The quote at the top of this page comes from Abdul Najib Razak,the minister or Culture, Youth and Sports in Malaysia in the mid 80's. Later, by the 2010s he became Prime Minister of the country but was eventually charged with corruption and is still to this day serving a 12-year sentence on these charges. Moral of the story: leave it to a hard-core criminal to write pure poetry on the music we love and collect! ...and I guess, even touching the matter of Heavy Metal will eventually lead you on the Left Hand path to Darkness - Hati Syaitan!\,,/
This government interference also proves how BIG and impactful this music was in this part of the world at the time. The deluge of Hard Rock and Heavy Metal bands that appeared in the late 80's and early 90's in Malaysia and Singapore may have had its roots in the cellars and garages of the early 80's, but if there also was a local, thriving demo- and fanzine underground scene at that time, it is very poorly documented and currently lies beyond even the scope of The Corroseum.
By the time when these bands started releasing albums, everything happened very quickly and hereabouts is where we are are introduced to Rock Kapak, which came to be the domestic term for this cultural explosion. The linked Wikipedia-article does a great job at telling the tale in more detail, so I'm not gonna waste time and space with a summary here.
tl;dr: 80's Mal/Sin HM/HR was Mainstream.
Yeah I hear you... DaN has gone completely off the deep end and taken the Obscûre-Metal-for-obsküreness-sake to a absolutely ridiculous level this time around, but I will proudly climb this Southeast Asian hill and die on it, Pedang sword firmly gripped in my cold, dead hands. Becaue it is Metal. From the 80's. Uncharted.
Flashback: The first LP I ever bought rooted in this part of the world was the Abhorer/Necrophile(Jpn) split-LP from 1991, some 30+ years ago. I guess it was as much the novelty of a South-East Asian Metal band as the intensity of the music that fascinated me at the time, but despite it technically being from the same period as many of the bands in this article (now properly mentioned for completeness' sake, so there) this is NOT the type of underground material we're going to deal with here. No, today The Corroseum is going Mainstream! Relatively so anyway. The story of how I discovered the earlier Rock Kapak scene for real instead relates to a couple of tapes that was sent to me from a Singapore metalhead in the mid/late 90's, including a few albums by the Mighty ROCKERS. To this day this band might very well be my all-time fave Asian HM band, and thus curiosity and the strive to research followed. Turns out these albums were commercially only released in cassette format, with the vinyl version only made as absolutely pissin' RARE limited promos for radio DJs and the likes. Obviously this fact accelerated my Obsküre Metal drive 200% and it has maintained in this high gear to this day.
With The Corroseum's completist attitude in mind, the one and only rule for inclusion in this list is that the vinyl version of the album includes at least ONE Heavy Metal tune ...or sufficiently Heavy Hard Rock material according to completely personal and arbitrary rules.
If there's ever one particular detail about this scene that western HM die-hards and in-the-know collectors would be aware of, it's sadly a detrimental one: A large part of the albums released were made up of undoGly, lovey-dovey schmallad filth. While I'm sure a band or 3 just loved to churn out these musical abortions en masse to boost sales among little girls & old ladies, for most bands this was a necessary evil (the BAD kind of Evil) in order to get record conracts and the rest of their proper music heard and out on the market. At least 50% ballads or no deal! was pretty much the deal and of course this widened their popularity immensely back home and made this scene the huge local phenomenon that it was. The downside is of course that it has made the bands and records from this part of the world rather infamous among international Metal fans and collectors. Still, considering the Hidden Metal Gold remaing once you shave off the layer of corporate bullshit, this is exactly the kind of material that The Corroseum thrives on exploring. The main goal of this article is to disentangle which ones are worth hunting down and which are not, but we will touch on a wee bit of history and related trivia as well.
In addition to The Great Ballad Plague there's a number of other factors that make this scene and it's vinyl releases unique, some which are fairly known, others less so. Below I'm listing the main points:
- This scene was HUGE!
...relatively speaking. The HR/HM full-album output between 1986-1991 was larger than some (most?) European countries - I'm counting at least 250+ titles - and practically all of them were also made as vinyl promos, beyond the commercially available cassettes. This in turn means that you're likely to find plenty of titles in the list below that few western Metalheads have seen or heard before. - Sleevelessness
By the second half of the 80's, vinyl records ceased being manufactured for commercial use and available to the public in Malaysia or Singapore. Instead they were merly pressed in very small quatities as promos, mostly for local radiostations (Yes, that includes every single release listed in this article). This in turn led to the majority of them not having ordinary pictures sleeves but were distributed in generic company jackets with the cassette sleeves glued to the front and/or back. On occation some sleeves had lyrics printed on the back, other times entirely blank, white sleeves were used. - Metal goes in the bin!
This is why we can't have nice things. By far the most frustrating and often downright soulcrushing aspect of this scene was that on several occations, the best and/or heaviest tracks were removed from the vinyl versions(!) Knowing how much better and fulfilling some of these releases could have been if they would have been preseved on original vinyl format in their complete, uncensored glory... It just pains me to no end. Note that 10 songs per album was pretty much a golden rule in the Malay music biz, so should an LP have any less a number of tracks than this you can be 99% sure that some great Heavy music has been left out. - Kill it with scratches!
It's a practice so dumb you'd think it was a joke, but the sad, grim truth is this: Heavier tracks that did survive the censorship told of above were scratched on the actual grooves on the vinyl by the radio DJ's (?) with an 'X' and/or a permanent marker! Before causing a heart attack on anyone reading this, there is one small redeeming factor: These X's were mostly very shallow, equal to surface scratches and seldom affects the playability of these tracks. It's likely that this was done merely as a marker for which tunes were not suitable for airplay and the intent was never to make them completely unplayable. Similar markings can also be seen on sleeves and labels and the irony is that the more tracks were crossed out like this on the record, the heavier the album is likely to be, hence this vandalism can actually work as a quality marker. - Beware of "reprints"!
...sleeves, that is. In recent years a lot of these old promos are turning up on the 2nd hand market with never seen before full-color album sleeves. While it's true than some of these records were distributed with full cover artwork in its original form, this is an entirely new (I'd estimate it starting in this last decade) fan-made phenomenon. I'm not denying the fact that some of them looks absolutely stunning, but this is a practice all potential future Mal/Sin-Metal collectors should be aware of. The most obvious tells for these forgerys are the abscense of proper spines, as well as generally looking a bit too good to be true. See Appendix III for a selection of pictures.
So, is old Heavy Metal from Malaysia and Singapore really any good?
Yes, I honestly believe so. I mean, at least once you've evicerated that awful 50% mandatory schmallad filling that gunk up the albums you're left with a really interesting yet poorly explored scene. Of course there's just as large a chunk of mediocre, mid-league, for-completists-only stuff like you'd expect from any country with a thriving music scene, but at least half the albums on this page I would rate as good or at least curious enough to give a listen to. An interesting trait I've discovered about the Rock Kapak scene is how the not-so-secret way to success on the home front was to skillfully and perfectly balance the ballad/slowrock-v/s-HardRock-v/s-Metal content on their albums. Highly successful acts like Search, Wings, Lefthanded, BumiPutra Rockers etc were perfect examples of this, but as talented as these type of bands may have been, this all-things-to-all-people approach is also the reason
why none of them have become faves of mine or any other western True Metal™ fans I know. At The Corroseum however, the Metal always wins.
Anyways, if you feel pressed for time or motivation and are just looking for the tl;dr edition of this page, here's a devil's dozen titles that ANY self-respecting 80's Metal Vinyl-fiend could/should add to their wantlist today, with a full Corroseum no-disappointments guarantee:
- ACES - Hidup LP 1989
- BELANTARA - Infiniti LP 1990
- CROSSFIRE - Erosi LP 1990
- DINAMIK - Revolusi Mental LP
- FEBIANS - Satu Antara Sejuta LP 1990
- HANDY BLACK - Tangan Hitam LP 1989
- JUNCTION - Petualang LP 1990
- LIPANBARA - Harimau LP 1991
- MAY - Hakikat LP 1989
- ROCKERS - Kekejaman LP 1988
- RUSTY BLADE - Berat LP 1988
- SAHARA - Jawapan LP 1988
- V/A - Pancakara Di Cakerawala LP 1988
Obviously there are dozens more, great HM albums from this area and era, but some might carry a minor flaw or 2 too many for some, like only 4 or less heavy tunes, missing/censored tracks (3rd & 4th Rockers, 2nd Burnmarks, Susila etc) or occationally being a bit of an exotic acquired taste (acts like Viking, LovingBorn or Kingdom In Rock would surely have made the list above otherwise). Just check out our downloabable taster sampler below for Steel-plated proof!
Experienced collectors of obscure 80's Heavy Metal vinyl (at least those with a fairly international scope) should have come across these highly obsküre-looking releases as least once in their record-hunting career. As to the the question of exactly how rare and limited these vinyls were, I've heard so many different estimations through the years - anything from 'a few dozen' to 'a few thousand'. My best guess it that this differed quite a bit depending on which year they were released and by which label. My best local source on the matter indicates that the numbers were probably in the lower hundreds. Still, this was a huge and very productive scene and because of this there is a decent amount of these discs in circulation, however rare each single vinyl LP may be.
While they're mostly overpriced to shit on discogs, they do appear on eBay and better record fairs every once in a while and if we're not talking about the most popular acts (Rusty Blade, Rockers, Febians etc) they can often average around $50 a piece for the less popular or unknown bands, especially if they only came in those cheapo generic-sleeves-w/-glued-tape-covers. Prices and how often they turn up for sale is also determined to a large degree by domestic popularity - maybe even more so than the actual editions of the albums. The most rare and expensive titles tend to be those from the most commercially sucessful, domestic favourites like Search, Wings, Lefthanded etc. Luckily these more mainstream bands tend to have less of an appeal to western HM-collectors.
Here's where my usual "all quality-ratings are entirely scientific and should be treated as Law!"-joke comes in, but yeah, no, they merely reflect the general attitude and interest of this website and I'm gonna repeat myself: We like Heavy Metal. We do not like "slow rock", ballads, aor, soft-rock and the wimpy, more radio-oriented forms of Hard Rock anymore than we like disco or hip-hop. While general songwriting skills is still a major factor, bonus points will always be awarded to sheer weight. (Originality is nice too, because Corroseum). I'm possitive plenty of 1-to-2-swords albums will be of interest to die-hard aor or Hard Rock fans, but it will be up to other fan-sites of those particular genres to re-rate them.
= worth a mention
(Probably just one tune in the Heavy territory - good or bad, or a few borderline hardrockers at best)
= worth a listen I guess..
(Probably a cool tune or 3 included, but nothing your regular Corro-visitor need to put on their want-list anytime soon)
= worth a re-listen.
(Generally a good album, perhaps even great but perhaps lacking a few extra Heavy tunes)
= worth hunting down!
(Definitive HM-Hunter appeal and a great 80's Metal record on all levels)
= worth its weight in Steel!!
(A true gem! All shall bend the knee!)
= worthless
(...but included here as a warning beacause reasons)
...is what these albums look like in my head and now you can't unsee them. Since "that ballad-thing" is a phenomenon that makes these releases a rather unique and precarious listening experience compared to your average Western Heavy Metal LP, I figured this would be an interesting way to describe them - to wordlessly display the 'soul' of each album if you will.
The squares represent the track-list of the vinyl versions (that might on occation differ from the tape, CD reissue or YT clip versions) and facit reads as follows:
Bonus feature: This bar will also clearly show which of these LPs are missing tracks from their commercially available, full 10-track MC counterparts.
...or Reject-list if you will, is an item I've decided to hide at the bottom of this page for hygenic reasons. It's just a simple text-list of titles I've come across that might look promising or include some artist related to heavier bands, but in reality they were too soft & off-topic to even deserve a mention in the proper part of this page. Still, to make it clear that I'm not unaware of these records and to warn off fellow Metalheads, this list felt necessary.
Hellcome to The Corroseum! I do hope & pray that this guide will be of use to you and you'll appreciate the work put into it. I do want to repeat some points from above as well as the main page of the site though:
This particular page is not first and foremost a 100% uncritical love-letter to the Rock Kapak phenomenon in general, but like most other parts of this website a guide for international 80's Heavy Metal vinyl collectors. Thus I'm using a lot of snark and dark humour when criticizing the commercial aspects of the scene (specifically he "jiwang"/slow rock/ballad part)
and here's where I'm afraid some writing may cause a mild culture-clash. Be aware that we're using the same harsh words in other features on the site as well as in the main rare Metal reviews archive, regardless of geographic origin. Besides, considering the amount of Manowar-influences I keep hearing in various olde albums of yours I'm sure you're still familiar with the sacred expression "Posers - Leave The Hall!", right? With that caveat out in the open - All Hail the Olde Malay Steel! 
Releases by year:
1985 - 1986 - 1987 - 1988 - 1989 - 1990 - 1991 - 1992
Appendices:
Appendix I - Unknowns - Appendix II - Jukebox singles - Appendix III - Fan made sleeves - Appendix IV - The Blacklist
...and most importantly:
The Sampler
It's often tricky to name the one specific, true originator of Hard & Heavy music in any country, but in the case of Malaysia and Singapore it's a fairly safe nomination: Singapore's Sweet Charity. Formed in the early 70's they didn't release their debut until 1979 and this self-titled affair could best be described as a softer South-East Asian answer to Santana. A few songs on here we can safely file in the Hard & Heavy Rock folder though, like "Bayang Bayangku" and "Hujan", but as a whole it's probably only of interested to the most die-hard 70's rock fans - those who can tolerate the fact that stylewise it's about a decade behind its time that is. On the following "Pelarian" album from 1980 the eclectic mix of various 70's sounds continue, but we do find another 2 little pearls that's a few steps closer to the NWOHM sound. To a lesser degree the title track, but the heavier "Musibah" is the stand-out tune here, carrying plenty of punch.
Continuing to 1981's "Sejuta Wajah" we get another milestone in the fast 'Speed-Folk-Hardrock'er "Raja Kumbang" - a truly unique, very Asian-flavoured piece of proto-Metal not to be missed. There are several other great HR moments on this record to discover, so I'd declare this album to be the first album of Sweet Charity that is predominantly on the heavier side of the fence and the heaviest of their early period.
The following "Penunggu"
from 1982 continues in similar footsteps but mostly in a slower tempo except for the closing "Perjalanan" speedrocker, sounding like Deep Purple flirtin' with the NWOBHM.
"Batu" followed in 1983 and here they present a more coherrent, developed sound heavily influenced by mid/late 70's prog and symphonic rock, with plenty of organs on top. Ironically the heaviest contribution on board is a 'cover'/rip-off/interpretation of Deep Purple's "Flight Of The Rat", here rechristened and re-lyricisized to "Mengejar Mimpi".
2 more albums were recorded by the band in 1985 and 1988 respectively and they're dissected in the sections below.
The Unwanted is another important name from the early years of Malay Hard Rock. Once again the band originates from Singapore and they released a total of 3 records between the years 1982-1986. The title of their 1982 debut "Pelangi" translates to 'rainbow' and that name does echo in a couple of the featured tracks, mostly so in the consecutive trio of the progg'ish title track, the heavy "Sampia Bila" as well as the more boogie "Budi". Unfortunately the 1985 follow-up "Terpedaya" was a more lightweight affair, but at least one track off their final "Masih Ada Rindu" album from 1986 made it worthy of inclusion in the sections below, together with a few of vocalist Hanafie Warren's 'Rock Kapak'-oriented solo efforts.
A less talked-about but highly intriguing name is Kingdom. These obscure, unsung heroes of South-East Asian Heaviness presented their "Jangan Keliru" debut in 1982 and compared to the 2 acts above, they were definitely a bit more rough around the edges. What makes them my personal faves of these 3 trailblazers is however their originality and the way they melded their legacy of local/folksy harmonies in such a wild and unpredictable manner - no straight-up Richie Blackmore copycatting
present for sure. The debut might not have any particular proto-HM rippers but it's still a very likeable Exotic Rock-album with plenty of low-key Hard Rock moments.
The following "Rupa Rupa Baru" charges the hill of Heavy Metal at the horizon, wielding the sword of "Juara Pentas" as possibly the very first proper Heavy Metal tune put to vinyl from this part of the world. Further proof as to this band's underground status is the fact that this album proved to be one of the very few from which I was only able find a handful of songs online. There's defintely more heavy tunes from that selection so I'm sure we'll get back to this rarity in the future, once I've manage to locate a copy for myself.
Some time around 1984-85 they elongated their moniker to Kingdom In Rock and with it came an even more FWOHM-focused sound, resulting in 2 more albums in 1985 and 1986, duly dissected below.
A fun little Joker to squeeze in here at the end would be Point Blank. Their first album "Salam Perpisahan" from 1983 is an even more folk/dangdut-influenced affair than Kingdom, but their unique brand of Heavy-Folk-Prog gets delightfully dark at times and the album often surprises with really heavy riffing appearing when you least expect it. Had only more songs been as amazing as "Badai Fitnah" I'd highly recommend it, but like most of these type of albums it is a bit all over the place. The following 1984 LP "Setelah Kau Tiada" really looks like an early, pioneering hardrocker but it's even more dangdut'n'lightweight I'm afraid. That being said, I strongly recommend you listen to the first minute of the opening track "Kumenanti Hampa Sendiri" for a most exquisit mindfuck. From their final "Ku Di Pinggir Luka" I've ony managed to locate 2 tracks and I'm not sure I would even describe them as rock music.
These weren't the only rock bands around from this time and place, but they were definitely the 4 most interesting from a HR/HM perspective.
Some other common names which you don't need to bother with include Black Dog Bone (huge local faves but seldom as Rock as their logo pretends to be), Split Times (The "Tom Sawyer" and "Bohemian Rhapsody" covers are fun, but that's about it) and Blues Gang (because obvious).
?
HEADLIGHTS - Halilintar LP 1985 (Warnada, WA 1343)
A pure pre-Rock-Kapak-explosion oddity and probably not to be considered a 'Heavy' album in the traditional sense. I say 'probably' because so far I've only been able to find clips of 4 tracks from it: The 2 tracks opening each side of the album, both of which were funky/disco pop-rock, a bluesy 70's-style rocker called "Pemburu Cinta" and the title track. So, obviously the latter is the reason you're reading this and it's a pretty darn' great piece of rough NWOHM, curiously reminding me of the earliest Venezuelan classics like Arkangel or Resistencia(!) The odds that there's more tracks like this one on the album I'd wager to be very high (no, that means it's not very likely) despite how 'Metal' the MC cover may look.
KINGDOM IN ROCK - Penunggang Maut LP 1985 (RCA, RCA 168)
Not the most refined of early Malay HR/HM releases, but sooooo bloody ballsy and unique. Deserves a beautiful vinyl reissue with international distribution coz this one surely has more worldwide appeal than the 2 records below.
SEARCH - Cinta Buatan Malaysia LP 1985 (Polygram, 826112-1)
The debut album from the undisputed, #1 most popular olde Hard'n'Heavy band in Malaysia - meaning you'll NEVER afford or even see a live copy of this original, ever. Is it a worthy start of a Legend? Well it might only be the 2nd heaviest Malaysian album of 1985 (see above) but as far as eclectic, early HR/HM mashups go it's pretty damn good! There is of course some expected quirks and 'exotic' tangents, like "Cinta Pertama" and " Jiwa-Jiwa Luka" blending ska and HR in a... funny way, or "Sirih Gambir" which is just "You Really Got Me" with new Malaysian lyrics, but there's some raisins in the cake as well. My fave (and many others' I'm sure) is "Balada Pemuzik Jalanan", sounding like a perfect, galloping HM-mix of Thin Lizzy and UFO. Another great early NWOBHM-like number is "Nombor", semi-wrapping things up before the ballad fillers take over. Reissued on vinyl in 2018 and it occationally turns up on discogs or eBay for the curious.
SWEET CHARITY - Berita Gempa LP 1985 (WEA, M-93519)
The tape sleeve with that logo looks Super-Metal though soundwise they're still heavily rooted in the 70's. Compared to their 5 previous records I'd still say this one is on the right track and by far the heaviest of their entire discography, where the fast opening title track, the lead-heavy "Wanita" and almost doomy "Lahirmu Bukan Untuk Dunia" more or less tangents the upcoming NWOHM sound. Some of the other hardrockers are pretty lightweight, bordering on soft-rock, but at least there's only 2(!) ballads - Yay!
