3 former key members are Jeff Arwadi (guitars, vocals, programming, drums), Azhar Levi Sianturi (bass, vocals), and Leo Setiawan (guitars), all have left the band in 2009.
They started in 1995 as a more straightforward black metal band. Throughout the first 5 years, they developed their own style by incorporating many diverse elements from outside metal. This distinct style become most prominent in the third album "The Painful Experience", which marked as a starting point for the band to step more and more into the progressive metal and avant-garde metal and made further experiments with their music.
In 2003, they released "1000 Thoughts of Violence" and received positive media reviews. This led to their first European mini-tour in 2004, playing a string of shows in countries such as Germany, Netherlands, and Sweden. After that tour, they released their 5th album, "Acidity", in 2005. They made even further experiments on their 6th album, "The Habit of Fire", which found the band decreasing their early metal sound to give more room for jazz, avantgarde and electronic elements.
In 2006, right after the recording of "The Habit of Fire", founding member Jeff Arwadi moved to Canada while the rest of the members are in Indonesia, leaving the band unable to play shows and do touring. At the same time they left their longtime record label Fear Dark and status of the band was in question. After few months of uncertainty and rumors of break-up went around among their fans, they all decided to remain together and to keep the band only as a studio project. They quickly signed licensing deals with 2 record labels to release "The Habit of Fire" in 2007. The album received very well and it was nominated as The Best Avantgarde Metal Album in 2007 by Metal Storm, as well as CD of The Month by UK’s music technology magazine Sound on Sound.
Later in 2007, Jeff announced on the band’s Blog that the new Kekal album is on the way, which he has been working it all by himself. It was revealed later on, that the new album is entitled "Audible Minority", and it was released officially in December 25, 2008 with a total of 11 songs including an A-ha cover song.
On August 12th, 2009, Jeff decided to leave Kekal, citing a plethora of reasons including but not limited to lack of inspiration. As Leo has also agreed to leave if Jeff leaves, and that Levi has already left earlier, Kekal effectively has no members remaining. The band, however, will continue to “exist” as an institution, albeit with no active members.
In January 2010, Jeff announced that he has been working on a new material with a possibility to be released under the Kekal name. It came to surface shortly after, that all 3 former members have also contributed in working the new album titled 8, officially released in December 2010. But however, there is no sign that they will rejoin the band as members, leaving Kekal as a zero-member band.
With no official members, Kekal is still active to this date, limited only to make and release new studio material (albums, EPs). In 2012 another full-length album entitled Autonomy was released on CD as well as free digital download, followed by a 5-track EP called Unsung Division EP.
"Kekal" means "eternal" in Indonesian.
www.kekal.org
www.facebook.com/kekalofficial
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God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
Kekal Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Let nothing you dismay
Remember, Christ, our Savior
Was born on Christmas day
To save the world from Satan's power
When we were gone astray
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy
From God that is our Father
The blessed Angel came;
Unto certain Shepherds
Glad tidings of the same:
That was born in Bethlehem
The Son of God by Name.
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy
O tidings of comfort and joy
In Bethlehem, of Judah,
The blessed Babe was born
And laid within a manger
This blessed Holy morn
To which His Mother Mary
Did nothing take in scorn
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy
O tidings of comfort and joy
The lyrics to Kekal's version of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" is a retelling of the story of the birth of Jesus Christ. The first verse reminds us that despite the troubles and difficulties we might face in life, we should not despair because Christmas is a time to remember the birth of Christ, our savior. The next verse recounts the story of how an angel appeared to the shepherds to announce the birth of the Son of God in Bethlehem. This provided comfort and joy to those who received this news.
In the third verse, the lyrics describe the humble setting of Jesus' birthplace -- a manger. Despite the humble surroundings, this was a momentous event in history, and Mary, the mother of Jesus, did not reject the circumstances but instead welcomed them. The song emphasizes the joy that comes from the birth of Christ.
Line by Line Meaning
God rest ye merry, gentlemen
May God give you happiness, gentlemen
Let nothing you dismay
Do not be troubled by anything
Remember, Christ, our Savior
Recall that Christ is our Savior
Was born on Christmas day
He was born on Christmas day
To save the world from Satan's power
To redeem the world from Satanic influence
When we were gone astray
When we were lost and misguided
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Oh, news of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy
Comfort and joy
From God that is our Father
Our Father, God,
The blessed Angel came;
The blessed angel came;
Unto certain Shepherds
To certain shepherds
Glad tidings of the same:
Joyful news of the same
That was born in Bethlehem
That was born in Bethlehem
The Son of God by Name.
The son of God by name.
In Bethlehem, of Judah,
In Bethlehem, of Judah,
The blessed Babe was born
The blessed babe was born
And laid within a manger
And placed in a manger
This blessed Holy morn
This blessed holy morning
To which His Mother Mary
To which His mother Mary
Did nothing take in scorn
Accepted without complaint
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Oh, news of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy
Comfort and joy
Contributed by Mackenzie O. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Jacob Lebbad
Definitely my favorite song off of this album.
lemongopher
This and Royal Anguish's "Mary Did You Know?"
Micah Corah
This may not be black metal, but Kekal's early albums certainly were, and a lot of elements remain from then.
ZFDMusic
Arguably the only good one on the album, haha. Nevertheless they DOMINATED this song. This is killer! \m/
EricadiaRippedAbs
This should be playing in the retail stores on black friday.
mrt0310
That's the point it's for people who enjoy this kinda music. \m/ destroy erase improve \m/
multimedia11
Awesome :D
multimedia11
excuse me, what? I have heard this song from first from this guy so wtf?
Kekkles
Oh god this is absolutely silly.
Jill Sandwich
@ravecandy17 This isn't black metal anyways.