Suddenly, the 1990s are in vogue and making a comeback. Music especially. And the Philippines isn’t lagging behind the return of Oasis, Pulp, and Deftones, among others. The Eraserheads, Wolfgang, and Teeth, to name but a few, have made huge splashes in their return.
And there, too, are those bands from the 90s that, after doing their club circuit, have released their debut albums after some 30 years.
In recent years, we saw shoegaze band Sonnet 58 put out their debut album, Crossing Oceans. And early this 2026, New Wavers Crimson Daze have released their album Burning Cold to celebrate the band’s 30thAnniversary.
The original four-piece band – Jon Malamug on vocals and guitar, Ryan Nachura on guitar and vocals, Raymund Marcelo on bass and vocals, and Nikko Go on drums – played the club circuit (Brannigan’s in Greenhills and Asylum along West Avenue among others) with a mixture of original pieces and New Wave covers.
However, in one of life’s many twists and turns, Marcelo migrated to the United States while Nachura went to Canada, and the band was no more. At least they thought so until 2025, when Marcelo and Jane Vega founded Common Denominator, Inc. (CDI), which was built around the idea of supporting music, culture, and creative communities.
‘Our initial project was Record Rampage, a vinyl and live performance event that we held in Megamall last year,’ related Marcelo.
Among the bands that performed were the Republicats, Karilyo, Sonorik Order, and, in what was supposed to be a one-off reunion, Crimson Daze.
‘But the reunion sparked something in the band as we were well-received,’ shared Marcelo. ‘It is because of that reception and us seeing the growth of vinyl once more in the Philippines that we decided to put out our old songs.’
CDI provided the platform, support, resources, and production to fully realize the old songs and finish old unused ones into an album.’
The old tracks, recorded at Shinji Tanaka’s Sound Creation Studios back in 2005, were pulled out. With the Republicats’ Renmin Nadela producing, the old songs were polished and the new tracks finished at Polysonic Studio last year.
Burning Cold, with its nine tracks under the CDI label, was pressed in the US and released this past January. Despite a limited run of 200 copies, the album has almost sold out.
‘I think that further gave us belief that Crimson Daze has a second life,’ pointed out Marcelo.
The current line-up seems familiar and yet different. The original quartet remain but have added two new members in Melvin Sotto on keyboards and Allan Figueroa on guitars.
And there are plans for more new material and new shows.
‘Sometimes, songs take years to be completed with opportunities arriving later than expected,’ summed up Marcelo. ‘And sometimes, all it takes is one person or a company like CDI to believe in us and bring those songs to life.’
Copies of Crimson Daze’s Burning Cold can be purchased through the Facebook pages of Raymund Marcelo and Jane Vega.