Ungodly Death "Lost Nation"

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I bought this shirt in the year 2013, around the time the a demo by this band was re-released by a local Malaysian label. This was printed in Indonesia by a fan of the band, based on the re-release of the band's one and only demo Lost Nation. The demo which the artwork of this shirt was based on, was originally released in 1992, was re-released by a local Malaysian label in 2013.

For those of you who do not recognise what band is featured in this shirt, this band is a legendary Malaysian band from Sarawak known as Ungodly Death. The band is considered one of the pioneers of metal music not only in Sarawak but in Malaysia as well. Unfortunately during the time I wrote this, the band's founder and frontman had passed away in 2019.

His passing has been mourned by his family and friends ever since and even probably many years to come after I write this. His contribution to the local metal scene in my country was huge and thus for me to own a this shirt presents a great deal for me as it somewhat represented my Sarawakian pride.

Although Ungodly Death had only produced one demo throughout their existence, the demo was very influential and solidified the underground metal music movement in Kuching city, the hometown of this band, which started in the late 1980s.

Talking about this shirt, I wore this shirt for many "important occasions". One of the occasion where I used this shirt was during my first ever visit to the Philippines in 2019 as the late Manny thanked me for wearing this shirt after he saw me upload a photo of me (while wearing this shirt) with friends at the streets of Quezon City uploaded to Facebook during the time. I felt good after he acknowledged my support for the band by wearing this shirt while going out of the country.

There were many "important occasions" where I wore this shirt and I can't tell them all here. I also wore this while I was on my way to attend a gig in Daro, a town located in the middle of nowhere in Sarawak in 2018. So this shirt is a prized possession of mine and there is no where I shall sell or let alone give this shirt to anyone.

Another interesting fact about this shirt is that the late Manny told me that he did not like the colour of the artwork from the re-release edition. For him, the artwork of the demo should have no colour at all but that was his opinion. I did told him that I am nevertheless grateful that there are people out there who took the effort in re-releasing his demo and also print the band's t-shirt like this one here. Otherwise people who support Ungodly Death like me would not have any merchandise from the band. He nevertheless agreed.

Ungodly Death can also be thankful that an Indonesian label had decided to release this t-shirt as it is now a very rare item and now that Manny had since passed away, I bet this will be a top search for those who are into rare, vintage or collectible metal t-shirts. The quality of this shirt's printing and t-shirt material is also top notch by standard too.

I have to copies of this shirt- one which I wore often and one which I had never used, still in brand new condition, bought by me a few years after I bought the first one.

BASIC INFO

Shirt: Ungodly Death "Lost Nation"

Category: Local Malaysian band t-shirt

Subject Origin: Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia

Condition: 8/10

Back print: yes

Long sleeve: no

Sleeves print: no

Shirt status: original, released by an Indonesian label

Printing ink and method: plastisol ink screen printing

Remembering a Sarawakian Metal Legend (And His Deep Love For Metal T-shirts)

It has been three years since I last updated anything to this blog of mine here, although some posts after this writing here will be back-dated by me for my personal archiving purposes. 

A lot has happened since I last wrote anything here. 

While I am obviously not going to tell everything that has happened since I last posted anything here in this blog, I do want to write a story about a man who inspired many metalheads from my hometown Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia (including me) to start listening to the music genre I love so much, which is, you guessed it; metal.

The man who I want to talk about in this story is none other than the late Awang Maini Awang Adnan or better known by his friends and followers as Manny Mania (1970 - 2019).

Me and Manny in 2018

While I heard many stories about Manny, I would also like to write about him but I would like to try a different angle in this story of mine. 

For a metalhead from Sarawak like me, he was like a godfather for us and he deserved all the respect as he pioneered a movement for the music here in Sarawak as early as the mid-1980s. His achievement in the local underground metal music scene has also propelled him to legendary status after his band was the first ever Sarawakian metal band to record a demo back in 1991. I grew up adoring his band Ungodly Death and it was also because of his band (and other band which also started around the same time as Ungodly Death), I have always wanted to form a band just to release an original material by my own band.

Manny not only formed a legendary band, he was also an event organiser and was the man who became an activist who started the metal music movement in Sarawak back in the 1980s as well. During his lifetime, it was because of his ideas which he translated through his band and events, Sarawak became not only one of the earliest metal scenes to come into existence in Malaysia but perhaps in the Asian continent as well. 

