Kurokuma - Born of Obsidian


Who are Kurokuma? The psychedelic, sludgy Sheffield trio first emerged eight years ago, although Born of Obsidian is their first full-length, following a demo and a series of EPs and singles. Any quick inspection of their back catalogue tells you that they're far from just another run-of-the-mill sludge band. Bubbling with ancient civilisation, nature and psychedelia, they push doom metal expansively with hypnotising power. They appeared on the New Blood Stage at Bloodstock 2021, starred in 'The Doom Doc', were the first metal band to launch their own cannabis seed (KuroKush) and vowed to make sludge grim again. So, what's happening on this new album? Recorded at Narcissus Studio in London, it interestingly marks Sanford Parker's first time producing an album in the UK, who's well-known for his work with the likes of YOB and Eyehategod.

The album begins with the glorious sludge/doom of 'Smoking Mirror'. The guitar and bass pattern has a distinct mystic quality to it, using the Arabic scale, yet the drums are full of headbang-worthy energy. It's a crushing opener - the fuzz-soaked guitar tone is particularly impressive. They turn up the ugliness around halfway through, using a Conan-style diminished riff over a series of demonic screams and subtle alternations in time signatures. It fades into echoey, psychedelic effects in a really cool way and overall shows how much can be done with a couple of standalone musical ideas with a creative approach to variation and songcrafting.

Of course, there's more to this album than sludge, doom, funny-sounding guitar effects and all things low and slow. On the surface, on a casual (and dare I say, a sober) listen - yes - there is plenty of this. Towards the end of closing song 'Under The Fifth Sun', for example, there's a ferocious display of Matt Pike-inspired riffing that would make any seasoned sludge-aholic blush. Furthermore, I wouldn't be the first to describe the main guitar part to 'Sacrifice to Huitzilopochtli' as a slowed down, sludged up Slayer riff played at 33rpm.



In essence, Born of Obsidian is a lesson in layering and thunderous rhythms that carve their way deep into your inner psyche. The repetitive buildup for 'Ololiuqui' feels very tribal and ritualistic, taking its time to reach its more climactic levels. 'Under The Fifth Sun' similarly begins on a long, gradual crescendo, where the guitars use noise and psychedelic layers to paint a picture in your mind. Yet this picture is a primitive, long-lost piece of art, depicted on the side of an ancient temple. The more you dig into this album, the more you find, as if you were an archaeologist on an expedition to discover long-forgotten cities, the details of which slowly come more and more into view as more time is devoted.

The concepts and themes over Born of Obsidian delve into the ancient history of major Mesoamerican civilisations, with concepts ranging from Aztec deities, such as Tezcatlipoca and human sacrifice to the god of sun, Huitzilopochtli, to priests' use of seeds and mushrooms in divine religious ceremonies. Lead single 'Jaguar' even references the Olmec culture, which came before the Aztecs. In the band's own words, it was 'written as more of an incantation than a standard song. The jaguar was the most powerful creature for the Olmecs. There were Olmec shamans who, it was believed, could transform into a jaguar', with the track intended to provide a soundtrack for these sorts of rituals.



As 'Jaguar' oozes in with a tribal-sounding percussion pattern and a grinding bassline, a few soft, psychedelic guitar notes are layered into the mix, lulling the listener into a trance. Eventually, the drums pick up in intensity and a blast of feedback injects in a serious dose of heavy. The vocal style is extremely brutal, but comfortably and dynamically produces blistering high screams as effectively as it punches out low-end gutturals. While the shamanic drum rhythms carry the pacing of the song and the guitars drone with unadulterated fuzzy glory or experimental noise at the forefront, Kurokuma cleverly evolve a single musical idea over the course of eight-and-a-half minutes. The fluctuations in energy and volume feel really natural, and by the time the music falls away and you're left with nothing but jungle sounds, it feels like waking up after a long sleep.

Hats off to Kurokuma for doing something genuinely new and innovative. The drumwork is fascinating at times, intelligently utilising non-Western rhythms to add an extra dimension to sludge metal. The 'caveman' style of guitar or bass riffing couldn't be more appropriate as it is here, either. As this album takes its time to evolve musical ideas, Kurokuma took their time to produce a cohesive and well-considered debut effort. Both reward with a huge pay-off.


9.5/10

Kurokuma Facebook | Bandcamp

MN

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