Rajasinga (English; king of lion, venereal diseases) in context of Indonesian scene are somewhat deviant beast. In the scene where so many death metal acts dominate the stages and gigs, Rajasinga seem pretty confidence with their unconventional grind music. Compared to their compatriot Noxa and Tengkorak, Rajasinga are completely different, not only in the side of lyrical theme, but also musical concept. As many conventional grind acts, Noxa and Tengkorak concern on social and political issues. Musically, Noxa are the more straight-forward grind with some thrash metal elements, while Tengkorak choose a more deathgrind style.
There is no anger, political protest, gory subject matter, or invective lyrics at all in
Rajagnaruk. Album title itself is a pun; an inverted word of "kurang-ajar" (English; less-educated). Compared to their debut,
Pandora (2007), in all sides,
Rajagnaruk is far superior, especially in lyrics and musical concept. Rajasinga are probably the only Indonesian grind act with simple daily-life subject matter concern. They sing about their old motorcycle, downloading porn-video, hang-out, party, having fun, and also about marijuana worshiping. All lyrics are well written, smart, and somewhat comical, instead. The wording and rhyme nicely fitted the music. They seemed so wise to pick precise diction. Because of entire album is sung in Indonesian, this appraisal surely only comes from people whose well capability in
Bahasa. For international audiences, when they give this album a listen, possibly they won't feel lyrics' sense of humor, which, in this side, is rather a shame. Track
99% THC, 1% Skill for instance, it's not only comical and honest, but also written in typical simple form of old Malay poetry, "Pantun". Here is part of the lyrics;
"...Kami memang malas, tapi musik kami keras
Motor kami lawas, laju sangat buas
Kamar kami kecil, dunia kami luas
Kami nggak butuh skill, yang penting tampil
Kami memang susah, tapi tidak payah..."
If translated into English, in both literal and (slightly) interpretative translation, the lines above will be something like this;
"...We are indeed lazy, but our music is heavy
Our bike is oldish, the speed is (like) a beast
Our room is small, but our world is wide (after all)
We need no skill, the important one is (just) to appear
Our (life) is hard, but (it does) not suck..."
Nice lyrics, eh? Rajasinga cheer up people for not to give up, there is no barrier is too hard if they have strong will. As musicians, perhaps, the lyrics indeed drew Rajasinga's spirit and ethics of DIY. In late 2011, they even re-released this album at the expense of guitarist Bimantoro who at the time won a soccer bet. Beside simple and honest lyrics, there's also ridiculous but still simple lyrics such as track
Kokang Batang , but you have to know first, word "Bintang" means "Superstar";
...Miyabi, Jenny Lee, Carerra, Jameson, Nanda
Bintang! Bintang! Bintang! Bintang!
Redtube, Youporn, J.A.V., Pornhub, Tubestack
Download! Download! Download! Download! ...
Ha, what's about that? Is the mentioned above so familiar to you? Just keep the answer for your own. And of course, this album is not merely about simple daily-life subject matter. There is also serious theme such as their support on legalization of marijuana cultivation. "Marijuana should be legalized," so they said. Therefore, many fans jokingly cite Rajasinga aren't grindcore, but greencore; a nicely fitting predicate, though, and it's not a surprise that they become unofficial spokesmen of Lingkar Ganja Nusantara (Marijuana Circle of Nusantara*). It’s hard to deny, the uncommon theme is a key factor behind their success. This approach basically was unhelpful, if they failed to blend the music well. Okay, they have unconventional grind themes, but, if they did it without smart songwriting composition, who the hell will fu
cking care about it, right? They succeeded not only in lyrics, but also music. Thus,
Rajagnaruk arguably is their best musical endeavors so far.
