Lohikarma is a post black metal band from Pakistan. I'm still amazed that metal can thrive even in the harshest of environments. After all, Pakistan is the kind of country where not believing in god is grounds for the death penalty. Also, Lohikarma is nothing new. Metal has existed in Pakistan since 1994, and the frontman of Lohikarma, Waleed Ahmed, is also in a blackened doom metal band named Dionysus, and they've been around since 2010.
This album mainly consists of post metal clean guitars, but there is plenty of black metal to be had. Let's focus on the post metal first, as that makes up a majority of the music. I was never really a fan of post metal, but I really like what they've made here. The riffs have a melancholic tone to them and the drums stick to mid-paced rhythms throughout the album, but there are times when the lead guitar plays these high-pitched melodic notes that sort of remind me of Oak Pantheon and some of the atmospheric black metal bands from Cascadia. (Again, I don't listen to much post metal, so I don't know which comparisons to draw.) On the song “Lemniscate”, the clean guitar played these dark chords that reminded me of depressive black metal. There are even a few solos scattered throughout the song. The offerings are quite diverse, to say the least.
As I said earlier, there isn't much black metal, but the tiny amount of black metal they do play is well-crafted. This can best be heard on the song “Lemniscate”. Since this is a one-man band, I'm not sure if the drums were real or programmed, but I do know they're played with utmost excellence. They keep the time with utmost precision, they can churn out some great fills, and they can unleash blasts and double bass when the time arises. The guitars don't play the usual black metal riffs, instead opting for a more diverse arrangement of chugging, dark rhythms, and noodling. The bass can be heard quite well, plodding along and adding a bolder texture to the music. The most prominent black metal element is the vocals. The guy doesn't tear his throat out, instead sounding more like the whisper of a spirit drifting through an autumn forest.
The other elements are also brilliantly performed. The acoustic guitars give the music an extra bit of flavor and keep things from getting tedious. The clean vocals also add a great deal of flavor to the music. Also, the entire first track is a simple yet beautiful piano piece. There's also a bit of piano on the last track. There are so many elements on this album yet none of them seem out of place. They all fit together in their own way.
Despite having only one EP to their name so far, Lohikarma offer up a great deal of musical skill and variety. The cover art implies hateful and barbaric black metal, but this is wondrous and dreamy post metal mixed with some black metal and a few other elements that come together to create something heartfelt and special. Don't judge an album by its cover, I guess. Who knew something this great could come out of Pakistan?
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