A brand new single from the San Francisco based experimental black metal band, Mamaleek has emerged. The new track is entitled, Nothing But Loss and is the very first single to be released from the musical duo’s (who are also brothers) upcoming full length album, Via Dolorosa (which Vice kindly defined as "Way of Suffering" in Latin, a reference to the street in Jerusalem down which Jesus supposedly dragged himself to his death).
The exciting thing about Nothing But Loss is that it is not normal at all. It’s an intense metal track that sounds like the guitar riffs are being guided with a slide (if you’re not sure what is slide is or what slide guitar is, it would behoove you to look it up for reference) and has almost a country, honky tonk style to it. It’s pretty cool to hear the guitars wail and whine beneath death metal vocals. The graveling screaming is almost romanticized because of the slight sweetness of the music, as Mamaleek chose to write the song in a higher octave, so it’s not the usual creepy black metal style that’s played in the lowest tones of E or A. The unique choices the band makes in regards to how they interpret black metal makes them all the more relevant as a ground breaking band.
At the end of the song, it slows down and breaks down a bit to create a dramatic tapering off of strangeness. The song is surprisingly pleasing to listen to and has a lot of character. They have a scary band name and an even scarier album name, but don’t let that put you off. Mamaleek’s new album is due out on May 26th via The Flesner Records