One thing I love about having someone else curate Ball of Wax (again, a thousand thank-yous to curator extraordinaire Mia Rose Malone for the job she’s done assembling volume 70) is that I’m exposed to bands, sounds – hell, entire genres – that likely wouldn’t have made their way to my ears otherwise. I pride myself on the genrelessness of this series – we’ve had some heavy, experimental, and dark music here and there over the years – but a few of the projects on this volume are a whole new level of sonic intensity, and I am loving it.
Which brings us to the pummeling barrage of orchestrated mayhem that is “Potnia Theron.” The two members of Kihalás fuse multi-amped guitar, drums, and their voices together into a through-composed monolith of sound, that despite the many changes and breakneck tempo, manages to weave an almost trance-inducing soundscape. Over six or so minutes, if you let yourself, you may look deep inside yourself and journey millennia back (or forward) through the ages to stand awestruck before Potnia Theron, “Mistress of Animals, called Artemis Orthia, Cybele, Seated Woman of Çatalhöyük, and others.” Thank you, Kihalás, for taking us on this voyage, and thank you Mia for bringing Kihalás into the Ball of Wax fold.