LovingBorn

The 3rd and final release of my favourite Malaysian band and they do not disappoint. Well, there's actually a few low points featured here that weren't present on the the 2 previous masterpieces "Kekalkan" and "Insaf", and that is the sad inclusion of 1 or 2 bona-fide, 100% trademark Malay-schmallad fillers. That being said, most remaining slow numbers keep up with their tradition of making what is basically mournful and ultra-melancholic Doom in 'ballad'-form, the crown jewel being the very last LovingBorn track ever put to vinyl: the absolutely morose and devastating "Janji Seta". How the HELL can a non-Metal tune with completely unintelligable lyrics still break my fucking heart?!

Now onwards to the heavier content, which is unfortunately a bit more slim than previously and this fact does make "Nyanyian Hidup" my 3rd fave out of 3 from the band. Opener "Suzana" is a cool as heck, laid-back Heavy Rock tune with zero feel-good vibes. While hardly being the most unique or original of their rooster it's still 100% LovingBorn just the way us fans love it. A number that stands out some from all their previous material is the fast "Pentas Perlumbaan", which I could only describe as German 80's Power Metal (that Brainfever/Stranger/Attack/Atlain-vibe) on a south-east Asian vacation. Finally, we come to The Special One: "Hukum Alam"! This is hands-down the 2nd greatest Asian Epic Metal tune after Belantara's immortal "Destinasi Infiniti" and that's also a very fair comparison as to the sound of this masterpiece, i.e. pure, pounding Warlord/Manowar/"Hammerheart" majestic Glory! I don't think my viking forefathers ever reached the Indian Ocean, but if they had, this should have been the soundtrack!