The Ricecooker Archives

13/03/2026

unsung classic of the day: ORANG PLANET - Luz EP

released today 7 years ago.

Prime post-punk from Sepanggar, Kota Kinabalu. North Borneo goths unite! 😍

listen and free download:
https://dirtydogrecords.bandcamp.com/album/orang-planet-luz-ep-2019

6 track album

08/02/2026

Recent acquisitions for the - most happy with the four tapes from the late-90s/early-00s > DEP (kuantan) + 4ELM KIDS (taiping) + PSYCHOTIC SUFFERANCE (Seremban - alfatehah utk Amir) + the mysterious ARROJAR (also from Seremban) & finally straight edge metalcore from Cheras, GROUNDLESS VICTIM (pre-CASSANDRA)

*sesiapa yang tahu tentang sebuah misteri yang bernama ARROJAR please komen or get in touch. terima kasih! 🙏🏼

29/01/2026

happy day for - two boxes filled to the brim with photos i took or collected from the early 90s of the local scene are now at the new space! 🤗

*third photo shows a pix of (gondrong-era) Bullet taken for the Circle of Friends compilation, late 1992. Bullet contributed a solo track for the comp as DOKUMEN. rare s**t!

17/01/2026

LickZine #4 2025/26

Got these from Andrew S. Guthrie, who started Lick Ink in Hong Kong about 10 years ago, putting out and distributing local zines and books. These days Lick Ink is mostly in Antwerp, Belgium but its web-based distro is still up and active.

Andrew was in KL last year and wanted to meet but I was in KK. Bummer! But months later I received these in the mail. The whole of this 4th issue is about his trip to KL - his findings upon checking out the local zine scene and meeting KL zinemakers.

There are three main practitioners interviewed or featured here: the BANG BANG ZINE collective (a risograph studio and store located in the GMBB building, KL), Nizang (NERVHOUS RECORDS, MOSH fanzine, ex-DUM DUM TAK, etc.) and also Sue of the recently shuttered TOKOSUE bookstore.

I haven’t sat down and really pore over the pages as yet but there are interesting pages where my old friend Sue talks about the early scene we had at the Central Market (see attached photos).

Do ask Nizang for a copy. I think he’s distroing this over here.

Contact the zine here: likink.com - website only as their FB is now offline while i can’t find their IG.

Thanks Andrew / / /
ricecooker

01/01/2026

BEAST PETRIFY - Dimensional Deranged Dilemma (Sonic Wave/VSP, 1999)

never seen this tape in the wilds before, thus immediately purchased once seen sitting lonely at a table in Ampcorp a few weeks ago.

Singaporean thrash/death metal originally formed way back 1993 as “Brutal Beast” by mainman Al-Fahmi.

this is the band’s debut album, nowadays hailed as one of the unsung regional classics. prior to this they had a demo in 1997 and took part in a five-band sampler of late-90s Singaporean metal underground put together by Candlelight Prods in 1998.

at the time of putting this album together BP were facing line-up difficulties. unhindered they settled to work as a duo with Al-Fahmi on guitars/lead vocals and Scyfrul taking care of bass and drums.

lots of heavy lifting and hard-work is evident here, the resulting nine tracks are not only highly technical but also diverse stylewise; it is really impressive.

last year in April a remastered version of this album was released by China’s Awakening Records. do sample it here:

awakeningrecordscn.bandcamp.com/album/dimensional-deranged-dilemma

btw, the band’s most recent release is a CD-R EP put out in July 2020. are the band still around? maybe. bandsite: beastpetrify.com

29/12/2025

BATTLEGROUNDS - Have You Seen My Heart? EP
(Speed Rawk Records, 2003)

this is a tape by Segamat-based self-described “emo-grunge” band who have been around since the mid-90s (first demo released 1995). this is their 7th release from 2003, and since then the band have been putting out a hell lots more recordings – at least one or two every year. very prolific, yes. and the band are still around too with plans for more releases (check their youtube page for recording plans up to 2027!), but i read somewhere that it’s now down to a one-man project helmed by mainman, vocalist, guitarist and songwriter Angah who’s also running a jamming studio cm live venue Brain Music on Jalan Panglima, Taman Laksamana, Segamat.

the more interesting part of this release for me is the DIY label responsible. it’s called Speed Rawk Records, a Melaka-based label ran Aim “Chicanoz” (Abd Rahim Bin Abd Rahman) who died suddenly in November 2024. besides running the long-running label, Aim was also instrumental in keeping the MTUG (Masjid Tanah Underground) scene active, including organising shows and such. yes, he’s quite a figure looming large but mostly unsung. al-fatehah.

Aim and Speed Rawk released 40 plus recordings (on tapes and CDs) since 2002. the first was an EP by symphonic metal band XS-DENIED, followed throughout the years by recordings of many genres local and overseas, including three albums by Belgian mincecore legends AGATHOCLES and the band leader Jan Frederickx’s project JAN AG & THE GAJNA.

If any of you reading has tapes from Speed Rawk, do get in touch. the archive would love to get copies or at least dubbed-copies of the local bands released. thanks. 🙏🏼

28/12/2025

KHARISMA - Rehearsal ’99 (First Stance Records)

the archive have been looking for this for many years. finally it’s here. four songs captured live in march 1999. KHARISMA were a four-piece hardcore crew with Dicky on vocals, Jiboy - guitar, Bob - bass and Doni - drums.

based in Johor Bharu these guys started in 1998 and were in cohort with JB bands of the late-90s and early-2000s such as REPRISAL and others rarely mentioned these days SRIKANDI, ENDLESS PAIN and SILENT LIBERTY.

the label First Stance Records, ran by Dicky (and maybe with others), released several recordings throughout the 2000s including the compilation CD Marks of Existence (2004) which introduced me to UTARID who at the time featured Arwith (now with PIRI REIS) and Smek (now with NO GOOD).

Kharisma had a heavy controversy plaguing them back then with accusations of being homophobic, and thus suffered a boycott of sorts. i’m not privy to what’s the actual incident that came to that though. or if the band ever came out with a statement addressing the issue.

that stubborn stain aside, the band were pretty much musically influential in the early development of the JBHC scene.

20/10/2025

a pretty rare flyer for a legendary gig at Tanjung Aru, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah (North Borneo) in 1995. the early Sabah scene back then was a largely extreme metal-inspired gathering, but this show decidedly featured several “not-metal” bands active locally in the mid-90s.

SUBNATIVE - The Gig
A Tribute to the Alternative Underground
RM6 (inclusive of Govt. tax)
1 to 6 PM
31st August 1995
Dewan Serbaguna, Tanjung Aru, Kota Kinabalu
organised by The Twin Towering Inferno
featuring:
THE FLAG (ex-??? unreadable name)
GROUNDLAUGHT
NAUGHTY S***M
MOLLY’S LIP
SCARY POEM

*the ricecooker archives is happy to have GROUNDSLAUGHT’s demo tape in our collection but many of the bands featured here are still mysterious to us. those who have details, do comment and share. thanks.

also thanks to flyer artist Nesh Tomb for sharing this on his facebook way back in July 2010. 🙏🏼

10/10/2025

two days ago a old friend i haven’t seen for many years came to to pass his zine collection. always a joy when this happens. the photo of us being all so serious and nerdy is not the correct indication of how happy was the meet. in fact, it was a fun one. these snaps of the zines here are just a part of the big bag. will post more photos as i got through the stash. btw, most the zines are from the early 2000s and i have to admit that it’s still shocking to realise that early 2000s is about 25 years ago! dang!

thanks so much Daryll! big hugs!