There is a big question when you finished giving this album a spin. Is it grind? It’s a fair question. The answer is; yes, this is grind, at the same time, it is okay to say; this is not pure grind. Honestly, such opinion is not merely debate of yes/no question, and whether it's pure grind or not. When Rajasinga defined themselves grind act eight years ago, they meant it they would amalgamate grind with some extreme-popular genres and styles. They did do it! Their 2007 debut,
Pandora, has a strong death metal influence, while the second,
Rajagnaruk, is a more easy-listening and enjoyable tunes. The listeners who come from pop-rock background relatively could accept it. In the side of song length,
Rajagnaruk is typical grind. The songs vary from one and half to two minutes, and there are also two tracks whose four minutes duration. As whole,
Rajagnaruk relied on the amalgamated tones of hardcore punk, rock, blues, stoner, and thrash. This is not an easy job to combine such genres and styles packed in one album. They did not have many rooms to improvise in such short duration, but Rajasinga succeeded and passed it. Just listen to opening track
Anak Haram Ibukota (Metropolis Bastard), you'll know what this read means. In self-titled track
Rajagnaruk, you will hear strong thrash riffs accent. It’s so tasteful in one hand, and fierce in other hand, but when it comes to solo section, it sounds so bluesy, it's rock! Across the album you will find the same experience with track
Rajagnaruk, but each of it was blended in various amalgamated-styles as said earlier.
While song composition is well done and smart, their technical ability should be questioned. This is because of they played simple. You won't find such a technical thing in almost every track. There's no something groundbreaking that make you say; "wow! It's crazy technique...” The good composition is the best aspect of the album. Whether they're skilled, talented or not, it's not a big deal, though! They do fit play grind with their own style. That it is the real matter, however. Vocally,
Rajagnaruk has diverse patterns. It is not merely high-pitched shrieks and low growls approach, both Morrg and Bimantoro also managed typical sing-along vocals delivery. In a few songs,
Rajagnaruk is strengthened by guest/featured vocalists such as Japra (ex Siksakubur), Danu (Bromocorah), and Deta (Kelelawar Malam). Tracks like
Roda Roda Gila (Crazy Wheels) and
N.A.D. Kush are fine example to check out. In bass guitar section, Morrg got his job well done. The sound is pretty audible and well-mixed. Morrg is quite capable to help the guitarist in keeping the songs run smoothly. Then, guitarist Bimantoro Amirysyano, beyond question, he played well, despite you won't find any unique and original riffs in this album. Also, when he came to solo section, there's no special and original lick or melody, just a pretty well-executed soloing. About drumming, Revan Bramadika is like his fellow band-members; he just played well. He has all standard requisites to make any standard grind album. That it is about their musicianship, and those guys don't mind at all if you called them mediocre players. They need no skill to play their own grind style, remember? Reread their lyrics above, there it is the justification!
Well, aside from whether
Rajagnaruk is pure grind or not, this album is enjoyable as fu
ck. If you habitually listen to a more extreme grind acts such as Napalm Death, Terrorizer, Nasum, Brutal Truth, or maybe Southeastern Asia's rising star Wormrot, Rajasinga probably would fail your taste. This stuff is quite okay for people who come from outside extreme metal background. However, it's also strongly recommended to any open-minded listener. And finally, Rajasinga's unconventional themes, musical approach, and their life attitude, could be strength factors, they have to stand out with that. It's a nice fact when we know that Rajasinga do not give a s
hit for what people say, they do what they like. This strong conviction is good, they must defend it. If their upcoming release will be as smart as this one, it is real a worth to anticipate. Let's hope they will be much better...
Rajasinga? Uggh,
segaan!
***
Rajasinga's
Rajagnaruk line up;
- Indra Morgan Wirawan -- Bass, Vocals
- Bimantoro Amirysyano -- Guitar, Vocals
- Revan Bramadika -- Drums
Note;
- Anak Haram Ibukota :
Metropolis Bastard
- Premandulisme :
Goon-ism
- Dilarang Berbisa :
Forbidden For Being Able
- Angkasa Murka :
Furious Sky
- Kokang Batang :
Cocking the Stalk
- Rajagnaruk (kurang-ajar) :
Detacudessel (less-educated)
- Soundtrack Balap :
Race Soundtrack
- Roda Roda Gila :
Crazy Wheels
- Ujung Tombak :
Point of Lance
- Singa Lapar :
Hungry Lion
* Nusantara is a term of Indonesian archipelago, but in more general term, it also refers to Malaysia, Singapore, South Philippines, and South Thailand.