A digital art made by me on the day I received news of his passing

With his humble attitude and often seen very keen to share his experience especially with those who are younger than him, his passing in 2019 was one which most of his family, friends and those who recognises him or his work would still mourn up to the time of me writing this and perhaps for a long time after I wrote this piece as well.

A few years before he passed away, I hanged out with him a lot as I am very appreciative of his experience and enthusiasm in sharing his stories on his involvement in the underground metal scene. He was always very supportive of my works and claims to be a follower of my writings too thus one could imagine how devastated I was to hear the news that he had passed away. 

Although he had not been very active with his band for many years before he passed away (apart from playing a show once in a while), he nevertheless could always be seen attending and hanging out with friends during local gigs which shows that his enthusiasm had never faded during his lifetime. 

One of the reasons why I decided to write a story about him for this blog of mine which reviews various t-shirts from my personal collection is because Manny was also a man with extensive collection of metal t-shirts apart from other "compulsory" metalhead collectible musical items such as CDs and cassettes.

Manny seen wearing one of
the many unique t-shirts found
in his extensive collection.

Ever since I was young, I would look forward to meet or see Manny because everytime he appears either at gigs or even just hanging out with his friends he would surprise me with the t-shirt that he wears. Yes, Manny was a metal t-shirt enthusiast and his collection was the envy of many metalheads around the country if not, possibly around the world. I need not talk about the vintages, the rarities or even the types which could cost a fortune for one to buy as he seems to have it all. No metalhead (at least from Sarawak) can top his collection during his lifetime and I dare say this.

It also comes to as no surprise that he had extensive collection of metal t-shirts because he had a good friendship the guys at Rupert Rage Shop, shop which used to actively sell metal merchandises in the 1980s and 1990s located in Kuching city. The shop was so renowned that all older generation of metalheads in the country of Malaysia knew about the existence of the shop. The proof is whenever some metalhead from areas apart from Kuching meet me or speaks to me about the metal scene in my hometown Kuching, there is a chance that they will ask me about the shop.

Since Rupert Rage stopped selling metal t-shirt due to the advancement of the internet technology where one can order rare t-shirts themselves and not depend on the shop, Manny would went on to order t-shirts via the internet or request for the services of his friends to buy them for him. That made his collection ever expanding.

I was rather unfortunate not to have access to his collection after his passing (at least for now, during the time I was writing this) but I also do not want to disturb the privacy of his family by asking to see his collection and taking photos of them. Let this story of mine here tell that he has an extensive collection of metal t-shirts and that's it. What is important his friends knew how big his collection was.

Besides, during his lifetime he was never the one who likes showing off  or bragging about his collection to his friends. Those who are close to him just knew that he had a lot of t-shirts as he would always wore a shirt at a friend of his had never seen him wear before and through my observation, the most he would do is to wear the same shirt he worn before perhaps months or maybe years after he has worn it before, unless he likes the shirt very much which is a different story altogether.

Now, a few months after he passed, during the time I wrote this, I have a feeling that I will no longer see someone like him who dedicated his life for the same thing I dedicate my life to as well coming from my hometown. No longer I have someone to refer to when I need recollection or reference when it comes to recollection or knowledge of the ancient Sarawak metal scene. I not only lost a friend, but a mentor as well. 

Rest in peace, Manny.

Bvrtan "Selamat Hari Gawai Gayu Guru Gerai Nyamai"

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Burtan (spelled "B-v-r-t-a-n") is an Indonesian band which plays black metal with a special twist in their artistic and lyrical theme. They sing about poverty and agriculture instead of satanism or anti-religious topic which is a very unorthodox choice of direction by the band. A direction which did not sit well with hardcore black metal followers everywhere too.

So far the band have released two albums, a few EPs and demos. They also never played live and have a huge cult following.

I was the one who requested to print this shirt as the band's founder Zulfiqar (also known as Pak Kades Svkatani) going back for good to work in his native country Indonesia, having lived in my hometown Kuching (Sarawak, Malaysia) for about three years or so.

During his stay in my hometown, we became good friends. A very friendly and knowledgeable person, I went to his house almost every week as exchanged ideas in a lot of things. Nice to have an intellectual conversation to a fellow metalhead once in a while.

Well, this band can be considered legendary in their home country Indonesia. They have a very cult following too. I also heard from Indonesian friends that merchandise by this band is very rare and highly sought-after by their followers.

Only 20 pieces of this shirt was printed and sold only to Malaysians, although I did let go five pieces to Indonesian friends who worked or visited Kuching often.

