Nosferatu enters local music industry
Nosferatu enters local music industry
By Riris Irawati
JAKARTA (JP): Looking for something hard'n'heavy? Listen to Nosferatu.
That's exactly how the four-member group plays its music, although lead vocalist Agus Lasmono claims that Nosferatu concentrates on the neoclassical, heavy groove genre.
It is probably rather unimportant to quibble about what kind of music the group actually plays because rock music, to quote critic Jon Pareles, is an open-ended concept.
The group's maiden album, Visible But Untouched, was released last month without much fanfare, probably because its members -- two Indonesians and two Americans -- do not have a strong foothold in the music industry yet.
This has not prevented them from turning out an interesting album which opens with Thermal Destruction, a song about the helplessness of human beings fighting the forces of evil.
The songs following, World of Policy, The Phantom (SOS) and Asylum, all carry more or less the same message.
It is not until the last song on Side A, To Hurt The One, that Nosferatu begins to touch on matters of the heart which is presented in their typical way: hard and heavy!
Lasmono wrote all the music and lyrics for Visible But Untouched including the signature, "Nosferatu".
Also Lasmono, the son of Sudwikatmono, one of Indonesia's most successful business entrepreneurs, reportedly financed the recording of the first Nosferatu album.
Lasmono is still pursuing an MBA degree at the West Coast University California.
Other members of the group are Tjahjo Wisanggeni, son of former Indonesian Attorney General the late Sukarton Marmosarjono playing guitar, Ricky Wolking (bass) and Mark Bistany (drums).
Unlike Lasmono, who spent time to meet the press in Indonesia, Wisanggeni, Wolking and Bistany, for undisclosed reasons seemed to prefer to stay in the U.S.
Wisanggeni's guitar accentuates Nosferatu's craze for something bold, while Wolking's bass and Bistany's drums are, at best, supportive.
In all fairness, the album is interesting and its title Visible But Untouched should be seen as a reflection of the group's efforts to present haunting, baffling music for those trying to come to terms with themselves.
Other songs on the album are This Emptiness, Terminal 666, Sick of Goodbyes and Tastes Like Chicken!? (Instrumental).
The album was recorded at The Red Zone Studio, North Hollywood, California, in April and May last year.
Nosferatu members say that their album will also be distributed in other countries, but it is in Indonesia, where they are cooperating with a major record company, that they hope to have their first market.
(Visible But Untouched is distributed by Musica in Indonesia. It is now available in major music stores).