Following the disbanding of his former group, Manifest, Burhanudin Buang rose from the ashes of defeat to continue the next phase of his musical journey by forming Urbankarma. Reality bites and already familiar with the fact that there will always be band members who will not give their all, Burhan decided that this would be his solo project albeit with a structure of a normal band. The music would also be different. No longer contented with rehashing the chugging riffs sounds of Manifest, Burhan wanted Urbankarma to be this unique blend of down-tuned guitar rock and the percussive music of various cultures of the world especially from the Malay Archipelago.

Over a period of five months beginning September 99, the members of the new outfit were assembled. On the lead guitar is Md. Nazri Ismail formerly of hard rock outfit, Rock.etc while the then Deviant drummer, Firdaus Haji, volunteered drumming services. Eventually, in controversial move, Firdaus would leave Deviant to join Urbankarma permanently. Bassists are hard to find in Singapore thus Burhan decided to borrow the skills of Zamri Md Sharif, bassist of raprock band, 7 Pound Vein. To complete the line-up, Sukhairan Tugiran and Hairul Mazik were roped in to play percussions. This line-up would labour throughout the whole of 2000, not only to jam the songs Burhan have written and recording them, but also playing gigs. For a new band, Urbankarma surprisingly had played gigs across the Causeway, going as far as Kuala Lumpur.

Disenchanted, Alienated and Anomic

Getting labels to splurge their money on heavy rock bands is wishful thinking. Urbankarma then decided to record the whole album D-I-Y but with a cleaner production to give justice to the songs, musicians, would-be buyers and listeners. Handicapped by financial difficulties, Burhan decided that Urbankarma could only afford to record five songs, even prior before those songs had been written. Knowing that buyers of local recording products are picky about value for money, Burhan decided to include five other local bands to make the total number of songs in the CD ten. Although not the initial list bands, the bands that are featured in the CD are Axed Ministers, 7 Pound Vein, Ethereal, Picturesque and Zeotz.

The kind of music that is on “Disenchanted, Alienated and Anomic” is an eclectic mix of downtuned Nu-Metal riffings, rap and melodic vocals, Malay percussions and melodies of the Malay Archipelago, true to their motto - “Combining Eastern Roots with Urban Attitude”. At times, traces of reggae and Brazilian music can be heard. While admitting being heavily influenced by the Nu-Metal sounds of Soulfly, Slipknot, Machine Head and Korn, Urbankarma still has an old-school edge. Guitar solos are not forsaken in the name of Nu-Metal riffings. The band however refuses to refer themselves as Nu-Metal, saying that the term would be a paradox in a few years time. It is evident that the music of Machine Head, Soulfly, Bob Marley, Puya, Faith No More as well as Malay artistes like M. Nasir, Art Fazil and Malay bands like Sweet Charity, Kembara and Kingdom in Rock have helped shaped the music of Urbankarma.

Urbankarma's lyrics are not your typical Nu-Metal “my daddy raped me,” “I am feeling pissed” lyrics. Instead their lyrics display a sense of sociology understanding. In fact, the name Urbankarma has a sociological tinge to it. Your destiny in life is affected by the social structure; its institutions and culture. The overall mood is about the other side, the bleak side about living in an urban place like Singapore where one can still feel disenchantment, alienation and anomie. However, there is room for humour and an in-your-face personal approach in those songs and also for the listeners to interpret the lyrics from their own perspectives. There is also a positive side to the songs in the sense that they urge people to overcome hardship.