At first I want to put the title "Koperasi Kegelapan Yang Memonopoli Ekonomi Pedesaan" (the title to one of Bvrtan's songs) but for some unknown reason Zulfiqar insisted that I put "Selamat Hari Gawai, Gayu Guru Gerai Nyamai" as this shirt's title.

Not wanting to explain or elaborate, why he chose such title for the shirt remains a mystery.

One theory which I can think of is that he might want a memoribilia from his time staying in Kuching as the words and phrase "Selamat Hari Gawai, Gayu Guru Gerai Nyamai" means "Happy Gawai Day, Long Life (and) Good Health" in the Iban Dayak language. What is Hari Gawai? Hari Gawai is a festival observed by most Dayaks of Borneo island to celebrate the end of a harvest season. Click here for more information on Hari Gawai. Iban Dayaks on the other hand form the largest majority of the Dayaks found in Sarawak.

Another theory which I can think of is that he may feel that farmers who celebrate the festival has connectivity and relevance with the songs that Bvrtan writes or sing about which is why he wants the title on his shirt.

Whatever it is, I am glad that he has given me permission to produce this official merchandise for the band. Due to an agreement with Zulfiqar, I shall not print this shirt again.

Most of the copies of this shirt is black with white ink. Mine here is blue with white ink. Bvrtan band member all have theirs in white and black ink. I also printed a 4 to 5 pices in others colours too.

BASIC INFO

Shirt: Bvrtan "Selamat Hari Gawai Gayu Guru Gerai Nyamai"

Category: Local Indonesian band t-shirt

Subject Origin: Depok, West Java, Indonesia

Condition: 9.5/10

Back print: yes

Long sleeve: no

Sleeves print: no

Shirt status: official, released by Malaysian friend of the band

Printing ink and method: rubber dye, silk screen

I'm Back (For Now) + Updates.

It has been almost a year since I posted anything on this blog. Oh well, I've been very busy. From now on I will try to update this blog at least once a month... yes, I repeat - I'll try.

So what happened since I last wrote on this blog? A lot of things for sure. As a matter of fact, a few (or maybe just one or two...) historical moment happened in my life since I last posted anything in this blog.

No, I did not get married. I moved to Kota Samarahan after living in the village of Kampung Tabuan Dayak, Kuching for nearly 24 years. Yes, to me that was historical. I now live in a new house and a new environment.

I am going to miss Kampung Tabuan Dayak but I have to move away from the village because Kampung Tabuan Dayak is not like what it used to be. My house at the village is now constantly flooded whenever there is heavy rain occuring at the same time with the occurance king tide because it is located at the bank of Tabuan river. Although my house is located at the bank of a river, it has never been hit by flood until the year 2014.

I should have moved out in 2014 but I thought the flood would never come again. I was wrong. It happened again in 2016. So by the end of 2016, I moved out.

What made me hell-bent and motivated to move out of the village is when I saw my CDs being soaked in fucking flood water at the time. To me that is devastating. I just got to move out. Fingers crossed, I hope my new home will be able to house all my metal belongings for as long as I am around.

My house in Kampung Tabuan Dayak flooded last year.

Another important chapeter of my life is that I finally attended a huge open air metal festival -to be exact, I attended the Hammersonic Metal festival this year in Jakarta, Indonesia. Yes, this is historical to me too. Thanks Indonesia for enabling Malaysians like me to have such an experience. If there is no such festival existing in neighbouring countries, I don't think I could ever attend one as I might have to travel to Europe of other parts of the Asian continent and that will costs me lot of money. I also do not see my country Malaysia organising such festivals (metal festivals, ok) any time soon.

Attending the Hammersonic Festival in Jakarta this year.

Since I last posted anything here I also organised the first metal gigs in Bau district in 2016 and Samarahan division this year (2017). I am so proud of those personal achievements of mine a an event organiser too.

Organising Bau district's first ever metal gig in Bau district with my friends.

The first ever metal gig in Samarahan division, Sarawak organised by me and my friends.

Those were the few of the things which happened since I last posted anything here. Just a few of those things made me a very busy man.

Oh well, having moved to Kota Samarahan for almost a year now, I am looking forward to register more good memories at my new home until I grow old. Cheers.

Now let get back to talking about the metal t-shirts that I have, shall we?

Decomposed (IDN) "Apocalypse of Destruction"

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Decomposed. An obscure Indonesian brutal death metal from Tangerang, Banten. For further information about the band, please click here.

Now let's talk about how I got this shirt.

