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The only thing louder than heavy metal music are the genre’s fans. Even when heavy metal was beginning to be considered old-hat in Indonesia, metal enthusiasts seemed unperturbed, continuing to raise their hands in the devil-horns gesture, and wearing the same big hair and battered black T-shirts.

And now, Indonesian heavy metal musicians and their fans are making a comeback, with the formation of trendier bands, international metal icons like Napalm Death and Behemoth playing Jakarta stages, and local festivals being staged, like this weekend’s Jakarta Metal Fest 2009.

Jakarta Metal Fest 2009 is the brainchild of event organizer Divisi-20. Yura Lagan, founder of Divisi-20, said Metal Fest was a spinoff of Jakarta Death Fest, which began in 2005 with performances by local extreme heavy metal groups.

Yura said Jakarta Metal Fest 2009 would feature Jakarta bands, as well as bands from around the archipelago that are still building their careers like Kumal from Medan, North Sumatra, and Pernicious Head from Purwokerto, Central Java.

“I wanted to have bands other than the well-known city ones like Seringai and Noxa,” Yuri said. “I saw Kumal when they opened for [German band] Caliban, when they played Jakarta. I only managed to catch their last song, but their mix of Indonesian ethnic music and heavy metal, and their political lyrics in particular, really intrigued me.”

He first learned of Pernicious Head when they sent him footage of their performance. “They were brutal on stage, and I loved it!” Yura said.

“Most of the [out of town] bands could do with a boost to their morale and I think if they play a show in Jakarta and see just how many people respond to their music, that will be very good,” Yura said.

Ari Winarto is among the musicians who are scheduled to perform at the festival.

“These kinds of gigs show general audiences that metal can be accepted by the mainstream. It’s not about extreme music — being loud and causing riots — it’s art,” said Ari, who will appear at Metal fest with his group Death Valley.

Ari said he was most excited about watching the performance of veteran metal act Mortus.

He said Death Valley would play an adrenaline-driven set. “No power ballads, that’s for sure,” Ari said.

Wahyu Supriadi, the bassist of thrash-metal group Sarcastic, which will also play at Metal Fest, said he was eager to watch younger metal bands.

“There is a lot of musical exploration among them, which I really like,” he said.

While Divisi-20’s previous concerts featured “registration bands,” or bands that pay to perform — a practice that can cause overcrowding — this year Yura decided to assemble a select number of metal musicians.

He said obtaining permission to put on shows was never easy.

“For some reason, we always encounter hassles obtaining permission to stage concerts,” Yura said.

Ari said this might be due to concerns about the possibility of riots at metal concerts.

“But it is never the true metal kids [who cause riots], it is always the same group of guys who come only to stir things up.”

Both Yura and Ari, however, expressed confidence that the festival would come off without a hitch.

Jakarta Metal Fest 2009 promises an opportunity to see just how far the country’s metal scene has come. Apart from performances by well-known acts, new bands like Bleeding Act from Bandung and Silluet from Bogor will be playing. And, as Ari said, you will not even have to wear a black T-shirt and long wig: “Metal is in the heart. You can be completely naked and still have a heavy-metal soul.”

Jakarta Metal Fest 2009
Sunday, July 19 from 10.00 a.m.- end
Outdoor Bulungan Hall
Jl. Bulungan, Blok M, South Jakarta
Pre-sale: Rp. 20.000
On the spot: Rp. 25.000
Tel. 021-917 87859