Review Summary: This, a kicked-ass Brain Ass!
After showing a solid demo record in 2008, finally Brain Ass released their full-length debut,
Primordial Uncouth, in late 2011. Hailing from a small town of Central Java, Cepu, whose relatively smaller metal scene if compared to the cities such as Jakarta or Bandung (both cities are located in the west-side of Java island, Indonesia). To be honest, sometimes a standard of quality is not based on how big and small a metal scene is. Any true Indonesian metalhead absolutely knows that the first domestic death metal "superstar", Rotten Corpse, did not come from Jakarta, Surabaya, and neither Bandung, but from a very small town called Malang, East Java. Rotten Corpse, with their debut album,
Maggot Sickness, in 1996, successfully have had burned whole regional metal scene across Indonesian archipelago. So many new death metal acts have been determined to do the same thing like what Rotten Corpse have done with
Maggot Sickness. And now, in the case of Brain Ass's
Primordial Uncouth, it's okay to say that their album will not arouse Indonesian scene in general, because the scene itself is already well established.
Primordial Uncouth's production quality is pretty sophisticated and modern, except bonus-track
Surga Hitam (Demo Version) whose somewhat raw and primitive boisterous sound. The introduction to the album is pretty common intro, nothing special; an atmospheric colossal sound, a typical action/war movie score, which, if the producer cut it, Brain Ass won't get any negative or bad impact from brutal death fans of this world. Honestly, one small piece of such thing is more than enough, and it's real a shame that Brain Ass also managed to put a few more pieces like this into the album. This is brutal death, right, not a symphonic metal stuff! Aside from that, as whole,
Primordial Uncouth is still an excellent release.
Listening to this, people will realize that Brain Ass have played it at their best effort. With a lot of influence from the titans such as Disgorge, Suffocation, and Decrepit Birth, Brain Ass seemed quite serious to put out their full energy and idea for their first LP - they enjoyed the process. And as the result,
Primordial Uncouth does pay off their musical endeavors.
To say that there is no groundbreaking style on this release, probably such opinion is a true fact. However, in point of a view whether the record itself is well executed or not, it should be the fairest manner in valuating their musical endeavors. From this view, people surely recognize them as proficient musicians. Throughout this release, the guitarist showed that he has talent. He played at appropriate technique with down-tuned guitar preference, heavy and thick rhythms. His rapid riffing produced an incredible sound, despite it's also pretty huge sometimes, and made vocals part a bit vague as the result. Beside that, there's couple short melodic passages, which possibly make the song such as
Kitab Dusta (The Book of Lie) sound somewhat sexy, and at the same time disgusting too, especially for people who hate all everything about melodic in brutal death stuff. To decide whether this addition is a good or bad approach, it depends on each listener preference. Considering melodic part is only small aspect that people can hear from this release,
Primordial Uncouth is so relevant for "brutal as hell" epithet. While the drums leave a good impression, sharp and pummeling with all of enormous twin-pedal and proper high-pitched snare sound, vocals and bass guitar departments leave a bit to be desired. Bass guitar is not so audible. It offers no surprise too, just a standard bass play. For this kind of music, the bassist will always be forgivable, though! The vocalist used low guttural with lack of variation. It's a bit monotonous sometimes, really, but with only about 31 minutes of music (included a demo version song), such a short duration must be a savior. Brain Ass know not only how to run fast, but also how to stop at precise moment.
Finally, this is a solid debut. If
Primordial Uncouth was more varied in songwriting composition, it would be more kicked-ass. Real fact, it's just another simply awesome brutal death album. Looking at their talent and skill, Brain Ass have a promising future in this typical extreme music. Aside from silly band name, the album is adequate enjoyable. It is sophisticated, furthermore, it was executed by capable musicians. What else do we expect? Let's hope a much better surprise in their upcoming musical endeavors!
***
Note:
- Kitab Dusta :
The Book of Lie
- Jerat Bungkam Penggal :
Trap Tranquilize Slaughter
- Surga Hitam :
Black Heaven
- Lingkar Setan :
The Circle of Satan
