Artist: Kūkāʻilimoku
Country: USA
Label: Goatowarex
Formats: LP / Cassette Tape
Year: 2025
With two releases in 2023 and one in both 2024 and 2025, it is clear that Kūka’ilimoku is slowing down a bit after a rather prolific start with a good few hands full of mainly short players. With the slower pace of releasing also the initial underground hype surrounding Kūka’ilimoku seemed to have died down a bit. Or perhaps the peak in interest has just passed, but given that the cassette tapes and vinyl records are selling out quickly, I doubt that is the case. Either way, last year the enigmatic one-man band delivered its second full-length album and although I have been meaning to review this earlier, I just didn’t get around of doing so. So, thinking better late than never, we’re still going to break down this very interesting follow-up to 2021’s ‘Pahu O ka Ua’.
Although I was really planning this write up closer to this album’s release, the advantage of reviewing things a little later is that you can easier see past YouTube fanatics claiming that every video is their “album of the year”, like I’ve seen with ‘Creation Chant’ as well. Reviewing it now gives a bit more space for retrospection as well, if you’re late anyway, why not taking the time to go through all of Kūka’ilimoku’s full discography?
Some of the previously released output has been reviewed here and some other stuff I bought but never got around for reviewing, but it if you’re actually taking the chance to listen to all, or at least the majority, of this project’s material, you’ll find out that if anything, Kūka’ilimoku is actually frighteningly consistent. There’s obviously material that sounds way rougher and more unpolished than others, but the energy captured in the songs and the crude recordings is what ties this band’s entire discography together.
‘Creation Chant’ is no exception of the exceptional quality offered by Kūka’ilimoku. Like on all the previous output, Kūka’ilimoku’s core business hasn’t changed one inch on this second long player. It is still very much based on very basic rock structures, raucous and rather one-dimensional punk rhythms and harsh vocals, all drenched in a raw and almost lo-fi production. The grittiness of the guitars is what keeps Kūka’ilimoku firmly rooted in Ildjarn’s Black Metal tradition. Yet, with a this album being the first outing with a title in English also comes a slightly more open sound. The sound is still thoroughly rough and most likely unfit for the casual Black Metal fan, but compared to earlier releases, ‘Creation Chant’ sounds surprisingly clear (not clean!) and powerful. That allows the songs to convey an even stronger and more in-your-face energy.
Regardless of the current state of the “hype” around Kūka’ilimoku and whether or not people find this band to be “problematic”, with their Hawaiian nationalism and ties to labels such as ASRAR, it is clear that at least there is no dying down in terms of musical quality. As a whole, ‘Creation Chant’ feels more consistent and coherent than anything the band has done before, also surpassing its predecessor. Now we can only hope that good labels with wider distribution will take Kūka’ilimoku seriously and, last but not least, offer it at a more reasonable price than Goatowarex
