The Habit of Fire
| The Habit of Fire | ||||
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| Studio album by Kekal | ||||
| Released | 15 March 2007, Whirlwind Recordings 15 May 2007, Open Grave Records |
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| Studio | Vision Studio, Jakarta, Indonesia Studio Vertigo, Melbourne, Australia Didi's place, Jakarta, Indonesia Jeff's Mobile Laptop Recording |
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| Genre | Ambient, avant-garde metal, electronic, industrial, jazz fusion, rock, soundscape | |||
| Length | 70:40 | |||
| Label | Whirlwind, Open Grave | |||
| Producer |
Jeff Arwadi Mixed at Vision Studio Mastered at The Secret Room |
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| Kekal chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| About.com |    |
| Cross Rhythms |   |
| HM Magazine | Slightly favorable |
| PopMatters | |
| Powermetal.de | Extremely favorable |
| Sound on Sound | CD of the Month |
The Habit of Fire is a 2007 album by Indonesian avant-garde metal band Kekal. Released on 15 May in North America, Japan & Australia and 15 March in Europe & South America, it is their sixth full-length album. The album was constructed during Jeff's move to Canada, and was the last album recorded in his home studio in Indonesia. There is an official music video for the song "Isolated I".
In an interview with Ultimate Metal.com, Jeff said that "The Habit of Fire is a concept album about the living energy in a human being that has become our archetype of survival... ...The fire itself represents an energy or spirit that can never be taken down by outside forces. The lyrical themes are based around a 12-million people metropolis within a post-dictatorship country, heading down into chaos due to the people's inability to adapt with the global winds of change."
In the same interview, Jeff said that the recording process was only the second album that the band did not have a single problem in the recording process. About 75% of the music was written during pre-production. Jeff would collect samples and create MIDI information, and manipulate the sounds to create the 'skeleton'. Then riffs, MIDI instruments, synthesizers, and melodies would be added and the structure re-arranged. Once the song structure was set, the guitars would be re-recorded, then bass and drum tracks would be put on top, then vocals. Overall, it took over seven months to complete.
The Habit of Fire met with a mixed reception by critics. It was praised for its diverse style and instrumentation as well as its quality musicianship, but was considered repetitive and over-indulgent at times, as well as somewhat inaccessible and difficult to digest. The album was nominated for The Best Avantgarde Metal Album award by the popular metal website Metal Storm, and on November 2007, the album was chosen as the CD of the Month by UK's music technology magazine Sound on Sound.
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