st215

MUSIC FEATURE

visit stack.com.au

F or some, the phrase “as above, so below” evokes an image of stud-collared uber-goth Nancy stabbing a dagger into the forest soil. For students of Hermetic texts, it’s about correspondence between planes of existence: the material, mental, and spiritual universes. For Sampa the Great, ‘as above’ denotes the artist’s outward self, while ‘so below’ symbolises the inner, emancipated woman – Sampa’s truest self. Manifesting this psyche as the character of 'Eve', on As Above, So Below , Sampa stares down generational stereotypes and expresses the feminine in all its frameworks. Relocating to her native Zambia to write and record her second album (the follow-up to AMP- and ARIA-winning The Return , 2019), the musician's efforts to get right at the sinew of her African upbringing – and the creative practices of those formative years – is stamped throughout As Above, So Below . Across rich blood harmonies with sister Mwanje, textured percussion, silk-and-bone arrangements and bell-like keys – popping up like glinting mushrooms in the dark – you'll also find xylophone, triumphant horns, deep and uncompromising piano chords, and bird trills. Lane (with Denzel Curry) features a slinking beat which mirrors its clip, in which Eve's twisted braids embrace subterranean stone like sentient vines; the vivid Let Me Be Great (with legendary African vocalist Angélique Kidjo) is a categorical closing statement. Bridging classic hip-hop, modern jazz-licked Afrobeat, and gospel R'n'B, you simply don't get this kind of

Photo credit: Constantine Spence

SAMPA THE GREAT DROPS DYNAMIC, TITANIC 2ND LP

innovation and class in one cohesive album every day, or even every year. More than a rapper-musician, Sampa is a rhythm-poet of enormous vision. She's simultaneously dedicated pupil, intrepid explorer, and fearless expressor within her creative realm. As she attests: "You were saying, 'Stay in your lane'/ You was thinkin' I had one." ZKR

As Above, So Below by Sampa the Great is out Sept 9, including on JB-exclusive transparent red vinyl, via Loma Vista.

A COLOSSAL NEW OPUS FROM THE HU

band experimenting with melody, shaping passages that are elegant enough to pass for soft-rock if not for the accompanying guttural throat-singing. We're emphatically returned to ferocity on Upright Destined Mongol , spearheaded by a metronomic battery of war cries. The reverberation of Sell the World emerges as if from the caverns of the deepest oceans, before the skies crack open on the back of overdriven amplifiers and demonic vocal chants on Black Thunder. Mother Nature soars to majestic heights, presenting moments of serene fragility that are as close as the band comes to a ballad. The ensemble breaks out into a vibrant chorus of uplifting tunes and danceable rhythms on Bii Biyelgee , before plunging back down to the abyss on Segee . It's evident that The HU believed they had taken the inimitable sound pioneered on The Gereg as far as it could go. Rumble of Thunder signals a departure from tradition, but certainly not from quality; if anything, it signposts future greatness from these unexpected luminaries of heavy music. Alex Burgess

U nprecedented Mongolian folk-metal outfit The HU exploded into the mainstream consciousness with their seismic debut The Gereg , positioning the act front and centre in the world of heavy metal. Their compositions (or more aptly described, ‘anthems of war’) and the resonance of their traditional Mongolian instrumentation felt like they were summoning an ancient power lain dormant from an age long past, finally released in a cacophony of visceral fury. Now, the fight rages on in their second, blistering full-length release. From the outset of Rumble of Thunder , The HU make it clear they are not in the business

of imitating past successes. Album opener This Is Mongol showcases an expanded sonic palette, introducing the relentless chugging of lead guitar underpinned by heartbeat thumping bass drum. This first-time adoption of electric instrumentation is consistently applied across the LP, in a seamless transition. YUT Hövende is monolithic, carrying

Rumble of Thunder by The HU is out Sept 9, including on JB-exclusive white vinyl, via Better Noise Records.

an earth-shattering force that overwhelms the sensory experience. Otherworldly twin powerhouses Triangle and Teach Me see the

76 SEPTEMBER 2022

jbhifi.com.au