KINGDOM IN ROCK - Rock Yeh Yeh LP 1986 (Warnada, WA 1354)
If you're wondering how the flying FUCK there could be zero ballads on an old Singapore HR/HM album, it's because these guys completely beat the system on their 4th and final album. They did so by way of instead going, if not full, then at least semi-dangdut-retard and I like it so much more than the alternative to be honest. This sounds like quite a different band than on their previous recordings - or frankly any other album of the Rock Kapak-era - and a lot has to do with guitarist Wadi now taking over vocal duties. His soothing voice is very far from a traditional rock singer's and in turn this pushes the music even deeper into the sphere of Asian folk-rock but I would still claim that every single track has enough of a Hard Rock vibe to please the open minded fan (the closer "Ngalompak Ago Go" could even pass for a punk rock tune if we squint our eyes a bit). Moments where they seem to slide into a more mellow folk/classic rock sinkhole, there is still a darkness at the heart of this band that drags them back into the fold when they stray too far. And then there is "Dendang Remaja". This hypnotic, tribalistic nightmare of a masterpiece will raze your soul and in a way it's the album's main weakness that they only ever touch on this sound once more in the only half as great "Semoga Berjaya". Not a perfect, but a truly unique swansong from one of South-East Asia's most mesmerizing bands.
LEFTHANDED - s/t 7" EP 1986 (WEA, EP 7220)
This is as close as the world ever got to an original, contemporary vinyl version of Lefthanded's "Keadilan" debut LP from the same year. All 4 songs are ballads, but at least the closing "Debunga Wangi" has some sweet Iron Maiden inside, saving it from the trash bin. Basically impossible to find as this was one of the most popular domestic rock acts together with Search and Wings and you won't outbid the local collectors anytime soon. At least 2 of the featured songs also appeared on slightly easier-to-find jukebox singles ( Appendix II) but it wasn't until 2016 that the complete album was reissued on vinyl, limited to 500 copies.
RUSTY BLADE - 786 Ikrar Perwira / Pertama Dan Terakhir 7" 1986 (Life, SPHM 1747)
I'm afraid most mortals will have to settle for the full 5-song reissue from 2016, as this one is so obscure and unknown I've never even seen it on want lists. A groundbreaking release for the Malaysian and Singapore Metal scene and the very first vinyl release of this iconic band.
Sahara Yaacob - s/t LP 1986 (Warnada, WA 1360)
Ms./Mrs. Yaacob had her debut album out on the market already back in 1982, but it wasn't until this 2nd offering that she started flirting with 'Heavy Rock' ...and just about EVERYTHING else in fact. Despite being a severely skitzo' blend of styles from song to song, it seems the 2 heavy hardrockers that opened each side got the most attention of the rock-starved youth of the day, so the course was pretty much set from there and a few years later the excellent "Jawapan" album exploded on the scene. Despite its somewhat Metal-looking logo, this one's however a mere parenthesis for mad completists and local nostalgics only.
SEARCH - Langit Dan Bumi LP 1986 (Polydor, 830387-1)
The sophomore release by Malaysia's most popular rock act is a bit of an inbetween-album imho. "Musnah" opens with some more than solid NWOBHM-worship, but that's sadly the only track of its kind. Out of the remaining hardrockers, only the heavy, chugging "Pada Satu Kedudukan" stand out as truly original. For Search, the best was yet to come...
THE UNWANTED - Masih Ada Rindu LP 1986 (Life, HM 1759)
Worth mentioning for 2 reasons: The band's importance as a fairly popular and inspirational early 80's HR/rock band on their 2 previous records, and moreso because of the opening track "Pedoman" (noooooop, nothing like that..) which is an early pearl of uptempp NWOBHM-flavoured proto-Metal. "Sekadar Pesanan" also deserves a bit of credit for being a pretty cool 'exotic' Hard Rock tune with plenty of Asian flavour, similar to Kingdom In Rock. The rest of the album is your usual eclectic mix of classic rock, power ballads and other junk. Vocalist Hanafie Warren went on to heavier things as a solo artist in the following years...
V/A - Battle Of The Bands LP 1986 (Warnada, WA 1361)
The "Metal For Muthas" or "Metal Massacre" of Malaysia! ...and also one of the first 'real' Heavy Metal album of the region. The importance of this album and its sibling volume for the development of the Malaysian HM scene cannot be overrated and it's no surprise both volumes have been reissued several times, even on vinyl in 2017.
V/A - Battle Of The Bands - Round 2 LP 1986 (Warnada, WA 1365)
Same line-up as the first volume and perhaps the strongest of the two, songwise. The tour that was put together with the featured bands to promote the album incidently lead to a nationwide ban on Heavy Metal live performances, after a show in Panang degenerated into chaos. Apparently soft drinks were spilled and chairs were broken.
BELANTARA - s/t LP 1987 (Polygram, 833640-1)
Formed in 1986 in Moscow - Idaho that is! - these Malaysian exchange students returned to their home country later the same year and began working on this - as far as Malay rock goes - highly unique debut. As eclectic as any other album of its time and place, is does include some rather outstanding moments of truly exotic and original Epic/Doom Metal. And even greater things were indeed to come...
BLOODSHED - Ilusi Sebuah Mimpi LP 1987 (EMI, TC-FH 30017)
One of the most popular Malay Metal acts and there's no denying their band name, logo and MC covers looked Metal As Fukk(!) ...but in reality this band belonged in the more lightweight and melodic half of the original scene and on this debut you get the impression they mostly wanted to be the Malaysian Def Leppard rather than the Metal Church dito. Earlier offerings on the seminal Battle Of The Bands compilations were a mixed affair and this debut by the band does reflect the same unfocused sentiment. The flat production is another factor that brings down the overall rating a bit, especially on heavier, close-to-Power-Metal numbers like "Pertumpahan Dara" and "Peristiwa", but they did prove their - if not Metal - than at least mettle on their 2 upcoming albums so let's file this one under Promising Beginnings.
BUMIPUTRA ROCKERS - Selamat Pagi Malaysia LP 1987 (ITO Rekods[sic], IR 8177)
Things are looking great as they open with the ballsy Street-Metal "Gua Musang", but sadly we don't hear much more of this raw & raunchy sound on the rest of the record. "Mana" offers up some decent NWOBHM'y chugging towards the end, but the rest is an annoying blend of HR, classic rock and the usual lame ballads. They got marginally more interesting on a few upcoming albums but generally this quite popular act would be considered more a HR than a HM affair.
D'EPISODES - Kekejaman Cinta LP 1987 (RCA, ML 1003)
One of the less talked-about bands of the early Malay HR scene. Now, does the NWOBHM-oozing line-up shot on the MC sleeve keep its promises you wonder? Well, the opening "Hipokrit" has a nice tempo and all, but those keyboards will have us filing them in the nice-for-being-pretty-softy-HR folder ...and the rest of side A is just lame soft-rock'n'ballads to the bitter end I'm afraid. While on the softest end of Melodic Metal imaginable, "Tiada Sakit Hati" that opens side B is pretty sweet all things considered, but after that it's another downhill charge towards throwaway wimpery, however desperately the keyboard-infested rocker "Keputusan" tries to convince you otherwise. Their 1989 follow-up under the HALILINTAR-moniker did however show some major improvement.
ELLA & THE BOYS - s/t LP 1987 (Warnada, WA 1369)
"Dua Insan Bercinta" has a nice, almost Motörhead'ish NWOBHM-drive to it, but otherwise this debut of Ella and her Boys is mostly moving between Hard Rock, classic rock and heavier power ballads. Not much to write home about for non-local headbangers missing out on the nostalgic part, but an ok rock record and kinda what one would expect after a few decent tunes on the Battle Of The Bands-compilations from the previous year.
ELLA & THE BOYS - Anak Merdeka LP 1987 (Warnada, WA 1380)
Already later the same year Ella & co returned for a 2nd attack and it's a significant improvement. The title track opener is a stomping yet chaotic, madcap piece of NWOBHM-crunch, quite unique with those zany keyboard effects. The faster "Tak Lagi Kesunyian" travels the neo-classical path with grace, the semi-ballad "Takdir" comes w/ a great chorus and closing the heavier half of the record is the excellent "Aku Tak Bersalah", a superb semi-Power Metal number once again boosted by more of those crazy keyboards, accentuating the Exotic. After this album, Ella left the band for a solo career, basically becoming the #1(?) Rock Queen of the country, though only her 2 first solo albums were heavy enough to earn an inclusion on this page..
HATTAN - Nostalgia LP 1987 (Mutiara, DPP-001)
"Isi Kota" burst forth like the finest of long lost NWOBHM local 7" curious c:a '79-80 - a highly energetic piece with a peculiar slide-sound to the guitars that actually works despite the clumsy drumming. The following "Pencarian" stomp-stomp-stomps a rusty nail of cocky teenage Hard Rock into your skull and we gladly submit to the punishment. Good Song #3 "Renungan" is just so stupidly amateurish ...but damn near impossible to ignore because of its homely mom's garage-charm. And "Mencari Lembah Harapan", man.. it's like olde AC/DC minus the boogie, plus the timid vocal style of Hattan's and it's yet another sweet mindfuck of Rawk. Finally, "Episod Cinta Yang Hilang" is as close to an epic as you or I would have written in our junior high years and the perfect farwell. How the Hell this recording ended up on a commercially released album, your guess is as good as mine but I'm kinda glad it did...
LEFTHANDED - Seruan LP 1987 (WEA, M 93547)
The 2nd album by these local stars but the first one to have been pressed on vinyl in its entirety. The heavy and mystical "Gates Of Babylon"-style title track starts off the album with a bang and more honest Steel do follow in tunes like the twin-lead sweetened epic "Sepanjang Riwayat Hidup", the Rainbow'esque "Alam Dan Pencipta" and the instrumental closer "Histeria". Lefthanded's best, but unlike the debut not yet re-vinylized so there's zero chance to get it added to the shelves anytime soon. Or at all.
METALIAN - Identiti LP 1987 (Warnada, WA 1385)
One of those early Malay HM albums that few seem to know to actually exist on vinyl, but indeed it does. Not necessarily the most essential but it does feature a decent amount of great tracks to make it worth checking out if you get the chance.
PENYENGAT - Istilah Kasih LP 1987 (FGM, FGM 1002)
There's a name you'll never remember... From these early years of the Malaysian HM insurrection, this is definitely one of the more obscure releases. I wouldn't go so far as to declare it a Lost Hidden Gem or anything, but it has a decent amount of cool tracks and certainly carries some rather curious, 'exotic', not-for-Western-consumption vibes. The riffs are often weird and angular, the rhythms stale and awkward (especially on the A-side heavies) and for the most part I love that kinda shit but it doesn't always work out to originality-perfection, like the what-the-hell-was-that??-untrack "Ngeri" for example. A neat curiosity rather than a must-have would be the final verdict.
(full 10-track MC: )
RUSTY BLADE - Rintangan Hidup Dunia LP 1987 (Life, HM 1817)
Sadly a very early example of how the local record labels mutilated the vinyl-promo format of their product and left some really killer tunes in the trash - and on such an important album no less! I strongly urge you to keep an eye out for the full 10-song vinyl reissue from 2017 though.
SEARCH - Mentari Merah Diufuk Timur LP 1987 (Polygram/Philips, 832354-1)
Already with the opening "Pelesit Kota" we know this is going to be a more interesting record than the previous "Langit Dan Bumi", as this a superb piece of 80's Heavy Metal with harmonies and plenty of originality ...and their Hard Rock tunes are actually great this time around! Catchy stuff that never gets lame or sappy (..even though "Pembakar Perasaan" makes me think of Abba for some strange reason). The final real song "Serigala Segalanya" is a true fistbanging anthem in the "Chains And Leather"/"Heavy Duty"-school of Perfect Showclosers and by now I think I've figured out Search's key to success on the home market: They have a great range and ability to be all things to all people, bandwise. This would never make them darlings outside the borders of their home country, but their local fame makes a lot more sense after hearing this album.
SOFEA - Kembali LP 1987 (Warnada, WA 1375)
After a couple of great tracks (and one absolute pearl in "Teruskan"!) on the classic Battle Of The Bands compilations under the name S.Y.J., the band presented this debut the year after under their new moniker SOFEA. They quickly became a very popular act on the home front and here they offer up a fair range of everything from cocky (hairy?) rockmetal like "Kawasan Larangan", "Kehancuran" and "Mata Sepet" via pounding bangers like "Orang Timur" and "Garisan" to the fast closer "Api". All good tracks, but none amazing. I guess this is proof that just because a Malaysian HM album includes a minimum of only 3 ballads(!) and thus an overabundance of fairly Heavy tracks in their stead, that doesn't necessarily make it a masterpiece. Don't get me wrong - "Kembali" is a more than solid, above-par Heavy Metal release (the band's best I'd say) but imho the actual songwriting isn't quite up to snuff compared to the best efforts of some of their less hyped countrymen.
STRIPE - Sejarah LP 1987 (Guntur, GR-1026)
An absolute ripper of a 12" two-tracker! Oh the temptation of just ignoring The Filler-Filth and just slap on that 5-sword rating like I just don't care...
WINGS - Belenggu Irama LP 1987 (ASP, ASP 0030)
WINGS could be considered the 2nd most popular 80's hard'n'heavy act in Malaysia, after Search and it's a fairly well-deserved position. As far as mainstream Malaysian Hard Rock goes, this debut is about as good as it gets - production, musicianship, songwriting and general professionalism is pretty top-notch. "Inspirasi Tamingsari", "Peronda Jaket Biru" and all other non-fillers are great to Great! within the un-lame HR genre and the heavier "Sekeping Kertas Bermaruah" and "Kembalilah" clearly shows how they master the art of Maiden'ite, catchy & melodic NWOHM when they set their mind to it. Is it a must for die-hard True Steel collectors? Nope, but for most other hardrocker Joe's it's an album well worth checking out, as long as you don't fool yourself into thinking you'll ever find anything better than the 2017 vinyl reissue. Curiously, their 2nd (and I believe, most popular) album "Hukum Karma" from 1988 never came out on promo-vinyl as far as we know, but some jukebox singles featuring selected tracks does exist - see Appendix II. The following 3rd and 4th albums are dealt with further down below...
V/A - Batu-Batu Perjuangan LP 1987 (NSR, NSR-838)
The b/w sleeve with the pasted, primitive artwork is just too delightfully obscure-looking to be ignored for collectors, and even if it's a bit of a hit'n'miss affair, the fantastic opening track more than makes up for it.
V/A - Clash Of The Bands LP 1987 (Life, HM 1824)
I'd say the strongest of the 3 volumes, but sadly ridiculously rare even by Malay standards.
V/A - Clash Of The Bands II LP 1987 (Life, HM 1855)
So the 2nd volume in this series turned out to not be a compilation by The Corroseum's definition but instead a 2-way split, thus excluding it from our rare Heavy Metal compilations encyclopedia. In this here section of the site we do however get an opportunity to dissect it properly, so here goes:
It's the worst volume. Full stop.
As in the most lightweight/melodic, so technically that's a matter of preferences, but both HELTER SKELTER and LAST MINUTE did improve themselves somewhat on future full-lengths. Some bonus creds are still in order, in particular to Last Minute's mesmerizing, keyboard-fueled Melo-Metal pearl "Peperangan" and to a lesser degree, Helter Skelter's uptempo Euro/Scanda-Metal "Bakti Satria".
V/A - Juara Juara Rock LP 1987 (Warnada, WA 1371)
Translating as "Rock Champions", Juara Juara Rock was originally a band competition starting up all the way back in 1983 that later became a trio of compilations released by the Warnada label, all within the same year.
V/A - Juara Juara Rock 2 LP 1987 (Warnada, WA 1378)
All 3 compilations include 2 tracks each with the same 5 bands: Febians (as "D'Febians"), Scandals, May, Metalian and Burnmarks.
V/A - Juara Juara Rock 3 LP 1987 (Warnada, WA 1387)
All featured acts except Scandals had their debut LP out on the Warnada label the same year or the year after. Out of these bands, May would be considered the most successful, shortly followed by Febians and Burnmarks.
BELANTARA - Srikandi Di Sisi LP 1988 (Polygram, 837 239-1)
After a semi-epic instrumental intro we're presented with the fastest track in the entire discography of this intriguing band. "Perintah Berkurung" is classic European PowerSpeed in the good ol' Helloween-tradition and a fairly nice example thereof. Makes you wonder what kind of epic/doomic shenanigans they might have cooked up for the main course this time? Well unfortunately the answer is a cold Fuck You with a side of Suck My Balls. If I were to clutch at straws trying to find one more meaningful moment from this huge disappointment of an album it would perhaps be the darkened semi-ballad "Pelangi Dan Nafiri" for its decent, moodfilled 2nd half, otherwise it's dull & tired soft rock and ballads all the way, however gloomy they try to present themselves. The fact that I STILL consider this band one of Malaysia's best and most interesting says a lot about their remaining discography - that being the iconic "Destinasi" follow-up.
BLOODSHED - Samarkand LP 1988 (EMI, TC-FH 30025)
Their breakthrough album and considered one of the True Classics by the domestic Rock Kapak fanbase. Listening to the bombastic/epic title track opener it definitely makes sense - a True Hymn indeed! On the whole they contintinue on the Melodic Metal trail started on last year's debut and they're still far from the heaviest of bands from this scene, but what they do they do with skill: Lush, lenghty, slow but majestic/symphonic HR/HM at a mighty fine level, with some extra creds to the mesmerizing "Tanah, Air, Api Dan Angin".
BUMIPUTRA ROCKERS - Bisa LP 1988 (Life, HM 1935)
BPR returned in 1988 with a more superior album than last year's "Selamat Pagi Malaysia" debut. Stylewise they're still not the most coherrent though and I guess their eclectic HR/HM/slow-rock mashup places them in the same niche as fellow competitors Wings and Search. Opener "Dajal" is perfect, galopping melo-NWOBHM all the way and "Selamatlah Putera Bumi" a great, almost doomy 'Desert-Metal' number, but on the whole these guys still play in team Hard Rock.
BURNMARK'S - s/t LP 1988 (Warnada, WA 1397)
In the family of bands who first appeared on the Juara Juara Rock compilations, Burnmarks was a quite successful act that came to release a solid-to-great trio of albums of their own, the middle one curiously under the NAJA monicker (see further down). On this debut they do the NWOBHM-thing fairly well. The heavy "Pemuzik" opener as well as the rockin' "Waspada" I would place under the Ebony-Metal umbrella, while the more keyboard-dominated "Terbakar", "Snooker" and "Iri" are more similar to bands like Dawnwatcher, Tredegar or Demon.
DESIRE - Sumpitan Senja LP 1988 (Polydor, 837 270-1)
The debut of this great band is also their heaviest, though the 2nd one is probably their best.
FEBIANS - s/t LP 1988 (ASP, ASP 0050)
Another debut from the "Juara Juara Rock" family of bands. Not a bad album per se, but probably the least 'Metal' of their releases.
FRU (FIVE ROCKERS UNION - Kelahiran LP 1988 (PMC, PMS/MAL 8012)
Sometimes these corny band names will surprise you with some astounding material (Rockers anyone?) but this time the music is just as lame as expected. After trimming the ballad&softrock-dreck we're merely left with 2 dismal hardrockers and the equally depressing almost-HM "Dan Mereka Pun Bersandiwara" and that's that. Not recommended to anyone.
GERSANG - s/t LP 1988 (PMC, PMC/MAL 1008)
The cover reminds us of some unheard top US private rarity - or indeed a NWOBHM 7" - and musically it isn't too far off those vibes in the great opener "Perbezaan". The excellent, high yet youthful vocals are especially inspiring! The rest of the rockers on the album are pending between the too-melodic-Hard Rock ilk and the more ballsy, still-NWOBHM-tasting "Kaca Kaca Kota", "Kaca Dari Permata" and "Gelora". On the whole it's only almost as cool as the sleeve wants you to believe though..
GERSANG - Takdir LP 1988 (PMC, PMC/MAL 1024)
This their 2nd album looks significantly less interesting but 10 seconds into the opener "Usaha" your jaw will shatter to the floor as this fast, pounding gem of NWOHM glory runs through you like a freight train full of over-priced NWOBHM-singles! A few tracks later we get another hit in the melo-nwobhm'y "Dunia", - pure goosebumps-inducing stuff! Unfortunately none of the B-side numbers reaches these levels of heaviness but I have to confess my weakness for catchy, original and semi-wavy melo-rockers like "Nuklear". Sadly, both these wide-ranging albums cement Gersang firmly in the very annoying almost-good cathegory.
Hanafie Warren – Terperangkap Dalam Sinaran LP 1988 (Life, HM 1864)
First solo album of former The Unwanted vocalist ...and it totally doesn't suck! Despite being a fairly metal-free affair. Hanafie's Hard Rock tracks are of the highest order with plenty of drive, especially in numbers like "Mencari Cinta", "Benang Basah", "Kehidupan" and last but not least the almost epic "Buruk Baik", a track so bloody great it should get an honorary title as FWOHM though it only barely qualify as one. While future releases included the odd decent tune or 2, this would be the one H.F. album worth hunting down imho.
