There are cracks on the wall between hip-hop, electronic music, and metal… from moshpits at rap shows to fusion artists like Slay Squad, Ghostemane, or Mora Prokaza bridging the genre gap.
Even in Africa, the extremes of EDM, rap, and extreme metal are harnessed together – Kenyan artist Lord Spikeheart‘s debut album The Adept showcases an innovative blend of modern counter-culture music with a stacked list of underground features. While more lively and accessible, the overall sound here is certainly an extension of Spikeheart‘s previous Nairobi-based projects – Duma, a grindcore duo, and Lust of a Dying Breed, a deathcore three-piece.
Opening track “TYVM” appeals to Death Grips fans, with desert rave aggro-barks and glitchy beats blaring out at high-tempo, featuring Japanese experimentalist BBBBBBB, who also appears in later basement bangers “33rd Degree Access” with Zambian rapper Backxwash as well as “Sham-Ra” alongside Rully Shabara – Indonesian vocalist for WUSA (formerly known as Zoo) and Senyawa.
The tracklisting continues to mix provocative influences into the cauldron from Godflesh and Igorrr to JPEGMafia and H09909. This music surely isn’t designed for radio-play nor your average listener; it is abrasive, experimental, and comfort-zone confronting, for both metal and electronic head-nodders.
Nonetheless, trap metal fans will flock to the blackened screams on “Nobody” with wild guitarwork by Hybrid Intuition, but if you need a more palatable diving-in spot, try the midnight horror rap track “Djangili” featuring Italian beat-demon Talpah. “Kvlt Brazen,” featuring French producer Brodinski, has a similar syrupy intensity too. “R.E.M. Fodder” also can be a really enjoyable mindfuck when in the right headspace, thanks to guests James Ginzburg of UK electronic act Emptyset, and Belgian-German sound artist Koenraad Ecker.
Throughout further The Prodigy energizers and eerie soundscapes, contributors include Spanish acid-house artist Safety Trance, New Jersey rapper Fatboi Sherif, DJ Scoth Rolex, Vulture Thrust, DJ Die Soon, and Bidemsional Gangsta.
“The record is a tribute to the daily fight against oppression in all its forms and comes with a special dedication to Lord Spikeheart’s great grandmother Field Marshal Muthoni wa Kirima who was the only woman to earn the rank during the Mau Mau uprising against the British colonialists in Kenya.”
A wholly global collaborative and contemporary offering, this record is a must-listen for the deprived weirdos. Listen to The Adept by Lord Spikeheart (and company) now, via Haekalu Records.