Mamaleek – Kurdaitcha (Enemies List, 2011)

Mamaleek – Wake Up, Jacob

 
I legitimately & understandably freaked out over Mamaleek’s self titled debut CD almost 3 years ago. It was brilliant & twisted black metal. For various reasons, I missed out on the second album, which I forever regret, but I’m not letting that happen for Kurdaitcha, their third slab of bestiality. The best part about this is that the inimitable Enemies List is giving it the ROYAL treatment, with a digital pay-what-you-want version that’s out right now (FUCKING DOWNLOAD IT) and a super deluxe vinyl, super thick, full color art with foil imprint and insert. Only $20, only 150 copies, hurry the fuck up.

Mamaleek is made up of two brothers making a terrible & raucous purge from San Francisco. Their black metal is totally original, unlike any other band out there right now. There’s throngs of weirdo fucked up black metal and Mamaleek might be considered part of that, but they do it without being gimmicky, keeping it 100% pure & accessible. Now I’m going to say, “Black metal with strong Middle Eastern elements and world-music instruments” and you’re going to say “WTF fuck that I don’t want that shit in my black metal” and I say “Trust in me, trust in Enemies List, sit down, take 40 minutes out of your life, and have your mind totally fucking blown by Mamaleek’s soon to be patented brutality.”

Kurdaitcha is fucking INSANE. There is so much going on, so many different styles pumping through it. I get a strong video game vibe from “Wake Up, Jacob,” specifically the Birdo fights in SMB2, with that guitar and its tweaking intensity, timing the jumps just right so you land on that goddamn egg. Then there’s fucking Steve Reich piano as the twinkling foundation while drums stutter and religious figures sing Latin hymns, and that’s interspersed between warped buzzing chords and hidden blown out vocals. There’s mostly drum-less black noise tracks caked with industrial static, shrieking feedback, rusted screams, and silent haunted wind, there’s a mournful ballad with plodding drums & cinematic synths, there’s even a sludge pop piece that sounds like they wanna be best buds with Torche.

However they make it, with whatever the fuck they want to throw in there, it’s blistering, engulfing, monolithic, and fucking kvlt as hell. Mamaleek are making their own black metal, copying no one, shocking anyone who gives them a chance. Kurdaitcha is unreal, exceeding my stupidly high expectations for a new Mamaleek record. It’s a destroyer of things, speakers, headphones, faces, minds, and it’s one of the best black metal records I’ve had the honor of listening to.