Mamaleek

This is the only known photo of Mamaleek.

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Mamaleek has been a well-kept secret for a long time. Two anonymous brothers recording in a bedroom somewhere in San Francisco, repeatedly creating some of the most intriguing, aesthetically-realized Black Metal anywhere.

The extremely limited releases of their self-titled debut and 2008′s Fever Dream had collectors freaking out – densly-layered, melodic, tinged with Middle-Eastern and World Music influences, experimental and original while remaining, at it’s core, listenable and accesible – Mamaleek was making music at the heart of Black Metal’s possibilities without becoming bogged down by its increasingly strict genre conventions.

Mamaleek’s Kurdaitcha had been floating around different labels looking for a home when I first heard it. I was immediately blown away by it – it was clearly Black Metal, clearly shared many of the influences that so many of the bands I like tend to share (My Bloody Valentine-esque fuzz, the disembodied synths that wind their way through the distortion) – and yet, they sounded nothing like any other band I was hearing. Here, seemingly out of nowhere, was a fully-realized artistic statement.

As one of the musicians would later write:

We hope to prop up sorcery and ritual as a means of resistance to an everyday debasing reality that exists as a curse. It has become such a great pity that much of music, once so affecting and vital, has developed a xenophobic, ecclesiastical nature that trajects humanity’s own regression. Music, be it whatever genre, should always be a source of refuge and strength. Outside of attempting this fate, we are just as useless as anyone and would prefer to let time and whatever integrity is still left fill in the rest.

Releases

Mamaleek - Kurdaitcha (coming Fall 2010)

Reviews

“A lunatic collage of experimental pop and weirdo jazz and mutant black metal filth that sounds utterly messed up and chaotic and deformed, but it all works somehow, these disparate parts glommed together into a weird slab of adventurous heaviness that pretty much blew my mind.” – Crucial Blast

“Mamaleek is the work of two brothers, from right here in SF, this is their long in the works debut and it’s a killer, equal parts blissed out metalgaze, furious hyper grind, and buzzing ambient murk. In some ways, it’s almost the perfect aQ record, bits and pieces of all the stuff we can’t get enough of. But deftly assembled into something cohesive and pretty original. Nods to Jesu, Nadja, Xasthur, the Angelic Process, the usual suspects, but Mamaleek are definitely their own queer beast. The lo-fi recording adding to the murk and mystery, and of course the fuzzy blissy vibe…So intense, so gloriously fucked up, so complex and confusional, it really seemed like an impossible record to top.” – aQuarius Records

“Mamaleek is filled with depressing, howled vocals, tinkling xylophones, blown out guitar shredding, creepy opera singers, pummeling drums, and a lot of traditional black metal elements coupled with plenty of things you would never expect. This album isn’t for all black metal fans, I assume, but it’s definitely one that I like and hence, it is recommended.” – Anti-Gravity Bunny