Indonesian metal trio Voice of Baceprot have released a new single, ‘God, Allow Me (Please) to Play Music’.
The song is the band’s second-ever original single following 2018’s ‘School Revolution’, and follows the release of their recent live EP, ‘The Other Side of Metalism’.
The track is an emphatic plea by the band, addressing long-standing criticism levelled at their decision to play rock music as hijab-wearing Muslim women. “I’m not the criminal / I’m not the enemy / I just wanna sing a song to show my soul,” sings vocalist and lead guitarist Firdda ‘Marsya’ Kurnia.
Voice of Baceprot wrote the single during jamming sessions. The song was further refined after the band went through workshops under the mentorship of current and former Deadsquad members Stevi Item and Alan Musyfia, along with Andyan Gorust (of Hellcrust) and Gusti Hendy (of Gigi). Producer Stephan Santoso, who produced ‘School Revolution’, also gave his input on the new single’s arrangement.
Listen to ‘God, Allow Me (Please) to Play Music’ below.
In an interview with NME last month (July 19), Marsya said ‘God, Allow Me (Please) to Play Music’ is a defensive song, but one that she said needed to be written and sung. The song deals directly with the “suppression of women”, she said, and “our common designation as objects and second-rate human beings”.
Earlier this year, Voice of Baceprot faced criticism and rumour-mongering from some quarters when it was announced they would play the 2022 edition of German metal festival Wacken Open Air – a new wave of the scrutiny and skepticism that the band have faced for years.
“The more we tried to avoid the criticism, distance ourselves from it, it became even more vile,” Marsya said in a press statement. “It provoked us to fight back even more bluntly. It kept going to the point where we became so tired.”
‘God, Allow Me (Please) to Play Music’ was inspired by advice given to Voice of Baceprot by their former teacher Abah Erza Satia, who also helped the band pen the lyrics that became the song’s foundation.
“According to Abah, if we still believe in God while feeling that certain people are not allowing us to play music while others lend us their bogus support by forcing us to side with them, then why not write a song that confides directly in God?” Marsya explained. “We could cut loose any allegiances with our fellow human beings.”
Earlier this month, Voice of Baceprot released the EP ‘The Other Side of Metalism’, which featured a live rendition of their 2018 debut single ‘School Revolution’, along with covers of songs by Rage Against the Machine (‘Testify’), System of a Down (‘I-E-A-I-A-I-O’), Slipknot (‘Before I Forget’) and One Minute Silence (‘I Wear My Skin’).