I was visiting a local distro/ shop here in my hometown known as Gator Store when I found this shirt. Now let me give a little background about that shop; the shop specialises on Indonesian underground metal (and to some extent hardcore) merchandises by bands from the country. I can say that we in Kuching here are lucky to have the shop operating here as Indonesia do have decent exports coming out to the country. Their main shop located in Pontianak, West Kalimantan, Indonesia while the one at Kuching here is just a branch.

Many of my friends would know me as a person who will not buy or wear metal t-shirts to bands that I don't listen to. It so happens when I saw this shirt and saw their 2012 EP entitled "Desecrating the Divine" sold at the store as well.

As far as I know, this shirt's title "Apocalypse of Destruction" was not based in any of their songs or release, so I guess if I buy the EP, its ok if I buy the shirt too. Plus its long sleeve with it's sleeves printed. Metalheads love long sleeves, don't they?

What attracts me about this shirt lies in its colour as it is coloured grey. I am so sick of black coloured metal t-shirts and I certainly love it if I could find anything but black. Thus no question on the price of this shirt. I just have to take it home and own it.

After listening to their EP, I look forward to hear from this band but sadly they have not produced anything since 2012.

BASIC INFO

Shirt: Decomposed (IDN) "Apocalypse of Destruction"

Category: Local Indonesian band t-shirt

Subject Origin: Tangerang, Banten, Indonesia

Condition: 9.5/10

Back print: yes

Long sleeve: yes

Sleeves print: yes

Shirt status: original, released by local Indonesian label

Printing ink and method: plastisol ink screen printing

Rator "Possessed"

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Rator. Another legendary band from Malaysia. Who a metalhead from Malaysia would not know what band this is, right? Would any metalhead from Malaysia wear any shirt with the band's name printed on it? I would.

Now Rator is known to be one of the first band which came up from Klang Valley area in Peninsular Malaysia. The metalheads from Petaling Jaya would proudly claim that Rator are their "O.G." or "otai" (yes that's the local Malaysian slang for the word of the same meaning as O.G.) from their area, as a few of the band members or former members lived in Kampung Medan, Petaling Jaya during their early years.

According to my sources, their existence dates back as early as in 1987. For further reading regarding the history of this Malaysian band, just click here, although it is written in Bahasa Malaysia. For their information at the Encyclopedia Metallum, click here.

Now this shirt here I first saw at the old Nebiula Heavy Metal Shop which used to belong to Sil Khannaz frontman Jaie. This could not have been a bootleg right? But hey, should this shirt here be bootlegged, don't blame the people for making and buying it. As a legendary band they should realised that their merchandise will always have their buyers

If this shirt was bootlegged too, the band should then be responsible for handling their own merchandise and not disappear into thin air right after the release of their first and/or one and only album "Possessed" which was released in 2008.

Since I have never heard about the issues on whether this shirt is bootleg or not, I would like to consider this shirt as official merchandise from the band. This shirt design is the only shirt I saw mass-produced from/for the band too. Whoever produced this, I don't know and I really don't care. All I cared is that as long as I have a Rator shirt in my closet. That's it.

This shirt was released about the same time during the released of Rator's aforementioned one and only album, "Possessed" in the year 2008. The album's cover is used as the front design of this shirt. Ever since this shirt was first printed that year, it has since became an iconic shirt for Rator nowadays and is still selling well among metalheads.

BASIC INFO

Shirt: Rator "Possessed"

Category: Local Malaysian band t-shirt

Subject Origin: Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia

Condition: 9.5/10

Back print: yes

Long sleeve: no

Sleeves print: no

Shirt status: original, released by local Malaysian label

Printing ink and method: rubber dye, silk screen

Blackfire "Blackfire"

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Blackfire (sometimes spelled Black Fire) claims to be the first ever metal band from Malaysia. They play a brand of heavy metal with religious themes from a dark-tinted perspective. I met a few people who interpreted the lyrics by this band to be religious... but this is not white metal. Call it what ever you like but they are not white metal in my opinion.

So what do you do when you walked into a metal store for the first time and saw a shirt of a legendary band from your country up for sale? Of course you buy it knowing that it has a aesthetic value. I even made sure this was not bootlegged too.

One interesting note for me is that the first metal band from Malaysia also comes from Malaysia's smallest state, Perlis.

Formed in 1982 as Metal Ghost, the band changed their name to Blackfire two years later it took them 24 years to finally record a material and the result was their full length album "Lahir Dari Api" released in 2006 and it is their only album to date. Better late than never, I guess.

