The Obelisk Questionnaire is a series of open questions intended to give the answerer an opportunity to explore these ideas and stories from their life as deeply as they choose. Answers can be short or long, and that reveals something in itself, but the most important factor is honesty.

Based on the Proust Questionnaire, the goal over time is to show a diverse range of perspectives as those who take part bring their own points of view to answering the same questions. To see all The Obelisk Questionnaire posts, click here.

Thank you for reading and thanks to all who participate.

The Obelisk Questionnaire: Joe E. Allen of Kurokuma

—

How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?

I play drums in Kurokuma and handle a lot of what happens aside from the music.

Jake and I met at a show here in Sheffield a while back. It was my old band playing and he asked if I wanted to play drums in a project he was thinking of starting. I couldn’t at the time but we stayed in touch and eventually ended up living pretty close to each other. We used to meet up, eat space cakes and listen to Electric Wizard and watch Akira. Around then I think we both felt the time was right to start something heavy that included other influences, basically encompassing the music we both enjoyed at the time.

Describe your first musical memory.

I remember my mum took me to a play group just down the road from where we lived. We’d all sit around on a big mat in some lady’s living room and take turns on various instruments. I guess they were mainly percussion instruments, as I can’t imagine we’d have been much good on anything else.

I haven’t thought about this memory for a long time.

Describe your best musical memory to date.

What springs to mind is seeing Dengue Dengue Dengue in Manchester after I’d just smoked some bud called Blue Venom. DDD are from Peru and we only found out they were playing after we’d played a gig in Manchester ourselves. It was serendipitous.

When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?

Something I was thinking about the other day that seems related…

Moving to Japan during the third year of my Japanese language course at uni. I thought I knew how to speak the language to an extent, but being faced with the reality of raw Japanese, unlike the stuff I’d learned in the classroom, showed me how little I truly did know. It was a shock, a very steep learning curve and one of the best years of my life. Fortunately, by the end of it I’d picked up a lot, so the year had served its purpose.

Where do you feel artistic progression leads?

I feel what you’re enjoying at the time tends to dictate your path – your changing inspiration. But as you go on, you refine and tune your output so it’s more streamlined and ergonomic – you learn how to say more with less, or at least be more direct with what you write, but I think something is probably lost in this process too. Like how band’s debuts are often their most popular material.

I think the machinations of being involved in a scene, or the music industry, or wanting to evolve from a certain scene, are a force to be reckoned with. I think for some bands this can easily lead to a more mainstream sound. I don’t necessarily hold that against people, but I have the utmost respect for anyone who can maintain a genuineness and integrity throughout their career. I think it becomes harder and harder as you go on.

It’s an ever-changing journey until you want to get off.

How do you define success?

For me it’s about mastering a talent or field during our short time on earth, living contentedly and doing it all without losing your integrity.

What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?

I remember I once saw a receipt from a sex shop in our house growing up, that I can only assume belonged to one of my parents.

Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.

For quite a while I wanted to start a project that feels something like “The Pink Room” from Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me. Dirty, dark, atmospheric alt-country type stuff. I had brief discussions with Matt from Under, as he’s written a load of similar songs, but it never got off the ground. Then this very blog introduced me to Olson, Van Cleef, Williams, which wasn’t a million miles away from what I had in mind. Maybe I’ll get around to it one day. I feel this is a band I could do even after getting old so there’s probably no rush.

What do you believe is the most essential function of art?

It’s got to be different for every person, but for me it would probably be related to expansion of the mind/transporting you to another point of view, or to another dimension, maybe away from mundane reality. I like the idea that many realities and multiple levels of consciousness exist, you’ve just got to get there somehow, and I think art is a pretty direct vehicle for it, accessible by many.

Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?

I just moved house after a trying few months, so I’m looking forward to getting to know the local area and its history, and going for plenty of walks in nature.

https://www.facebook.com/kurokumauk/
https://www.instagram.com/kurokumauk/
https://kurokumauk.bandcamp.com/

Kurokuma, Born of Obsidian (2022)

Fair to say that a Kurokuma full-length has been in the works for some time. The band has been together for not quite a decade, but, you know, sometimes this shit takes a while. Some bands, they form and have a record out six months later. That’s fine too, don’t get me wrong — at least depending on the band — but I also kind of respect the approach of an act taking their time, workshopping their sound across shorter releases for however long and getting to where they want to be sound-wise before putting together an entire album. I guess you might feel more pressure that way, letting it build up over time rather than getting it over with, but listening to the first single from Kurokuma‘s upcoming Born of Obsidian, they certainly at least seem to have their shit together and know what they’re going for.

I’ve dug into various stuff they’ve put out over the years, though, looking back, most of what I’ve posted about them has been tour dates, so given that they have done a respectable amount of road work, I’ll look forward to hearing how it all comes through in the material. Also fascinating that they brought Sanford Parker to record, but I guess when you’ve waited so long, you do it right.

