Founded in the mid-1990s, the always unconventional BONG-RA are a central project from Jason Köhnen (THE LOVECRAFT SEXTET, THE KILIMANJARO DARKJAZZ ENSEMBLE, CELESTIAL SEASON). After emerging with groundbreaking 1998 debut “New Millennium Dreadz“, BONG-RA swiftly cemented its status as a pioneer of Breakcore, an extreme form of electronica delivering a relentlessly rhythmic noise onslaught in defiance of all norms.
Over the past 25 years, BONG-RA have crafted a diverse body of consistently challenging and experimental work, toured globally and graced some of the world’s most prestigious festivals, such as Glastonbury, Lowlands, Dour and more.
After a brief hiatus, BONG-RA has now reawakened, returning to explore and expand upon its Metal origins. To pursue this evolution, BONG-RA has followed Jason Köhnen‘s other entity THE LOVECRAFT SEXTET in signing with Debemur Morti Productions, and a new album will be released in 2025.
Köhnen reflects on BONG-RA‘s evolving direction:
“I guess you can see it as a circle/cycle completing itself. The BONG-RA project has always been deeply rooted in Metal, and was basically an electronic interpretation of Grindcore if you look at the polyrhythmic electronic beats. It definitely has the same energy, rawness and rebellion as Metal. My early roots were partly coming from Grindcore, as is also noticeable in the “Black/White” release of THE LOVECRAFT SEXTET. BONG-RA had more Industrial and Death Metal influences: SCORN, GODFLESH, GGFH, PITCH SHIFTER, FALL OF BECAUSE and so forth. The gradual shift with BONG-RA from electronics to Metal started around 2018 when the more Doomjazz album “Antediluvian” was recorded and “Meditations” later received praising reviews for this style. With the forthcoming “Black Noise” album the shift has gone more towards the glitch mechanical electronics, and the Doomjazz style transformed into THE LOVECRAFT SEXTET sound, thus completing this circle. It’s the first album with this specific style, but I am pretty sure old and new BONG-RA listeners should enjoy the rawness.“
Listen to a small snippet from the forthcoming album here!
Going forward, BONG-RA will perform live as a trio, joined by guitarists Attila Kovacs and Botond Fogl to deliver an authentic and raw Metal energy onstage.
Jason elaborates:
“Attila and Botond are band-members in the Doom Metal band which I have with my wife (Martina Hórvath) called THE ANSWER LIES IN THE BLACK VOID. Attila and Botond are the amazing guitarists in this band, and it was a no-brainer to have them be part of the new version of BONG-RA. But they are only part of the live shows, the composing is still a one-man operation.“
The following 2025 BONG-RA live dates – playing alongside THE ANSWER LIES IN THE BLACK VOID – are already confirmed:
07.03 Budapest, HU [Durer Kert]
13.03 Timisoara, RO [M2]
14.03 Cluj, RO [Hardward Club]
15.03 Bucharest, RO [Soundart Fest]
26.03 Utrecht, NL [DBS]
27.03 Drachten, NL [Iduna]
28.03 Deventer, NL [Walhalla]
29.03 Terneuzen, NL [De Pit]
30.03 Tilburg, NL [Little Devil]
Follow BONG-RA on Bandcamp, YouTube & Instagram!
More info about the forthcoming album “Black Noise” will be unveiled in due time.
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