Why is this band legendary if they never recorded anything? Well, according to Encyclopedia Metallum who had this little info on the website's page on Blackfire:

...their songs had never been recorded in studio until recently. However, they were already known from so many performances in rock festivals and gigs around Malaysia in the 80's.

The design of this shirt looks simple but hey, if it is Blackfire, I am definitely showing my support for the band plus I am just glad to have this shirt in my collection. If I am not mistaken, this shirt was released to accompany the release of their 2006 album to date. Correct me if I am wrong in the comments section below please.

One the back of this shirt are excerpts of lyrics to the song (or more like song and album intro) "Lahirnya Dari Api" found in their one and only album released in 2006.

BASIC INFO

Shirt: Blackfire "Blackfire"

Category: Local Malaysian band t-shirt

Subject Origin: Kangar, Perlis, Malaysia

Condition: 8/10

Back print: yes

Long sleeve: no

Sleeves print: no

Shirt status: original, released by local Malaysian label

Printing ink and method: rubber dye, silk screen

Thornspawn "Thornspawn"

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It is not often that we here in Malaysia get shirts released by underground bands from the land far, far way like the United States and if we do, they're probably made available from a label/ an individual based locally here or in neighbouring country like Indonesia or Thailand.

I saw this shirt during my last visit to Kedah, one of the Malaysian states located in Peninsular Malaysia earlier this year. I was really excited to get a hold of this shirt... but there is just one thing; I do not have any CD or physical release by this band during the time. Only later this year then I bought this shirt when I bought their 2002 album "Wrath of War". 

The ink used for this shirt is of gold coloured rubber dye and yes, for some unknown reason to myself, when its gold and printed on something black I just can't help but to fall in love with it. Gold on black just seems so right and beautiful, like this shirt here.

This shirt here is not really specifically based on any other physical audio release by the band and in my opinion, anyone who have any release by the band can buy and wear this shirt. Apart from the band's logo, nothing else is written on this shirt.

According to Encyclopedia Metallum, this band Thornspawn is based in San Antonio, Texas, USA, So far up to the point of writing this, they had not released any album since the year 2007 but have been actively releasing splits physical audio releases since that year up to three years ago in 2013.

BASIC INFO

Shirt: Thornspawn "Thornspawn"

Category: North American underground band t-shirt

Subject Origin: San Antonio, Texas, United States of America

Condition: 9/10

Back print: yes

Long sleeve: no

Sleeves print: no

Shirt status: original, released by local Malaysian label

Printing ink and method: rubber dye, silk screen

Unholy Sin "Soul From Hell"

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The Sarawakian district of Daro is such an obscure place for many people who are not from the area, the areas nearby and metalheads from Malaysia.

Yes, those in the Malaysian underground metal scene will know Daro as one place, part of the famous Unholy Triangle underground metal scene, where the scene is active in the areas in the middle region of (the Malaysian state of) Sarawak.

Unholy Sin is one band to emerge from the area and they pride themselves as the "only band playing death metal" in Daro, a claim made by the band members who live in a scene where Norwegian black metal reigns supreme.,, well this goes as so far at the time of writing this.

Not much was recorded by this band, which was formed in somewhere in the early millenium ( the year 2001 or so) and for anyone's information here, their entry in the Encyclopedia Metallum was added by me.

They only recorded a two track rehearsal demo so far in 2001 and was involved in as compilation for local band from the Unholy Triangle scene as recent as in the year 2011, contributing a track which was recorded by the band in the same year.

I got this ultra rare shirt from the band's frontman Kumar (real name Razkumar Abu Bakar) and I am honoured to have this shirt in my collection, not only because it is ultra rare... the front print design of this shirt was designed by me as well!

BASIC INFO

Shirt: Unholy Sin "Soul From Hell"

Category: local Malaysian band t-shirt

Subject Origin: Daro, Sarawak, Malaysia

Condition: 9/10

Back print: yes

Long sleeve: no

Sleeves print: no

Shirt status: original, self-released by band

Printing ink and method: rubber dye, silk screen

Deleted "777"

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Bestial Warmetal act from Tawau Deleted released this shirt to accompany the release of their demo entitled "777" in 2009.

It sold like hot cake as I myself bought two copies of this shirt, one for myself and another one given to a friend.

This shirt is also only available in red colour, or at least I have not seen this shirt in other colours apart from red.

I was excited to own a copy of this shirt as this band have a very cult following and I hope to buy more releases by the band in the future.