HANDY BLACK - Gempak LP 1988 (Mathias Gomes Productions, RA-G 1006)
The galopping Power Metal intro to "Perjalanan" blew me away at first listen, but for some unfathomable reason they changed pace after the initial 30 seconds and so the ever so important opening track feels like a bit of a jumbled mess, going back & forth between these powerful bursts and more tired, mid pace-sections. The wafer-thin demo-production is however the most instant flaw of this debut and frankly this is one of weakest sounding albums I've heard from Malaysia in this respect. Demo-level songwriting aside, one can only dream what following Metallers like the Maiden'y "Kota Tong Sampah", the pounding "Sengsara", the epic "Pencarian", the NWOBHM'y "Waspada" and the galopping warhorse of a Perfect Closer "Kembalikan Darah Satria" would have sounded like with a production on the same top-notch level as their seminal follow-up and masterpiece "Tangan Hitam".
JUNCTION - Arah s/t LP 1988 (Polydor, 837021-1)
Compared to the similar 2nd and way superior 3rd and final album, this debut is by far the most rare of this band's recorded legacy. And I guess it ain't half bad - 'generic' is perhaps the preferred adjective here, or if we're to make that sound marginally more interesting, Ebony-Metal? Heads are consistently nodded, but from the fair amount of Heavier tunes, only the moodfilled "Kenangan Berlalu" truly stands out as far as originality and replay-value goes.
LEFTHANDED - Q'abul LP 1988 (WEA, M 93560)
Lefthanded #3 is doing everything right as far as domestic appeal goes - the ballads are buttery, the rockers are commercial, the Metallers are melodic and never too offensive. The opening to "Di Lembah Kebendaan" sound absolutely majestic, but like with most of the other heavier tracks it doesn't quite live up to the awesome start. My fave moment of the album is the instrumental, slightly progressive title track that closes the album, full to the brim with ear-candy like heavy, chugging Power-riffing, 'Arabian Nights'-harmonies and other cool surprises. In other words it's the only track that really sounds like the album artwork.
LOVINGBORN - Kekalkan LP 1988 (Philips, 836 753-1)
As much as I love this album and would perhaps even rate it as my all-time Malaysian fave, it's seldom the first one I recommend to the uninitiated. Despite it's STRONG local flavour it's a rather atypical one for the scene in question (which is kind of a shame) but for those heavily into Truly Exotic Metal, this is pretty much the crown jewel.
LOVINGBORN - Insaf LP 1988 (Polygram, 834394-1)
That title track...
MAY - Dilema LP 1988 (Warnada, WA 1396)
The more than solid beginning of this one of the most successful Malaysian HM bands, though not quite as talked-about outside the country's borders.
MEDICINE - Titian LP 1988 (Muzik Matahati, MM-JMC 1002LP)
After some promising tracks featured on the first "War Rock" compilation MC from the same year, curiosity ensues... It takes them 2 ballad/slow-rock snoozefests, but on the 3rd try we do get a mighty fine and rather original HR/melo-HM track in "Mergastua". A vaguely Queensryche-sounding number with a great, darkened lead riff. Rocker #2, "Dusta" makes us want to throw in the towel though as it's a way too mellow affair after such a great 'beginning'. It's both uplifting and annoying that they suddenly becomes bloody brilliant Epic Metal by track B2 ...and then again on B4, but this time in a more Iron Maiden'y fashion than the previous Manowar/Doomsword-mashup. The acoustic opening minute of the closing "Derita Seorang Filasuf" decieves us into expecting another sad ending but by Crom it's another Killer! Melodic, melancholic, perfect Malay Steel with even more of those epic guitar harmonies on top. It's a true tragedy that they didn't employ this obvious talent for HM songwriting more on side A - it could have made them kült legends! ...but, well, probably not in Malaysia.
MEDUSA / HURRICANE - Gegaran Split-LP 1988 (Platinum, PP 8808-1)
Both bands display a consistent, very traditional, no bs NWOHM style with no ugly commercial HR/classic rock mutants ruining the vibe of the album." (go to longer review)
Defenders Of The split-LP Faith!
PUTRA - s/t LP 1988 (EMI, FH 30038)
I was quite surprised when I finally located a picture of the Putra debut as an original vinyl release - now I could actually allow myself to listen to it! The more common "Putra II" follow-up from 1990 features a couple of real rippers so I was quite curious about this one, especially since the cassette artwork looks amazing ...and yeah, you guessed it, it's not quite as stunning as I'd hoped for. On the upside there's an unusually low ballad-count present, but most of the tracks are in the Hard Rock variety, and mostly of the quite upbeat ilk. Only on "Di Antara Mata & Hati" do they flirt with aor though so I wouldn't call it an outright sappy HR album - it's just not as Heavy as its artwork or superior successor.
Rahim Maarof - Kristal LP 1988 (PMC, PMC/MAL 1020)
Out of all the artists who originally appeared on the seminal Battle Of The Bands compilations, you'd think Mr Maarof would be the last to finally release a proper album, but you'd be wrong. This guy had a history as a schmallad/schlager singer with several albums out in the early 80's, best left to oblivion. It's also doubtful that the actual WHITESTEEL backup-band is included on this album, but despite most material on "Kristal" being in the same vein as his dark past, there are actually a few HM tracks present. "A few" as in 2: the lightweight but comfortably galopping "Penjara Cinta" and the surprisingly heavy "Racun Dan Penawar", reminding of the more slow, pounding and epic Rusty Blade numbers. It's quite shocking how lame the rest of the material is compared to this hit, the few weakling HR-attempts included. Yet another sad example of wasted talent..
ROCKERS - Kekejaman LP 1988 (Life, HM 1891)
While there might be some even stronger tracks produced in this scene but spread out over dozens of albums and bands, few full-lengths feel as strong and coherrent as this debut by Singapore's Greatest.
ROCKERS - Harakah LP 1988 (Life, HM 1963)
The almost-as-good follow-up. Still killer, but imho both these albums were topped by album #3 and #4.
RUSTY BLADE - Berat LP 1988 (Life, HM 1917)
With the original debut LP missing 2 of the album's greatest tracks, this one grabs the title as Most Essential R.B.-vinyl. One of the Heaviest products of the entire 80's Mal/Sin HM scene!
SAHARA - Jawapan LP 1988 (PMC, PMC/MAL 1013)
For lovers & collectors of fem-fronted 80's Metal, this one should be your #1 SouthEast Asian want list addition.
SOFEA - Anak Liar LP 1988 (Warnada, WA 1515)
I'm sorry but the fact that the opening title track is just a Malaysian cover of WASP's "Wild Child" (and poorly credited as such) makes it hard to take this their second album too seriously. The fact that the 2nd best song, "Godaan Syaitan", is pretty much a rip-off of Uriah Heep's "Easy Livin'" (hm, which 80's American HM band covered that again..?) makes it even harder. Most harder tracks are decent Glam Rock/Metal I guess, vaguely in the Twisted Sister-vein but how the hell would I know for sure if they're written by the band themselves or just nicked from some mainstream HR act I'm blissfully ignorant of?
SWEET CHARITY - Sweet Charity '88 LP 1988 (ASP, ASP 0034)
One last sweet farwell from the originators of Malay Hard Rock appeared in 1988. Original vocalist Ramli Sarip had left the band a few years prior and here they perform with a new female vocalist only known as Zaiton (somtimes 'Zaitun'). She doing a pretty good job and generally "Sweet Charity '88" still sound like the same band who did the "Berita Gempa" album from 3 years ago. The only thing that really has progressed soundwise is the production and I would say this swansong is the only album of theirs that sound genuinely 80's. For better or worse I should add. As solid as most rockers are here, from the heavy groove of "Padah" and "Peracun", the prog-almostMetal of "Melodi Untuk Ina" to the headbanger-heaven "Jangan Laju-Laju", it does sound a wee bit dated by Rock Kapak-standards.
URGENT - Wajah Mistikal LP 1988 (FGM, FGM 1006)
From the same label as the obscure Penyengat, these guys produces soft and melodic Hard Rock occationally bordering on the more mainstream fringes of 80's Heavy Metal. Thankfully it's not always performed in the most saccarine of ways, and tracks like "Mencari Kejujuran", "Khilaf" and "Keseorangan" carry enough originality to be quite enjoyable if you're in the mood for some lighter-of-the-weight stuff. The vocals are a bit off-key on a few occations though, robbing them of one additonal sword off the rating.
VICTIM - Menanti Kepastian LP 1988 (NSR, AJ-1001)
I think the sleeve is quite amazing and perfect in all its Foreign Metal-glory, with the mish-mash of Epic Drawing-v/s-label-logos-v/s-member-pics, all scrambled together on the front. Musically their uglier follow-up under the SELSIUS-moniker is far more impressive though.
WIZARDS - Pencarian LP 1988 (Warnada, WA 1507)
Another march of death through no less than 3 ballad/slow-rock fillers before the real music starts, and I'm not even sure "Tetap Menanti" was worth the effort. It's almost-good, melodic NWOBHM-fodder, no more no less. It's both telling and a bit ironic that the best and heaviest tune on the album, "Salam Kemaafan", is a Power Metal rip-off of "The Final Countdown". Some more decent melo-HR moments fly by, but personally I'm filing this one in the Boring-cabinet.
V/A - Hikayat Rok LP 1988 (Platinum Records, PMC/MAL 1023)
The 'Ballad-volume' of the duo of compilations including the heavier one below. Still includes 2 proper HM tracks, including an early Saxo demo session so it's well worth a mention.
V/A - Pancakara Di Cakerawala LP 1988 (Platinum Records, PMC/MAL 1030)
One of the best Metal-comps to have come out of the Asian 80's and the only one of its kind I would rate a must-buy - and not only because of the sensationally low ballad count mind you!
V/A - Rock Power LP 1988 (Life, HM 1907)
One of the more obscure Malay HM comps and I think it's one of the few that wasn't tied to a rock competition of the same name, but I could be wrong...
ABABIL - s/t LP 1989 (TRC, TRC 8002)
The fan-made 'reprint' sleeve of this one looks Amazing and before realizing that was the case, I have to confess I did obsess quite a bit over it, before the original, generic version came into my possession and the magic died down to about 60%. The fact that this is pretty basic, straight-forward, amateurish HM might also have something to do with it, but that's not necessarily a bad thing, right? Unfortunately there are zero stand-out tunes present here (VICTIM anyone?) and even on the faster "Hidup Topengan" it all crumbles into ruin thanx to below par vocals. Demo-level stuffs without the charms of that nongenre, and that's for the precious few, proper HM tracks actually present.
APRIL 1 - s/t LP 1989 (Suarama, SR 4004)
A really obscure one and not a band name you would take too seriously or have high hopes for. Opener "Fahamilah" confirms our prejudices with some throwaway soft rock and of course a schmallat follows ...but then comes the first surprise. Track #3, "Penantian", sound like a really low-key, 70's Priest meets Angel Witch tune. Not in the least bit as Heavy productionwise, but as a song it will surely pique our interest. This contradictory soft-but-still-Heavy sound continues w/ A5 "Perjuangan" as well as B-siders "Pengorban" and "Utusan" and I can't help shedding a few tears for the 2 facts that this is 1. An absolute Bitch to find and 2. not quite as amazing as to muster the motivation to conquer that hill. Great fem vox though!
ARIWATAN - s/t LP 1989 (Pustaka Muzik Kembara, MLP-3004)
The opening hardrocker "Rockmania" is both annoyingly upbeat and ultra-generic and frankly an awful start. Luckily we don't have to wait long for Ariwatan at their best, as the excellent "Itu-Itulah" follows in prime Fast Melodic Metal-fashion, invoking all your favourite Scandinavian and/or Japanese album-openers of the genre. Later on the mean, somber and pounding duo of "Senjakala" and "Lamunan" closes side A with flying Heavy Metal colors and it seems there's nothing stopping this album to become at least a semi-classic. But no, other than the ample, mildly original Asian rockmetaller "Minah", side B is a lost cause of a schmallad-infested wasteland. A quite cool album still that deserves a want-list addition for the less picky collector I'd say.
BAHTERA - Kehilangan LP 1989 (A.S.B, MMLP 8005)
This leather-clad sextet also counts among the more obscure percentile of the old Malaysian scene. Not deservingly so though, as they present a fairly tight and well produced form of rock'n'metal with a very somber, melancholic sound. Party-Metal this is not, and thank doG for that. While not the best then at least the most interesting track would be "Hidup Berjana" where they've used the skeleton of a typical Malay ballad and 'metalized' it into a rather unique mashup of these two styles. Plenty of cool tracks and well worth picking up if it should ever cross your path. Which it probably won't.
BLACKSHED - Villa Misteri LP 1989 (EMI, LP-FH 30046)
There are moments when they manage something something truly amazing: To be the Asian answer to Saracen! Frankly there is no way in Hell a track like "1 & 1000" wasn't inspired by the finest moments "Heroes, Saints And Fools" imho. Generally I never became as much a die-hard fan of this band (formerly known as Bloodshed) because I always felt their logo and cover art promised more than they delivered. Looking at this one we really want KIng Diamond's "Them" part 2, don't we?. That being said, the title track, "Ensaiklopedia Siswa", "Harimau", "Missi" and the pure ripper "Bermuda" are absolute top-quality melodic HR/HM and on a good day I might actually proclaim this the finest release of the band.
CAPRICORN - Sekalung Doa Sekadar Harapan LP 1989 (Irama IMI, I-020-A)
Unfortunately I'm missing some crucial information about this one. This MIGHT be one of those vinyls where only 6 tracks remain on the promo vinyl version as opposed to the original MC release, but I've yet to have this confirmed. Here folllows my thoughts on the original 10-track tape release:
Neither the most talented nor the most original of old Malaysian bands but at least they left us with abouts 3-4 HM (hmm...) tracks as their legacy. This leaves them smack in the middle of the Mal/Sin average, also musically- and quality-wise.
I like "Pahlawan Mat Kilau". Zero originality aside it has all the ingredients of a good, classic, Priest'y HM tune and sometimes that's quite enough. "Anak Muda" represents local culture with some darn'n'sneaky Asian Metal and the uptempo "Arus Metropolitan" deserves some Metal-mentions as well. Wanna bet they're actually not featured on the vinyl?
CINEMA - Sandiwara LP 1989 (ASP, ASP 0052)
Loud HR solo guitars start off the album and it's indeed another mainstream straight-as-a-ruler Malay hardrocker. Definitely classy sh*t and right up the alley for fans of Wings or Search or 80's mainstream Hard Rock fans in general. "Omar Mokhtar" however is a great, Heavy, pounding piece of Steel that deserved a better place to be buried than deep down in this anonymous tomb...
CROSSFIRE - Fatamorgana LP 1989 (Mega Records, MR 1001)
A band name that does ring the occational bell among western collectors, and with good reason as they represented a great and fairly straight-forward 80's "international" Metal sound. The rare'er of their 2 vinyls though the slightly more common follow-up I'd rate as the better and heavier of the 2.
EKAMATRA - Satu Tekanan Irama LP 1989 (EMI, LP-IZP 1001)
With an MC sleeve like that you bet it's going to be some seriously Slick Shit and indeed it is. Lotsa keys'n'guitarsolos for sure. On tracks like "Ekamatra" and "Ego" their guitar-hero-rock aspirations are particularly high and fans of this genre will surely find some nourishment here. For me, as a wise old shoe-shiner fellow once said, "I wouldn't know anything about it..."
Changed their name to Eka after this release.
ELLA - Pengemis Cinta LP 1989 (WEA, M 93565)
So Ella left The Boys in 1988 and on this solo debut she's actually keeping some of the Hard Rockin' class from the previous Ella & The Boys period, though never quite as heavy as the best numbers from those albums. That being said, I really do appreciate well-written, cozy hardrockers like "Dunia Kehidupan", "Misteri Seorang Kekasih" and "Suara Semalam", but it's only on the 2 last tracks "Balah Telagah Apa Sudahnya" and "Kemudian" that she approaches lightest-of-the-light Heavy Metal, but damn it's pretty ace executed! All in all a perfect example of how great straight-up Malaysian Hard Rock could be in the late 80's, before it started getting aor-sappy only a few years later...
FANTASIA - s/t LP 1989 (TRC, TRC 8001)
This definitely looks promising and the opener "Si Tengang" does prod along in a solid NWOHM-tempo, appropriate for the mildly rocker-looking lineup shot. After 3 schmallad fillers, "Sewarak Dalam Hati" impress further with a more uptempo HM standard. Once the oh-ah-aaahs closes the track it almost sounds great. Unfortunately it never gets more interesting than that, despite the rocking "Puteri Rock" and "Mambang Walaw Winggu" doing its best to follow in the footsteps of the 2 previous numbers. "Certa Sebuah Certa" does warrant a mention though, being one of those VERY rare Malay semi-ballad tracks that actually trumps several of the heavier tunes on the album by sheer quality of melody and pomp.
FEBIANS - 1001 Malam LP 1989 (ASP, ASP 0063)
The 2nd (and possibly most rare) Febians-album is continued HM goodness, but The One You Need is found further down on this page.
FIGURES - Kalau Terpaksa LP 1989 (NSR, NSR-913)
The masters of low-key, melancholic yet catchy Malaysian Hard Rock! If you've taken the trouble to track down an obscure Hard Rock LP from the other side of pretty much anywhere on the planet, THIS is how you want it to sound like. On uptempo tracks like "Biarkan" and the absolutely stunning "Sengketa" it's tempting to dub them an Asian High Spirits to make things more interesting, but they wield their steel in way more exotic directions for that. On the other hand the semi-heavy "Akhirnya Aku Kau Lukakan", the melodic "Semalam" and somber ballad "Seandai Hatihya Kecewa" does invoke the image like an Asian Ashbury(!) Curious yet? It does take a few spins to fully discover the magic though, mainly because of the #2 and #3 ballads creating an unwelcome dealbreaker at the beginning of the album, but I'll say this one's well worthy of your patience. This band later morphed into the great GRAVITY, but sadly a mere jukebox schmallad single remains the vinyl legacy of this great follow-up.
FOTOGRAF - Iramanya Menggetar LP 1989 (Sinar Muzik Production, SN 33011)
Pretty nice and not too cheesy melo-HR start off the album in the form of "Sisu Rindu Mu", but the rest of side A follows the Malay ballad-recipe to the letter, despite the still somewhat raw vocals and occational rockier passages. To the B-side opener "Biarkan" we doth raise our swords in praise! Bloody excellent, mix-tape-worthy, sweet yet cool Asian HardrockMetal of the finest brand. Surprisingly they keep up this eclectic, quality HR/HM-mix in the following "Tinta Di Kelopak Duka", "Gadis Kota" and "Iramanya Menggetar" and one does end up a bit surprised in the end, comparing the musical experience to the unpromising band picture.
GAMMA - Suara Pasrah LP 1989 (PMI, PMI 8903)
Simple rockmetal at sloth-tempo is what hits us with the title track opener. I really don't think they're aiming for a Doom Metal sound here but I could be wrong. All 5 real songs on the album are noisy, sloppy and amateurish but on occation they do manage to work this crudeness to their advantage, like in the stomping "Pengembara" and the more metallic "Lupa". In the end though, this is not the type of album many people would call great, or even good, except maybe for their family and closest circle of friends.
GERSANG - B29 LP 1989 (PCM, PMC/MAL 1042)
The most happy-hr/aor-infested of their albums, though a few of those numbers does approach "just barely listenable"-status. Like their previous "Takdir" LP it's the opening track that's the doG's bollox here for sure. "B29" is a heavy, rumbling yet pompy number with a darkened edge that should appeal to all Exotic Metal-curious. "Jeritan Sang Jipsi" opening side B is another mention-worthy number - a great, keyboard melo-HR/HM tune in that dramatic, pompy style that many Mal/Sin bands does sooo well once they put their minds to it. Overall a very classy album, but it will appeal more to aor/melo-hr fans than die-hard headbangers fans for sure.
HAFIZ - s/t LP 1989 (TRC, AP 888)
Harmless hard rock, though not necessarily bad and not too aor'ish once they get around to actually rock out. A couple of the semi-ballads are almost listenable, but all 3 HR offerings are more than solid and the best would be "Pelarian Benua". Great groove and chorus + plenty of punch. The fact that this one didn't end up in the Rejects-list despite its lack of proper Metal should say some about the overall quality of the album I guess....
