Jarboe is an artist that is very much at the mercy of her collaborators; a strong band behind her and she flourishes but accompanied by a weaker artist she flounders. This has made for a patchy career, the dizzying power of her performances with Swans has not been a constant presence in her work but in recent years her work with Neurosis and Larsen has shown that her drive is still there. Her latest album sees her play with a group that can be every bit as crushing as any other modern metal band and also allow Jarboe’s softer side to shine through.
Jarboe’s group for Mahakali includes all three members of Dysrhythmia as well as Josh Graham from Red Sparrowes/A Storm of Light/Neurosis. Thus, the heavier parts of Mahakali sound like a typical Neurot Records band but thankfully never quite as derivative. Strings by way of Julia Kent and Kris Force and the inclusion of decidedly non-metal rhythms expand the range of the music which allows Jarboe to try out lots of different styles of vocals throughout the album. This is a good and a bad thing. Yes, there are some great performances by her on many of the tracks and arguably they are some of her best. Equally, there are a couple of absolutely dreadful moments that do their best to sour one of her best albums in years. Jarboe herself is to blame for only one such moment as she attempts some bizarre child-like out of key mewling on “Bornless,” which completely sits askew on top of the music (which is terrific).
Luckily this sort of outburst is a rarity and elsewhere she puts on a stunning performance whether it is her commanding lead vocals on songs like “The House of Void (Visceral Mix)” or her haunting backing vocals on the pieces where she takes a backseat. Her intensity is matched by the music, her backing musicians reciprocating her performance perfectly and vice versa. The last times she has been matched by such a confident band was with Neurosis and before that with Swans. It says a lot that she has worked with many different artists from the extremes of rock but only a few can keep up with her. She has always had a powerful and decisive voice so it is no surprise that on “Ascend,” when she sings of the sky opening up, she sings with such fervor and energy that it is difficult not to go outside and check that the sky is still there.
Jarboe has invited two other vocalists to contribute to a track each to varying effect. Attila Csihar’s vocals on “The Soul Continues” are not his best but in the context of the song they work well enough. Once the group gets their groove on, the piece quickly goes from being just a showcase for Csihar’s menacing growls to being a truly heavy and ominous piece. The other guest vocalist on Mahakali came as a surprise to me as Phil Anselmo strikes me as the antithesis of Jarboe; the “is he/isn’t he racist?” figurehead of meathead metal is a million miles away from what I would expect her to be associated with. If he was a good vocalist I could look past his dubious persona but his voice has not improved since his days in Pantera or Down and “Overthrown” features some of the most overwrought and hammy vocals ever committed to disc. Yet, as with Csihar, the song does blossom when the music gets going and once Jarboe starts wailing in the background it is amazing.
One annoying thing about the album is that there are three different versions depending on the territory and packaging. The US digipack version (the one this review was based on) is different to the US jewel case version and both are again different to the European version. This is unnecessary and not what I would expect of the artists involved. I am not angry, just disappointed.
Overall, Mahakali is one of Jarboe’s best albums but is unfortunately marred by some less than stellar vocals on some tracks. However, these are mainly out of Jarboe’s hands and the good parts outweigh the bad by a considerable margin. Jarboe should definitely do a repeat performance with these guys as they are a perfect fit for her style of singing.
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