Since 2013, the Sheffield trio have steadily built a reputation in the European sludge scene for their ardent eclecticism. Sludge is typically perceived as existing in singular drab colour, but Kurokuma offer an alternative kaleidoscopic take on the genre that is enhanced and cut with vibrant, fatal, psychedelia. Some NOLA patched types may scoff at a band daring to fuse these genres – often seen as worlds apart both sonically and aesthetically – but what makes Kurokuma truly remarkable is how seamlessly they splice and amalgamate these two genres, without compromising either. Their initial handful of EPs demonstrated this wonderfully, with their 2019 effort Sheffield’s Best Metal Bands Vol. 1 grabbing the attention of infamous electronic label Off My Nut Records, but it’s their debut long play Born Of Obsidian that demonstrates their truth in a way that’s inarguable.
Born Of Obsidian is a concept record exploring the ancient Mesoamerican civilisations; while the majority of concept albums serve to tell a narrative, this record serves as the direct conduit back into Aztec and Olmec cultures. ‘Smoking Mirror’, the record’s opener, begins the trip. Drinking in the opaque and congealed sludge, Jacob Mazlum’s roared vocals become less human and more bestial, the inherent psychedelia less ambient and more metaphysical. The esoteric violence less conceptual and more frighteningly imminent.
Kurokuma’s unique sound is applied to the concept and narrative masterfully. Concept records are not something new to the band following their nomadic Dope Rider EP, but with Born Of Obsidian, they fully commit to total sonic immersion. Their tribal and meditative take on viscous, grim sludge animates the shamanic violence inherent to the time period the album plunges into, in a way that’s intoxicating to the point of being overwhelming. This sense of claustrophobic dread is also made tangible by Kurokuma’s now well established trait of forgoing the path of convention and embracing styles outside the world of metal. Throughout the album, they tap into the ceremonial and native sounds of bygone ages, bolstering the crushing density of their sound and the scenes the album traverses through juxtaposition and contrast.
With bewitching and possessed percussion, ‘Jaguar’ is less of a song and more of an incantation channelled through pulsating sludge, a musical telling of the agony of transforming into the song’s namesake. On the other hand, the otherworldly sermon ‘Ololiuqui’ is the mental soundtrack conjured by consuming the sacred substances to commune with higher powers, only for one to take too strong of a dose and break into the incomprehensible, spiralling primordial chaos. Elsewhere, ‘Sacrifice To Huitzilopochtli’ is savage, bloodthirsty and sounds akin to an Obituary classic being played at quarter speed, something that becomes paramount when the track reaches its thrashing, convulsing apex. It’s impossible not to imagine being in the centre of a blood ritual of the Chimú Empire, watching the hacking of the children upon the altar escalate in intensity as bladed riffs soundtrack the desperation of the gore-coated shamans. These scenes are often unwanted and deeply vivid, animated in the minds eye as the record plays out with pure ferocity.
For many, this record will be a musical trip far too intense, not solely due to its extreme take on mind altering sludge but in its possessive and intoxicating effects on the mind. Yet, for those longing for to return to the long-forgotten, primitive dark magicks, this is crucial listening. Born Of Obsidian is an overwhelming auditory hallucination, one so intense it appears to be a terrifyingly real figure of the influenced imagination – that is, until gazing down upon the feathers of exotic birds and fur of big cats glued on with dark bodily liquids.