Martin Khanja (aka Lord Spike Heart) and Sam Karugu emerged from Nairobi's flourishing underground metal scene as former members of the bands Lust of a Dying Breed and Seeds of Datura. Together in 2019 they formed Duma (meaning »darkness« in kikuyu) with Karugu abandoning bass for production and guitars and Lord Spike Heart providing extreme vocals to the project. Their unique sound fuses the frenetic euphoria, unrelenting physicality and rebellious attitude of hardcore punk and trash metal with bone-crunching breakcore and raw, nihilist industrial noise through a claustrophobic vortex of visceral screams.

Facing pain and difficult emotions head on is the place from which Khanja writes. A sonic aggression of feral intensity with disregard for styles, the duo has impacted the hungry East African metal scene by moving it into totally new, boundary-challenging experimental territories. After an incendiary, highly-praised performance at Nyege Nyege 2019, their self-titled debut album was released on the label in 2020, followed by a single on Sub Pop last year.

• Duma, by Duma

• Duma, by Duma