Interesting to note that this band claims to be based in the country of Brunei but is actually based in Tawau, a town located in the Malaysian state of Sabah, or at least in Tawau many years ago.

BASIC INFO

Shirt: Deleted "777"

Category: local Malaysian band t-shirt

Subject Origin: Tawau, Sabah, Malaysia

Condition: 9/10

Back print: yes

Long sleeve: no

Sleeves print: no

Shirt status: original, self-released by band

Printing ink and method: rubber dye, silk screen

The Gathering of Terror III

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The Gathering of Terror is a series of underground metal music genre gigs organised by a Kuching-based circle of metal-heads friends.

This shirt's front artwork was designed by some kid by the name of David Dean... oh well, he's actually a friend of mine.

I designed this shirt and printed something like 30 copies of this shirt and it was available in black and white versions.

Ain't nothing like a review of a shirt printed/ produced by yourself on your own blog eh? I'll make it short here.

The Gathering of Terror enters it third round (the gig was also known as The Gathering of Terror III) in 2016 and the gig was first organised in 2011.

I purposely featured the white version of this shirt in this post as the white version of this shirt is of more limited quantities released when compared to the black version.

BASIC INFO

Shirt: The Gathering of Terror III

Category: local Malaysian metal gig t-shirt

Subject Origin: Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia

Condition: 9/10

Back print: yes

Long sleeve: no

Sleeves print: no

Shirt status: original, released by organisers

Printing ink and method: rubber dye, silk screen

Cromok "Image of Purity"

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First and foremost, any Malaysian metal music lover would know what band Cromok is.

For those of you who do not recognise the band, please click here or here, here, here or even here for further reading.

Well, is this a bootleg shirt? I am not sure myself but the copyright written on the shirt by the shirt's maker was enough to convince me to buy it.

I have always wanted an official Cromok t-shirt and if this is a bootleg, I guess this is as close as I get to having one because despite Cromok's legendary status, their merchandises are very hard to find.

The band, especially through their "guitar hero" a.k.a. lead guitarist Khairul Anuar a.k.a. Karl is very fierce when they discovered that their merchandises have been bootlegged, so I guess the maker of this shirt should have considered that before printing and putting their name on this shirt.

To date, five years after buying this shirt, I heard no news about Cromok coming out with a statment saying that this shirt is a bootleg, so yeah I now feel confortable wearing it.

Many years ago while visiting the Campbell Complex in Kuala Lumpur, I stumbled upon this shirt here at "Kedai Aunty".

Since it's design is based on the band's debut and my favourite album from the band, I wasted no time and grabbed this fast and the rest I would say is history.

Cromok's debut album "Image of Purity" was released in 1991 and it has a very huge impact on Malaysian who aspires to play and form metal bands not only during the time, but to this day as well.

What Malaysian metal head would not want to listen or have a copy that album in their collection?

Oh well, glad to have this shirt to be one of my shirts in my collection of metal t-shirts.

BASIC INFO

Shirt: Cromok "Image of Purity"

Category: legendary Malaysian band

Subject Origin: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Condition: 9/10

Back print: yes

Long sleeve: no

Sleeves print: no

Shirt status: undetermined, released by clothing label

Printing ink and method: professional printing

Foxhole "Sarawak Alcoholic Thrasher"

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Foxhole was formed by Mathew "Boy" Chong, former member of Sarawakian thrash metal bands Militant Attack and Dead Shot.

Like Militant Attack and Dead Shot, this band too plays thrash metal and is active playing shows around Sarawak and the band so far have not played any show outside of the Malaysian state of Sarawak.

This t-shirt is the first ever t-shirt released by the band and is based on the band's artwork of their first and only release to date "The Cleansing Act".

"The Cleansing Act" a demo released by the band in 2012.

My sources tell me that this shirt was printed in Bintulu, Sarawak too.

It was only available in red colour, short sleeve and the maker of this shirt have so far made just one piece of long sleeve for the maker's own keeping.

BASIC INFO

Shirt: Foxhole "Sarawak Alcoholic Thrasher"

Category: local Malaysian band t-shirt

Subject Origin: Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia

Condition: 9/10

Back print: yes

Long sleeve: no*

Sleeves print: no

Shirt status: original, self-released by band

Printing ink and method: rubber dye, silk screen

Malaysian Metal Warrior

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This is a shirt of a memorable gig which I attended many years ago in Kuala Lumpur.

It was the first and... last time I saw Silent Death perform live in a show and this was the gig.

