Reviews – Print, Online & Radio

September 20, 2014

“A London-based group who draw on an extensive set of Spanish, Middle Eastern and other ‘world music’ influences that echo, but do not incorporate, metal riffs and styles. While the incorporation of folk and world music styles into metal is now common, Ethnamorte’s music sounds eerily similar to metal without any of the trappings of what we think of as metal (including distorted guitars.) The band bring out the similarities between metal’s use of modes such as the locrian, and their use in other non-western musical styles. Ethnamorte are not metal, but they run in parallel to metal, never quite being absorbed into it.

The challenge the band presents to metal is to recognise that some aspects of metal aesthetics can also be pursued in other genres. If metal can locate itself outside of its own aesthetic boundaries, there’s no reason it shouldn’t try to transgress them more often, either. Tradition, after all, is beholden to innovation. If it doesn’t try and reinvent itself, it dies.”
– Keith Kahn-Harris, Lecturer at Birkbeck College, Goldsmith College & Open University, Souciant.com (Jan 10, 2014)

I want to put Ethnamorte in a tidy little genre box. I want to pigeonhole them, compartmentalise them, and group them with other bands. I want to because that’s the system, damnit! But this band refuses to be classified… and that really frustrates me. Other people, however, love this kind of musical diversity, the kind which brings a music scholar joy.

Back in November, Ethnamorte’s sophomore album ‘Calling All Tribes’ hit the shelves….. you know what, that’s what this album is for? Many people reminisce about the days where you’d put on a vinyl, sit back and just dedicate your attention to the music. No videos, no distractions. While most music nowadays is, and often is designed to be, background noise, this album is something more than that. You need to sit down alone with the music, get the CD insert out, and devote your thinking to the sound.
– Ashley Naismith, Sonic Shocks (July 23, 2013)

A long-time follower of thrash, speed and death metal, London-based music tutor Malcolm Callus is also well-versed in classical, jazz and world music, having also won a Berklee College Scholarship in 1998. Malcolm’s latest Ethnamorte project is a new CD entitled “Calling All Tribes” due for next November. This release, described by Malcolm as “ethnic music with a dark twist” will be a highlight…
– Eric Montfort, Di-ve.com (Sept 19, 2012)

“Belt is-Seħer (Tissabbat m’Alla remix) is simply too outrageous to pass up, so I’ve gladly included it on today’s show. Perhaps it will serve to introduce this rather eclectic band to a new audience looking for something rather different from the usual sights and sounds.”
Toni Sant, Muzika Mod Iehor (Sept 01, 2012)

“A group who seem to take influences from just about anywhere, ”
– www.spoonfed.co.uk

Belt is-Seħer
I rarely repeat tracks on the MMI podcast. Here’s an exception. This is a superb song from a very unusual band currently appearing live in Malta at V-Gen in Paceville on Sunday 6 November 2011 during the Calling All Tribes festival. If Malcolm Callus doesn’t strike a chord with this band for the Maltese crowd gathered at V-Gen tomorrow, he’ll manage to do it with his other new project Unus Quod Insane.
Toni Sant, Muzika Mod Iehor (Nov 05, 2011)

“Mi ha fatto moltissimo piacere riascoltare la tua vecchia band e sono ancora convinto della validit delle vostre idee. Forse ora con Ethnamorte si vede che queste idee sono arrangiate decisamente meglio ed in manier pi matura.”
– Sebastiano Leoni, Koito Zine (Aug 30, 2011)

“The name sounds rather sinister, but it is simply a front for a musical collective with a tantalising taste for blending different cultures and genres. Calling itself a world music act with jazz interests, Ethnamorte’s sound embraces a collection of different types of music from all four corners of the world, hence “ethna”. The “morte” element is a direct reference to the end of musical confines through the exploration of different genres a concept that was reflected in the various tracks the band recorded in 2008. Despite its low-key release, the album placed second in Reverb Nation’s 2010 end-of-year world music charts.”
– Michael Bugeja, The Times of Malta (Aug 21, 2011)

“This UK-based band released a CD album entitled Sombra de um Mundo atras do Vidro, which is Portugese for “Shadow of a World behind Glass”. These sounds give today’s podcast half an air of world muzak fusion but I honestly find Ethnamorte’s quirky approach quite mesmerizing.”
Toni Sant, Muzika Mod Iehor (May 01, 2010)

“Any regular listener of the MMI podcast knows that I am always keen to include material that uses the Maltese language in one way or another. No surprise then in having the UK-based Ethnamorte return to the podcast again, this time with a tune called Belt is Se?er featuring guitarist Malcolm Callus, who is better known as Gool. I should probably also include one of his non-Ethnamorte recordings someday soon.”
– Toni Sant, Muzika Mod Iehor (Jul 25, 2009)

“Nice gig! I liked EthnaMorte, dunno if it was coz I was baked outta my mind and had some ol craft hen, but the music, as crazy az it was, was brilliant! ”
– Bongwater, UK Thrash (May 12, 2008)

If you find EthnaMorte’s music suitable to a publication/radio station of your knowledge, we would be chuffed should you send their details (website/contact person/whatever) to [email protected]. Thank you

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