HALILINTAR (D'EPISODES) - Harga Sebuah Cinta LP 1989 (Discworld Music, S 8991)
After their disappointing, poppy '87 debut under the D'Episodes moniker this sophomore release came as a positive surprise. So the production might be pretty lightweight but for us perverts who enjoy the odd 'chill'-sounding album every once in a while this is a pretty sweet one. The ballads are mostly of the somber, guitar-oriented kind and Hard Rock/semi-Metallers like "Korban" and "Kerana Dadah" carry plenty of Ashbury-ooze for us with finer tastes of the moodfilled Rock of Hardness. "Fikirkanlah" incorporates a level of suave Hard Rock-coolness very seldom heard from a Malaysian 80's band and as a grand finale, "Ubahlah Sikapmu" refines and summerizes all the best parts of the album into one tune. One for the connoisseurs..
Hanafie Warren - Siapa Aku LP 1989 (Life, HMC 2017)
The second offering from this ex-The Unwanted vocalist, and significant dip in quality - or at least heaviness compared to the debut. "Pencarian" is a good enough melodic hardrocker and the fast "Hukum Rimba" does a great job at being the one token "Heavy Metal"-tune, while firing on all soaring keyboard cylinders, but as a whole this is a very slick product clearly aimed at mainstream audiences.
HANDY BLACK - Tangan Hitam LP 1989 (Mega Records, MR 1003)
Soooo much better than the debut and not only because of the vastly superior production mind you. Scarcity aside a must for any 80's Heavy/Power Metal collector's want list.
HELTER SKELTER - s/t LP 1989 (Life, HM 1985)
After their ho-hum "Clash Of The Bands II" split LP debut, Helter Skelter returned in full-album form 2 years later and its, well.. slightly less ho-hum I guess? A3 "Trajedi" presents the first of a mere 2 tracks here that we would consider HM-related, but craftmanship aside its as typical and mid as 80's mainstream HM goes. "Persaingan" does its best to excite us a bit further up the ladder of Steel and sure, it's the best song on LP and gallopy numbers like this are a fail-safe way to cheat us hungry Metal archeologists into thinking it's a hidden gem, but for fux' ache not every bloody song in this style can't just snatch that title without effort can it?? Remaining hardrockers does the job just fine ...but speaking of fines: they get a pretty hefty one for ending with a cover of BUDGIE's "Crash Course In Brain Surgery" (named "Pesta Rok" here) with absolutely zero credits as far as I can see. Not that they were at all unique with committing thievery like this in ye olde Malay HR scene...
IKRAR - s/t LP 1989 (TRC, TRC 8003)
So I've told you about this phenomenon of local collectors printing d.i.y. full color sleeves of these oldies in later years, and while the one they made for IKRAR is pretty effin' stellar it does not hide the fact that it's a pretty mediocre album all things considered - pretty much the same situation like label mates Ababil then. Also the overall performance is rather sloppy and it's only in the exotish-sneaky "Titian Remaja" that this sound work to their advantage, cheating by way of unintentional(?) obskürity-vibes but damn that's a cool tune for sure! Opener "Ankara Manusia" has the same ambitions but is only half-way there. More of the same of That though, and this could have been a pretty cool an recomendable album. Also one half of those 2 swords are rewarded for several of the ballad fillers being quite listenable in a pomp-rock sorta way..
JUNCTION - Penentuan LP 1989 (Polydor, 839432-1)
MEN SUG MIN JÄVA CINTAKUK FÖR-I-HELVETE!!! Gawd...
The schmallad-softrock-powerballad opening trio of shitstains is provocative beyond belief - as if our hatred towards 80's Malay record labels wasn't intense enough already... But luckily we know JUNCTION to be a True quality band at heart and by track #4 we get what we came for: a great, original and enticing Asian Heavy Metal diamond in the rough, with plenty of light'n shade. "Sebelum Terpejam" follows with some really mean & heavy riffing, perhaps on the more basic, 1st-album side of things but still bloody great to these ears. The title track is however the pièce de résistance - because everyone loves Doom Metal, and today this is Doom Metal and a bloody great example thereof. Unfortunately the album ends on the same vile note as it started, but while there are technically a lesser amount of Heavy Metal tracks featured on this sophomore album by the band compared to the debut, the 3 proper Metallers here are of a higher tier, both originality- and songwritingwise so I'd rate it as the better of the 2. Still, both albums shrink in comparison to their upcoming 3rd masterpiece "Petualang".
JUSTICE - Kenangan Abadi LP 1989 (WMA)
Domestically a fairly well-respected band from the early Singapore-scene I believe, but in no way would this debut cause a stir for any outlander Metal fans. Sure, the logo looks cool and opener "Manusia Dan Kehidupan" is a solid piece of melodic Rock-Metal, but the rest is pure aor/radio-hr/ballad schlock. I'm not saying they're bad at their game, but it's such a wimp-fest disappointment for us who first got introduced to the band via their truly great sophomore album Pribumi. No, not even the fact that "Dunia Computer" got my foot tapping will change my mind. (You can't prove that this even happened!)
(full 10-track MC: )
KEJORA - Dalila LP 1989 (JMC, JMC 998)
This one start out great with an improved re-recording of "Searuan Damai", previously on the "War Rock II" compilation MC from the previous year. Both this one and A3 presents some excellent Melodic Metal, where the more brooding and Asian-sounding "Angkara" even offers up a few percentages both originality(!) as well as replayability. Sadly that's about as good as it gests this time around, with only the slow hardrock-filler "Pepayung Kasih" remaining as the very marginally mentionworthy tune. Sadly one of earliest examples of promo-vinyls leaving out some of the heaviest and better material from the commerciably available cassette version. Cry for the cozy NWOBHM-riff-infused "Darjat" and its upbeat, almost-Power Metal "Malaysia" companial and how they could have made the LP amount to a pretty cool collection-addition..
LAST MINUTE - Timur Dan Barat LP 1989 (Life, HM 1988)
Our 2nd familiar from the 1987 "Clash Of The Bands II" split-LP and just as in the case of their flipside neighboors Helter Skelter from that rarity they have improved some on this full-length debut - even more so I'd say! Melodic HM with very high, almost child-like female vocals. The opening title track manages to sound both silly and brooding at the same time, but on the whole this is pretty enjoyable, especially on the heavier tracks on side B, which occationally also features a male vocalist. It's tradition that albums like this shall include a hidden Power Metal pearl and in Last Minute's case it's "Buktikanlah" - your typical fast Scanda-Metal-meets-Thundersteel-RIOT type of tune and we all love those ones no matter how totally unoriginal they may be. "Landasan Hidup" and "Sedarilah" closes the album in almost the same manner and weight and overall this is a pretty cool album, only lacking in that very important 'local flavour' part.
LEFTHANDED - Evolusi LP 1989 (WEA, M 93572)
Already in 1989, LEFTHANDED had reached their 4th full-lenght album release so yeah, MAJOR movers & shakers of the local scene obviously. As far as cool, catchy Hard Rock goes these guys were some of the best - grrreat riff-makers and every single rocker on here is unique and interesting in its own way, i.e. zero fillers. My super-prejudice Heavy Metal cortex can only truly recignize the rumbling Arabian-Nights Metal "Arah Yang Hilang" as the one masterpiece present though, containing exclusively 100% Steel and maybe their finest tune ever. Best Lefthanded album?
LEGENDA - s/t LP 1989 (PMI, PMI 8902)
Fulfills all prejudices towards the Malaysian scene to an almost ridiculous degree. Ironically this was also among of the first Mal/Sin vinyls I came across, some time in the early 00's. No wonder it took me another 2 decades to really bother digging deeper. "Mencari Kebenaran" kicks things off sooo well. Quick album-opener-Metal with just a wee sweet pinch of Asian vibes and things are looking ever so bright ...until the rest of the whole bloody album that is just lame. And that includes the one or 2 feeble attempts at rocking their rock "hard". Avoid.
LOVINGBORN - Nyanyian Hidup LP 1989 (Philips, 842 183-1)
3rd and last album is also their 3rd best but still includes some of the greatest tunes of their career. Someone pleeeease find me a LovingBorn T-shirt!
MASA - Scarecrow LP 1989 (PMI, PMI 8901)
At first casual listen this was just too generic, too directionless and too mid-weight to inspire any form of smartass'ery from my part. Waaaay too much power ballad gunk here, guitar-oriented or not. After another couple of spins the tracks "Seloka Si Semut Hitam" and "Bayangan Suram" does crystalize themselves as quite stylish and well-written melodic Heavy Metal tunes, but without another 1 or 3 companions of this caliber, the album just feels too diluted for comfort.
MAY - Hakikat LP 1989 (Warnada, WA 1523)
It's actually a pretty hard pick, but if I had to chose, this would be the one May album I'd grab if the house caught fire.
(full 10-track MC: )
MEDICINE II - Muzakharah LP 1989 (Muzik Matahati, MH1005JMC)
Their 1988 debut featured some real killer tunes so let's see if they maintained some of that hidden treasure here on their 2nd release.. "Empayar Drakula" sounds like a promising title, right? Well it's a decent enough RockMetal standard but perhaps not quite what we hoping for. The following "Muzakarah Lalang" offer more of both originality and heavier parts and some the hidden guitar harmonies are damn near golden. Side B is a major letdown with only the mellow hardrocker "Suara-Suara Sumbang" conjouring up some proper guitar-oriented material. A real cool track missing on this LP is the cassette-exclusive "Irama Degup Jantung", presenting an anthemic form of melodic Hard Rock that transform into proper Heavy Metal in the 2nd half of the song.
MEGA - s/t LP 1989 (PCM, PMC/MAL1051)
After a typical sappy ballad opener we get a pretty great, uptempo melodic Heavy/Powermetaller in "Badai" and thus expectations are set quite high. I won't say they're completely shattered by the rest of the album because we do get a fair amount of heavy tracks on this one, it's just that feeling that we've heard them all before. Despite their lack of originality, most of their tunes penting between the HR v/s HM spheres are tight, well produced and vocals are as great as ever so less demanding collectors can certainly do worse.
METALIAN - Era LP 1989 (Warnada, WA 1512)
"Ular Kota" is a nice enough, 'chill' melo-hr opener and "Dosa" a slightly heavier, soaring Almost-Metal tune that doesn't suck and that's that for side A I'm afraid. Thus, halfway through the album it has become clear that this promising-looking (Hellen anyone?) sophomore release by the band isn't quite what was promised on their heavier debut. As often is the case, the good stuff is however hidden away on the flip and both "Nisan Era" and "Suara Dari Sudut" are great, repeated-listening-friendly examples of classic Asian Rising Force-worship, the latter bordering on the Epic. Still, too little too late if you ask me...
NAJA - Opera Sang Bara LP 1989 (Warnada, WA 1552)
The reason the band changed their name to Naja on this their 2nd album after starting out as Burnmarks a few years prior is said to be because of music biz/political issues with local artists using English band names. Seemingly they managed to wiggle themselves out of this restriction fairly quickly and returned to their more established moniker in the following year. Compared to album #1 and #3 I guess this one is ever so slightly less heavy but not by a huge margin. The fast poor-man's-Iron-Maiden "Warisan" and similar Judas Priest'y dito "Wajah Kehidupan" are the highlights here, together with the doomy "Mencari Cinta Yang Hilang". Tweaking what could have been another lame ballad into a much more dark number was a clever touch, so cheers for that.
ODYSSEY - Tarian Si Api-Api LP 1989 (Philips, 838 445-1)
"Kuburan" is a great Fast-Melo-Metal number and there's some enjoyable moments on the rest of the album that at its best presents a slick and well performed mix of 'Scandinavian' melodic HR/HM and the Asian dito, with occational prog/symph aspirations - i.e. plenty of keys & solos. Die-hard fans of that genre should definitely check these guys out.
PROJEK - Ain Zubaidah LP 1989 (Irama IMI, 1-022-A)
At the time of writing this I don't know exactly in what amount of detail I've bothered to explain the connection between Middle-Eastern and South-East Asian folk and the Dangdut-phenomenon in the intro of this page, so you'll just have to take my word for it when I say that the opening 'Arabian folk-rock' "Ain Zubaidah" isn't a shockingly unexpected move from a Malay rock band, though still a fairly original one. A hundred times more interesting than the usual ballad/slow-rock crap, that's for sure. The rocking commences with track 2, "Sekadar Mengingatkan" though it's a pretty HM-scrubbed affair with way too much classic-rock flavour for its own good. The rest of the album is the usual mix of power ballads and soft rock with the exception of the UFO/melo-NWOBHM-flavoured "Kerja", but I probably wouldn't have bothered with listing this album at all if it weren't for the 1990 follow-up that's ever so slightly more on-topic.
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PURPLE HAZE - Mimpi & Janji LP 1989 (SCS / ZMP, ZMP 001)
Well this is embarrassing... I'm sorry to say I've only heard one song from this album ("Perjuangan"), but it was a really good, uptempo NWOBHM'ish number so by that merit alone this album certainly belongs here. Let's cross our fingers that someone out there can supply a full rip in the near future...
RAMZILA - Hati Seorang Wanita LP 1989 (SRC, SRC-8719)
The bonkers ethno-Metal pearl "Ilusi Cinta" is the price jewel here and damn what a cool 'Exotic Metal' album this could have been if we would have gotten 3-4 more similar numbers like that. "Keriangan Bercinta" has a decent, galoppy HM riff going for it but chrXst are those pop-keyboards awful! 80's cheese at its worst. It goes without saying that none of her following albums contained anything remotely heavy - or even rock music in any shape or form..
RIYADH - Media '88-'89 LP 1989 (Polygram)
The fact that "Media '88-'89" is actually a proper, opening song title is just so endearingly weird ...and I guess it's a pretty decent melo-HM number as well. Riyadh we know from their appearances on the "Hikayat Rok" and "Pancakara Di Cakerawala" comps from the year before and the catchy mid-stream Metalrocker "Dunia Perhitungan" from the former appears here in re-recorded shape. From the rest of the heavier material, only the 'US Radio-Metal' "Kutukan Talibarut" and the NWOBHM-rocker "Rantaian Cinta" raises its head above water with some marginally ballsier riffing, but not in a particularly memorable way.
RUSTY BLADE - Awas! LP 1989 (Life, HM 2033)
The final album from this Singapore institution of Steel. Only the 3rd bestest one, but looks are important and don't let anybody tell you otherwise.
SAHARA - Bahang-Bahang LP 1989 (SRC, SRC 8717)
Another lesson in Not Judging An Album By Its Cover, this freakshow carries hidden treasure!
SATIRA - Surat Dari Hiroshima LP 1989 (SCS, 089-8126)
I don't think we could have come up with a more typical Scandinavian Melodic Metal Album Opener than "Surat Dari Hiroshima". The Corroseum likes, but on the originality-scale this is a firm negative zero. That being said, they do keep the quality of their 4 Metal songs present on the same or even higher quality level, with the clever almost-Power Metal "31 Ogos 1957" being the pièce de résistance here. I'd say the lack of identity and the somewhat weak mix are the album's major drawbacks.
SELSIUS - s/t (Sejarah Sebuah Cinta) LP 1989 (Sinar, SN 3302)
Few seem aware that Singaporians VICTIM had a follow-up under a different monicker, which is a shame considering both the superior Metal-ratio, weight and musical quality of this 2nd release.
SEARCH - Di Pintu Sepi Mini-LP 1989 (Philips, SRH 001)
Not entirely a promo for the full-lenght compilation album with the same name, but a combo of 4 tracks from this one + 2 tracks from the following sibling-comp "Berpaling". Both of these albums were originally released in 1988 and included various rare sessions as well as both old and new material. To be honest there's practically nothing of interest on this particular promo for the casual HM collector or fan I'm sorry to say.
SEARCH - Fenomena LP 1989 (PMC, PMC/MAL 1033)
The 4th Search album and the first which vinyl promo came with a proper picture sleeve. Also not quite as 100% Impossible To Find as the first 3, but will probably cost you an arm & leg still because domestic competition. The first time I heard side A, my reaction was pretty much *fart-noise* and thinking "oh they obviosly turned into THAT kind of band..". And then came side B. And I was fucking blown away because the trio of "Menara Kesesatan", "Bencana" and "Pawana" are bloody AMAZING - like, 3rd and 4th Rockers-amazing(!) Heavy, menacing, epic, Proud and REAL Heavy Metal through-and-through, topping everything they've done so far. Even song #4 is a bit of a hidden joker, as they are trying out some Progressive Hard Rock-moves for the first (and I guess, last) time and doing it with style. Sad ending sploiler-alert: This album was the band's last moment in the field of the Metal proper, but were you to make one full-lenght LP compilation of all the Heavier tunes they made up to this point, it would have been an absolute 10/10 materpiece of international class.
SHIMA & THE BOYS - Kelkatu Gugur Sayapnya LP 1989 (CBS Records Malaysia, M 134)
The Boys are back in town! Ella went her own way with a prominent Hard Rock career of numerous solo albums (see elsewhere) and in came Shima, another great fem vocalist that fit their style well. What's missing on this record though is a few more HM smash hits like on their previous "Anak Merdeka" album. "Pedaya Cinta" start things off with a great NWOBHM-style groove and great vocal harmonies, but they never really reach that level of cool again so what we finally end up with is a rather 'talented', mainstream Hard Rock album of international mid-class. Good enough for plenty of folks out there I'm sure but us grumpy headbangers will keep searchin'...
Atm the discogs-entry confuses us some about the tracklist of the LP. The label pics I've seen clearly indicates all 10 songs should be present, but the discogs tracklist only mentions 8 titles, also in a different order. Please get in contact if you can help sort this out.
SOFEA - Boneka Pentas LP 1989 (Warnada, WA 1530)
Compared to their countrymen of similar popularity like May or Febians, Sofea feels like a Hard Rock band with the occational token HM track rather than the other way round, however great a melodic HR tune like "Juwita" may be. On the upside, the music of Sofea part III isn't the kind of abyssmal LA/Poison/Hair-rock plaguing the rest of the world at the time, but often a fairly ample brand of catchy mainstream Hard Rock. When they do stray aimlessly into HM-land, "Dewi Hayalan" is proof that they can do so with grace - it's probably the best tune I've heard with the band - but after listening through their 3 first albums in a row now I think I've realized why I'm less amazed by this band than their many local fans: They just sound too 'western' :(
TAUFAN - Dibuai Alam Mimpi LP 1989 (Inkyo Muzikal, - )
Well, at least there's more than ONE Heavy track on it, but as a whole it's a pretty mediocre affair. "Dugaan Bercinta" and "Berdikari" are decent, uptempo NWOHM tunes with some amateur charm, but the rest just feels tired and uninspiring. Next.
VIKING - Dalam Pelayaran LP 1989 (Solid Gold Studio, SGA 1006)
...and may you choke on them one minute into the opening theme song/title track!" (go to longer review)
Another huge personal fave from this part of the world, despite only featuring 5 proper HM tracks. All of those tunes are great though and the fact that NO ONE seem to have hyped this album before, despite the Epic title track makes it X-tra deserving of some heartfelt Corroseum-love.
WILD AGE - Pelangi Duniawi LP 1989 (CBS, M 136)
A keyboard-infused Melodic Metal-archetype in the vein of various Scandinavian or Japansese acts, and they're doing a pretty excellent job! That troglodyte MC art would have looked fantastic as an LP sleeve too, but WYSIWYG alas... While perhaps lacking in the outstanding-memorable-tracks dept, "Pelangi Duniawi" still stands out by the fact that there are zero Happy Fun-Time moments present, ballads included. Instead it's an excellent exposé of Malaysian HM/HR Melancholy if I ever heard one. Solid stuffs!
ZODIAK - Bintang Hati LP 1989 (EMI, TC-FH 30050)
Clean, super-80's production with keyboard-sprinkles galore over guitar-hero solos - you know exactly the type I'm sure. Gotta love a song like "Tirai Malam" for its perfect meld of Rising Force melo-PowersSteel and Rainbow aestetics though, and Heavy/epic hardrockers like "Materialistik", "Zodiak" aren't far behind, Best Track On LP would be the epic "Kalahari" - symphonic Asian-desert-prog-hr at its finest 'coz we all love that genre don't we? Too bad that's about it as far as heavier contents go, though some of the ballads are 'semi-' and well written enough to be worth a mention, like "Bintang Hati" and "Untukmu".
V/A - Clash Of The Bands III LP 1989 (Life, HM 2021)
The final volume in this series and everso slighly less über-rare than the 2 previous volumes. This time w/ a pro-printed back sleeve including lyrics.
V/A - Rock Galactica LP 1989 (Polygram)
Possibly the 2nd best Malaysian Metal compilation after Pancakara Di Cakerawala...
Arab & Aidit - s/t LP 1990 (EMI, LP-FH 30067)
The colorful sleeve and the fact that one of the members is holding an electric guitar on the back cover might catch your eye, and I guess "Aki Dan Harimau" is sort of Metal-like ...at times, but apart from that this side-project of Syed Azlan of Lefthanded should have zero appeal to HM collectors.
