Vicious psych trio, Kurokuma brought a fresh heaviness to the extreme music scene in 2022 with their debut album, Born of Obsidian. In August the genre-mashing threesome will return with their new record, Of Amber and Sand. It’s not sludge, it’s not doom, it’s not death metal. It’s Kurokuma! Sitting broadly within the doom genre, borrowing from a wide pool of punk and metal influences and with an eye to trying something a bit different by drawing on band members’ other interests, incorporating non-typical rhythms and working with dance labels.
The band comprises Jacob Mazlum (guitar/vocals), Joe Allen (drums), Zakk Wells (bass/vocals). Active since 2014, the band have been based in the UK up until now, essentially in Sheffield, but now operating very much internationally in 2024, with only bassist Zakk still residing in the UK.
While their Sanford Parker-recorded debut, ‘Born of Obsidian’ dug deep into the ancient history of Mesoamerican civilisations, Of Amber and Sand is based on the colossal concept of time, each track dealing with a different facet of temporality and eternity, probing its significance to creation, civilisation and the human experience. Musically, the band have drawn influence from the instruments, melodies and rhythms of the Middle East/Balkans on this release. Guitarist and vocalist, Jake Mazlum explains:
“In terms of my own relationship with the new musical elements, it’s complicated. I’m an Orthodox Christian from the Muslim world, an immigrant to the UK, and a more recent immigrant to the Balkans, where ironically I feel like I fit in culturally more than anywhere else. Much of my family is ethnically Armenian but now resides in Turkey, where I spent the first few years of my life there. My relationship with these ‘ethnic’ musical styles is a mix of appreciation for what they are, a familiarity due to their imposition in my life in various ways, and a very conscious detachment from the cultures, places and values that – like all art – deeply informs them.”
The geographical influences, as well as the subject of time are combined and reflected in the album title; Of Amber and Sand is a metaphor the band came up with, fleshed out and visualised in the artwork by Sheffield illustrator, Mila K.
Here ‘sand’ and its abundance represents infinite time, while ‘amber’ represents one moment – amber is known for capturing insects and preserving them. Of Amber and Sand is a much more ‘metal’ and muscular album in comparison to their debut – one that feels faster and more urgent, taking nods from a variety of artists ranging from Nailbomb, Morbid Angel and System of A Down to Omar Souleyman, Barış Manço and the genre of ‘dabke’, the band seeking to avoid any over-production and use of triggers and samples where possible. As such , this is a big step up from their debut Born of Obsidian.
Unlike the five longish tracks on their debut album, Of Amber and Sand presents you ten new nuggets, starting with I am Forever. The cock crowing serves appropriately as a wake-up call before the down-tuned riff chugs in. The riff persists alongside increasingly heavyweight vocals before – at around two and a half minutes – the track is taken over by a wonderful slice of ‘Balkan balalika’ (my description), it’s endearingly mind-set-changing! Sandglass follows, a all-too-brief soundbite that does what it says on the tin – a swirl of desert-like sand-laden wind, all 45 seconds of it.
At nearly seven minutes, Death No More is the second longest track here, a semi-acoustic jingly intro then subsumed by an oddly staccato riff/chord. This develops and envelops before manic vocals kick in. Clepsydra by contrast is another brief moment of light relief, water trickling in tune with a gently reverberating drone. Nice! Fenjaan is an intriguing mix of metal and middle-eastern vibes, taut and sparse percussion and bass allowing the exotic guitar line to lead the way. There’s hints of early 70’s heavy rock in this one before the screamo vocals take over again. The lyrics are surprisingly poetic, not what the screamo suggests – this is a great example of a track I’d love to hear with the vocals converted into ‘conventional’ (my word) delivery? It’s such a strong composition! I’m getting the rhythm now, its followed by another brief sonic-slice, Bell Tower, this time driven appropriately by church bells.
Neheh is a quite short guitar-led instrumental – again with an other-worldly, eastern tinge to it but underpinned by a mesmeric bassline and simple but rock-solid piece of drumming. It’s followed by 35 seconds of Timekeeper.
Crux_Ansata is, to my mind, the strongest track on the album, . The second single (!), it’s got a real heavy-weight riff yet nicely worked with a hypnotic beat and lyrics that fascinate me, somehow redolent of some ancient saga of (not quite) redemption. Again, I’d like to hear this sung with clean vocals – that’s just me! There’s nevertheless a real atmosphere generated by this track, touches of an almost “Doors on metal” vibe at times, I’m totally immersed by/in it. Awakening is another 25 seconds of just that – a sort of metal/electro alarm tone!
And finally we have Chronoclasm, all ten and a half minutes of this monster…a ponderous, funereal beat introduces heavyweight riffing, lots of reverb and sustain. The bassline becomes increasingly dominant, lots of synth and electro sound effects swirling around the edges, very spacey. That ponderous tone is maintained throughout, acting as the fulcrum for heavyweight variations on the theme to be played out. “Apocalyptic” might be a good summary?!
Sandford Parker’s recording again keeps ‘metal’ well and truly up-front whilst still leaving you room to pick up on the niceties of percussion and side effects that Kurokuma like to dabble with. At times complete metal meltdown, at others we find complicated layers – I almost used the word delicate….almost!
Kurokuma lean further and further into their expansive, genre-bending experimental side and deliver a complex, unpredictable album that’s simultaneously hypnotizing and brutal. Recorded at Stuck On A Name in Nottingham with Boulty, Of Amber and Sand is self-released by the band on 9th August and is available on CD, vinyl and digitally.
