Endon – Mama

Mama came out in 2015, and while the objective here is to cover the most recent output, this album holds a special place in my heart and I couldn’t resist adding it to the list. I haven’t listened to many albums that resemble this one – I’m not sure there’s anyone out there who does a better job at mixing harsh noise, grindcore and black metal.

Endon describe themselves as “catastrophic noise metal”, and it suits them well. Everything happening in Mama is either ominous, cataclysmic, or downright frightening. It’s the first album that made me actually grind my teeth from the intensity in years, and it’s a quality the record keeps for a while.

The album starts off with some interesting black metal-tinged guitar work, but that soon grinds into noise, with parasite sounds appearing, more intense riffs and drumming, and the craziest vocals since Silencer. It’s great to hear how Endon can push the limits of a section until it turns around and eats itself, becoming some ungodly creation no one can really understand. There is a specific moment in “Etude for Lynching by Family” which sounds like a horror film is played along the already cacophonous black metal / noise mix, and it’s one of the most chaotic pieces of music I’ve heard.

While a lot of the album sounds like concentrated grindcore aggression with multiple noise songs being performed at the same time, Endon sometimes takes their time and add in drone elements, such as in the 15-minute masterpiece Acme Apathy Amok. After a long, drawn out portion of buildup, the release they came up with is spectacular. It conjured images of being lost in space, my communications sputtering and unresponsive, and I was somehow accepting my fate.

When people speak of “tortured” vocals, they probably haven’t heard of this band. The pained grunting, quasi-Silencer level agonizing falsetto and grindcore-style squealing and growling are all areas the singer is talented in. It’s fascinating to hear him have a conversation with himself, from victim to executioner, with his panned wails reverberating throughout the songs. I’m not sure what he’s saying, but I’m pretty sure it’s just as terrifying as the rest of the music.

There are a couple of strangely melodic, “musical” moments during the album, including some actual guitar solos, but these are rare and don’t interfere with the general heavy ambiance of the record – they’re placed intelligently and serve as good contrast with what’s going to follow. The rest is mostly wailing and bandsaws, what more could you ask?

Giuseppe Fitzsimmons