×

LORD SPIKEHEART

Credit MICHELE SIBILONI
The word “innovator” gets thrown around when discussing musicians, especially in the experimental space, but in the case of Kenyan-born metal musician Lord Spikeheart, it's more than deserved. One of the key figures in bringing East African metal to global consciousness, Lord Spikeheart was a founding member of the now-legendary grindcore outfit Duma, before creating HAEKALU Records, which he runs with his wife in Kenya. Renowned for his confrontational live shows, honed over years spent performing in East Africa's metal underground, Lord Spikeheart pushes his sound to uncharted territory in his 2024 album The Adept. A tribute to the artist's grandmother, the only female field marshal in the Mau Mau rebellion, the album channels her revolutionary spirit into a fusion of visceral rage rap, seething industrial textures and propulsive club production. Ahead of his performance at Sónar Festival in June, the artist spoke to TANK about the regional scene and balancing art and commerce. Read the interview and listen to his mix below.

TANK The Adept is dedicated to your great-grandmother Muthoni wa Kirima, the only female field marshal in the Mau Mau rebellion. How did her influence come through while creating the album?
Lord Spikeheart Her work ethic, dedication and resilience deeply influence how I operate and move in the world. She spent 11 years hiding and fighting in the forests for 11 years, risking her life with the other Mau Mau freedom fighters every day until their goal was realised. They endured starvation, sickness, wild animals, adverse weather conditions, bullets from their enemies – but they never gave up, no matter how many friends and family members they lost. Her legacy drives me to push harder and delve deeper into my potential. In the long run, these sacrifices not only uplift the individual but also the community that they belong to, serving as a benchmark for what can and should be accomplished. Her story inspires others to go beyond what has already been done and to raise things to greater heights.

TANK How has the Kenyan metal scene changed in the years you have been active within it?
LS There is more community and diverse cultural involvement in the scene now. We're seeing more consistency regarding new project releases and monthly shows in Nairobi, brought together by different outfits. More bands are getting the recognition they deserve – through international media coverage and opportunities to participate in cross-continental metal showcases like Wacken Metal Battle, hosted in Nairobi in conjunction with Emalyth Events from South Africa. Last Years Tragedy – a metal-core band from Kenya – won the 2024 Sub-Saharan Heat and my good friends Irony Destroyed recently took the crown at the competition. They will head to South Africa this May to compete with other African metal bands for the opportunity to perform at Wacken Metal Festival in Germany. This wasn’t happening in the past and it’s an amazing step in the right direction for the African Metal scene.

TANK Tell me about the collaborations on The Adept.
LS I’ve always had a genre-less approach to music driven to the most extreme due to my background in metal. I also write a lot and need to offload my practice into a wide spectrum of sounds and sonics. All the collaborators on The Adept are artists and producers I admire. They all do different genres and speak different languages, but when I contacted them, surprisingly they all loved the idea of working with me on something different, something more radical and heavier. They were also open to collaborate with artists that they had never worked with, met or heard of. This is what I love about the album: the freedom, the playfulness, the ease and the combination of artistic visions. We have Safety Trance on the same track with the New York rapper Fatboi Sharif. Saionji from the crazy Japanese band BBBBBBB features on three tracks – some of my favourites on the album – including tracks with Rully Shabara and Backxwash. My close friend Luigi Monteani (AKA Bi-Dimensional Gangsta), who is also an anthropologist, produced a track called “Acts Of God” featuring my brother Tshomarelo Mosaka from Botswana’s Death Metal OGs Overthrust. Brodinski and Max Ant came through with “Kvlt Brazen”, a straight banger at the live shows. My friend Talpah from Italy was amazing on “Emblem Blem” and “Djangili”. Then James Ginzburg from Emptyset did the mixing and mastering and that was absolutely perfect for the sound I was going for. He understood me completely.
 
TANK You run HAEKALU Records. How has your experience been bringing metal, often framed as a marginal genre, to public consciousness?
LS I have been making this type of music for since just after high-school and I have never let public perception affect me. I fell in love with both the music and the lifestyle and I have met a lot of good people along the way. Metal has its own clientele, the consumers who understand it, and we formed HAEKALU Records with this in mind. Some people have their own opinions regarding the genre but for me is more of a calling I answered. Like any business there are hurdles one has to overcome – market conditions, location, funding, quality control, proper distribution etc. – and here in Africa it is even harder, as we still have to outsource most things from outside of the Continent. Despite this, for me it’s a fulfilling process that drastically changed my life for the better. Bringing awareness to the public that heavy music is just a form of art like any other and is full of creativity and spirit – that tramples all the known stereotypes still attached to it, at least here in Africa. We do it for the total love of it and this has kept me going irrespective of the limitations. HAEKALU is run by me and my wife with the amazing support of Ryan Hall in the US. I reached a point in my career where I needed proper management and control of my music and a team that completely shared the vision. The goal is to establish the continent as a powerhouse for the heaviest, quality music that will run on for decades to come.

Lord Spikeheart plays at Sónar Festival on 14th June. Photo by Michele Sibiloni.