The shirts design look sloppy and it looked like its a cheap effort but this shirt is will certainly be one of the most sought-after local Malaysian gig t-shirts of all time.

The quality of this shirt leave a lot to be desired to me and I wish it could be better plus I think the back print design looks grotesque.

Oh well, better this than no gig shirt at all right?

As usual I bought this shirt during the show which was held 1Cafe, Kuala Lumpur at the time.

Another memorable fact about this shirt is that I attended a gig for the first time with one of my best friends, Abi "Nayyir Al Fakka" Suffian from Kuala Lipis, Pahang.

Every time when I look at this shirt, it certainly give me not only memorable but significant memories which I will forever cherish.

BASIC INFO

Shirt: Malaysian Metal Warrior

Category: local Malaysian metal gig t-shirt

Subject Origin: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Condition: 8/10

Back print: yes

Long sleeve: no

Sleeves print: no

Shirt status: original, released by organisers

Printing ink and method: rubber dye, silk screen

Testament "The New Order"

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Who does not recognise this band?

Should there be people who do not, I advise the person to either click here or here.

Oh well, whatever it is, this is what I copy-pasted from Wikipedia about this band:

Testament is an American thrash metal band from Berkeley, California. Formed in 1983 under the name Legacy, the band consists of vocalist Chuck Billy, guitarists Eric Peterson and Alex Skolnick, bassist Steve DiGiorgio and drummer Gene Hoglan.  

Testament is often credited as one of the most popular bands of the thrash metal scene, having sold over 1.4 million albums in the United States since the beginning of the SoundScan era and 14 million albums worldwide.

This shirt's design was based on the album cover design of Testament' second studio album "The New Order" released in the year 1988,

Nothing else was written on it apart from the band's name thus for archiving purposes, I'll just refer this shirt to Testament "The New Order".

I got this from a shop well known for selling official merchandises in Kuching which is the Rupert Rage shop during the time this shop was located at Centre Point plaza.

What sort of shirt collector from Sarawak does not own at least one original band t-shirt from the Rupert Rage Shop, right?

BASIC INFO

Shirt: Testament "The New Order"

Category: American metal band t-shirt

Subject Origin: Oakland, California, United States of America

Condition: 8.5/10

Back print: yes

Long sleeve: no

Sleeves print: no

Shirt status: official merchandise, exported to Malaysia

Printing ink and method: professional printing

Crown ov Horns "Infernvs Dominatvs"

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Depends on who you talk to or ask, this band, Crown ov Horns to me is a serious band and not a side project by former Mantak members, who at the time still played with Mantak.

Sadly this band's existence is somewhat short-lived as I think they had a lot potential to be a big band, one that can represent Malaysia.

Crown ov Horns hails from Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia and was formed in 2008.

Looking at this shirt here, I got a confession to make; I really forgotten where did I buy this shirt.

This shirt's design was based on their first and only album to date, Infernvs Dominatvs relesed in 2011.

I really love the design of this album cover and I am glad that they released a shirt based on their album's artwork too.

It has been 5 years since they released, anything and I tried my best not to miss anything released by this band.

BASIC INFO

Shirt: Crown ov Horns "Infernvs Dominatvs"

Category: local Malaysian band

Subject Origin: Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia

Condition: 9/10

Back print: yes

Long sleeve: no

Sleeves print: no

Shirt status: original, released by clothing label

Printing ink and method: plastisol ink screen printing

Guidelines to My Collections

In this blog of mine, I would like to point out that:

1. This blog was created as a personal museum of mine. I am not hoping that anyone would follow this blog of mine, should there be any then its good news to me.
2. I only review my stuffs here. Never would I think about reviewing things that are not mine.
3. There will be no bootleg shirts featured on this blog. Although I do have bootleg shirt in my collection, but I wont waste my time featuring them on this blog.
4. Like I said before, I put more emphasis on local band t-shirts, while I do enjoy displaying the imported official merchandises of well-known international bands once a while, it is the local bands t-shirts that inspired me to create this blog.
5. I only display METAL shirts only. I too own t-shirts released by bands playing genres other than metal, but should I post them here, it however beats the purpose of this blog.
6. As for gig t-shirts, I only collect gig t-shirt of gigs that I've attended. I strictly do not keep any gig t-shirts of any gig that I have not attended.
7. Same as the case of gig t-shirts, if I were to buy a band tour shirt, I must at least attend at least one of the shows at the venues printed on the shirt. I do not keep any band tour t-shirts of which I am not a participant of.
8. Last but certainly not least, is that too do not collect any shirt of a certain band if I do not have any physical audio release from the band. Metal is most importantly enjoyed with the ears. Not the eyes. For example; If I were wear a Sepultura's "Schizophrenia" t-shirt, I must at least own a physical and OFFICIAL copy of the album in any physical audio format. Just having mp3 files of the album does not count as owning the album.

