Band info
Band: Okwaho 
Album: The Usurper Regime
Released: May 1st, 2023.
Genre: Sludge, doom, post-metal.
Location: Greece
Review
You should be already familiar with the antifascist blackened post-sludge trio of Okwaho from Athens if you’re actively following our channel, since we’ve uploaded both of their albums, including last year’s very strong contender The Ursuper Regime for the best sludge albums of the year.
Today’s upload isn’t new material, but an artistic lyric video for perhaps the strongest and most political track from The Ursuper Regime, the 10-minute opus “The Mermaid“. Covering thematically the story of a refugee family of a mother and daughter fleeing from the war in Syria through the route of a dangerous sea voyage and based on the story “Denizkizi” by Selahattin Demirtaş, it tackles the subject of borders, racism and illegality which further suppress and endanger displaced people, ending up in thousands of lives lost (or murdered, by indirect or direct state violence if you prefer) every year. The lyric video is adorned with illustrations and animation by Odysseas Parashis, directed by the drummer of the band Andreas Bikouvarakis. Musically it is a dark, slow-paced and crushing 10-minute sludge metal song with some post-rock influences separated in two “movements”, on the second of which singer Alice W. of Breeding the Shadows makes a powerful guest performance. Listen the “The Mermaid” then and say fuck off to war and borders!
Other links and platforms:
Bandcamp: https://okwaho.bandcamp.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/okwaho_band/
Facebok: https://www.facebook.com/OkwahoBand