keep the sound very underground and dark. In my opinion this could cross a few lines and appeal to some classic metal fans as well as black metal fans, mostly because of the "classic" elements in the guitar work. Kekal has a knack at playing very dark sounding music while retaining a fluid sense of melody. -- Rate 10/10, Norm (Thunderline zine)

Every time is more surprising the material that we receive of the countries in those that we suppose scene of extreme metal doesn't exist, in the case of Kekal, they come from Indonesia, it presents us a mixture of black radical metal, with energetic discharges of guitars, and courts savages, accompanied by haevy keyboards, also creating a contrast to the moment to interpret the alone of guitar that come closer more to the Gothic heavy, this is remarkable in its form of playing, what is supported with a feminine vocalist that when intervening full with charm to the songs, the owner of that beautiful voice is Vera, and she is to congratulate, since in some fragments of her songs, we forget easily that we are in front of a band of black metal, simply because they transports you to more elaborated symphonies, coming closer to the Gothic atmospheres, with very interesting parts of power metal. Yes, what you/they read is certain, and Kekal has the formula to combine all these elements, no go to defraud the followers of the most extreme sounds, inside the current of the black metal. --Donny Macias (Acero Magazine)

Embrace the Dead, Kekal's second full-length release, is finally out. And, while I really dig their debut, this record is much more advanced. The band has dropped the "retro" riffing and gone for a more atmospheric, melodic approach. The finished product is a well-written, though overly-lengthy (nearly an hour), sophomore album. Kekal is still making use of a drum machine, but the programming suffices, mostly since the band uses little blast. Most of the material is mid-paced and, as mentioned, fairly melodic, moreso than the first album. The vocals stick to the crackly black metal-ish rasping, though strategically-placed clean female and male vocals appear in a few of the songs. Particularly powerful is the clean/harsh vocal trade-off during "Source of Existence". The closer "Millenium", though somewhat long at ten minutes, is another highlight, featuring some great double-bass and blast sections. There's also a cover of "Scripture before Struggle", a song originally by a band named Sufferance. Can't say I've heard of them, but regardless, Kekal did a fine rendition of it. So, to sum things up, you won't be getting anything ground-breaking by purchasing this. You will, however, get nine tracks of serene, sometimes melancholic melodies dripping with feeling. -- Goden (Eternal Frost Webzine)

Here we have another Indonesian band. Man, the extreme scene is pretty damn healthy over there. However, this time they aren’t super brutal death or grind. Nope, semi brutal with melodic and gothic/ power metal styled black metal is the order of the day. Yup, no gutteral sickness, no twisted, fast as f**k blasting. This must be the other side of Indonesia. My initial reactions were good, I really enjoyed listening to this and especially enjoyed the variety it held. Only one problem as far as I can see, the production sounds a bit weak on occasions. OK, so I have had this a week or so now and still find it enjoyable. I feel that this has many elements in it, I can hear Cradle of Filths more brutal moments, Dissection, some more gothic styled stuff (akin to the gothic black metal Cacophonous used to release), power metal, slight My Dying Bride undertones and both male and female vocals. All this combined makes for an extremely interesting experience. Personally, the main problem I had this was the kinda gay gothic bits, but there are so few that it matters very little. Overall, a highly worthwhile purchase for any metal fan into the dark and blackened styles. So, that’s Indonesia with another notch added... --Ben (Colateral Damage zine)