Kalistan

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Art infects Metal on Progressive Major Label Debut from Sulari's Martel Strokes
Progressive Metal makes a return to Alternative Charts
Sulari, Duchy of Suldanor
March 18, 5687


AtWar is a hard hitting underground synergy of Art, Noise, Metal, Math and Progressive music that has a rabid Stoner Fanbase

The fourth LP, and first major label release from Sulari's Martel Strokes titled AtWar was an unanticipated response to the Art and New Wave hegemony which has dominated Kalistan's record racks and airwaves for the past decade or so. Rather, one could say that it is the bastard child of those and about half a dozen other sub genres which have been circulating. While the staunchly underground (until now) band has routinely escaped careful classification, there can be no doubt about it: the band has a massive stoner fan base, and represents something of an anti-RF which has been percolating, and occasionally bubbling into the mainstream. And this week, their most recent release hit number 14 on the Hot 100 Album Charts, the most prestigious music poll in the Empire. It debuted two weeks ago at Number 93.

"This is a band with solid metal cred," said critic Kristi Valdes, of KRM. "But Martel Strokes has also incorporated groove with its feet solidly in the dance tradition, as well as psychedelic industrial metal in its trippy production and something one might even call skits(?) in the middle of the record, where some menacing Dundorfian narrator gives the recipe for hashish-infused chocolate chip cookies (Track 10's "Und Keine Ei"), as well as progressive traditions and song structures, as well as a lot of Art, with a lot of its non-traditional instrumentation and tuning, like another 'skit' where a romantic piano motif plays over a beach sound, with Egelian voice actor Rafael Muñoz-Alarcón, speaking heavily-accented Vrassan into an answering machine, reads one of the actual pieces of hate mail the band received earlier in its career."

The album is essentially super loud and technically complex math rock with weird time signatures and polyrhythmic beats, and there is definitely not a lot of bands doing this at the moment in Kalistan. "It borrows from thrash," continued Valdes, "it borrows from Noise, it borrows from Alternative. And yet, even with all those roots in all those genres, it still isn't a 'something for everyone' band. The people who like this band just love this band, and the people who don't get it tend to really hate it, even if you are a fan of any one of those subgenres itself. And the people who love this record, 1) all smoke tons of weed, and 2) hope you will love this band too. On the one hand, it doesn't take itself too seriously at all, and is weird and kind of funny in parts, and on the other hand, you could say it takes itself way too seriously, like it has no chill at all."

Some would argue this music is a backlash against the New Wave of RF driven club music, which is primarily consumed by and is primarily preferred by female fans, especially young female fans. "Go to a Martel Strokes show any night in Sulari and you probably aren't gonna see a woman or a girl within two miles of that place," said Valdes. "Its agro, and even kind of a little emo, really. It sounds like the lead guitarist plays his instrument with a hammer on occasion. The staccato crunch of these guitars and machine gun quality of the drums sounds pretty industrial at times, really doesn't attract a lot of female fans, and occasionally sounds like music for dudes who can't get dates."

But this is not to say that Martel Strokes attracts no female listeners--Record sales themselves put the lie to that. "I think the girls who may drift toward this band often like guys who are into it, but the ones that choose it themselves are probably tired of being treated like idiots by the pop music industry in this nation, and want something a little more challenging. Speaking for myself, that's what I found attractive about it. It asks me to think a little-- It's head music--music for smart people. I appreciate that, even if it is abrasive."

The band itself proved to be notoriously elusive when we tried to get them to comment on their record's success. During the interview with lead singer Kevin Brandon of Sulari, he didn't really have a lot to say:

KRM: Kevin, this record represents a major departure for music these days, away from the largely electronic driven sounds of RF. Can you tell us what you were going for here?

KB: No.

KRM: No?

KB Yeah. No.

KRM: Do you have any influences that inspired you to make music like this?

KB: Yeah.

KRM: Who were they?

KB: Musicians...

The interview went downhill from there.

Brandon and the band's hostility toward the music press aside, what is clear was that the band's rabid fans have been at the center of pushing this non-standard band to the forefront. Following release of the record, ARC, the label that signed the band to record this album, announced that they intended to work with the band to create videos, but word got out, and there was a massive three day online campaign by their fans which saw more than 85,000 posts in just 65 hours where fans threatened to boycott ARC if Martel Strokes released videos from this record. Most of the messages involved comments like "Don't steal our scene" and "If you want to see the band play, go to their shows and support actually independent artists" and "Videos are fascism. No Sell out."

The Campaign ended with a message from Martel Strokes' verified KaliBirdApp account where the band reaffirmed its commitment to never make a video for any song on the album. The post also included a link where people could go to download the record for free, using the code "#ArtIsNotForSale." The band's response caused the label to very publicly threaten to sue to recuperate recording, promotional and distribution costs of the very expensive record (some say it cost more than ₭1.2 million imperial rubles to record, most of which was fronted by the label,) but an agreement was settled in four days and the post was taken down. It was estimated that the record was downloaded more than 250,000 times during the four days, leading to massive physical media sales, and propelling the underground album into the upper reaches of the top 20 in just two weeks.

Audio videos have been released by ARC so the album can keep exposure on streaming services, which seems to be the compromise reached between ARC and the band. All the controversy around the album has made this one of ARC's best selling LPs in years when controlling for length of time it has been out. And it threatens to make the misanthropic stoner Art rockers household names. To further promote the record, ARC and Martel Strokes have agreed to release one song as a single to radio. It's an unlikely choice on an album of unlikely choices. It's called "The Shakes" and is about a cataclysmic seismic event breaking southern Suldanor off of the rest of Kalistan Proper and sinking it to the bottom of Ananto Strait. It is a not-serious-serious allegorical criticism against hyper-materialism and consumerism in coastal Suldanor.

"What a weird topic for a lead single," said Valdes. "But: It's number 36 this week on the Radio 1 Top 40 Singles chart, so, it must resonate with some people."

You can check out Martel Strokes' AtWar recorded and distributed by ARC right here in full, and check out the "Video" such as it is for the single "The Shakes" below as well as the B-Side "My Shadow" right here.

[Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHcmnowjfrQ]
Martel Strokes' "The Shakes", the first, and likely only single to Radio from the new album AtWar

[Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIuZUCpm9hc]
B-Side "My Shadow" which threatens to crack the Top 40 Singles Chart right behind "The Shakes": it sits at 68 right now in the poll

@KalistaniRawkMonthly