Pre-columbian fantasy, spanish religious horror, and psychedelic black metal

Monthly recommendations #3

“Black Sun” by Rebecca Roanhorse

This is an epic tale, modern fantasy at its finest. But instead of the more common “european-insipred/biased” worlds that the bulk of classical fantasy offers, this book’s novelty comes from the sources of the cosmology, folkore, and culture that inspired it; the pre-Columbian world of America… and yet, even when I enjoyed it, when I loved seeing the worlds of the Diné (Navajo) and the Inca in it, I missed something.

The thing is that I had huge expectations for the politics presented in this book. Not because of any previous review of “Black Sun”, nor because someone told me it was particularly interesting in this regard. I was just searching for a fantasy world that presented me with alternatives to the social organization of our present-day world, something that diverged from the imperialistic view that most fantasy assumes.

The book does not try to do what I wanted it to do, which is obviously fine. It is totally my expectations’ fault, as the sources of inspiration for the book didn’t suggest anything different from what the book presented. For their part, the Incas were an empire, and it makes total sense that if they are part of the sources of your fantasy world, imperialism will be part of it.

But not all pre-Columbian communities were imperialist, and there is evidence of people who were organized in very different ways throughout the extensive history of pre-Columbian America (for example, Teotihuacan, that for centuries seems to have maintained a somewhat “egalitarian” system, with mechanisms for preventing the emergence of “charismatic leaders” and centralization of power).

One thing that this book did amazingly for my taste was how it introduced its world. There was no info dump, no awkward dialogues to make evident for the reader what this world was like. It was subtle; you were discovering the world through the manners of characters, through the ways they moved in the world, and from how the towns were laid out. And from all the air left between the blank spaces, it felt expansive, a complicated breathing world.

I think if you're looking for a fantasy that isn't “euro-inspired” or have a bit of curiosity about the pre-Columbian world, this could be a very interesting read.

“Blasphemous” by The Game Kitchen

I played this game some months ago, but I wanted to recommend it because it informed a lot of what I did for Dead-Holy-Wheeled-Towns.

The game is a “metroidvania” (2d platformer of non-linear exploration), but with a touch of “Dark Souls” on the way its combat flows (a lot of parrying, sliding, and jumping around).

The world and its art are heavily inspired by Spanish Catholicism, a body-horror twisted version of it (although real Catholicism does not fall short in that regard).

In the game, you play as “The Penitent One”, who searches for the “Final Relic” during “The Miracle”, a supernatural event that changed the world, manifesting as blessings and curses on the living and the land.

"And thus, guilt, repentance, mourning and every pain of the soul of all kind were visibly and tangibly manifested, everywhere and in all of us. Sometimes in the form of blessing and grace, sometimes in the form of punishment and corruption. That divine will, equally pious and cruel, which we could not and will never be able to unravel, was called The Miracle."

If you think that this sounds like “Vice Incarnated” or “Sentient Relics”, you are right.

Also, you fight your enemies with a sword called “Mea Culpa”, and you are accompanied by a soundtrack that relies on “Spanish-style” acoustic guitar, making it all feel dark, esoteric, and meaningful.

Kudos to Juan Miguel López Barea, the artist behind Blasphemous, and Carlo Viola, composer of the soundtrack, as well as the team of “The Game Kitchen” for this amazing game.

“Mestarin kynsi” by Oranssi Pazuzu

This is an album I’ve been banging a lot this month. I discovered it a couple of years ago, and for me, it opened the door to more extreme corners of metal, especially black metal.

It is dynamic, it is dark, it has a psychedelic feeling to it, and I think that “psychedelic black metal” may be a good approximation to what its sound is.

It’s dynamism —mixing hypnotic loops of short motives, ghostly effects on the background, bass-heavy grooves (that may even be akin to triphop bass lines), a voice in eternal pain, chaotic build-ups that reach powerful climaxes— all of it gives the feeling of a journey to the depts of a twisted dimension, be it a dungeon of infinite corridors, or the darker corners of outer space.

I think that this is why it has become the soundtrack to much of what I've written for “No Peace for the Heathens” over the past few weeks.

I hope to see them live in autumn and cross in communion with others the gates to the strange dimension they summon with their music.

You can buy “Mestarin kynsi” and listen to it on Bandcamp.