AROMA - Aroma Asmara LP 1990 (Polydor, 847 173-1)
I guess since I made the rules around here I'll bloody well have to follow them so sure, there is ONE track on this album that I guess we could squeeze into the HM pidgeonhole. And sure, it's also a pretty decent one as far as keyboard-infested galopping Melo-Steel goes, but the rest of the album is almost the kind of hair/glam style you'd expect from the front pic. But not quite. Frankly few Malaysian acts managed to copy the worst aspects of the LA shame, so at least the power ballads have more of a late Queensrÿche symphonic HR feel to them, and then there's the odd semi-proggy part here and there bringing some light in the darkness.
(full 10-track MC: )
BABYLON - s/t LP 1990 (WEA, 9031 71917-4)
A quite unique Malay HM record of its time because it features some very rare ingredients: No less than 2 songs sung in English! Most famous is the mighty, pounding headbanger "Metal Fire", though the proud & bold powerchord epic "Fight For Freedom" is perhaps my favourite - "Fight - For - Freedom! *fist in air* ". Perhaps it's this anglification that also makes the album one of the most western/American-sounding of the era, but certainly not in a bad way. Other killer Metallers on this album would be the equally heavy "Tangan Gelojoh" and semi-Doomy "Suara Syaitan" but yeah, no, once again tracks like these were cut from the viny promo version because let's hate on all future western Metal collectors scum, right? Remaining mentionables are the solid hardrocker opener "Saudara Dalam Rock", the groovy street-Metal "Dunia Konkrit" and uptempo mainstream HM standard "Haruman Berbisa". Would not mind a proper 10-song vinyl reissue of this one at all....
BELANTARA - Infiniti LP 1990 (Polydor, 843 351-1)
Probably the greatest Epic Metal 3-track 12" Maxi-single of all time.
BLACK ROSE - s/t LP 1990 (BGM Pacific, PMC/MAL 1069)
This one popped up in a Stockholm record store a few years ago for <€100 but obviously I had 0 interest in investing, because this would only ever be of interest to local Hard Rock nostalgia-ridden fans. Not complete wimp-garbage though, as tracks like "Arca" and "Remaja" are solid enough hardrockers and overall it isn't the worst or most annoyingly wimpy release of olde Mal/Sin HR. Still, as borderline an inclusion on this page as you'll ever get...
(full 10-track MC: )
BUMIPUTRA ROCKERS - Kelab Jiwa Luka LP 1990 (Life, HM 2028)
We're at B.R. #3 and once again there are a few neat stand-out tunes worth mentioning, like the atmospheric B-side Hard Rock opener "Pentas Alam" featuring plenty of unique Malaysian flavour, and... well, the rest was left on the label butcher's block because only 6 out of 10 songs survived the promo vinyl treatment :(((
"Yakjud Dan Makjud" is perhaps their greatest moment yet - a beautiful, melodic and semi-epic Heavy Metal tune that'll break your heart. Also "Dosa Siapa" is sweet charming pomp-rock and "Angkara HQ" really neat form of exotic gallop'y light-Steel. Too bad few vinyl die-hards will ever hear them..
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BURNMARKS - Asmara Mini-LP 1990 (Warnada, WA 1562)
Together with the 3rd and 4th ROCKERS albums and the SUSILA LP, this is another one that completely broke my heart when realizing the promo vinyl was so mercilessly butchered. Perhaps even worse here is the fact that none of the greatest tracks were left on the vinyl! Burnmarks were without a doubt one of the most classic olde Malaysian Heavy Metal bands, and this 3rd release of theirs is their magnum opus - on MC and CD only that is. Left on the vinyl promo are the broadlegged Hard Rock anthem that is the title track, as well as the equally heavy "Kemaruk" and the cocky metalrocker "Aku Atau Dia". However, the fact that we don't get the absolutely Majestic Power-ripper "Satira Manusia" (those vocals...) and the Power Metal attack of "Arah" will surely leave burnmarks on our hearts...
CINEMA - Wayang Orang LP 1990 (ASP, ASP 0071)
We're off to a great start with the cozy rockmetal-banger "Medusa Bukit Bintang" and 3rd track "Mencapai Langit" has the same energy and ballsy vibe to keep you on your toes, but after this we're barely left with ho-hum hardrockers at best. "Bingung & Bosan" has a nice, slide-guitar groove to it but generally this one is mostly for die-hard Hard Rock fans. Gotta give 'em some credit for doing this style in a very classy and professional manner though..
CLASSMATE - Nyata LP 1990 (ASP, ASP 0071)
While they're arguably heavier than the band name would give hint of (says lame powerpop right?), this isn't fist-held-high Heavy Metal by any stretch of the imagination. Most of the riffing is very much in the style of 2nd tier, lighter-end German HR/HM acts from 5-6 years earlier, so yeah, a Malaysian Gama Records act! Who wuddah...
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CRK - Anugerah LP 1990 (WEA, 9031-72636-1)
Opener "Mayang Mengurai" is a schizophrenic mix of both powerful bridges and lightweight, keyboardinfested fluff, but ultimately a pretty sweet piece of atmospheric Melo-HR/HM. There's a couple of other well-made melo-hardrockers featured on the vinyl but sadly the only other above-decent track "Krisis" (a neo-classical Melo-HM orgy) was scrapped from the LP version.
CROSSFIRE - Erosi LP 1990 (Mega Records, MR 1006)
One of those Malaysian classics that do tend to turn up for sale in the west every once in a while, and well worth picking up if you get the chance.
DESIRE - -, +, ×, ÷ [Tolak, Campur, Kali, Bahagi] LP 1990 (Polydor, 839 780-1)
A most cryptic album title - literally - but it serves its purpouse by keeping the album in the back of your mind, and not undeservingly so.
DESIRE - Kata Kata Kata LP 1990 (Polydor, 843137-1)
It's somewhat ironic that the amount of Heavy songs on each album declined at about the same pace as their musicianship improved.
Dilla Hussein - Di Tabir Suria LP 1990 (NSR, NSR-722)
Another female solo-artist trying out the Hard Rock-path on her debut to keep up with contemporary fashions. This is basically 110% western, stock radio-HR with zero originality, but apart from the ballads most songs aren't awful and there's no aor or other pop-rock making the real part of the album unlistenable. There are occational HM'ish riffs present and "Mentari Jingga" and "Kanta Serigala" got my foot tappin'..
DINAMIK - Revolusi Mental LP 1990 (NSR, NSR-722)
The perfect Great Cover/Great Music-combo from Malaysia! Post-NWOBHM and Eastern Bloc HM fans shall not miss out!
Eddie Hamid - Suara Kedamaian LP 1990 (FGM, FGM 1013)
The debut and only album by this future pop-rock/ballad artist to include any heavier content. Most of this is pretty straight-up commercial, hapless Hard Rock. Not that those songs are bad or anything but we've heard most this before. The title track is the stand-out heavier affair with an obvious Dio-meets-Maiden lineage = very likeable but not really outstanding.
ELLA - Puteri Kota LP 1990 (WEA, 9031 71106-4)
Not even on her 2nd solo album did former "The Boys" vocalist Ella have the common sense to completely wimp out, though it's hardly a HM must buy or even on par with the solo debut from 1989. That being said I do nod my head ever so slightly while listening to the crunchy title track as well as the ballsy'n catchy "Aku Tetap Wanita". A special mention also needs to go out to the heavy rocker "Kembara Kita", where Mal/Sin Rock legend Ramli Sarip of Sweet Charity/Lefthanded fame does some exquisite, trademark hoarse vocals. Reissued on vinyl in 2017, probably in a ridiculously small edition. Ella continued to occationally rock hard on a number of following 90's albums, but this is the last one that felt on-topic for this page.
ETIKA - Jawapannya Padamu LP 1990 (Happy, 96001)
*sigh* More mainstream hardrockers that could have come from anywhere in the world a year or 3 prior, but worth a mention for general class and a few enjoyable, low-key HR tunes like "Remaja Bukan", "Marga" and "Tetamu Di Tengah Malam", all of which include the odd HM-adjecent riff or 2. Next.
FEBIANS - Satu Antara Sejuta LP 1990 (ASP, ASP 0074)
The last of their albums available on vinyl, and the most essential of those 3 by far.
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FOTOGRAF - s/t [7:30 Psikosis] LP 1990 (Sinar, SN3303)
Their 1989 debut surprised us with a handful of great HM tunes so obviously we're curious how this sophomore release will match up. While there's a fair amount of decent hardrockers present, with special mentions to the catchy "Kau", the heavy almost-Metal "Takdir Bukan Mimpi" and the twisted sludge of "An Offering Of Silence", this is generally not an album for Metal die-hards at all, and as an unusual side-note that includes the 2 hardrockers scrapped from the original 11-song(!) cassette version as well.
GERHANA - Debu Sengsara LP 1990 (FGM, FGM 2003)
One of the greatest shocks since deep-diving into this scene was my first spin of Gerhana's one and only album, and it starting of with (brace yourself..) 3 - Metal - Songs - In-A-Row!?! Quite the hidden little pearls they are as well, especially the more 'exotic'-flavoured "Pendusta" and "Pejuang Negara". Obviously the rest of the album doesn't reach these heights, but I can't help diggin' the dangdut-meets-melancholic-HR oddity "Renungan" and the downer-HR closer "Tak Dapat Tidak Mengapa" has a cool swagger to it as well. Even some of the ballads takes an interesting turn to more ethnic and folksy territories, which is always preferable to the usual slow-dance dreck. Cool find for something so anonymous-looking, though I'm sure there are copies out there where the label actually remembered to glue the MC-sleeve to the front...
GERIMIS - s/t LP 1990 (ASB, 9302)
So we at least get 4 songs in the heavier Hard Rock / mid-pace Heavy Metal territory here, but the riffing and songs themselves are sort of generic and forgettable. Vocals are however excellent so completists and die-hards could certainly do worse. If stumbled upon in the wild for cheap, why not?
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G.E.T. - s/t LP 1990 (MSO, MS 9003)
An 11-track (unusual..) full-length cassette cut down to 6 tracks on the promo, where only the ample boogie-Hardrocker opener "Koleksi" and slighly more eclectic dito "Si Manis 17" is worth a mention. Left by the roadside were some notably heavier material like the groovy/cocky "Nada Dalam E", quality darkened HM cruch like "Dr Labu" and "Gejala", and last but not least the quite rippin' Power-metaller "Lebaran Kiamat". So yeah, a complete version would have been quite a nice addition to any collection, but these leftovers are next to useless to any HM fan or collector.
HATTY - Termetri Kasih LP 1990 (AKI, HP 1188)
A 2-sword rating aside, there's no escaping at least checking it out on YT since the track "Wira Percasa" is a little pearl of proud, galloping Underground Steel of the sort NO Western band of this otherwise plain-plain, semi-sleazy HR-mould would EVER include on their album. Let's say they had included only 2 more tracks of this super-Kült style on the album and I'm sure they would have become semi-legends. While there's no less than 5 more songs very widely described as Hard Rock, they all fall under the stock'n'unremarkable label. Shame shame...
HIDAYU - Perjanjian LP 1990 (M Production, 9001)
Starts off very promising with a nice twin lead and some pounding 'For Whom The Bell Tolls'-pastishe riffing. Definitely some Metallica-influences here for sure. "Hidup Metal Rock" on the other hand is so corny and had me laughing out loud at first listen but after a few spins it kinda becomes a fun & exotic oddity that you can't help singing along to, giggling and sideways-banging along as you go. The stock mid-pace trot of "Aku Adalah Aku" and "Pembela Bangsa" fly by unnoticed, Heaviness notwithstanding and "Lidah Bercabang" wraps up the mentionable part of the album in decent semi-Power fashion. While heaviness is certainly over par here, the songwriting isn't quite up to 'recommended!'-standards but hey, proper pic sleeve so worth a gander I guess..?
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IDDA - Oasis Sahara Mini-LP 1990 (Antares Muzik, A 9081)
A 10-song original cassette stripped down to a mere 4-tracker on this only vinyl version, but to our great surprise there's a few pounds of Heavines savoured here. The opening title track might be cathegorized as a semi-ballad, but clearly on the Heavy Metal side of things, and while the following "Satu Catatan Kenangan" is pretty much in the same ballpark it's an even heavier number so there's that 2nd sword, well earned. B = Ballads, obviously.
IKLIM - Satu Kesan Abadi LP 1990 (SCS, 060-8137)
This band started out under the not too fanciful monicker The Kids on the first volume of the obscure "War Rock" compilation series (MC only I'm afraid) but became rather popular affair in later years (by completely selling out of course). On this debut we're presented with a really tasty mix of Dio-Metal and Scorpions-Hard Rock and while it's not quite on par with the upcoming "Bulan Jatuh Ke Riba" from '91 it's still a really solid album where all 5 non-ballad tracks could be considered good-to-Great. Unfortunately even bitch'ier to find than usual because of local latter-day fame.
JUNCTION - Petualang LP 1990 (Polydor, 843068-1)
Power/Heavy of international class, and as a rare fluke both the best and "easiest" to find of their 3 vinyls!
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JUSTICE - Pribumi LP 1990 (FGM / Ilham Seni, IS-1001)
On a completely different level than their lightweight debut. We mourn the 2 butchered HM tracks missing from this version, but this time it still holds up as a great Exotic Melodic Metal LP.
KALAHARI - Kesucian Cinta Tiada Tandingan LP 1990 (Polygram)
If one were to classify Kalahari's heavier numbers as Heavy Metal, it would be by its most lightweight, melodic definition so I really don't want to go that far. At the same time songs like "Roda Dunia" and "Kembang" carry plenty of HM riffs & structure, but my doG it just so extremely lush. Talented wimp-rockers for fans of talented wimp-rock for sure..
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LEFTHANDED - Fanatisme LP 1990 (Warner Music Malaysia)
We've reached the 5th release of these local heroes and dammit they still got it! At least with the opener "Semangat Lamina" which is another perfect "Gates Of Babylon"-inspired piece of 'Desert-Metal' and possibly their finest tune so far. Elsewise it's mostly the usual mix of Hard Rock and power ballads that despite being top-class, won't excite the foreign Heavy Metal fans too much. It's kinda cool though how they only trashed a few 'normal' hardrockers ("Pesta Hidup Di Kotaraya" and "Akal") from the MC version and actually kept the 2 heaviest tunes, the second mentionable one being closer "Tenet". It's a well-crafted mix of enegetic Hard Rock and Metal harmonies and all in all I figure their domestic popularity among Hard Rock fans is well reserved.
MASA SCARECROW - Doktrin Metos LP 1990 (PMI, PMI 9901)
A proper full-color sleeve this 2nd time around Masa and on a positive note it is a bit more consistent an album than the '89 debut. All non-ballad numbers could be squeezed into a very wide Hard Sleazy/Groovy Rock-pidgeonhole and to their merit they do play around with and experiment with this sound quite a lot. The semi-Metallic "U.F.O." would be the heaviest and thus best contender but it's hard not to enjoy most of the other hardrockers on here for this or that riff or break. Open-minded 'Street Metal' fans should give this one a chance but Real Metal™ fans on the other hand should rather look below....
MAY - Rahsia LP 1990 (Warnada, WA 1551)
The 3rd and last of their original vinyl releases, but their album-releasing career continued into the 00's. Only this one and the previous "Hakikat" album have been reissued on vinyl though.
MEDITASI - s/t LP 1990 (PMI, PMI 9900)
As far as slick, mainstream, late 80's Hard Rock goes, opener "Debu Berbisa" is pretty damn nice. Silly slick'n'digital 80's mix aside there's no denying that bridge and chorus is more than just a little bit catchy. The rest of the hardrockers present fall into the 'professional' but way too slick & generic cathegory I'm afraid. The only marginally HM-adjecent number present is the highly controversial "Protes Terhadap Salman Rushdie" (Nnnnope, not going there...) but late 80's Priest-chuggings aside it's a pretty forgettable number. Pretty much sounds like its cover, this one...
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MELISSA - Pendirian LP 1990 (Polygram)
This one starts out Grrreat with the atmospheric "Bencana", a brooding melodic Metal pearl. At first I couldn't discern if there were actual violins added to the mix of this enticing track, but after several replays I'm convinced it's just a guitar effect. A highly successful and well-played move any way you look at it. Unfortunately this is yet another brutally butchered vinyl version of the 10-song original, so the only other worthwhile tune present is "Laut". Together with the opener it would count as one of the better tracks of the album though - a galloping melo-Metal hit from that late 80's Euro-mould that's hard not to love. What us vinyl-diehards are missing out on is first and foremost the fast & proud "Pendirian", a genuinly great semi-Power track, as well as 3 more quite decent mid-pace melodic HM numbers. Not as tragic a massacre as the 2 last Rockers albums perhaps, but still a bloody shame as I'm sure more people outside of this part of the world would have taken notice of this band if circumstances had been different..
METAFORA - Suara Generasi LP 1990 (SRC, SRC 8723)
Despite a handful of ample Melodic/mid-Metal numbers there's no denying the fact that the songwriting is rather bland and forgettable. Ironically the one exception would be the more hardrocking "Sebelum Bersemadi" with that sweet anthemic end bit. Otherwise I just can't muster up the inspiration to dissect any of the other 3 heavier contributions to any length. There was a notable improvement on the 1991 follow-up, and as far as completist-items go, you could certainly do worse...
ODYSSEY - Imaginasi LP 1990 (Philips, 846 347-4)
On the 3 heavier tracks they are absolutely 1st class in their game of melodic, keyboard-infused Metal and on "Keampunan Di Bumi Konkrit" go absolutely atomic - a true gem of original and anthemic HR/HM! "Marathon Kota" also deserves mention for being a superbly well-written piece of melo-Steel and all in all both albums of the Malaysian edition of Odyssey should be a notable ping of any melodic HR/HM fan's radar.
PROJEK II - s/t LP 1990 (Irama IMI, I-026-A)
...or PROJEK - "II" LP? Whatever. Opener "Muslihat" on the band's sophomore release is great super-Malaysian melodic HR/HM, i.e. both technical, 'exotic' and original in all the finest of SouthEastAsian ways. "Identity" is more traditional, melodic keyboard-fueled Hard Rock but sweet as a cinnamon bun still. A pretty good example of how talented and on par (at least) w/ international acts these Malay acts were in this genre.
PURNAMA - s/t LP 1990 (Kuzam Record Enterprise, 9001)
I'm not going to overhype it as one of the Best Malaysian HR/HM albums, but Purnama's one and only LP probably count as the coolest in my book. Make with that what you will, just don't ever miss out if you love moodfilled, melodic HM with tons of X-factor.
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PUTRA II - Formula Mimpi LP 1990 (AKI, AK 1357)
After the more obscure (as in rare - not musically) Hard Rock'ish debut from a few years prior, Putra returned with a vengeance in 1990, kicking things off with a quite outstanding tune in the Epic Opener-cathegory. Not a fast nor a super-heavy one, but so perfectly Malaysian in all the best of ways. After that we'll have to wait until the A-side closer for some proper Steel, but what we get is yet another brilliant Heavy Metal track in the fast, mean and cryptic "4 + 1 (Putra II)". Hooray! The opposite of hooray would once again be a boo, *fart* and FU to the label execs for ripping us off on the mc-exclusive "Rockers", an epic Swordwaver-Power-Metal masterpiece, now lost in shitty YT-rip obscurity forever :,(
As the very last track of the album we do get some comfort in the pretty catchy, uptempo Melo-Metaller "Tak Melayu Hilang Di Dunia", but the longing for that unbeatable missing centerpiece still lingers too heavily in our minds to fully enjoy the ride.
REVOLUSI - Bayangan Misteri LP 1990 (Mega Records, MR 1005)
The 3 swords are distributed one each for: 1. Semi-proper album sleeve. 2. Four heavier Metal/Heavy HR tunes and 3. pretty great female vocals. While there's zero originality present, all of those Heavies have a neat and down-to-earth vibe to them, with solid trad-HM vocal- and guitar harmonies aplenty, i.e. none of them feel like last minute fillers. Beggars can't be choosers...
UNRATABLE
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ROCKERS - Andalusia Mini-LP 1990 (Life, HM 2074)
The original full-lenght version of "Andalusia" is my #1 fave Asian Metal album. Full stop. Unfortunately it was never released on vinyl. What we have here is instead a promo-EP containing 2 of the finest real tracks, plus all the uninportant filler gunk that the label forced them to include = impossible to rate.
