Duma

Lights out, game over. Duma won 2020. Breathtaking by any measure, Kenyan grind-core band Duma's unparalleled debut of blast beats, sky-clawing synth noise and scarred larynx vocals was one of the mightiest things heard in 2020. Duma's self-titled debut is the most incredible injection of life-affirming, outsider energy imaginable in these dark ages; an LP that's bound to cleave opinion and upend preconceptions of what music from East Africa, or anywhere else in the world for that matter, can be. Comprising Martin Khanja (Lord Spikeheart) and Sam Karugu, Duma mete out a jaw-dropping extreme sound rooted in Nairobi's flourishing underground metal scene, where they've previously performed in bands Lust of a Dying Breed and Seeds of Datura. Faithful to the name - translating to "Darkness" in Kiyuku - they forge a frankly unprecedented dark-side sound, welding trve metal vocals and eschatological synths with the frenetic energy of Central African and breakcore rhythms in