That Indonesian goregrind/brutal death metal/slamming BDM scene is massive, there’s no doubt about it. Neither is a surprise that other genres not only exist there, but they produce some of the best music! I am not kidding, and today I want to introduce you to a project you should keep your eyes (and ears) on.
Dusk in Silence are just waiting to release their debut album “Beneath The Great Sky Of Solitude” (out on April 20th, 2021), but you can already have a taste of it’s greatness with two free songs on project’s Bandcamp. And I am sure you’ll agree with me – it’s amazing.
I guess it goes without saying I couldn’t resist to get in touch with the man responsible and wrestle some answers to my pressing questions from him 🙂
My greetings go to Blitar, East Java, in Indonesia! Salam, H., how are you doing these days? I am pretty sure you can’t wait till April for the release of debut album of your project Dusk In Silence, am I right?
Hii.. I’m fine, how about you? For sure, I can’t wait for my debut album to be released. I waited for this moment for about 2 years. I am very excited .. By the way, thank you for your support for the scene in my country.
Before going further with this one, let’s do a proper introduction, as I am pretty sure not many people outside Indonesia will know you (which is shame indeed, however, I hope to correct this problem with this interview 🙂 )…So, what can you tell our readers about yourself?
Before I tell you any else, I want to introduce myself. I come from Blitar – East Java. Tugurejo – wates is the name of my village.. far from civilization and access to the crowds from the city. Through the music I can interact and connect with many friends from different cities and countries.
I started my music project around 2007, I played so many genres at that time and so on until I come to black metal scene. On 2008 I make black metal band, it called KRANDA MAYAT, PENGACARA IBLIS I was a drummer on it until it changed to ARWAH GENTAYANGAN. Around two years after that, my bassist and I started to play death metal. He changed to be a guitarist, I was still the drummer and we were helped by additional players in live gigs. We named this band by HATRED CREATION and it soon canged to INVERTED. The band mambers are still complate until now. And I also have another different band, but some I can’t remember it clearly.. yeah thats all my music journey until now.
Correct me, if I am mistaken…information available state your musical career started with Inverted, playing brutal death metal. That’s quite unexpected, considering your current project, Dusk In Silence, is described as “atmospheric/melancholic postblack metal”…have you been playing also in the Inverted’s precedessor, Hatred Creation? What can you tell us about the band itself and its music?
I formed it with my friend and before becoming INVERTED, this band is called HATRED CREATION it played death metal in general with the concept of lyrics talk about life, death, the dark side and social issues.
Inverted has released 2 EPs only, the last one – “Origins of the Unseen” – in 2016. That’s quite a long period of silence now…is Inverted still active as a band? Are you preparing any new material fans of BDM should look forward to? And while discussing this band, considering the massive amount of BDM bands in Indonesia, how would you describe Inverted’s position on the local scene?
INVERTED is still active today, we are preparing new material for the full length album. Of course, there are so many great Brutal/death metal bands here, we don’t expect much.. We just want to stay on this way and make some music.
Playing in Inverted was evidently not enough for you, because, as my info says, you’ve also joined guys in Balas Dendam, the grindcore band from Malang (East Java). How did you end up playing grindcore and what can you tell us about your involvement with Balas Dendam? How long have you been with the band and was there any particular reason you’ve left the band?
I forgot.. yes, I’ve become the drummer in that band, but it was not for long. Beside BALAS DENDAM I also played in GOROK, MURDER PERCEPTION and some another bands that i can’t remember names of. When I worked in Malang, my friend asked me to make grindcore band with him. So I just play what I like.
Your next musical step was to create your first (if I am correct) solo project Corpsified. The genre remains the same – brutal death metal – but lyrical side of things changed, and you went from fairly social themes of life, death and religion of Inverted towards gore lyrics in Corpsified. Have you been tired of social critique? And while discussing this aspect, how important are the lyrics for you in your songwriting?
In 2014 I made my first brutal death metal solo project CORPSIFIED. Brought the gore theme on lyrics, might be came a new chapter for me to write songs and lyrics. Here I explore more in terms of music and lyrics to be outcome of anger itself. Lyrics take the important role in a song, because it is the main point that we want to convey in the song.
Corpsified has only produced one short demo back in 2014, what reviews did it receive? Do you plan to continue to work with this project in some near future?
I really did not expect that the response of friends in the scene was very good with this demo that was released by Dismembered Records – Indonesia. And it made me more excited to continue with new CORPSIFIED material, because at that time there were some obstacles the project was finally on hiatus until now. Sure, I’ll continue it someday, wait for me to finish it.
There is not much info about Faakk!, but being dilligent in my search, I have found a short demo of it. So, grindcore again! Here I need to depend on you for any relevant information, so…what can you tell us about Faakk!? Is it still active?
FAAKK!!! It was my grindcore project with Risky Inverted as a guitarist, assisted by my friend, Apip on drums and myself on vocal. We’ve performed at several gigs and finished a few songs and also the recording process. But it hasn’t been released yet until now. It’s disbanded or on hold, I am so confused about that.
