Review by Stellarium on April 9, 2024.

I had no idea that black metal had such a foothold in the far east in 1997. The only reason I know this exists is because I was trying to get into Vlad Tepes, and Purnamwulan came up under "similar artists" on RYM. Is it any good, though?

The long and short answer is simply - yes. Purnamwulan makes frequent references to being "mystical", and this is something that manifests itself heavily throughout the release. 'The Intro' and 'Outro' tracks are acoustic numbers with unusual chord patterns and melodies, genially produced just badly enough to sound slightly warped through the annals of time, as if the tape compression has further bent the strings to create a new guitar tone.

The meat of the release has a relatively simple pattern to it - memorable guitar riffs that are catchy and almost hypnotic. There's a clear scale and progression played that is almost terribly generic but it works with the cacophonous bass and drum fills (I concede that they are low in the mix, but audible enough). It's proibably closer to being shoehorned into the sub-genre of "melodic black metal" then the standard denomination in which it is currently categorised, but who the hell really cares when black metal is descriptive enough?

The Kliwon in which the release takes its name is apparently an important period in the Javanese calendar week. Not massively relevant to Westerners, but this adds further mystic and intrigue to those with wanderlust in their Hearts and Ears. I started off today not knowing Malaysia had much of a metal scene at all - lest alone in 1997, and I now know that a) it did, b) it's unique and interesting, and c) - I have learnt something about Javan culture.

Damn.

Rating: 8 out of 10