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Finally, SIYAHKAL delivers unto us their complete vision. "Days of Smoke and Ash," is the first full length from a band that has been dominating shows in Toronto for the better part of the past decade. The city's best kept secret. And what better a release to formally announce the relocation of the Static Shock Head Honcho, than the excavation of the city's most overdue LP?
From the opening notes of "Your Head In My Arms," SIYAHKAL unleashes absolute, stomping psychedelic hardcore perversion. Self-recorded, the thing sounds like a demon unleashed. Squalls of noise are smeared across a record of near-meditative, throbbing HC. It's an unrelenting, brutal album that would see any sane person running for the exits.
While the music itself is precise, intentional and pounding, the vocal delivery and its lyrical subject matter provide a deeper meaning. This isn't just a record to crack skulls to, it's an album loaded with political subtext. How does an artist reconcile their own exile? How do they engage with the caricatures that western psychosocial dominance makes of their beautiful home? When their own survival is at stake, what is the true meaning of justice? SIYAHKAL manages to produce something indebted as much to the likes of DESTINO FINAL or MOBS, as it is the Persian culture KG bleeds into it.
And the sentiments expressed here are not just Iranian, or Venezuelan, or Palestinian. SIYAHKAL's "Days of Smoke and Ash" reflects the reality of the world as this era comes undone. They've manifested something universal and urgent that blurs the boundaries of hardcore punk. When power attempts to distort you, the only option is to distort back. Let the walls of Evin, of Guantanamo, of Al-Hol, of Ofer crumble at the sounds of SIYAHKAL.
Women. Life. Freedom. Hold each others hands you fuckers.
Our take: Static Shock Records brings us the debut vinyl from this hardcore band from Toronto who sings in Farsi. While Siyahkal has issued three demos in their nearly ten years as an active band, Days of Smoke and Ash is my introduction, and it’s an original and powerful statement. While the pogo beats and power chords bring to mind 2010s New York punk on Toxic State Records, Siyahkal excels at creating a foreboding atmosphere. As the label’s description notes, there’s a steady rhythmic throb at the core of Siyahkal’s sound and everything else exists in relation to that pulse, swirling around it, bouncing off it in counterpoint, and sometimes locking into it for battering ram power. While the instrumentalists have their moments (like the thrillingly off-kilter drumbeat in “Karbobalaa” or the atmospheric lead guitar in “Bootcamp”), they often hang back in favor of letting the charismatic vocals take the spotlight. Siyahkal’s singer has this breathy, desperate vibe that seems to come in part from all the guttural sounds in Farsi, but they also have this way of drifting away from the beat that’s unique and exciting. The inchoate screams in the opener, “Your Head in My Arms,” make that track sound like Hell opening up, while the next track, “Beshin Pasho,” ends with another pained scream that’ll give you goosebumps. Days of Smoke and Ash isn’t an easy listen, but its intense, gritty atmosphere and thoughtful lyrics give it real gravitas.