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Ruhil & METAL CHILD - Suratan Tersirat Mini-LP 1990 (Life, HM 2102)
I'm sure this one has piqued the interest of international collectors on name alone, so I better include it to set the record straight: There are absolutely Zero (0) rock tunes present on this vinyl. All 4 of the selected tracks from the 10-track full album fall in the typical HR power-ballad cathegory, and for those curious to a fault who might want to check out the MC/CD, there is only the one "Impian Ku" to satiate your HM hunger. It's a great, kinda WASP-flavoured galoppy number and sure, the female vocals of Ruhil herself are top-class, but that's about it.
SAXO - Satu Perjuangan LP 1990 (BMG Pacific, PMC/MAL 1065)
Probably the most "well-known" Malaysian Metal LP abroad and it tends to be the first one that fellow metalheads mention when the subject is brought up. Also the first commercially released Speed/Thrash album of the country and thus the heaviest album to exist on original, contemporary vinyl = even more international collector appeal. Still, only the 14th best album of the country, so it just barely fell off the top-list in the intro :(
SAXO - Dukacarita Cinta / Nyalakan Cinta Ku 12" 1990 (BMG Pacific, PMC/MAL 1065)
One wonders how close we were to only ever get this double-ballad-B-side single as the one vinylized legacy of Malaysia's premier, only album-releasing Speed Metal band *shudder*...
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SEARCH - Karisma Mini-LP 1990 (BMG Pacific, PMC/MAL 1070)
Search #5 was never released on vinyl in its entirety back in the days. Instead this 4-tracker 12" was distributed as a promo and sure, "Emanuelle" is a pretty cool, upbeat hardrocker and "Melayar Bahtera" an ample melodic dito, but that's it. There's more good'ish Hard Rock and semi-Metal on the almost 1 hour long 11-track official release, but on the whole this was a much more streamlined and mainstream album compared to their 3 previous ones.
STATUS - Cinta Semalam LP 1990 (Antares Muzik, A 9085)
In my head this cover screams 'country rock! run!' but it's pretty straight up, keyboard-infused Hard Rock ...for the 4 tracks where they bothered with trying that is. Pretty nice & catchy but hardly ever close to HM-territories. The fact that they still earn an inclusion on this main list instead of the Blacklist is my way of giving them some credit for the relative un-cheesyness of their solid Hardrockmanship. Make wih that what you will...
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S.Y.J. - Khudrat LP 1990 (M Productin, MP 9002)
The one and only release from this 3rd band using the name S.Y.J. and perhaps the best of those bands - at least when listening to the original MC version...
U-TOPIA - s/t LP 1990 (Irama IMI, 1-023-A)
Excellent, heavy Power Metal with great rhaspy vocals and a doomic mid-section crammed w/ Asian darkness makes for a pretty awesome first impression! So this opener theme-song of the band is obviously the stand-out track here, both in heaviness and quality, but the creepy "Malam Satu Suro" isn't far behind and great rockmetal pieces like "Pening" and "Satria" deserves some special mention as well. If I'd call them an South-East Asian Savatage I'd totally be exaggerating, but it would at least be pointing you in the direction of what they're trying to do..
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URGENT - s/t LP 1990 (FGM, FGM 1012)
It doesn't really show in the bar below, but this vinyl is actually missing one song. The official MC version was a rare 11-song affair, and sadly the Heavy, pounding anthem "Serigala" got censored.The leftovers offers a few bright moments though, like the laid-back & cozy hardrocker "Badi", the slow & lush yet sneaky headnodder "Mata Fikiran" and last but not least the coolness-Metal of "Lentera Dunia", where the talent of the uncredited (as almost always) vocalist really shines.
VAGRANT - s/t LP 1990 (ASP, ASP 0073)
A really sneaky one. Not until song #4, "Taqwalah Dunia" do we get something even resembling the Steel we adore. but with "Nurani" is where things get properly interesting. A great, noodly instrumental that goes all over the place like all great instrumental should, plus also Malaysia. Another heavier tune, "Dunia" flies by with its chugging half-decency but it's the semi-closer, eponymous anthem that truly delivers. Very much influenced by Riot's "Thundersteel" me thinks. Perhaps not as 100% Power-perfect but a cool HM tune nonetheless. Oh, and if you see this one w/ an inverted black, be aware that it's a fan-made reprint and not the Trüe original you crave.
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WINGS - Teori Domino LP 1990 (BMG Pacific, BMG-MAL 1056)
One of the strangest potholes in the 80's Malaysian Hard Rock discography is the fact that their 2nd album "Hukum Karma" from 1988 was never released as a vinyl promo, despite them being perhaps the 2nd or 3rd most popular local band of the genre, while pretty much everything else around this time got this treatment. Anyways, they continue to produce competent rock of the hard variety on this their third release but it's only the opening "Rantai" with its inescapably catchy chorus that manages to win me over on this vinyl version (reminds me of Bulgarians AHAT but I'm damaged that way..). Of course they had to scrap the 2 best and heaviest tunes from the vinyl so another really chorus-catchy but even heavier number called "Romania" as well as the the one stand-out, true Metal representative "Bujang Senang" with its Thundersteel-Riot attack will be a matter for MC and CD collectors only.
XPDC - C.I.N.T.A / Aku Dan Sesuatu 12" 1990 (Life, HM 2113 SINGLE)
Latecomers to the Rock Kapak-scene but ultimately one of the most popular bands of the era. While most of their 90's albums were reissued on LP in the late 10's, there doesn't seem to have been many contemporary vinyls made save for this double-B-side-schmallad triviality, where both tracks were taken from their "Darjah Satu" debut. It's a pretty decent, straight-up HM/HR album with fair range of heavier-to-rock'ier numbers, quite similar to MAY of FEBIANS, though not quite as good. After that they steered towards a more post-black-album Metallica'esque style. (See also our Appendix II - jukebox singles section)
ALFA - Wajah Seribu Erti LP 1991 (EMI, LP-FH 30075)
So how Alpha is ALFA then, one wonders? Well, after a couple of the usual ballads and the Americanized, Skid Row'y "Kota Impian" we get a pretty good galloping Power Metal number in "Lubnan" but the true want-list-inclusion-worthy Hit of the album is the über-cool Doom Metal Monster "Perutusan"! That lead riff is pure, refined EVIL and for some curious reason it makes me think of the doomier tracks by Jpn Sabbat(!) Here you go: One extra sword awarded for that track alone. Did I mention it sounds absolutely EVIL? In between the usual shit schmallads side B offers up another sweet, US-sounding Powermetaller in "Warisan Perang" as well as the crunchy headbanger standard "Tarian Misteri", so as far as heaviness goes this album is well over par, sooo... on the better side of Beta then? Not bad for a band whose logo looks like an East European airline company - Fly Alfa! - Alfa safe almost all time!
ANALISA - Palestin LP 1991 (ASP, ASP 0075)
Melodic Metal would be the most ample 2-word descriptor for Analisa, but here that includes a rather wide range of styles, from the pompy HR opener "Palestin" via the thumping, mid-pace "Kesesatan" and more uptempo "Refleksi" to the Galopping NWOBHM'y Hit of the album, "Pedoman" (that title again..) which could almost pass for a Slough Feg-number on a good day. And one more melo-hardrocker I think. Though I'm not sure. Too generic to remember. A nice album on the whole but not very original or 'special' in any particular way..
ARENA - Selamat Tinggal Cinta LP 1991 (Varia, VR 9012)
Failure should not be possible with a logo like that but it's a bit of a slow starter for sure. "Generasi" and the following "Warna Kehidupan" are the first notable tracks and while both display solid musicianship and vocals, they both plod along in a pretty generic rockmetal fashion. B-side closer "Suatu Perhitungan" speeds things up, but not really in a memorable way. "Suara Demokrasi" gears down to mid HR-pace again - it's the ballsiest number so far and carries a fair amount of punch. "Bangkitlah" continues like a poor man's "Out In The Fields" and the catchy hardrocker "Edaran Masa" wrap things up as far as play-worthy material goes. No stinkers present, apart from the (only) 4 ballads so Above Average I guess?
Aris Ariwatan - s/t LP 1991 (Irama IMI, 1-027-A)
A very unusual case of a mere 9-song original cassette album, so no tracks are missing from this vinyl as the bar below would otherwise give the impression of. Aris blast things off like expected, i.e. similar to his previous offering under the Ariwatan band moniker, but what once sounded very Scanda/Jpn-Metallic now sounds significantly more American. An uptempo, slick yet fairly catchy melo-Metal number nonetheless. Unfortunately that's about as heavy as it gets this time around and I doubt few HM fans who enjoyed the debut need to complete their collection with this type-A commercial Hard Rock follow-up.
ARYAN - s/t (Baiduri Cintaku) LP 1991 (MSO, MS 1008)
Wow, Google is going to love this page...
Otherwise the funniest thing about this LP is how the track list at the back sleeve scares us into thinking this is yet another butchered release with 2 tracks missing, but when looking at the actual record all 10 songs are actually on there(!) If there ever was proof that we live in a universe run by a cruel god of darkness it's the fact that THIS had to be the one album where the Malay label execs fucked up and not Rusty Blade's "Rintangan Hidup Dunia", Burnmarks' "Asmara", Susila's "Menjulang Harapan" or the last 2 Rockers/z albums ...but back to the Aryans: "Watikah Kehidupan" and "Sengketa" are decent and uptempo but ultimately forgettable HM standards of the typical nondescript ilk. Thank you and goodbye.
AXTHARA - Cerucuk LP 1991 (Karun Seni, KS01)
Another very rare example of a Malaysian 9-song only album, so once again no track is missing on this vinyl despite the stumped track-bar. First Metaller "Gerhana Kehidupan" has a pretty sturdy lead riff and despite its simplicity it's a pretty cool meat & potatoes piece of HM, also because guitar harmonies. The same could be said about "Keranamu Kekasih" though it's an even stronger number and that chorus riff is probably the highlight of the album. "Wirakah Orang Kita" opens side B with some ample melodic rockmetal, but it's the post-NWOBHM'y "Kesesatan" that takes the prize as Best Song On Album for sure. Finally there's the curiosity "Perjuangan Seni". Riffwise it sounds really Metal but the melodies are pure pop and sure, that makes it technically original, but ffs...
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BRAINWASH - Menanti Kepastian Mini-LP 1991 (EMI, LP-FH 30077)
OK, so the cover art is absolutely stunning, but this mercilessly butchered vinyl version does in no way warrant the hype, however half-decent a Metal tune "Dari Tanah" happens to be. Among the aborted tracks, "MemangSengaja Kau" and "Darah Hitam" are comfy enough rockmetal stock, but not even as a full-lenght cassette would this be much to write home about as far as Malaysian Steel is considered. Most - Overrated - Ever, and no, not particularly rare either as far as Malaysian vinyls go.
BUMIPUTRA ROCKERS - Era 90'an LP 1991 (Polygram)
Right, these guys again... On LP #4 they continue to rock their hard rock in as competent a manner as ever, but this time around there's not really any single track that tickles my (or I imagine, anyone elses') Heavy Metal-feelers. Like, just becaue the chorus in "Goyang-Goyang" is really catchy doesn't mean I have to give them credit on the trüest of ze trüe Metal-site, right??
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CHAPTERS - Prajudis LP 1991 (Capricorn, CRE 918)
Generally CHAPTERS feel like a Hard/classic Rock type of band but they do include a couple of Metallic tidbits on their album. First and foremost "Realistik Kota" - an absolute Hit with a stupid catchy singalong chorus. This one's so bloody charming I'm almost tempted to hunt down the LP for that track alone, but I can't help thinking this was another one of music history's Happy Accidents. There is also the neo-classic flavoured melodic HM number "Laut Dan Mister" making things interesting somewhere in the middle. FYI, the only other noteworthy moment of the original cassette album was the pretty cool, groovy metalrocker "Kontroversi", but with a name like that you're pretty much begging the Malay music biz censors to join at the table and of course it got scrapped for the promo vinyl release.
CROMOK / various - untitled promo Mini-LP 1991 (Valentine Sound Productions, VSP 003)
Unfortunately the world never got to see an original vinyl version of Singapore's Thrash-instigators Cromok, so the 3 instrumental version from this oddity will have to do. Nothing atomically amazing about this band as a whole, but they had a streak of 'Asian' originality in their rough, straight-forward Thrash that at least makes them interesting.
ELIT - s/t LP 1991 (PNF Records, E 1001)
Here's another one of those kind of records that would forever scare away any potential fans or collectors of the old Mal/Sin HM scene, should they happen to come across a copy and overpay for it. The reason: There is exaclty One (1) Heavy Metal song present, and what's more annoying it's actually a great one! (Why the hell did they even bother??). 2 or 3 more songs in the style of energic, uptempo "Usia" and this would have been an almost-recommendable piece, but as of now the rest is ballad- & soft pop-rock garbage, perhaps with the exception of the hardrock'ish "Sedari Diri Mu Siapa" which I guess is just ordinary bad.
ETIKA - s/t LP 1991 (Happy, 96002)
This is about as Mainstream Hard Rock as it gets and the only reason I'm including it is for comparison from last year's debut, which was marginally more interesting. None of the few hardrockers offer anything special or exciting in any way. Heck, even the cassette version of the 3rd album is better than this and that says a lot.
GAMMA - Lembayung LP 1991 (PMI, PMI 9903)
They're marginally more together as a band compared to the demo-ish debut but the vocals are often flat and this time around there are zero interesting tunes present. When they finally get around to start playing some real music by the 3rd track, it kinda sorta starts out ok but after less than a minute the song collapses into some form of awful classic rock that noone asked for. Frankly the songwriting is some of the most bland and bleak I've ever heard from an old Malaysian band and... I could go on but politeness got the better of me and I decided to delete the final paragraph of this mini-review. Just avoid.
GARUDA - Bahtera Mahkota LP 1991 (WEA, 9031-73442-4)
One-off release from a band whose album seem to be one of the more common ones as far as these 'super-rare' DJ lp's go - and since it doesn't suck in the least bit, well worth picking up! So Garuda may not belong in the most original/exotic clique of the old Malay scene, but they rock their Metal hard and their Hard Rock is pretty neat'n'heavy and every single non-schmallad track will work more than fine as a soundtrack to your beer-swingin', friday night house party. Cozy & generic stock 80's HR/HM at it's finest!
Hanafie Warren - Falsafah Hidup LP 1991 (Life, HM 2168)
Man do I ever overuse my home-made "rockmetal"-monicker on this page, but in the case of the opening track of Mr Warren's 3rd solo album it really fits like a glove (not of Metal, mind you). Sorta jumpy and hectic but with the energy to at least earn the semi-tag of HM me thinks. One tiny step up from the previous record is that there's 1 or 2 more ample hardrockers present and the mix and presentation is about 20% less ultra-slick than before. This does not a HM-fan recommendation make, though...
HATTAN - s/t (Hitam Bukan Impian) LP 1991 (FGM, FMG 2001)
5 years after his chaotic teenage-outsider-kült debut as well as a short stint with Five Rockers Union, Hattan returned with a more 'normal' offering and already on the 2nd track we're blown away with the early Warlord ("Lucifer's Hammer" to be specific) tasting "Seksyen 39B". Alas, this album isn't quite the glorious Heavy Metal refinement we hoped for but instead a more raunch 70's HR flavoured affair, where the Purple'esque "Titian Belati Selekoh Syaitan" stand out as the most notable track out of the remaining hardrockers. It must be said though that in this genre, Hattan is doing everything right.
HELTER SKELTER - Antologi LP 1991 (Life, HM 2144)
They're back and they're better. "Reputasi" is pretty darn cool 80's americanized Heavy Metal tune with plenty of hooks and when they do the 90's Iron Maiden-thing really well in "Taridra Sihaloba", so those would the stand-out tracks here. There's more decent things about though. Opening rocker "Dunia Humanioid" has a lot of punch, upbeat "Glamor Glamor" wouldn't have gone unnoticed on western rock radio 5 years earlier and melodic metaller "Illusi Fatamorgana" is pretty decent all things considered. It's a bit all-over-the-place stylewise, but generally an above average 'Rock Kapak' album.
HELTER SKELTER - Antologi 12" EP LP 1991 (Life, HM 2144)
3 power ballads (meaning, they do include some heavy guitars at times) grabbed from the full-lenght album w/ the same name.
HEVEA - s/t LP 1991 (PK Record, PK 101)
I used to own this one back in the early 00's and I'm sad to say that together with a few other duds it scared me away from digging deeper into the Mal/Sin Metal scene at the time ("Rockers was the great exception I guess.."). The pompy keys in "Terlena Di Pantai Merah" are quite enticing but apart from A-side keyboard-Metalrock partner in crime "Pusara Kebenaran" there's not much else to get excited about and my 20+ years old assessment stands firm: A typical Malay mish-mash of power ballads, melodic hr, classic rock and the odd Heavier tune.
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HIJRAH - s/t LP 1991 (Polygram)
DUDE!... Seeing that t-shirt ("Hail - Hail - to Sweden!..") worn by a band member on the front sleeve will surely indicate some exceptionally heavy content, right? HA! No, not even close. Not even the 2 discarded tracks presents anything heavier than average metalrock. On the wee upside all 3 remaining rockers are very much on the almost-HM side of the catchy Hard Rock side of the fence and despite that one-sword rating I cannot honestly say that the band suck at what they're doing. It's just not an LP that any collector of True Metal vinyl needs to prioritize or even memorize in any particular fashion, sorry.
IKLIM - Bulan Jatuh Ke Riba LP 1991 (SCS, 071-8151)
4 proper Metal-tunes on a Malaysian LP is a nice, above-average surprise under any circumstances, but very rarely are every single one of them this great! Just ignore the silly cover - this is another great Malaysian Metal album you need to add to your want list.
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IZZAKA - s/t (Singkapan Nur Suci) Mini-LP 1991 (MSO, MS 1009)
Another 6-outta-10 cripple. One single Metal-song is preserved in "Mengapai Kasih Utama" and while quite the standard fare, rumbling and melancholic Euro-Metal, Zakaria hoarse vocals combined with the darkened chorus does make it a memorable piece of Steel. Other than that, there's nothing left here worth mentioning as the equally dark and even heavier "Prolog Hidup" were of course one of the tracks left on the butcher's block of the label censors.
J Yantzen - Lain Dulu Lain Sekarang LP 1991 (Polygram)
The first solo album of former Rusty Blade vocalist Yantzen, after which he instead joined May the year after. Unfortunately there are no traces of the HEAVY Metal of his legacy to be heard here but I guess all 5 hardrockers present are solid and un-wimpy enough to not entirely smear his name. Personally I didn't feel it was the type of album I needed to complete the RB collection with but that's just little ol' HM-puritan me talkin'...
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JATI - Cengkaman LP 1991 (Sinar Muzik, SN-3306)
It's quite remarkable that they let us keep the best and fastest track, "Berhibur Sejenak" for this one. A krrrrrazily catchy and hooks-riddled piece that (trademark Corro' Obscüre Reference ahead!) reminds me of Argentinian masters El Dragon ...or Jaguar w/ hammonds if that would make things easier for ya'. The 2nd best track would be "Pesanan Untuk Teman", a great mainstream-Metaller sounding like the greatest song that never got included on Ozzy's "Ultimate Sin". There's another 2 really good ones on the original cassette that got censored for the promo vinyl: the broad legged, part pounding part pompy "Kesesatan" and the 80's Scorpions'oid "Mainan Dunia", so with those 2 missing from the LP it unfortunately doesn't quite sum up to Recommended-level.
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JITU - Etika Masa Mini-LP 1991 (Polygram)
A completely butchered mess of a promo, where 5-6 pretty decent Hard Rock tunes have been thrown to the dogs in favour of 3 remaining schmallads, even reprising one of them on both sides. Avoid.
JMO - Lagu Pesta LP 1991 (Warnada, GW 1006)
A large part of the album is completely drenched in super-fluffy 80's keys but the opening "Hatimu Bukan Milek Ku" comes with some great Hard Rock riffing heavy and atmospheric enough for it to be quite enjoyable still, even touching 'Majestic' territories. The following 4 rockers have too much classic rock-flavour to please me & my fellow brothers of Steel I'm sure, but they do go full circle with the semi-closing "Duit Duit", another pounding & anthemic piece.
Joe - Jasad Liar LP 1991 (Warnada, WA 1571)
No, I really shouldn't voice my opinion on 'guitar-hero' albums since it's a subgenre in Hard Rock that I really don't understand much. For all I know this could be a hidden gem of the genre, but for a dumb Heavy Metal-troglodyte like me this solo-outing from ex-Burmarks guitarist Joe is pretty 'meh' - despite the many deathskulls on the cover. One or 2 neat, Rising Force-type neo-classical HM numbers would have been a nice bonus, but nope, not this time.
Joe - Jasad Liar (Instrumental) Mini-LP 1991 (Warnada, WA 1576)
...and oh yes, of course the world needed a 5-track instrumental version of the album as well - even if 3 of them were already instrumental on the original album.
