Forever underground, forever black

Abstract

Because it has been integral to the history and marketing of Bandung death metal, the satellite town of Ujung Berung aka Ujungbronx, in Bandung’s outer southeastern suburbs, has become a revered and romanticized myth throughout all of Indonesia’s underground scenes. The Indonesian underground constitutes the mythscape or page where alternative myths are promulgated, expanded, debated, opposed, or reimagined. While the governing myth of Ujung Berung scene as paramount is widely accepted in West Java province, it is accepted somewhat reluctantly, and with mild criticism, in the East Javanese and Jogjakarta scenes. However, in Surabaya, there is a recognition that the moment when the governing myth could have been overthrown, at least within East Java, is long past. History belongs to the victors.