Febians

FEBIANS (formerly known as D'Febians) were proud members of the small family of True Originators of the Malaysian Heavy Metal scene, and their 3 first albums that did reach the vinyl stage are a common sight on want lists among fans of more 'exotic' Steel. Thus we are pretty much obliged to dissect all 3 of them here at The Corroseum. 2 main factors would make anyone curious about this debut: earliery Metal hymns like "Peperangan" and "Roda Penghidupan" featured on the 1987 "Juara Juara Rock" trio of compilations, and that bad-ass looking, b/w line-up cover shot. It really oozes of NWOBHM-like promises of primordial Metal gold, doesn't it? Unfortunately, in that light this album is a wee bit of a disappointment.

Diplomatic me will give some cred to the hefty NWOBHM-hardrockers "Pesan Ikhlas" and "Renungan Mata Mu", where the former could almost have been a long-lost The Hand Of Doom or Brats tune, and the latter a raw & raunchy, americanize'd guitar-heavy HR off-fucker. Had they been released in 1980 they would have been masterpieces. At least in Malaysia. The only metallic stand-out tune here is the rumbling, majestic "Hidup Satu Perjuangan" and it is but one of many examples where I suspect Manowar to have been a secret influence on plenty of early Malaysian Metal bands. Swords are held mighty high on this one! What ultimately saves the album is surprisingly 3 of the 7 'ballad fillers', in particular the excellent "Perpisahan Tanpa Rela", a unique highlight of epic semi-ballad Metalism that most western bands of the time would be hard-pressed to match. Furthermore, both "Satu Penentuan" and "Kesepian" are of almost equal weight and quality as far as slow yet Heavy songwriting goes. However, greater things were definitely to come from Febians in the coming years....