In the spirit of connecting “smaller scattered powers” and decentralizing conventional music distribution, 2021 saw Senyawa’s latest LP released by over 40 geographically dispersed imprints. Inspired in concept and execution alike, Alkisah’s musical narrative is a prickly and at times unnervingly heavy commune between Rully Shabara’s free roaming vocals and Wukir Sayadi’s homemade instruments. Merging spatula and electric guitar and colliding bamboo and metal strings into a primordial fuzz, Senyawa’s sound is not for the faint of heart. Even going as far to openly share the stems for the recordings to encourage further creativity, Aliksah stands out as a truly intriguing project from a duo that have long struck out against musical conventions and industry power structures.
-Vinyl Factory
Senyawa’s chaotic approach to experimental music owes a lot to the cut and thrust of heavy metal. Alkisah is a destructive, scattered, and dramatic record, and the band’s previous experiments with metal royalty are teased through every pore. But their real power comes from a clear understanding of the emotional intentions of metal’s loudest and most devastating form, and by transposing moods and textures to a different set of instruments, they get to the same sinister conclusion through radically different methods.
-Quietus