SIASKEL – Haruwel Airen
- by Peter Loftus
- Posted on 13-11-2016
Haruwen Airen is the second full-length release from Chilean deathsters Siaskel. The sound is prime Latin American death with a slightly melodic edge, but Siaskel manage to make the whole thing sound original and fresh through their referencing of the Selk’nam culture. Don’t worry if you hadn’t heard of this tribe before – I have two degrees in Anthropology and they were news to me! Apparently they occupied the southern region of Chile and Argentina between Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego and are known for their rather bizarre body painting rituals. Siaskel mine their complex belief systems and supernatural cosmology to create a sound that is brutal but threaded through with the spirit of this lost tribe for a result that is cosmic and mystical but crushingly heavy. Part of this is due to the fact that all of the energy of the original performances is channelled so skilfully at the mixing and production stages on this noisy but nuanced offering. Now can we get them to tour with Volahn?