Now moving to a different direction, and no less interesting! Can you reveal why did you move from the blastbeats and gutturals of your brutal death metal and grindcore bands/project to post-black/blackgaze and atmospheric black metal, as witnessed with your projects As Bright As The Stars (ABATS) and Dusk in Silence?
As I said before, I entered this way because my first band project was black metal. But at that time there were not much information about it, it because of my place is far from the city where everything are better there. it was stuck, so I made the BDM project. Along with the better technology, so I could listen to a lot of bands from various genres. That made me interested to play black metal again with other musical elements such as postrock / shoegaze / ambient/ etc.
As ABATS came first (I suppose), let’s talk a bit about it first too. What is it you want to achieve with this project, what was your vision?
DUSK IN SILENCE first.. but it doesn’t matter. I just want to produce music, certainly I want ABATS to release a full album and maybe someday I want to be able to tour everywhere to meet and interact with new friends.
ABATS indeed shares a lot of similarities with Dusk In Silence, nevertheless, I’d say it’s more emotional (which is a quality I really, really like). The only material released (if I discount the demo single “Lost”, which is included on a subseqent material) is the split with Januaryo Hardy’s project Lament. What can you tell me about the origin of this split, whose idea of making it was it?
The previous material is a bit similar to Dusk in Silence, but for the next album it will be more different.. just wait. The split album was made after I’ve agreed to a proposal from Januaryo’s LAMENT, which had the initial idea with ABATS.
It’s a shame such a nice album is out of the reach…being sold out already. I suspect Twilight Rain Records (which officially released the split in 2019) is somewhat connected either with you or Januaryo 🙂 … but I might be wrong, of course. Anyway, any chance for a repress of this album?
Yes, Twilight Rain Records are owned by Januaryo. This album has been reissued by Pest Productions – China. For more information, please contact the label or directly to the band.
As for some new material of ABATS…anything at works?
Sure, I’ll say YES! Wait for the new material!
Now it’s time to have a look at your latest creation – Dusk In Silence. I have to admit, I was completely enthralled by those two available songs. So, obviously, the question is – how (and when) did the project start and what was the initial impulse for it? How would you describe it to our readers – musically and lyrically?
I started the project around 2014, but only had 1 untitled song. In 2016 I’ve thought about it again and wanted to continue it, finally I’ve got an idea for the name (Dusk in Silence) to compose a few songs and contact Ryo Oscarysm to create a logo. Because the constraints of my job, the project was again put on a back-burner, until 2018, when I’ve started to feel it must be continued again. Made some further material and finally met one of the best local labels, Hitam Kelam Records (Boedi leksono) who wants to release DIS debut album. Time has passed with a sad story, he passed away due to illness before the album release. After that DIS has tried to find a new label. Eventually, Flowing Downward and Dusk in Silence will finally release the debut album, on April 20th, 2021. For the music itself, i think it depends to the listeners to what the interpretation they want to, its all theirs. The main think that I play black metal music, the DIS way. Dark, melodic, melancholic, and there is a power of taste on it. The lyrics on this album are more personal to life, please read it in full later when it’s released.
Don’t miss it..April 20th 2021 Dusk In Silence full length debut will be released via Flowing Downward – Italy.
Some artists claim no influences from any other artists, what would be your response when asked about bands/projects/artists influencing your work in Dusk In Silence?
I have listened to many bands of various genres, VALLENDUSK is one of them that influnced me a lot, they also inspired me to return and play on this path and also work with DIS.
Your work is going to be released by the Flowing Downward label from Italy. What can you tell us about this co-operation? What do you expect from it? I’d say, the better distribution in Europe is definitely an absolute advantage, seeing the postage rates from Indonesia gone mental during the pandemic…
Until now we have worked well together, Flowing Downward is one of the best labels too, so they are definitely will be doing well. And I hope that my music can be heard over the world, at least for distribution in Europe and beyond it. Maybe someday we can tour over the countries.. I don’t know, hopefully it will be happen.
You know that my country is far away.. So that distribution will be very difficult, shipping costs are also very expensive. Especially in this pandemic that affects all aspects of life.
What about playing live? With one-man projects that’s something quite impossible, however, do you consider having other musicians for playing some live gigs?
If I play live later, I will use additional players, yes.
Nearing slowly to the end of this interview…what are the plans for the time after Dusk In Silence’s debut is released? Are you working on any new material at the moment?
For now, I will be focused on DIS debut album, other surprises will follow later.
Any final words or message to our readers?
Thanks to you, Rudolf, you have supported the Indonesian scene a lot, thank you very much. And for all the readers, keep up your health, be kind to animals and don’t litter. Peace love for everyone..Best regards, H.
Bandcamp: https://duskinsilence.bandcamp.com/
(This interview was originally published in the Rubber Axe webzine on March 20th, 2021)
