Sheffield sludge trio Kurokuma are heading out on tour with Dvne tomorrow, and to celebrate, they’ve teamed up with Terrorizer for an exclusive listen to their crushing cover of Kraftwerk’s ‘Radioactivity’…

After turning heads with their supremely heavy debut EP ‘Advorsus’ last year, Kurokuma have been hitting the road, performing their inventive, psychedelic and physically flattening riffs up and down the country. ‘Radioactivity’, the title track from German electronic pioneers Kraftwerk’s fifth studio album from 1975, might not be the most obvious choice for a sludge cover, but Kurokuma manage to retain the original’s melancholic atmosphere whilst making it all their own – not to mention a fuck of a lot heavier too.

When asked why they chose this Kraftwerk song in particular to cover, drummer Joe E. Allen had this to say:

“This was recorded during the sessions for Advorsus but we only recently decided to polish it up and add some visuals. We followed the structure of the original fairly closely but simplified the lyrics – this is the first track of ours where George [Ionita, bass/vocals] screams in Romanian. The track reminds me personally of being in Japan during the Fukushima crisis in 2011. The repercussions of that and other nuclear disasters are real, even if society at large chooses to continue to ignore them.”

Guitarist/vocalist Jake Mazlum added:

“The original is hauntingly desolate and embodies the unnatural corruption of the world we live in. Each member of the band finds extremity, darkness, wonder and significance in various places to inspire us, and the decision to harness the desolation of this particular Kraftwerk track was a conscious statement in demonstration of this.”

Check it out below…

If you’re not familiar with the original, you can compare and contrast it below…

Kurokuma play the following dates with Dvne this month:

Friday 14th April – Musical Vision, Aberdeen (w/ Death Watch)
(Event page)
Saturday 15th April – Bannerman’s, Edinburgh (w/ Seas, Starry and Somaesthesia)
(Event page)
Friday 21st April – Pi Bar, Leicester (w/ Temple of Lies)
(Event page)
Saturday 22nd April – Doom Over Dewsbury all-dayer at The Old Turk, Dewsbury (w/ Foetal Juice, Battalions and more)
(Event page)
Sunday 23rd April – Stag and Hounds, Bristol (w/ Lacertilia and CTBKM)
(Event page)

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