KRIS - s/t (Tiara) LP 1991 (Life, HM 2169)
Despite a fair amount of rockers none of them comes close to the Metal we crave. There's no denying the sheer quality of their mainstream, radio-friendly Hard Rock - very 'international level' indeed, but I have so little to comment or add to a release like this other than the upside note that there's only 4 schmallads present, so I'll save my energy (and usual vitriol) and stop there.
KRIS - Tiara 12" 1991 (Life, HM 2169)
Just the schmallad title track of the album, coupled with an instrumental version thereof.
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LAKSAMANA - Syukur LP 1991 (BMG Pacific, PMC/MAL 1073)
One of those relatively common vinyls that do pop up for sale every once in a while. Not the Heaviest of affairs but "Akukah Yang Terlewat" and "Bunga Berbisa" present some great, well-written and classy melodic HR/HM with great vocals and plenty of mood. Scrapped from the full lenght cassette version is merely the semi-ballad "Pelangi" and the generic hardrocker "Wcb 8104" so in this rare case the label censorship really didn't make much of a dent on the overall experience.
LIPANBARA - Tanda Tanya LP 1991 (Warnada, WA 1570)
That's a pretty nice full-color sleeve imho (perhaps because Resistencia) and musically you can tell the band is doing their best to try out some original ideas. Each of the 4 HM tracks have a unique sound and pace - "Arasy" is bloody Heavy! Like in a crunchy, bangin' Druid/The Obsessed-way and that's great of course, but a few more memorable vocal harmonies would have doubled the fun for sure. That's basically the problem with all of these tunes - there's decent riffs, but never anything close to the genius song constructions and melodies of their way superior 2nd album.
LIPANBARA - Harimau s/t LP 1991 (Warnada, WA 1605)
You gotta wonder what kind of a third album these guys would have produced if the quality-trend had continued in the same steep fashion as from the debut to this masterpice.. (Shut up! Don't say "Strange And Beautiful"!)
MEDITASI - Bidadari LP 1991 (PMI, PMI 9904)
At the very least, Meditasi didn't wimp out any further than on their previous album and did stay consistently on the Mainstream-HR-meets-Melo-Metal streak. The kindest comparison I could add would be that riffing and vocals of the heavier tracks often remind us of "Turbo"-era Judas Priest (yeah that comes from a not-so-closet "Turbo" fan). Major downside and minus one sword is the fact that even on these bright moments the tempo feels a bit timid & tired.
MEGA - Illustrasi LP 1991 (BGM Pacific, PCM/MAL 1087)
As with the album above (and perhaps even more so) 2nd Mega is a sure bet for fans of melo/commercial HR and Melodic Metal, who will surely enjoy this one as tighness and professionalism is A-ok, and they're still far from the sappiest of bands from the area and genre. The 3 Metal numbers stand tall as both "Sekarang Ke III", "Samudra Alfa" and even the instrumental "Ilustrasi Mega" portray a classy, sorta Europe (the continent, not the band) '88 sound. Heck, even the hardrockers are decent on this one! A fairly popular band domestically as I've understood, and for good reasons.
MELISSA - Kami Mat Rock LP 1991 (Varia, VR 9013)
No Mercyful Fate-vibes on this 2nd album either so you can uncross those fingers now. The craftmanship of their Hard Rock numbers should not go unnoticed and this time all 10 tracks of the album are preserved on the vinyl. It's another 'win' for Solid Mainstream Malaysian Hardrockmetal but once again a bit too slow for Heavy Metal comfort..
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MENARA - s/t (Mitologi) LP 1991 (GSE, GSE 9903)
Had they used the same band logo for the vinyl version as on the original cassette, I'm sure this LP would have attracted more attention from the collector fringe. Sadly this is another neutered promo where the absolutely beautiful and original opening track
"Silap Teknik"
was left out. Atmospheric, borderline mystic dragonrider-Steel of highest Asian tier! Someone should totally do a bootleg LP with all these 'lost' gems...
The one remaining highligt that actually ended up on this vinyl version is the similar but mere half as great "Simpati", sounding like a mellow
take on Commander or Warlord.
METAFORA - Imaginasi Optimistik s/t LP 1991 (SRC, 91-3309)
A more than solid, meat & potatoes Malay Metal offering that unlike their debut actually contains some memorable songs.
NOBAT (S.O.S) - Ketam Ketam Batus 1991 (Polydor, 511048-1)
Featuring the ex-vocalist and ex-drummer of Desire, this was one of the earliest Malaysian bands to play around with 'alternative metal', as the opening track is a very Faith No More-influenced affair. Thankfully they make up for it some with at least 2 pretty good Heavy/Power numbers in "Kemelut" and "Djarum Waktu", where Eury's raspy voice truly wields its magic. On the the whole this is however a tad too sprawling of a release to meet the snobby standards of The Corroseum.
Apparently they changed their name to S.O.S shortly after the album's release, so there are versions of this LP with a large S.O.S logo sticker covering their original moniker on the front sleeve.
OLAN - Cinta Bandar Tasik Selatan LP 1991 (NSR, NSR 735)
Suitable descriptors of the band Olan: Corny - deadpan - foreign - endearing. Frankly this sounds a whole lot more far-away-lands than most Malaysian bands of the time and reminds me more of some of the contemporary Thai and Indonesian bands I've come across. Obviously I love the shit out of it, but I'm sure I'm pretty alone in that respect as far as foreign scum goes. Some Xtra special Xotic Steel Love goes to the quirky "Krisis". Soft'ish as it may be, this is the kind of unique Hard Core Metal Xotica us snobby western Metal tourists came here for in the first place! "Optimistik" follows in the same vibe - clumsy & stumbling yet slightly heavier and so, another super-cool tune for us 1% fans of this vibe. Mid hardrocker "Berpaling Pada Yang Nyata" closes shop with more stompy Asian weird. Less Metal sure, but still all we ever asked for. Yeah, if there ever was an album that made you feel like a tourist, it's this one.
Note: the track-order on the back sleeve (and later CD reissues) is different to the actual vinyl.
POSITIF - Rindu Terhenti LP 1991 (Life, HM 2153)
Being positif: None of the 5 metalrockers/rockmetallers on Positif's debut are complete crap and/or mellow pop-hr/aor, so that's nice I guess. Being negatif: They all trot along in the same (mid)pace tempo and none of them are heavy or memorable enough to make it a recommendable album for pretty much anyone I know.
POSITIF - Rindu Terhenti 12" EP 1991 (Life, HM 2153)
3 ballads from the album above.
PRIMADONA - Ratu Seni LP 1991 (ASP, ASP 0076)
All-girl trio of rockers. Opener "Pilih Memilih" has a curious pop/wave beat to it but is still kinda fun I guess. The title track is pretty heavy and decent as far as hardrockers go, although like the other couple of non-ballad tunes featured (mainly travelling in the HR/HM-grayzone) the songwriting is a bit oversimple.
PUTRA / Adik Liza - Rockestra / Memperkenalkan Split-LP 1991 (AKI, BDA 1397 / AK 888)
This split oddity features 3 tracks from Putra's 3rd album "Rockchestra" (the only vinyl legacy of this release I believe), as well as some tracks from pop artist Adik Liza on the other side. Only the slow, thumbing Heavy Rocker "Melodi Sumbang 1002" would vaguely fall within HM parameters here, though it's a rather dull tune that noone's gonna miss in their collection. The 4th and last track "Tidurlah Adik (Instrumental)" is a bit of a mystery, as I haven't been able to discrern its origin or find a sample of it anywhere. The actual full-lenght cassette does of course feature more proper HM tracks (even a decent Speedmetaller in "Ratu Malam Senyum") though it isn't nearly on par w/ their previous "Forumula Mimpi" album.
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RAJAWALI - s/t (Pohon Cinta Berduri) LP 1991 (Sinar, SN 3307)
They truly ripped out the heart and lungs from this LP-version. Both "Patung Bernyawa" and "Tangan Halilintar" are bloody great, HEAVY Power/HM numbers that whip plenty of local competitors into crying little girls, but they were both left on the cutting room floor by the Malay label censors. The 2 remaining hardrockers chug along in ample NWOBHM'ish fashion and the 3rd best and only remaining HM-track "Sumpahan Suci (Mahsuri)" is still a pretty mean bastard - pounding, heavy Power Metal in the good ol' Rusty Blade tradition, so thank doG for small mercies. Still, this LP is barely half the album it could have been.
UNRATABLE
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ROCKERZ - Dukun Mini-LP 1991 (FMG, FMG 2005)
As with their previous "Andalusia" album, the slaughtered promo version of "Dukun" can't be fairly rated since so much amazing material is missing, and all the worst parts kept in - how would anyone put a number on such a situation? Unfortunately, even the complete CD-version of this masterpiece is a bitch to find so if there ever was a Singapore release begging for a proper reissue, it's this one.
ROSES - s/t 1991 (FMG, FMG 2002)
There's no denying it: The opening track (after the mandatory power ballad) "Wajah Pendusta" has an absolutely FANTASTIC, grinding, doomy & evil lead riff (think early Death SS/Jpn Sabbat). The way they incorporate it like they just don't care into your basic, catchy melo-Metalrocker is an absolutely insane move, in turn making this track one of the most unique and memorable tunes of the entire Rock Kapak-scene and frankly anywhere, elsewhere. Typically the band never comes close to this level again on the rest of the album but there are vaguely similar mashups of flavours in rockmetaller "Suntikan Glamour" as well as the darkened slow-rocker "Sepi Menentang Jua". The chugging, almost-mid-pace-Thrash-Metaller "Debu-Debu Liar" could have been another great one, but here the limitations of the vocalist make themselves heard a tad too much for comfort this time. An interesting bag of trix from Roses nevertheless and dead-on the type of album you need to track down for That One Track alone...
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SATIRA - Desiderata LP 1991 (SCS, 111-8156)
Graphically it's certainly nothing special, but at least the glossy full-color sleeve enhances the professional vibe of Satira's sophomore offering. The production has improved as well and opener "Antifada" is a bloody great piece of galoppy Melodic Metal/"soft-Power" well worthy of a place on your Asian mix tapes. That is, if they would have bloody kept it on the vinyl version! Yeah it's censorship-mayhem time again. Two tracks have been removed from the original 11-song cassette version and of course the 2nd heaviest and also quite good "Dimensi Samar" (semi-proggy Queensryche worship) was victim #2 in this cruel evisceration. The only heavy leftovers would be "Pulang", a decent instrumental in the same style, but as a vinyl LP item, this is pretty much useless.
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SEARCH - Sepuluh Tahun LP 1991 (BMG Pacific, PMC/MAL 1089LP)
The last of Search's albums to have had a conteporary promo vinyl release, though I believe this is another one of those compilations with a few oldies coupled w/ a few new tracks. The original cassette included no less the 12 tracks(!) but this original LP version only features 8 of those. Words cannot describe how unmotivated I am to dissect this one much further than that, so final verdict reads as: Zero HM tracks = zero collector-appeal to us foreigners.
SENSASI - Asmara Dua Benua LP 1991 (PMI, PMI 9905)
That logo looks pretty nice I guess, so theoretically this shouldn't be a complete dud. It isn't, but with the exception of the closing "Dunia Hipokrit" which is an ample galloping HM number, man do they sound tired. Sloth rockmetal/hr whose main point on the Plus-side of the spreadsheet would be that at the very least, they never mellow out.
SERA - Sentuhan Rasa LP 1991 (NSR, NSR 743)
Same same same... as in yet another arguably talented band who does mainstream Hard Rock and mid-Heavy Metal with honors intact. "Riwayat" is the perfect archetype of guitar-harmony-fueled melodic Metal w/ a Maiden-flair but alas with zero originality. Once again we get a track called "Perjuangan" ([Struggle]?) representing the neat'est moment on the album, i.e. sweet majestic vocal harmonies in the finest of Malaysian ways. It's damn hard to not enjoy an upbeat rocker like "Krisis Dunia" as well. All them secret hidden guitar harmonies on this album is what elevates them about 1/10th above the pack. Damn near recommendable!
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SHINE - Asmara Rindu LP 1991 (FGM, FGM 1022)
So much leather but so little Steel... "Kota O Kota" is a nice, hectic Metalrocker and "Gadis Felda" a surprisingly NWOBHM-sounding piece - that cocky, in-yer-face kind that gets your blood pumping. Most of the remaining material = sentimental schlock. The only thing that differentiates the commercial MC version from the promo LP in this case is an alternate take on the ballad title track, so no loss there...
SHINE - Asmara Rindu Mini-LP 1991 (FGM, FGM 1022)
For unknown reasons the label saw fit to also release a pointless and almost identical-looking 4-track version of the vinyl promo, only containing the 4 worst schmallads. You've been duly warned.
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SKALA - s/t LP 1991 (Denoris, DNR 1001)
A big thumbs up for zero false advertising as this is exacty the kind of americanized, middle'est of the mainstream 'bad boy' Hard Rock you'd expect when looking at the band pic and their motorcycles. More Skid Row than Poison though. Also a weirdly constructed promo as 2 hardrockers has been censored from the MC version in favour of additional instrumental versions of 2 of the ballads.
SPRING - s/t LP 1991 (Sony Music, M 154)
There's certainly been some improvements since their 1989 session on the "War Rock III" cassette comp, but at first listen they still come off as your regular stock Malay Steel. After spin #2 or #3 things get more interesting though. While missing the absolute stand-out Killers, there's a delicate flavour of what could almost be considered originality in most of the heavier numbers on the album and they certainly stand out from the more generic 'melo-mainstream-1991-Malay'-ilk. Chugging mid-pacer "Kaca Dan Permata" is equipped with crooked wings of Euro (Italian?) Darkened Steel, while final Metaller "Kawa Berapi" outheavy plenty of the local and contemporary competition, shoehornig itself into the mid'est of the light Thrash-slot by way of oldest Metallica/Megadeth but does so quite gallantly.
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SUSILA - Menjulang Harapan LP 1991 (Hatty, HM-2188)
One of the true Hidden Treasures of Malaysian Metal (cassettes, that is), discouraging line-up pic notwithstanding. Opener "Menjulang Harapan" is a rare example of sweet, real-song Malay epicness-despite-ballad, but then comes the peculiar and positively Delicious "29 Jamadilakhir 1411"! Imagine a marriage of the quirkiest of the quirky NWOBHM 7"s and US Privates, like Triarchy fucking with Slauter Xtroyes on a chill SouthEastAsian honeymoon. A somewhat disturbing descrip' for sure, but yes, really that fucking cool of a song. Epicness ensues with the Majestic "Kekasih Dibumi Kenyalang". Solemn and prime low-key Steel, performed in the most graceful of manner possible. Seldom has a slow rock tune felt as Metal as this one and frankly most of the ordinary ballads of this album are proper, thought-out and well written songs rather than the usual random slow-dance fillers. Closing with so much class is the cozy-creepy-crawly theme-song "Susila", which excels as one of the greatest, darkened Exotic Rock/Metal tunes this side of other Sahara.
Also absolutely crystal-clear & perfect production for extra clout.
Sadly, the Satanic Overlords did it again and snubbed us vinyl freaks of the absolute ripper
"Sahara Bara Asmara" - a fast and truly unique piece of exotic Steel, surely made by awkwardly long-legged, poisonous Asian spiders who somehow learned to play the Guitar, as well as the pounding "Jurang" with its low-key yet perfect NWOBHM shine. Full - Length - Vinyl - Reissue - NOW - Please!
TEJA - s/t LP 1991 (BMG Pacific, PCM/MAL 1072)
I guess the logo looks a bit Metal, but musically this is typical Malaysia Mainstream '91. Their Hard Rock numbers really aren't half-bad but my doG the world was absolutely choked with bands of which you could say the same around this time and the years before, so my motivation to musically dissect this particular album is very low. "Sengketa" is both the hit and the Heaviest number, but as a whole it's an album that few foreigners need to hunt down. Sure, there's talent present, but not of the original sort. Let's politely applaud and continue further.
TERAS - s/t LP 1991 (Antares Muzik, A9083)
One of my favourite album sleeves of the Malay HM scene and therefor an even bigger musical disappointment. Meaning, it's not awful but you can't help thinking it should be so much better..
U-TOPIA - Maya Percintaan LP 1991 (Irama IMI, I-030-A)
After a Yay! and a +1 for red/black/white cover and remembering their 1990 debut being quite the semi-pearl, we're curious right? Sure, "Pesta Nazak" kick things off in a very pounding, kick-ass US StreetMetalrock manner and the cocky "La O Be" semi-follows in a similarily fashion, but the hightlight of the album is the chorus in the pounding "Suku Sakat", an evocative ethno-chant that add and extra layer of cool to this album. A thin one though, as they never really revisit this manner of experimentation, and however decent the other mainstream rockers featured may be, it's only of marginal interest to HM collectors.
UG14 - Introduksi LP 1991 (Philips, 848391-1)
Being an absolute sucker for goosebumps-inducing vocal harmonies, the pompy opener "Tiada Pengesahan" was so totally up my alley. Very much what we like to refer to as the 'Scandinavian sound', and with the added hit-factor of cult classics like Danger Zone or Breeze Least. All the 4 heavier tracks on this album stand out among the competition for being truly powerful and energetic pieces of Melodic Metal despite the heavy reliance of keyboards - i.e. not the kind of borderline stuff that so many contenders above presented. Extra credit goes to the absolutely rippin' "Keputusan Muktamad" that's right up there with the finest & heaviest of Crossfire, Handy Black or Rusty Blade classics. Wouldn't have minded a 5th and final Metal-track at all, but still highly recommended!
UKAY - Tinggal Irama LP 1991 (Varia, VP9014)
First real Metal track "Tebing Barat" gets a mighty thumbs up with its pounding pace and eastern harmonies. Malay exoticness at its finest! Frankly the complete 40-50% Heavier piece of the cake here is very much up to par. Not quite up to the 4-sword level of things were I'm inspired to dissect every single decent tune present, but those Real tracks are diverse and unwimpy enough to make the album a worthy addition to your collection in the rare chance it would turn up on your radar. Bar the usual ballad fillers this one rarely gets cheesy..
(full 10-track MC: )
VILLOSA - Romantika LP 1991 (Warnada, WA 1606)
By some impossible fluke the Speed Metal "Pocong" did NOT get censored on this butchered 8-song vinyl version (perhaps it was shielded by the 1:30 acoustic intro?) but while it is indeed the heaviest song of the album we still need to hold a minute of silence for the 2 brutally murdered True Metal hymns "Disitu Tempatmu.. Kembalilah" and "Debu Berbisa" that was scrapped for the vinyl release. Were it not for this atrocity, this would have been if not a highly then at least a fairly recommended want list addition. As of now, side A is 100% ballad-wastematter while side B still contains some perky moments. Whenever you see the title "Kekejaman" you know it's going to be good and this holds true for Villosa as well. A very neat, pounding and riff-focused Metalrocker indeed. After the aforementioned "Pocong" PowerSpeed'ster Hit we get a pretty sweet closer in the atmospheric downer-Hard Rock "Mandatori", so as an actual album this was a very well executed affair. Too bad it went to the butcher's block, courtesy of the Dark Satanic Overlords of the Malay music biz.
VIVA - Pencarian LP 1991 (Master Sound Records, MR 9111)
A rather anonymous act that's likely to have flown under the radar of most fans and collectors both at home and abroad. So their particular brand of low-key melodic HM couldn't be considered original or groundbreaking in any shape or form but frankly the craftsmanship is quite excellent, with plenty to satisfy the guitar-harmony sweet-tooths. Fans of Scandinavian quality bands like Alien Force, Neon Night, Mindless Sinner, Crystal Knight etc will certainly 'get' this and can update their want lists accordingly, as this is far from the priciest/rarest of Mal/Sin 'DJ' vinyls and it has enough of a Heavy-tunes percentage to be worth the effort. I guess the only thing that's preventing it from earning that 4th sword is one or 2 Special tunes, though the catchy "Identiti" and semi-epic "Demi Seja Merah" come pretty close.
WICITRA - Mira Edora LP 1991 (Usaha Rekod, 082 G)
Damn, this is such an almost-good one... "Cabaran" is an unpolished gem of an Epic/Power Metal-tune, and "Hipokrit" ain't exactly doodoo either, but vocals often goes flat and there's as usual a Solid Banger or 3 too few. Despite a few additional hardrockers, those 2 numbers are frankly the only songs worth mentioning here. Shame with the proper cover and all...
WINGS - Jerangkung Dalam Almari LP 1991 (BMG Pacific, PMC-MAL 1086)
The last Wings album to have had a vinyl release, and once again it's a pretty solid hardrocker for fans of solid hardrockers. Exclusively, I might add, as only the speedy yet melodic "Lipas Kudung" offers something tangible for the Real Meal fans out there. Still, most of side B offers up a fairly professional display of classy, mainstream HR of international class.
