Embrace the Dead is the second album by Indonesian extreme metal band Kekal.[3] It reached sold-out status in 2004. On 15 August 2010, a new, remastered limited edition entitled Embrace the Dead 1999 was released as a free download, for up to a 1000 downloads.[4] On 18 May 2012, Kekal made the re-mastered edition available for purchase on Bandcamp, citing exorbitant prices for second-hand copies of the original album on sites like Amazon.[5]
| Embrace the Dead | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | August 1999, THT Productions (Cassette) July 2000, Fleshwalker Records (CD) February 2001, THT Productions (CD) | |||
| Recorded | February – July 1999, Yaski Studios, Jakarta, Indonesia | |||
| Genre | Black metal,[1] heavy metal,[1] death metal,[1] doom metal,[1] gothic metal[1] | |||
| Length | 1:01:21 | |||
| Label | THT Productions Fleshwalker Records | |||
| Producer | Jeff/Kekal Mastered by Habil Kurnia at Dunia Digital Mastering House | |||
| Kekal chronology | ||||
| ||||
| 2010 remaster | ||||
.jpg) On 15 August 2010, Embrace the Dead was re-issued as a limited-edition free download. | ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metal Storm | 8/10[2] |
| Powermetal.de | Favorable[1] |
Recording
editEmbrace the Dead was, according to the band, the most difficult recording session for any of its albums. The band had almost no budget, and encountered problems with 16-track analog tape recorder that it was using. Because of the budget problems, the band could not book the studio ahead of time, and had to use left-over time from other band's recording sessions. This resulted in chaotic production quality, as the band had to reset the sound and mixing levels each time it recorded. Overall, it took almost seven months for the band to record the album.[6] After recording, the band faced additional problems with releasing the album. The original cassette tape version was released in August 1999 for the Southeast Asian market only by Indonesian label THT Productions, but according to the band the original release date of the CD version was pushed forward to July 2000, when it was released on Fleshwalker Records, and then THT Productions released the CD version in February 2001.[7][8]
Track listing
edit| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Longing for Truth" | 6:11 |
| 2. | "Embrace the Dead" | 5:24 |
| 3. | "The Fearless and the Dedicated" | 7:52 |
| 4. | "Source of Existence" (Bonus track on THT Productions release) | 6:39 |
| 5. | "Healing" | 3:22 |
| 6. | "The Final Call" | 5:16 |
| 7. | "From Within" | 4:48 |
| 8. | "Scripture Before Struggle" | 6:48 |
| 9. | "Millennium" | 10:00 |
| 10. | "Given Words" (Bonus track on THT Productions release) | 5:01 |
| Total length: | 1:01:21 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Longing for Truth" | 6:11 |
| 2. | "Embrace the Dead" | 5:23 |
| 3. | "The Fearless and the Dedicated" | 7:52 |
| 4. | "Healing" | 3:23 |
| 5. | "The Final Call" | 5:17 |
| 6. | "From Within" | 4:48 |
| 7. | "Scripture Before Struggle" | 6:47 |
| 8. | "Millennium" | 10:00 |
| 9. | "Embrace the Dead (live)" | 5:52 |
| Total length: | 55:30 | |
Release history
edit| Release type | Date | Label | Format |
|---|---|---|---|
| Original release | August 1999 | THT Productions | Cassette |
| Original release | July 2000 | Fleshwalker Records | CD |
| Original release | February 2001 | THT Productions | CD |
| Re-mastered re-release | 15 August 2010 | Self-released | Digital limited edition |
| Re-mastered re-release | 18 May 2012 | Self-released | Digital |
Personnel
edit- Jeff – guitars, vocals, keys, additional bass
- Azhar – bass, vocals, additional guitar
- Leo – guitars
- Habil Kurnia – keys, engineering and mixing
- Vera – female vocals
- The Black Machine – drums
- Prastowo Aklisugoro – engineering and mixing
- Denny Andreas – engineering and mixing
- Jeff – engineering and mixing
- Jeff/Soundmind Graphics – cover layout design
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f Lang, Stefan (29 April 2001). "Kekal - Embrace The Dead". Powermetal.de (in German). Weihrauch Medien Verlag. Retrieved 26 April 2012.
- ^ Promonex. "Kekal - Embrace The Dead - Rating details". Metal Storm. Retrieved 12 June 2012.
- ^ Garwood, Russell (12 October 2002). "Kekal Interview - Ultimate Metal Forum". Ultimate Metal Forum. UltimateMetal.com. Retrieved 5 January 2011.
- ^ Kekal (15 August 2010). "Embrace The Dead 1999 (re-mastered limited re-issue)". Bandcamp. Retrieved 5 January 2011.
- ^ Kekal (19 May 2012). "Ok, it is NOT..." Facebook. Retrieved 19 May 2012.
- ^ Arwadi, Jeff (13 August 2010). "Available for Free Download (Limited to 1000 downloads) - Embrace The Dead 1999 - remastered re-issue". Facebook. Retrieved 5 January 2011. Transcribed from the liner notes to the Introduce Us to Immortality compilation.
- ^ Jonsson, Johannes (1999). "***METAL NEWS 991211***". Metal News 1999. Metal for Jesus!. Retrieved 26 April 2011.
- ^ Jonsson, Johannes (2000). "***METAL NEWS 001104***". Metal News 2000. Metal for Jesus!. Retrieved 26 April 2011.