Kurokuma: Shaking The Foundations Of The Tenochtitlan
Arising from the depths of the realms of Mictlantecuhtli (the Aztec god of the dead) is the raging riff machine that is KUROKUMA. Supplying the riffs and rhythms at the beginning of a sacrificial ceremony to Huitzilopochtli (the Aztec god of the sun and war), it is clear that this is a primal and supernatural force to be reckoned with! Taking inspiration form ancient Meso-American civilisations, Born Of Obsidian is the crushing debut album by Sheffield’s KUROKUMA. We sat down with guitarist/vocalist Jacob Mazlum and drummer Joe Allen.
Yorkshire’s Steel City is world renowned for great metal exports, none how ever are as innovative or genre bending as KUROKUMA. Having experimented with various aspects of electronica as well as traversing the many peaks and cavers of the rock and metal genres, Born Of Obsidian sees these purveyors of groove, doom and sludge march to the beat of an all together different drum. With a dose of ololiuqui consumed, the band explore and integrate the sounds of Central America into their new album. Joe states, “there was a lot of influence from folk electronica from South America and Central America. People like Jorge Reyes who imagined what ancient Mexican music might have sounded like.” Alongside a hefty dose of “sludge and death metal as well, some hardcore and PV stuff,” there is also a more ODSM influence compared to doom, as stated by Jake, “in terms of literal fingers-on-frets influence I make no apologies for my love of OSDM, and I’ve got a real soft spot for groove metal too. There’s honestly more HAIL OF BULLETS, NAILBOMB and EXTREME at work in my riff-writing process than regular doom.”
Utilising “those types of primal rhythms are a lot of fun to play and I’ve mixed in some stuff I’ve learnt from afro-cuban jazz as well. Listeners seem to love it because I think it unlocks an energy and vibe you’re not used to hearing at a metal show,” says Joe. However, “creating weighty music that sits atop these kinds of rhythms isn’t as easy as you might think,” discloses Jake, “so much doom music obtains its force through the straightness of where those big notes crash down and how sparse the percussion is. I have a feeling this difficulty is why you don’t hear more metal bands doing it.”
The inspiration for the album has existed long before KUROKUMA came into being, Joe states “for me it comes from a fascination I’ve held since being a kid. I remember seeing a drawing of Aztec human sacrifice at the Templo Mayor and I think I was hooked then. And then as an adult, it’s basically the home of magic mushrooms. I’m just drawn to it all, couldn’t say exactly why. We also toured with VINNUM SABBATHI from Mexico here in the UK. I remember having a lot of chats with Roman [Tamayo] cos he’s very knowledgable about his country’s history.” Alongside this is a focus on the human condition in regards to this subject, as Jake states. “I wanted the album to be more of a look at larger themes of existence, reality and the human condition when channelled through Mesoamerican civilisations, if that makes sense.”
Despite their fearsome reputation and world renowned gory human sacrifices, the ancient Meso-American civilisations were a colourful and characterful people. When asked about how these people and their culture inspired Born Of Obsidian, Jake expresses, “when you’re talking about the Incas, Aztecs, Olmecs and others, there is a sense of vigour, colour and life I don’t think you always find in Western history. I love the visual aesthetic they developed and their connection to nature, often the rainforest, and animals. It’s been a massive inspiration for us and we’ve always found the combination of that world with doom and sludge works really well for some reason, and it sets us apart I think.”
Opening the album with Smoking Mirror the band delve into the world of Tezcatlipoca (Aztec god of the Great Bear constellation and of the night sky) and the uses of the naturally occurring volcanic glass obsidian. The song sets the tone for Born Of Obsidian. Conceptually it is taken from “what he represented from both a religious and philosophical standpoint. The more I learned about the topic, the more fascinating it became.” Musically, “the rhythm to the opening section starts with the cowbell and the tumbao pattern on the kick, then the metal guitars come in but the tumbao stays. The point to a lot of our music is to bring the intensity but maintain the hypnotic nature and flow throughout. I think the dark magic vibe probably just comes naturally at this point.”
The final song Under the Fifth Sun “is about the demise of the Aztec civilisation via a plague of – what’s now thought to be – smallpox, so it had to be the closing track on the album” and “the fifth sun refers to the epoch the Aztecs believed themselves to be living in. There had been four suns before them,” states Joe. “It was the start of a new beginning. It was also the end too – a nasty, violent and pestilential end.” continues Jake. “But the question remains, how many things do we believe as true today that could be robbed from us tomorrow, tearing the foundations of our worldview out and crushing our whole civilisation under the weight of reality?”
Whilst their gods lied to them, the album ends with us safe in the knowledge that our gods lied to us too. KUROKUMA has shaken the foundations of the Tenochtitlan with Born Of Obsidian, taking us on a turbulent journey through the phenomenal world of Central America.
Born Of Obsidian is out now via self-release.
Like KUROKUMA on Facebook.