Why created all these rules for myself? Well, all I can say is that it for self satisfaction. I am not saying that my rules are to be followed and those who did not follow it are posers though. I set these sort of rules for myself so that I can look and be satisfied with what I collected. Nothing is more important that satisfaction to me.

Me with my friend Aziz seen wearing local Malaysian gig t-shirts in at his hometown Alor Setar, Kedah , Malaysia early this year (2016). Both of us attended the gigs  printed on our t-shirts respectively.  Looking at the t-shirts of gigs which he wore while hanging out with me, I guess he too does not wear t-shirts of gigs which he did not attend, like me. My friend here also runs an online metal merchandise business known as the Metal Zone Distro. 

Meeting Yonk of the Darkcastle shop to buy t-shirt and CDs at his shop during my recent visit to Indonesia this year (2016). His shop is located at Plaza Parahyangan, Bandung, Indonesia. In this photo, I am seen wearing a local Malaysian band t-shirt while he is seen wearing a local Indonesian band t-shirt. Oh, we are so patriotic. Hehe. Only original merchandises are found in his shop. Strictly no bootleg. I had a good time chatting with him during our short and brief meeting.

Kuala Lumpur Metal Camp III

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Kuala Lumpur Metal Camp (KLMC) is Malaysia's biggest and most glamourous metal music festival to date.

I've attended the event's first five editions and I had good experiences attending them as the KLMC.

This shirt here is the shirt for the event's third edition organised at the now defunct 1Cafe, Jalan Raja Laut, Kuala Lumpur in 2010.

I got my copy, well of course, while attending the gig and boy this shirt sold fast.

It was during this gig that I first saw legendary Indonesian band Jasad play apart from seeing the late Stone of the legendary Malaysian band Silent Death perform with another legendary Malaysian metal band Picagari.

Jaie, the front man of local death metal band Sil Khannaz was the person responsible to have printed this shirt... well, at least I know he's one of the personnel if there is more than one.

Malaysian metalheads should not miss attending this event (at least once) as it is one of the best metal event there is and it continues to be organised yearly during the time of writing this.

BASIC INFO

Shirt: Kuala Lumpur Metal Camp III

Category: local Malaysian metal gig t-shirt

Subject Origin: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Condition: 8/10

Back print: yes

Long sleeve: no

Sleeves print: no

Shirt status: original, released by organisers

Printing ink and method: plastisol ink screen printing

Abhorer "Rumpus of the Undead"

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For regular underground metal band fans, there is really no need for an introduction when it comes to the legendary Singaporean black-death metal band Abhorer.

What ever it is, I wont waste my time here introducing this band and should anyone wishes to know more about this band, please click here or click here.

I got this shirt when attending the KL Metal Camp gig in 2012, I saw this dangling at Mr Khaal's booth and I immediately grabbed this together with his label's pressing of the band's release of the same name,

Mr Khaal runs a label/ shop in his native Singapore called Ravage Records.

"Rumpus of the Undead" is the band's first ever release, a demo,  by the band in 1989.

BASIC INFO

Shirt: Abhorer "Rumpus of the Undead"

Category: Singaporean Malaysian band t-shirt

Subject Origin: Singapore

Condition: 9/10

Back print: yes

Long sleeve: no

Sleeve prints: no

Shirt status: original, released by label

Printing ink and method: rubber dye, silk screen printing

Demon War "Hell Metal"

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Kota Samarahan-based bestial warmetal act Demon War released their first ever shirt  approximately 5 years ago, sometime in the year 2011 or something.

I got this from the band and I was lucky to have their one and only shirt to date (during the time of writing this).

It features the band's logo in front and an inverted cross on its back.

Looking forward to be seeing more releases by this band in the near future.

One of the few metal bands to emerge from Kota Samarahan, Sarawak, Malaysia.

BASIC INFO

Shirt: Demon War "Hell Metal"

Category: Local Malaysian band t-shirt

Subject Origin: Kota Samarahan, Sarawak, Malaysia

Condition: 9/10

Back print: yes

Long sleeve: no

Sleeve prints: no

Shirt status: original, released by band

Printing ink and method: rubber dye, silk screen printing