Sahara

No relation to the other Sahara who released the intriguing but more obscure "Bahang-Bahang" album the following year, this is the third album by one of Malaysia's premier ladies of Rock, Sahara Yaacob, and by far the best one. There was an early 80's cassette of pop music as well as a more rockin' 1986 LP released as well, but this pearl is the bee's knives as far as us metalheads are concerned. Being a 'lady of Rock' was incidentally not a rare condition in the late 80's/early 90's Malaysia, as there were several female artists both fronting as well as forming bands around this time. Ms. Yaacobs however wiped the bloody floor with all of them, at least this once.

"Kecekalan" more than solid rockmetal will make you smile and keep your hopes up even if it's definitely the least special of the 5 Heavyweights present. That is, compared to the wholly unique 10/10 80's Heavy Metal Anthem that is "Hapuskan Dadah"! Once again I'm at a loss for words and just feel like a blubbering fool when wanting to describe all the ways in which this masterpiece of HM songwriting excels. Simply put, this one has it All: Epic harmonies, Heavy riffing, Pounding chorus, Majestic bridge. The way they managed to cram pretty much everything that's cool about Heavy Metal music into one single track actually had me start laughing - both in joy and confusion I guess. Maybe there is such a thing as too much sugar? 

Still, this wouldn't have been such a cool record if it wasn't for the fact that there are more pearls to be found. After a redundant blues filler we get the solid NWOBHM rocker "Kejayaan" followed by the excellent 'Teutonic Metal' hit "Sedarlah Segera" with its delightfully uplifting Tyrant/Gravestone/Running Wild chorus. As far as Malaysian album A-sides goes, "Jawapan" cracks the ceiling with its unicorn horn of emerald-emblazoned titanium!

This time I'm not gonna whine about how lesser of a B-side we're left with because it's pretty much expected by anyone with the least bit of insight of how albums from this part of the world are compiled. Instead we are going to celebrate another 2 amazing tracks: "Jagalah Diri" is another Perfect Heavy Metal piece of songwriting that my obscürity-damaged brain can't help comparing to the best of tracks found on old Czech 7"s and long lost Soviet magnito-albums (...because if it doesn't sound like Iron Maiden, Manowar or Mercyful Fate, what else is there to compare with, really?) ...and that's the last traditional Metal track of the album, so I guess this is our bitter goodbye...

While packing our bags and Leaving The Hall, we suddenly notice this... sound. It sounds... Great! No, it sounds ABSOLUTELY FUCKING EPIC!! and it is the sound of "Perpaduan". And it is 'The Crown And The Ring' of SouthEast Asia and the second reason you need this album in your collection more than oxygen*.

* = creds to Khnud for the paraphrasing