The Complex musical Soundscape of Mahikari
Once again dipping a tentative toe into the shark-infested waters that are “modern music”, HFoS came across this self-titled album by San Francisco prog-psych-noise foursome, Mahikari.
Taking their name from a Japanese religious movement meaning ‘new light’, Mahikari deliver a four song album that stakes its claim firmly in the progressive rock camp, chucking in plenty of psychedelic blasts along the way to create a vast and complex, multi-layered musical soundscape.
Opening track, ‘The Fog Peaks of Nara’, is a steady build over the course of 19 minutes to a dense collage of almost industrial noise as the two guitarists duel with one another amidst an arena of sonic blasts and electro-distortion. The other main track, the 15 minute ‘The Ooze Pits of Clarksdale’, is unconventional in every sense of the word, throwing in all manner of sights and sounds along the road to another grinding climax of man and guitar battling against the devastating elements hurled at them by the shed load. With so much going on in each of those two tracks, the combined 34 minutes flies by without once needing the inclusion of a vocal to spur things on.
The Eastern-influenced, short but sweet, ‘Mahikari’ closes the album with a definite comedown vibe that acts as a sedative to the chaos that has come before.
Not at all familiar with this band or its members, the HFoS approach was a cautious one and indeed it took a couple of plays to immerse myself in the Mahikari sonic swirl. Nevertheless, theirs is an eclectic and often downright belligerent sound that once washed over you, is more than welcome to stay for a while.
Mahikari is released by Birdman Records and available on limited edition vinyl from Amazon.co.uk
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