Mamaleek

Mamaleek
OriginSan Francisco, CA , U.S.
Genres
Years active2008–present
LabelsEnemies List., The Flenser
Members
  • 4 (anonymous)
Past membersEric Alan Livingston
Websitemamaleek.bandcamp.com/album/diner-coffee

Mamaleek is an American experimental metal group from San Francisco, founded in 2008[1] by two anonymous brothers.[2] The name supposedly derives from Arabic, and is the plural of mamluk, or "slave".[3]

In 2011, the band was signed with Enemies List; that year, their album Kurdaitcha topped Leor Galil's "Best Free Albums of 2011" list.[4] The band has released seven albums, and are signed with the San Francisco-based alternative label The Flenser.[3]

Regarding the band's style and genre, Noisey wrote: "It's black metal, but then again, it isn't; there are massive electronic, jazz, and psychedelic influences, as well as pronounced Middle Eastern inclinations in melody and aesthetic".[3] According to Stereoboard, they "are a band like no other....Portishead playing lo-fi metal might be somewhere vaguely near the mark".[2] Galil said they "mix Middle Eastern song structures and samples, atonal experimental and avant-garde accents, guttural metal howls, accessible electronic breakbeats, sludgy doom metal guitar-work, nimble piano interludes, and plenty of pop panache to create an unrelenting, moving sound".[5]

Band member Eric Alan Livingston died on March 6, 2023, at the age of 38.[6]

Discography

  • Fever Dream (2008)
  • Mamaleek (2008)
  • Kurdaitcha (2011)
  • He Never Spoke A Mumblin’ Word (The Flenser, 2014)[7]
  • Via Dolorosa (The Flenser, 2015)[2]
  • Out of Time (2018)[8]
  • Come & See (2020)
  • Diner Coffee (2022)
  • Those Who Pass Between Fleeting Words (2023)
  • Vida Blue (2024)

References

  1. ^ "Mamaleek". Encyclopaedia Metallum. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  2. ^ a b c Bland, Ben (June 24, 2015). "Noise Not Music #11: False, Abyssal, Pale Chalice And More". Stereoboard. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  3. ^ a b c "Premiere: Black Metal Oddballs Mamaleek Score a Winner with Nothing But Loss". Noisey. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  4. ^ Galil, Leor (May 30, 2013). "Cheap Tunes: Frustrator's 'Anther'". Forbes. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  5. ^ Galil, Leor (December 13, 2011). "The Best Free Albums of 2011". Forbes. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  6. ^ Monroe, Jazz; Strauss, Matthew. "Mamaleek's Eric Alan Livingston Dies at 38". Pitchfork. Retrieved March 7, 2023.
  7. ^ Krasman, Brian (July 24, 2014). "Experimentalists Mamaleek poke black metal's boundaries with mysterious He Never Spoke…". Meat Mead Metal. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  8. ^ "Out of Time, by Mamaleek". Mamaleek. Retrieved August 31, 2018.