Tumenggung is a heavy metal band from Indonesia formed in 2007, releasing to date one E.P. – ‘Heavy Metal Is Good’ (2014), and two full-length albums – ‘Soul Of Steel’ (2020) and ‘Back On The Streets’ (2025).
Indonesia is primarily known for its “diverse tourist attractions such as stunning beaches, active volcanoes, ancient temples, rich culture, and incredible biodiversity” with heavy metal music nowhere to be seen! Until now! Appearing most likely at the bottom of the list of Indonesian music, heavy metal has been slowly emerging from the shadows for a number of years, and now makes a huge jump into the light with the second album from Yogyakarta-based three piece metallers Tumenggung – the band’s line-up consisting of Arif Ramadhan (vocals, guitars), Anindita Bramasto (drums) and Ardhy Dwiatmoko (bass). ‘Back On The Streets’ is nine songs and thirty-four minutes of unabashed and unfiltered, eighties heavy metal of the most traditional flair! The band firmly plant their feet on the old-school heavy metal monitor to ooze a sound dripping with Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Riot and Saxon inspiration – even the forty years and seven thousand mile distance between Tumenggung and the birthplace of heavy metal – the UK – can’t stop the band from delivering a burst of immensely energetic and infectious eighties sounding metal! ‘Wall Breaker’ is a tension-fueled one-minute instrumental building one hell of an anticipative nature to whet the appetites of listeners everywhere for the album’s barnstorming opening salvo ‘Back On The Streets’.
Full of power and pace, ‘Back On The Streets’ (the song) is eighties metal personified, the “foot on the monitor” mentality coupled with the foot to the floor ferocity will have every listener and headbanger around the world going fucking wild! A sensational burst of energy-driven metal to excite and delight a worldwide audience, Tumenggung stormed on with the old school metaller ‘Living On The Edge’ – the iconic guitar tone so synonymous with the legendary NWOBHM evolution rising high in the air! And high in the air is where you’ll find everyone’s clenched fists too, the Indonesian metal band perfectly echoing a four-decade old sound – and adding a touch more punch as well!
And blending together everything the album’s opening brace delivered, ‘In The Dead Of Night’ raises both the energy and intensity levels to new heights, the band’s infectious brand of heavy metal infecting everyone in an instant! For that’s how long it takes to like the metal on offer – an instant! The band have been rampant since ‘Back On The Streets’ (the album) began, ‘Deja Vu’ dropping a few gears to adopt a mid-tempo mid-paced stroll that veers very close to hard rock territory – Tumenggung reining in all the power and pace of all three songs heard so far in favour of lighters in the air style ballad! And bringing a mighty anthemic feel to the fore, ‘1000 Tons Of Metal’ proceeds to pound the ground hard, crumbling walls and shaking buildings to their foundations, the bombastic rabble-rousing, call-to-arms nature of bands such as Manowar and Sabaton rising high in the air!
The glorious sound of melodic heavy metal pours out of ‘Symphony Of Hate’, the three-piece band roaring through the gears to charge forth with an urgency not heard before, the chugging guitar riff straight outta the nineteen eighties heyday for heavy metal evolution – the old school feel here as old as I am! Well maybe not as old, for I was born before the eighties in the year that British icons, worldwide legends and arguably the founders of heavy metal Black Sabbath released their self-titled debut album! And talking of the eighties, remember that glorious meld of metal and rock? Well, that’s exactly what’s on show with ‘Strangers’, the band shuddering the ground with more force than an excavator shifting sand, gravel or even soil! ‘Soul Reaper’ brings ‘Back On The Streets’ (the album) to an end in exactly the same way it started – an energy-driven foot to the floor foot on the monitor gallop with immense head bang ability!
Overall, a barnstorming thirty-four minutes of traditional heavy metal with a sky-high infectious level.
TRACKLIST
Wall Breaker
Back On The Streets
Living On The Edge
In The Dead Of Night
Deja Vu
1000 Tons Of Metal
Symphony Of Hate
Strangers
Soul Reaper
Tumenggung: Facebook
Release Year: 2025
Label: Jawbreaker Records
Category: Album
Country: Indonesia
Reviewed by Iron Mathew for Frenzy Fire and Metal-Roos.