Y (Iyda) - s/t LP 1991 (Master Sound Records, MR 9102)
Female-fronted/solo artist playing in the slow rock/ballad team but occationally shines with a couple of great melodic, borderline-HM (because solemn guitar harmonies) songs like "Saujana Mata Memandang", "Bukti Untuk Dunia" and "Ancaman". Mostly this is for nostalgic Singapore nationals though and just barely worth that 2nd sword, but I'm in a nostalgic mood myself today so there you go...
ZABARJAD - Tarian Jemari LP 1991 (Warner Music Malaysia, 74906-1)
This one starts off pretty great with the pounding, mainstream Dio-Metal "Meloceng Diri", but while remaining hard'n'heavy tunes present are all fairly catchy and well performed it's on the whole a rather anonymous album from the Malaysian 1991 scene. There's incidently a slightly different sleeve-variaton made, where the front cassette cover is pasted on the more colorful flipside of the factory sleeve instead. Still the exact same release though.
(full 10-track MC: )
ZARITH - Eva LP 1991 (Warner Music Malaysia, 74906-1)
On the borderline of what I'll bother including here, this is the type of 'adult' and 'mature' hard rock of the more mainstream kind that's not really my cup of tea to be honest, but at least most of the rockers aren't pure aor-filth so there's always that. None of the 2 butchered tracks were any heavier nor better than what was spared for the vinyl version, so noone's really missing out. The vocalist from Mega gone solo, I believe...
V/A - Selekta 1 LP 1991 (FMG, PAM 1991)
Ever since I saw this comp on the great Arkib Kinabatangan Rockers blog ages ago I'd been dying to find a copy of the original cassette - until I discovered it was also released on promo LP :D!
AIDI - Resah Dalam Rindu LP 1992 (FGM, FGM 1025)
The cover screams 'random inconspicuous Malay rocker' - and it screams the truth I'm afraid. The inconspicuous part that is, as this turned out to be a band and not a solo artist. Before buying this LP I could only find one single track online, the great and fairly original Heavy Metaller "Ikon-Ikon Musang Berbulu Ayam" (think very early US Metal a la Hawaii or the heaviest The Rods tunes) so curiosity got the better of me and since it turned out to be an unusually cheap item I figured I could take a chance on it. Thank doG I didn't overpay because every single one of the remaining tracks with the exception of catchy hardrocker "Nani Ingin Jadi Seekor Belalang" is dull & talentless filler-material. I did notice how both these tracks were written by the same guy, one Art Fadzil, so please let there be a solo album with this guy somewhere out there in the black...
IRIS - Wawasan LP 1992 (Warnada, WA 1611)
First off: I love the shit out of the ultra-obscure looking logo adorning this LP. Makes you think of some mid 70's proto-Metal band the world forgot doesn't it? Musically this is on the entirely different end of the spectrum though, as these latercomer youngsters flirted with this new and exciting Speed Metal-sound for the first couple of proper numbers. Too bad it took them a full 3 tracks of ballad garbage to bloody get there! I honestly think if this band had only bothered to have included one more Metal track, preferably somewhere at the beginning, this could have been a much more recognized album than it is today. Peak Iris is the great Scanner-sounding PowerSpeed'ster "Mungkar" opening side B, but while the 2 following, final real tracks "Umar Umaiyah" and "Wira Negara" are of a more atmospheric mid-pace nature they handle this style with great skill. Not bad for what looks like a band with an average age of 16..
MEDICINE - s/t LP 1992 (Sony, M 162)
Wouldn't have bothered with including this if it wasn't for their earlier records being marginally heavier. "Bila Roda Berpusing" is a pretty nice almost-NWOHM rocker, though everything else here is pending between dull classic/happy-rock and the usual schmallad offal. Next please..
(full 10-track MC: )
OZON - Kronik LP 1992 (GSE, GSE 9905)
There's a reason this album turns up fairly often and not at absolutely exorbitant prices despite Thrash T-Shirt In Line-Up Shot, and it's of course that's it's another one of these highly censored vinyl versions. This LP might probably hold the record as the single most brutally butchered one of the bunch though. "Boneka Karya" is the only HM track that was preserved for posterity and it's a pretty decent, galoppy Trad-HM tune in the familiar style of early Tokyo Blade, Pokolgep etc.. What us vinyl-puritans are missing out on is the similar-in-style "Landskap" as well as the Power/Thrash-mashup "Wira Pentas" and the very East-Euro-Thrash (Korrozia Metalla in particular) sounding theme-song.
STACCATO - Kedinginan LP 1992 (NSR, NSR 757)
So the A-side is pretty disappointing until we reach the kûlt-pearl "Hang Jebat", which I would dub my one-time-purpouse invented sub-sub-genre 'Kung-Fu Metal' ...and just leave it at that for the sake of myth-making. The B-side is generally more exciting, "Kedinginan" starting things off in great, uptempo UK/Euro-Metal album-opener fashion. The instrumental Band theme-song that comes next is a bloody great example of this genre - superb riffing and excellent harmonies all the way. "Kita Kecapi" follows as Heavy Metal strike 3 by way of clever & classy NWOBHM-rock. The way the 4th song start out like it was going to be a 4th-in-a-row (Malay world record!) Metal stormer and then piss on our expectations generic ballad-style kinda ended the album on a downer though, but I do appreciate the fact that we never got pestered with any half-arsed AC/DC-wannabeisms despite that familiar logo design.
STRIPES - Cabaran LP 1992 (SCS, 022-8160)
After releasing one of the Heaviest, most interesting Malay 'debut singles' 5 years earlier under the shorter STRIPE name, these guys eventually returned with a more normal full-length release and did so with honors fairly intact. The 3 A-side HM numbers get both heavier and better with each track, meaning the opening "Dunia Realiti" is an ample but somewhat anonymous Melodic Metal piece while "Dalam Peralihan" is quite the gem of catchy, semi-Power Metal w/ some truly spine chilling harmonies, leaving "Durjana Dunia" stuck in the middle as a great, pounding piece of Dio-Steel. All is served with a side of classic Malay melancholy as is customary. Side B is a bit of a let-down with only "Kejahilan" offering up some more somber melo-HM to the table, but it's worth a final note that this is one of those rare albums where most of the ballad fillers are quite listenable. Overall it's a fairly solid release worth picking up should the opportunity present itself.
V/A - Haloya LP 1992 (FMG, FMG 2007)
Features 5 ballads with the occationally heavy artists Mega, Shima, Laksamana, Damasutra and Kris on one side and some novelty folk singer (Salih Yaacob) on the other. To add further insult to injury, all those schmallads should be avaiable on the regular vinyls by the bands.
V/A - Ragam Hari Raya LP 1992 (FMG, FMG 2009)
An absolutely heartbreaking, gaping hole in my Rockers/Rockerz (as of here) collection. This mixed styles compilation features the last and final 3 life signs of the band, and most of the heartbreaking-part stems from the fact that they kinda fell on their noses on the finishing line. "Kita Sambut Hari Bahagia" is an ample Hard Rock banger but in a weird way kinda prefer the odd co-op track they did with featured folk-pop artists Malek Ridzuan and Hidayah, "Perselisihan Kita Lupakan". It's corny melodic hard rock/dangdut crossover with a pompy chorus and I kinda like it..
V/A - Single Terbaru SCS (Untuk Promosi Radio Sahaja) LP 1992 (SCS, SCS 8166)
This 3-way split promo does feature the only vinyl appearance of 2 tracks from the 3rd IKLIM album "Budi", but of course it's only ballads and not real music, so I'm throwing this one in here as a mere warning. The 2 other artists Wann and Poppy Mercury are entirely off-topic for this site.
As proud as I am to declare this page a damn-near complete index of this scene, there are a couple of titles of which I've only heard rumours about them existing on vinyl. What's missing though is 100% picture proof of their existance, so until then I'm only gonna list them here at the end and hope that any collectors out there can confirm or deny their existance. ALL of these were officially released on cassette though..
DOUGLAS - "Gadis Tokyo" (Pacific Music/PMC, 1988)
Mostly soft & melodic Hard Rock but of the quite nice'n'pompy sort, plus also 2 great NWOBHM'y numbers...
EXIST - s/t (BMG, 1991)
Absolutely ridiculous-looking junior-high boy band, but shockingly includes not one but 2 great Melodic Metal tunes towards the end(!) Yes we're well aware of the 2019 and 2023 vinyl reissues...
FF - "Kenangan" (Warnada, 1987)
More of that lightweight Hard Rock stuff, but there's a few cool moments of olde Metal riffing here & there..
JAYBON - "Enggang Yang Berlalu" (label unknown, 1991)
The usual Malay mixed bag but with some absolute Heavy/Power rippers thrown in the mix!
PLUS ONE - "Penentuan" (TVP, 1989)
Very homespun Hard Rock but also occationally very NWOBHM'y riffings present. Cool one!
V/A - "100% Rock 2" (Warnada, 1988)
Featuring all the early Warnada label Heavies but all tracks were taken from the albums so therefor it hasn't topped my comp-wantlist. I figure if the LP does exist it should at least be mentioned here. 'Volume 1' might possibly have been a local cassette comp of various western hard/classic rock acts..
Yeah, these were actually a Thing in Malaysia in the 80's and first half of the 90's. Obviously never intended for commercial distribution, they do circulate on the local 2nd hand market and they're not even that rare or expensive (€10-30..) but may not turn up as 'often' on the western market as the LPs. With few exceptions they were also mostly split-singles.
At first it didn't even seem like any of them featured recordings not already present on the promo LP's and 12"s above, but after a final deep-dive a few weeks before the launch of this page I discovered that Yes, there were indeed a few of them that included vinyl-exlusive material. Bar one possible exception (2nd WINGS album) all of these were from the 1992- and onwards CD-era, with the latest releases I've come across so far originating from album releases as late as 1996.
I've listed these few vinyl-unique items I've come across below. The main criteria for inclusion on this small list is that the band should still have at least half a foot left in the HM/heavier HR sound at the time of the album release - see YT-link for reference. The fact that the actual song may be another crap ballad doesn't enter into it. In fact this was the case with the majority of them, but there were certainly exceptions as well.
GRAVITY - Kau Salju Cinta Ku / AATTAMA - Film Tamil Hits split 7" 1991 (M 854)
If there ever was that One Song that summed up and encompassed all the finest flairs of the olde Malaysian Metal sound, it's "Gravity" by post-FIGURES band GRAVITY, featured on the "Inspirasi" album. For our CD collecting cousins there's a pretty effin' rare 1991 original to hunt down, but as far as vinyl legacy goes only this garbage schmallad track remains on our favourite format. Still I wouldn't mind adding this one to the collection on a sheer technicality...
NASH - Pada Syurga Di Wajahmy / HATTAN - Mahligai Syahdu split 7" 1992 (M 871)
Nash was the vocalist from Lefthanded who did his first s/t solo album in 1992, CD and MC exclusively. There's a few decent heavy Hardrockers and even some light-Metal numbers featured, but only this schmallad remains on vinyl.
B-side familiar Hattan continued to produce decent generic rock albums for a few years after the first 2 vinyls dissected above, and even his 3rd "Antem" album from where this track is taken does include one or 3 decent tunes. This is however not one of them. As in, it's not a proper 'tune' at all but yet another throwaway schmallad...
MASA - Tarian Masa / SEARCH - Asli Dan Tulus split 7" 1992 (M 865)
A double whammy of ballad non-entities taken from the 3rd MASA album "Masa III" and the 7th SEARCH studio album "Rampage", both of which were never released on vinyl.
SEARCH - Mengundur Waktu / AWIE - ? split 7" 1996 (M-248)
I have to give this band some credit that even on their 9th(!) album "Rock'n'Roll Pie" from 1996 they did keep up the heavy Hard Rock banner, albeit in a very mainstream way. Of course the one vinyl legacy is another 'power' ballad...
SEARCH - Panggung Khaylan / SALWA - ? split 7" 1996 (M-242)
Another track taken from the 1996 "Rock'n'Roll Pie" album, and this time it's actually not a ballad, but a straight-up melodic, radio-friendly Hard Rock tune. Could be worse...
SPRING - Sampai Hati / J. Abdullah - Kekasih Awas Dan Akhir split 7" 1992 (A 023)
We semi-praised the SPRING debut in the main section above for being a fairly heavy and moderately original Malay Metal LP, and the CD-only "Sampai Hati" follow-up isn't that far behind to be honest, including a handful of decent HR and HM headnodders. Sadly this title track is the only vinylized part of their sophomre album and it's of course another b****d dud..
UKAYS - Siapa Yang Rampas Cintamu / TERRA ROSSA - Mukir split 7" 1994 (M )
TERRA ROSSA's "Epigoni" debut was a pretty neat 3-outta-5 Malay Metal album released on a very rare 1992 CD edition, but sadly never promo-vinylized. This power ballad from their ample 2nd self-titled album is the only known vinyl legacy we know of so far. A-siders Ukays should not be confused with the quite good Metal band UKAY reviewed in the LP-section..
ARIWATAN - Nyanyian Rebah / WINGS - Misteri Mimpi Syak Illa split 7" 1988 (M 686)
The Ariwatan song is a ballad taken straight off the s/t album reviewed in the LP section above, while the Wings track is a power ballad from their 2nd "Hukum Karma" album that (as far as we know) never got the radio-DJ-promo-vinyl treatment, though a 2016 vinyl reissue exist on both red, blue and black vinyl.
WINGS - Sembunyi / MEDICINE - Tika Dan Saat Ini split 7" 1988 (M 618)
Another track from their "Hukum Karma" album but this time around a pretty ace Metalrocker, including some absolutely crushing heavy riffing hidden in the middle. A pretty f'in sweet item to find if opportunity would ever present itself. Medicine on the other hand only presents a ballad from the "Titian" album..
WINGS - Taman Rashidah Utama / ELLA - Permata Biru 7" 1989 (M 619)
Power ballad from the "Hukum Karma" album. Occasionally Heavy, but still: Ballad. The Ella-track is a pretty decent melodic HR number from her solo debut, but hardly in the top-5 from that album.
ARIS - Suara Kita / WINGS - Lamunan Terhenti split 7" 1993 (M-6040)
Aris = our old friend Aris Ariwatan whose solid s/t album from 1989 and disappointing 2nd is dealt with way above. On his 3rd album "Aris" from where the shitty A-side ballad is taken he has completely degenerated into pop-rock schmaltz. The Wings track is ever so slightly more interesting. The 1993 "Bazooka Panaka" CD was their 5th proper album and did once again feature a fair amount of decent rockers, but as expected this jukebox oddity merely grabbed another ballad. It's a pretty epic and listenable tune, so an honorary one Sword is thus awarded. A 2020 vinyl reissue of the album exists for the curious...
Amy Mastura - Jawapan Kasih / XPDC - Bahalol split 7" 1994 (M.076)
Taken from the 3rd album of these Malysian local heroes, "Bahalol" is a chugging mid-pace Metal standard that dearly wants to be Black Album Metallica but is just too polite and generic to even climb that knoll. Still, a proper Metal tune on a South East Asian jukebox vinyl... Ever always kült?
The full "Kita Peng-Yu" album from where this track was grabbed was incidently reissued on vinyl in 2019.
XPDC - Titian Perjalanan / AMELINA - Yang Indah Hagat split 7" 1994 (M.074)
Ballad bullshit from the album mentioned above.
Technically there's even more exclusive ones made from the early/mid 90's, but haven't bothered listing later stuff with bands like Iklim, Hattan, Ukay/Ukays/U.K., Spring etc since they were way past their HR/HM prime by the time those singles were made.
In the early days of working with this page I did start fiddlin' with an ambitious list aiming to cover all of these releases, but quickly realized it would be a folly. So, yeah, sad but true but this is the end of the road. Even the mighty Corroseum has to draw a line somewhere, and it's roughly drawn abouts the level of Malaysian made-for-jukeboxes singles. Kick my balls and call me Poser. For fun & proof of existance, you'll have to settle for a mere picture gallery of the rest. Far from complete, my humble estimation is that these are at least the majority of what exist out there. Do note that these items were never released with proper covers, but like with many of the LPs, some industrious people have made their own fan-made picture sleeves and some are shown in Appendix III.
At first I was planning to add these home-made sleeves to the respective album-slots of the main index above, but after some consideration I realized that they really don't have anything to do with the original album releases. However well made and sweet lookin' some of them may be, I think it's important that we keep these separate and rather consider them something akin to 'fanart'. To still give some credit to this phenomenon and the people who took the trouble to make them, behold the gallery below! I want to be clear that I really don't think that the original intention with these prints was to trick fans and collectors into thinking that they were some long-lost, ultra-rare originals, but rather a fun & simple aesthetic project to spice up these albums somewhat. Occationally some dubious dealers on the 2nd hand market have tried to pass them off as "rare original sleeves" but I really don't think many collectors have been fooled since they're pretty easy to tell apart from contemporary, 'proper' record seeves. If in doubt, now The Corroseum can set the record straight.
Just some random cr*p I've come across that might for some reason or other look marginally interesting but definitely isn't. Sorry for not writing more comments. Way too ardous. I'm done...
___________.__ __________.__ __ .__ .__ __
\__ ___/| |__ ____ \______ \ | _____ ____ | | _| | |__| _______/ |_
| | | | \_/ __ \ | | _/ | \__ \ _/ ___\| |/ / | | |/ ___/\ __\
| | | Y \ ___/ | | \ |__/ __ \\ \___| <| |_| |\___ \ | |
|____| |___| /\___ > |______ /____(____ /\___ >__|_ \____/__/____ > |__|
\/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/
T H E B L A C K L I S T
Ag - s/t
Citra - Citra (The logo looks promising but the 1 or 2 non-ballads barely qualify as aor..)
Damasutra - Antara Sutra Dan Bulan (Slightly alternative HR, a Malayu Ugly Kid Joe?)
Eddie Hamid - Perjalanan Rasa (Heard about half the album and I'm doubtful there's anything of interest that I've missed..)
Ella - Identiti (still some good HR tracks present but not even borderline HM this 3rd time around)
Gempita - Inderaloka Cinta
Hatta (?)
Heavy Machine - anything (The name might sound interesting, but this is soul/funk/elevator-music..)
Hillari - Di Album
Hillary Ang - Rock Dalam Dilema (offensively weak schmalz from Search-member gone solo)
Kemala - Kemala (Nice & happy HR (at best) that noone needs)
Leez - Mempersembahkan
Leez - Jendela Hidup (?)
Lovehunters - Realiti
Misteri - s/t (Ballads, schmallads & slow-rock. And one single generic hardrocker at the end.)
Point Blank - Ku Di Pinggir Luka (Very unlikely that there's anyhing remotely Heavy on this one, judging from the few clips I've found. Prove me wrong!)
Puteri - Jangan Di Tanya
Ramli Sarip (?)
Roxa - Hitam Putih (Percintaan) (One decent hardrocker does not a Metal album make)
Sabsar - s/t
Shima - s/t (unlike fellow ex-The Boys singer Ella, this one is a mere mainstream semi-HR album w/ zero HM appeal)
Sons Of Adam - Memori Duka (One or 2 hardrockers, but mostly dangdut pop)
Sutera - Sutera LP (lush soft-rock w/ fem vox)
Touch - Cahaya
Weewit - Weewit (One heavier HR tune left on this 8-tracker, so not worth the effort..)
Wow - Lelaki Kau Yang Satu (1 puny little heavy track on the mc version, though censored on the 8-song vinyl)
Zulkif – Misteri Api, Air & Angin (Trust me, that one third of a Metal-track in the closing medley will just annoy you. Avoid.)
(click to download
...and then check out the Heavy Metal Attack/Downloads-section for even more Malaysian goodies!)
Other than that, any and all of my Metal Brothers over @ The Corroseum Forum, where we've discussed this scene since ages, specifically in the Malaysia/Singapore Metal (...and vinyl)-thread.
Also shout-outs to friends and fellow fans of this scene like tbieri (his ancient MALAYSIAN Hard Rock and Heavy Metal from 1987 to 1992 rateyourmusic-list was a major inspiration for this page), Henry "I used to have 200 Malaysian LPs!" Juvonen, Francesco Tattini (#1 HM globetrotter and Exotic Metal professor!), Andy Preisig (Germany's only die-hard Mal/Sin LP collector?), Rob Preston for supplying lots of mp3's in the early days, Janne Sarna for my first Singapore vinyl trades decades ago...and last but not least P-O and Krille for keeping up with my overhyping and staying Malcurious in recent years ;)
* = C'mon, prove someone wrong on the internet! I dare ya'..
