Reviewed by Graeme Crawford

Kekal are an interesting proposition in that there are officially no active members in the Indonesian band but they continue to make music! The band's former frontman Jeff Arwadi is the man behind this new release, assisted by "Leo", who I would take to be former guitarist Leo Setiawan. There are only two actual songs here, along with three EOP tracks. These are "Element Of Personality" tracks, which are individual trackings from their track "Tabula Rasa", which you are able to use and alter for your own use. The tracks given are rhythm guitar, vocals and additional guitars. Deep, dark sampled drums signal the start of the title track, before buzzing industrial guitars add an even darker edge. The whole track has a bleak feel, as if the future is not a pleasant place to be. There are plenty of electronic elements throughout the track giving a progressive and futuristic edge to the song. The vocals are buried, and it proves difficult to pick out the actual words at times. The second track is an instrumental which can only be described as sci-fi jazz. It is harsh, discordant, and not a comfortable listening experience. It almost sounds like someone playing around with a new synthesiser. As it is a free download you are not losing anything to get this, however there is not much to get excited about here.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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