Much like Norway’s Ulver, San Francisco’s Mamaleek might be associated with black metal but have long since transcended the genre. While it is a bit easier to define Ulver‘s style, best described as extremely intense synthpop/electronica (at least for now), Mamaleek‘s music is more difficult to pin down. Their latest full-length, Vida Blue, released via The Flenser, further explores their utterly unique sound. It is a logical progression from their previous work yet remains just as confounding as what’s come before.

Mamaleek somehow incorporates the blues, jazz, and R&B into their sound without abandoning metal’s abrasive qualities. This is partially due to the gruff vocals. One floundering for comparison will point to a similarity to Tom Waits at his most unhinged. But if Waits is channeling his inner hobo, Mamaleek sounds like a sorcerer hiding among the homeless population of a large metropolis. From the vocal performance to the music, Mamaleek generates an unsettling and surrealist atmosphere that pervades every note they play.

The vocals aren’t limited to a Waits-ian bluesy wail, either. “Black Pudding Served at the Horn of the Altar” begins with more of a crooning style, albeit a very strange version of it. If anything, the singing hints at various eras of Scott Walker, but the song ends with the specter of doo-wop floating through the mix.

For a metal-adjacent record, the guitar work, while brilliant, will still elude the standard frames of reference. The first song, “Tegucigalpa,” opens with guitar licks that would sound at home on a Tal Farlow record, but they’re completely recontextualized into something more sinister. When not dancing between classic jazz and R&B licks, the solos turn more toward the avant-garde. The solo for “Vileness Slim” (a nod to the Residents‘ Vileness Fats?) explores the effects-drenched sound of Robert Fripp or David Torn, yet leans into noise-skronk towards the climax. The heavier break midway through “Ancient Souls, No Longer Sorrowful” brings us closer to true metallic territory but the truth is, this is more Dazzling Killmen than Eyehategod.

The true heaviness of Mamaleek comes from the rhythm section. Often they, too, mine R&B beats but perform them with the gravity of a sludge band. The bass is nimble but never showy, opting for head-nodding grooves instead. It’s an element appearing in every song but is probably best exemplified by the shifting sections of “Vileness Slim.” The heaviest song on the album is “Hatful of Rain”; the back half features a twisting riff that sounds a little like Living Colour‘s iconic “Cult of Personality,” but it’s the bass guitar in Mamaleek that carries the distortion.

One influence that seems more pronounced on Vida Blue is Nineties downtempo or trip-hop. The horn sounds that open the beat-driven “Ancient Souls, No Longer Sorrowful” brings to mind the beginning of Massive Attack‘s “Inertia Creeps,” while the guitar break recalls Tricky‘s “Christiansands.” The title track also feels like an illbient record gone wrong, in the best kind of way. As soon as a groove appears, pregnant pauses undermine it.

For a band that found its sound several years ago, probably around 2018’s Out of Time, Mamaleek still manages to surprise. In fact, because of their unique sound, every moment of Vida Blue is still unpredictable. They overwhelm with atmosphere, and despite the nuance they employ, the album is intensely heavy, just not in any conventional way.

Mamaleek generally insists on anonymity, but it is known that their drummer, Eric Alan Livingston, sadly died in 2023. Their sound is too mysterious to draw a throughline from that tragedy to Vida Blue, but we must assume the emotions are there. We can only be thankful that the group persevered to release this album, because it is a masterpiece.

—Todd Manning