Band:	Voice Of Baceprot
Album:	Retas
Style:	Alternative metal, Nu metal, Funk rock
Release date:	July 13, 2023
A review by:	RaduP

01. What's The Holy (Nobel) Today?
02. PMS
03. Age Oriented
04. The Enemy Of Earth Is You
05. Kawani
06. (Not) Public Property
07. God, Allow Me (Please) To Play Music
08. School Revolution
09. God, Allow Me (Please) To Play Music [Live at HITC Jakarta 2022]

With System Of A Down and Rage Against The Machine both sort of reunited but not really making new music, the task of continuing that sound seems to have fallen upon three Indonesian girls.

(Yes, I know System Of A Down released two new songs a while ago, that doesn't mean they're gonna come out with a new album anytime soon.)

There's a lot about Voice Of Baceprot that isn't necessarily related to the music they make. Their entire existence seems like something that is destined to make headlines "Hijad-clad all-girls alt-metal trio from Indonesia" is just such an eye catcher, something that does make the band unique but also something that is prone to criticism from both sides. With how much coverage they're getting from everyone ranging from Loudersound to The Guardian to NME to NPR to Red Bull, it's clear that there's something that is making Voice Of Baceprot be very journalistically viable, and it's definitely not just the music. And I don't wanna insinuate that there's anything lacking in the music, but it sure as hell wouldn't be half as interesting if it was made by three girls from Wisconsin.

On one hand, it's always interesting listening to metal (and music in general) from countries outside of the ones we're used to engaging with. Indonesia is definitely not without its covered bands, but it's still a far cry from any Western European nation, especially since the country has such a huge population. On the other hand, metal and rock music is still pretty male-dominated, and bands where not even one of the members is a male are still not very common (you don't ever hear anybody make the comment that there are no females in a band). And lastly, rock and metal have a lasting history of being anti-authoritarian in a way that also included being highly critical of religion to the point of antitheism, so the image of people playing rock music while still being practicing religious people who dress according to their religion is bound to create some friction with both the religious side offended for them playing evil music and being critical in their lyrics, and the non-religious side that has a bone to pick with any endorsement of religion. Combine that together, and it's exactly the intersectionalism that rubs some "they're only getting attention for their identities" people off while being so exciting for others.

And I guess it is telling that I'm spending two paragraphs not talking about the actual music. Well, part of it is because Voice Of Baceprot is still an up-and-coming band that's yet to become a household name, so that introduction is still necessary, despite them being around for close to a decade. This is the band's debut album so there's little in terms of contextualizing the music itself. Plus, even if the music itself doesn't have much to do with their identity, only a band with this identity can make a song with a title like "God, Allow Me (Please) to Play Music". And with the band being so influenced by the aforementioned System Of A Down and Rage Against The Machine, making music that is this revolutionary and critical in its themes does benefit from being delivered from their perspective. There's very little in terms of lyrical subtlety, you know pretty much exactly what the song is about without having to dig, with the exception of the lyrics in Sundanese.

Which brings us to the music itself. The good thing is that there's clearly a reason behind the band's identity that Voice Of Baceprot is getting so much attention, mostly due to their penchant for writing good songs but mostly for how skilled they are at their instruments. The bass especially, in the funkier moments, captivates most of the attention, and the album is full of moments where it gets to shine. The guitar solos don't feel like they exist just to fill a space. The drumming does more than just keep a rhythm. These are best highlighted in the instrumental "Kawani", where all the band's protest presentation is put on hold for focusing solely on the music. Outside of it, the instrumentals have that oomph but feel like they need to serve the song's vocals and message first, which does bring me to some gripes I have with the album. The vocals are not bad by themselves but there's something about them that doesn't gel with the music, and with music so reliant on vocals that does create some middling aftertaste in the listening experience.

There's also the fact that while this works as a package for newcomers, there's very little here that's actually new music, with most of its songs having been released beforehand. "School Revolution", the oldest of the bunch, has been released in 2018, so there's also the feeling that we'll have to wait for the follow-up to really feel like Voice Of Baceprot would write music that is more focused on the actual album experience rather than having an album collect the songs they've done so far. But this is something that is very specific to this album, whereas the vocal issue is one that I'm more curious about hearing how it changes on upcoming albums.

Also, I was so certain this was gonna be some dissonant esoteric black metal by its cover art.