Duma was a Kenyan
industrial grindcore
Grindcore is an extreme metal, extreme fusion genre of heavy metal music, heavy metal and hardcore punk that originated in the mid-1980s, drawing inspiration from abrasive-sounding musical styles, such as thrashcore, crust punk, hardcore punk, e ...
and
noise
Noise is sound, chiefly unwanted, unintentional, or harmful sound considered unpleasant, loud, or disruptive to mental or hearing faculties. From a physics standpoint, there is no distinction between noise and desired sound, as both are vibrat ...
duo composed of vocalist Martin Kanja (also known as Lord Spikehart
) as well as guitarist and producer Sam Karugu.
History
Duma was formed in 2019 by vocalist Martin Kanja and guitarist-producer Sam Karugu. Both of them were playing in various bands in
Nairobi
Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...
,
but the duo came together in
Kampala
Kampala (, ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,875,834 (2024) and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kampala, Kawempe Division, Kawempe, Makindy ...
,
Uganda
Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...
. The duo's musical style was influenced by the electronic music they had been listening to and playing on synthesizers and computers before as well as heavy metal that they had been playing in their former bands Lust of a Dying Breed and Seeds of Datura,
as well as their desire to experiment with a more
electronic
Electronic may refer to:
*Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductors
* ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal
*Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device
*Electronic c ...
version of the
metal
A metal () is a material that, when polished or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electrical resistivity and conductivity, electricity and thermal conductivity, heat relatively well. These properties are all associated wit ...
music that they had been making up until that point.
The band's name, Duma, meant ''darkness'' in the
Kikuyu language
Kikuyu or Gikuyu ( ) (also known as Gĩgĩkũyũ) is a Bantu language spoken by the Gĩkũyũ (''Agĩkũyũ'') of Kenya. Kikuyu is mainly spoken in the area between Nyeri, Kiambu, Nairobi and Nakuru. The Kikuyu people usually identify th ...
.
The duo's self-titled debut album, ''Duma'', was released on 7 August 2020 to positive reviews.
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
's Ammar Kalia awarded the album 4 out of 5 stars, stating "What results is an intriguing picture, one that is challenging yet full of a depth that promises an exciting future for this nascent Kenyan scene."
Pitchfork
A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials.
The term is also applie ...
's Mehan Jayasuriya gave the album a 7.5 out of 10, stating that "The Kenyan noise band’s debut is inventive and abrasive, a timely distillation of global chaos and techno-dystopian dread".
The duo ended their project at the beginning of 2023. Martin Kanja has continued to create music under the name of Lord Spikeheart.and Sam Karugu has continued to make music under Sam Karugu and Slammy Karugu
Discography
* ''Duma'' (2020)
* “Cannis” b/w “Mbukinya” (2022)
See also
*
African heavy metal
References
{{reflist
Grindcore musical groups
Noise musical groups
Kenyan musical groups
Musical groups established in 2019
Sub Pop artists
2019 establishments in Kenya