Feb. 4 is the release date, and the copious background below came down the PR wire:

KUROKUMA ANNOUNCE DEBUT ALBUM ‘BORN OF OBSIDIAN’

RELEASED 4TH FEBRUARY / LISTEN TO ‘JAGUAR’ NOW

Equal parts primitive brutality and mind-bending psychedelia, Kurokuma will bring a fresh dose of exotic heaviness to the extreme music scene in 2022 with their debut album ‘Born of Obsidian’, set for release on 4th February.

Recorded in London with Sanford Parker (YOB, Eyehategod, Indian) at Narcissus Studio, the Sheffield-based psychedelic sludge trio have been sharpening their mantra-like songwriting since forming in late 2013, finally culminating in a debut album that melds their expansive ideas and abrasive influences together perfectly. The band comment,

“After years of silent gestation, our first full length will finally emerge into the blinding light of corporeal existence. The five songs that make up this album stand both unified and distinct, creating an edifice that transcends the moment and speaks to the raw nature of the universe. So turn your back on the madness; seek this column of unseen truth and elevate yourself from the primordial chaos in which you dwell.”

Always ones to avoid the traditional tropes of the doom and sludge metal scene, Kurokuma have often embraced different elements into their ‘heavy’ sound. This includes the worlds of Latin rhythm, kraut-rock and electronica, most recently evident in 2019 when they became the first artist to put out a metal release on legendary underground electronic music label, Off Me Nut with an EP titled, ‘‘Sheffield’s Best Metal Bands Vol.1’.

‘Born of Obsidian’ traverses various subgenres of metal while maintaining a unified atmosphere all of its own. Thematically it digs deep into the ancient history of major Mesoamerican civilisations; concepts range from Aztec deities, such as Tezcatlipoca and human sacrifice to the god of sun, Huitzilopochtli, to priests’ use of seeds and mushrooms in divine religious ceremonies. Tracks like lead single ‘Jaguar’ also reference the Olmec culture, which preceded the Aztecs, with the band adding,

“This one was written as more of an incantation than a standard song. The jaguar was the most powerful creature for the Olmecs. There were Olmec shamans who, it was believed, could transform into a jaguar, and this piece is meant to provide the soundtrack for such a ceremony.”

Listen to ‘Jaguar’ now – https://kurokumauk.bandcamp.com/track/jaguar

Obsidian itself is a naturally occurring volcanic glass which these civilisations used to create tools, ornaments, scrying mirrors and other instruments of dark magic. ‘Born of Obsidian’ is Kurokuma’s heavy metal-inspired take on bygone Mesoamerican eras, breathing life into these ancient cultures that treasured this igneous rock as an integral resource.

The trio was formed in late 2013 by guitarist/vocalist Jacob Mazlum and drummer Joe Allen in Sheffield, England. George Ionita was soon brought into the mix following the departure of their original bassist, and the die was cast.

The band spent a year crafting their nascent sound before releasing a self-titled demo in the Autumn of 2014, quickly garnering them attention and earning support slots with the likes of KEN mode, Samothrace and Skeletonwitch. Their first EP, ‘Advorsus’ followed in September 2016 on Medusa Crush Records.

Grinding their way through 2017 and starring in the indie documentary film ‘The Doom Doc’, Kurokuma hit 2018 hard with a tour of Japan supporting Conan, followed by a 4/20 show in Reykjavik, Iceland.

Summer 2018 saw the release of the much-anticipated ‘Dope Rider’ concept EP, along with an Eastern European tour over which the band played eight countries and appeared at the notorious Brutal Assault festival in the Czech Republic. Successful UK tours with Friendship from Japan and Boss Keloid finished 2018 for them.

Their 2019 EP was quickly followed up by an appearance at Desertfest London, and while COVID slowed things down in 2020, Kurokuma became the first metal band in the world to launch their own cannabis seed after partnering with NemeSeeds on KuroKush.

Originally scheduled to fly out to Chicago to record their debut album at Sanford Parker’s studio, the pandemic caused these plans to be amended, and towards the end of the year Parker agreed to fly out to London instead, making this the first record he has ever produced in the UK.

Kurokuma returned to the live circuit in 2021 with a crushing performance at Bloodstock Festival and more live shows planned for 2022.

‘Born of Obsidian’ is released digitally and on CD/tape on 4th February with vinyl to follow later in the year. Pre-order now: https://kurokumauk.bandcamp.com/album/born-of-obsidian

https://www.facebook.com/kurokumauk/
https://www.instagram.com/kurokumauk/
https://kurokumauk.bandcamp.com/

Kurokuma, Born of Obsidian (2022)