Hard-hitting Kenyan, black metal influenced, noise/hip-hop with a spectacular audiovisual show

In 2020, we were unexpectedly blown away by the self-titled debut (via Nyege Nyege Tapes) of Kenyan duo Duma – a musical uppercut of hardcore punk-trash metal-breakcore-industrial noise with a load of unadulterated black metal vocals. Despite its radicality, Duma was embraced by the likes of artist Jesse Kanda (see: Arca and Björk) and desert blues act Mdou Moctar, who had the duo remix one of their tracks. Duma rightly closed BRDCST in 2022. 

We’ve been rabid fans of frontman Lord Spikeheart a.k.a. Martin Kanja (KE) ever since and enjoyed his album Drunken Love (with Welsh sound/noise artist Elvin Brandhi) and his solo debut The Adept. The Guardian: “Spikeheart displays the breadth and depth of his vocal experience, acrobatically veering from doom-laden growls to falsetto screams, fast-paced verses and textural noise, his voice a penetrating instrument that can compete with the distorted guitars and thundering bass.” Spikeheart loses none of his menace on his latest EP REIGN. What’s more, musical guests like Iggor Cavalera (ex-Sepultura and current Soulwax drummer) and Togolese metal band Arka'n Asrafokor add even more fuel to the fire.

Thus, present at BRDCST again this year. Because he had to be. For the first time, there will be an audiovisual show created by NMR.CC, who operates from out of Greece and has already delivered work for the likes of Travis Scott, Eartheater and Pan Dajing.

NMR.CC: “It’ll be an audio-visual performance inspired by the Mau Mau Rebellion in Kenya (1952–1960), approached as a point of departure rather than a historical retelling. The work reflects on universal and contemporary experiences of abuse, displacement, betrayal, and loss shaped by enduring systems of power. Moving beyond a specific place or time, REIGN engages with ongoing global struggles for resistance, reclamation and justice, revealing how these histories continue to inform present realities and collective demands for accountability, dignity, and transformative change.” Duly noted.