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Duma – Duma

Nyege Nyege Tapes out of Kampala, Uganda, is releasing some of the most brutal music in the world these days.  A case in point comes from Nairobi, Kenya, where the band Duma call home.  Within the first few seconds of this release, you get pummeled by a barrage of drumming and screaming that is so heavy that it would have held its own comparing to any industrial band of the genre’s heyday.

From the label’s Bandcamp site:

“Martin Khanja (aka Lord Spike Heart) and Sam Karugu emerge from Nairobi’s flourishing underground metal scene as former members of the bands Lust of a Dying Breed and Seeds of Datura. Together in 2019 they formed Duma (Darkness in Kikuyu) with Sam abandoning bass for production and guitars and Lord Spike Heart providing extreme vocals to the project.”

Impressive. Nyege Nyege Tapes is a label truly worth digging into.

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Music

Various Artists – Artoffact Records 2021 Sampler

2021 was a very solid year for electro-industrial record label Artoffact Records out of Canada.  Some of the more incredible cuts from this compilation come from The Hafler Trio & Reptilicus, Cevin Key (from Skinny Puppy), Kælan Mikla with Alcest and of course, Canada’s own Front Line Assembly-related project, Noise Unit.  A really good introduction to a pivotal record company.

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Music

Various Artists – Discember: Hear Xmas, See Xmas, Say Xmas

As we observe Christmas Eve and the Nativity today and tomorrow based on the Julian Calendar, we share an avant-garde take on “Christmas” music.

The French experimental record label Camembert Électrique have released a 94-track comp of some rather interesting takes of some Yuletide classics, as well as a fair number of originals.  Some of the artists included include Anastasia Vronski, Sean Derek Cooper Marquart, James Hoehl, and our dear friends, Lezet.  It’s not a conventional compilation for the season, but it holds its own rather well.

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Music

IZ Band – 廻声Jangqerek

The legendary Shenzhen-based Old Heaven Books released a powerful album from the Chinese-Kazakh band IZ Band.  This is listed as folk music, yet the music is brutal, sounding like early 1980s post-punk or Industrial rock.  Think of, maybe, a Kazakh Killing Joke or a Central Asian early-period Current 93.

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Music

Megamozaki – Kaonashi

Dario Elia, working under the name Megamozaki on this release, is an old friend who makes some very impressive industrial rock with elements one normally wouldn’t think to put together.  Starting a capella, one would get the impression you would be hearing Sardinian chant, but it melts seamlessly into a very pleasant mix of heavy industrial-rock and prog.