Hailing from Jakarta, Indonesia, Kekal is an extreme metal band formed back in August 1995. Three months later they had a chance to record a 4-song demo to be spawned in the local tape trading circuit.
June 1996 was the month of the triumphant return of Kekal. They remixed their first demo and with some new material they released "Contra spiritualia Nequitiae", their first actual demo-on-sale release. The demo itself has got a good response from the underground as it contains totally extreme and unique musical structures that have become influential.
Some changes in line-up appeared. With Harry on Vocals, Leo on Guitar, Jeff on Guitar/Vocals, and Azhar on Bass/Vocals, Kekal continued to write new material. Early in 1998, the first full-length album entitled "Beyond The Glimpse of Dreams" was recorded and licensed to various labels. First is just on cassette format by a small Indonesian label THT Productions, and later being re-released on both CD and cassette formats by Singaporean independent label Sonic Wave. Musically, they combine the strong elements of heavy metal’s known subgenres: black metal, death metal, classic-metal, and doom metal, with a touch of gothic, dark-wave, and even progressive influences which strongly present in some of their songs. "Beyond The Glimpse of Dreams" has got very good reviews from publications around the world and being considered as one of the best extreme metal albums ever coming from Asian bands. The response has also been very good since it has been sold for almost 5000 copies without an aid of any major distribution.
At the end of 1998 Harry left the band due to other commitments outside music. Kekal remains as a three-piece band with Jeff and Azhar handle all the vocal duties. Their 2nd full-length album called "Embrace The Dead" was finally recorded independently again and is being released on August 30, 1999 by THT productions as a tape version (and later by Fleshwalker records and THT Productions as CD versions), which without a doubt shows every extreme metal lover once again, about the strength and uniqueness of Kekal's music.
Early 2001 Kekal entered the studio to record songs for next full-length project entitled “The Painful Experience”, their finest material with better production. This album is released on CD format by Clenchedfist Records (USA) for exclusive North American distribution and Fear Dark Records (Holland) for exclusive European distribution. One of their guitarist, Leo, left the band as he moved to Australia to work there. Kekal became only a 2-piece band.
Year 2002 shows everyone another suprising output from Kekal. They recorded some new songs for a split CD (with Dutch dark metal band Slechtvalk), which present as the previews of the next musical direction of the band. Musically, Kekal has matured themselves in the continual process of shaping and progressing, without abandoning the band’s trademark style. The 4th full-length album "1000 Thoughts of Violence" should be released in early 2003.
