Female-fronted, New York 5-piece Mahavatar promise “extreme pan-world metal”, from their debut album
From the Sun, the Rain, the Wind, the Soil.
But what should one really expect from “extreme pan-world metal”? The recent popularity in metalised regional folk music, (for example, Finntroll) has pushed the boundaries and has often lead to exciting results. However, the diverse influences and backgrounds of the members of Mahavatar leads to an album full of ideas that are never fully developed.
While there is a definite ‘world’ feel, the promise of “extreme” is never really fulfilled. From a press release citing Emperor and Black Sabbath as influences, we are left with a record that resembles a poor man’s Otep mixed with
Roots era Sepultura. Strong tribal drumwork and some meaty nu-metal-esque riffs are the album’s strong points, but the vocals can be slightly grating, and are certainly nothing that most metal fans haven’t heard before. The pace is mostly pedestrian, but as demonstrated in
Psychos, when it picks up the band conveys a sense of urgency that is infectious. Lyrically based on new-wave occult thinking, vocalist Lizza Hayson hopes that fans will “… take this newfound energy and use it to start a revolution towards positive, progressive action”. This is very optimistic, as the lyrics are often clumsy and appear not to come from a native English speaker.
Not a run of the mill record by any manner of means, but
From the Sun, the Rain, the Wind, the Soil falls short of the lofty proclamations of being “a unique new force in the rock music world”.
Mahavatar’s debut album
From the Sun, the Rain, the Wind, the Soil is out on July 31st through Escapi Music. Check them out at
www.mahavatar.net
