Tag: Salegy

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: LohArano Shares a Satirical and Politically Charged Ripper

Over the course of the past couple of years of this site’s 13-plus year history, I’ve managed to spill quite a bit of virtual ink on the Antananarivo, Madagascar-based JOVM mainstays LohArano. Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site during that same period, you’d recall that since their formation, the Malagasy metal outfit  — Mahalia Ravoajanahary (vocals, guitar), Michael Raveloson (bass, vocals) and Natiana Randrianasoloson (drums, vocals) — have received attention both nationally and internationally for a unique, boundary pushing sound that features elements of popular and beloved Malagasy musical styles like Tsapiky  and Salegy with heavy metal. 

Continuing upon their reputation for being one of the hardest working and prolific acts in the global scene, the Malagasy trio released the Bae Nosy EP earlier this year, which featured, the urgent, mosh pit friendly EP title track “Bae Nosy.”

Building upon a growing international profile, the Malagasy JOVM mainstays went on to tour across the UK and France. The French tour featured a handful of dates opening for the legendary Fishbone. Along with that, “Bae Nosy” landed airplay from FERAROCK, which broadcasts across France, Switzerland, Belgium and Canada, and 50 other stations globally. The EP’s previous single “Koitra” landed on Spotify’s All New Metal and New Blood playlists, Deezer’s Metal Detector and Women of Metal playlists, Tidal’s New Metal playlist and over 250 other playlists.

The band closes out the year with the standalone single “Velirano.” “Velirano” is power chord-driven, mosh pit ripper fueled by the righteous outrage of people who have been fucked with, beaten down and cheated and have had enough. It’s the sound of young people frustrated with the same ol’ okie doke when the world is on fire, and the elders and authorities don’t have the same urgency.

The band explains that the song sees the band satirizing the contemporary politics and political situation of their homeland. They go on to say that they see their politicians taking advantage of a people living in misery, and are forced to accept whatever crumbs they’re given to survive. In the song, the politician character is — perhaps for the first time — being honest. In some way, the song feels a bit like a contemporary Malagasy version of Living Colour‘s “Cult of Personality,” and The Wall in which the politician reveals a violent, dystopian dictatorial fantasy.

The accompanying video features the band’s Mahalia Ravoajanahary as a sort of headbanging politician at the pulpit ripping it up behind her. Play loud and then open up that pit — right now!

Video by William Ruben Helms

Live Footage: Malagasy JOVM Mainstays LohArano at Trans Musicales, Rennes, France

Antananarivo, Madagascar-based trio LohArano — Mahalia Ravoajanahary (vocals, guitar), Michael Raveloson (bass, vocals) and Natiana Randrianasoloson (drums, vocals) — formed over six years ago, and in that that time, they’ve developed a unique, boundary pushing sound that pairs elements of popular and beloved Malagasy musical styles like Tsapiky  and Salegy with heavy metal.

LohArano’s sound and approach representsa bold generation of Malagasy young that honors and respects the traditions of their elders yet are also inspired by Western music — while roaring with the fierce urgency of our moment.

Over the past couple of years, the Malagasy metal outfit has been very busy: They released their self-titled EP, which “Tandrroka,” a mosh pit friendly ripper, featuring rumbling, down-tuned bass lines, thunderous drumming, scorching guitar riffs and Ravoajanahary’s feral Karen O-like vocals.

They quickly followed up with their full-length debut LohAmboto, which featured the System of a Down-like album title track “LohAmboto,” another mosh-pit friendly ripper that sees the band refining and honing their unique, global take on metal.

The JOVM mainstays closed out last year with their first European tour — and it included a set at Trans Musicales in Rennes, France. The band filmed the set and released it as a concert film last week. While prominently featuring singles like “Andrambavitany” (their debut single), the aforementioned “Tandrroka” and “LohAmboto,” as well as material off their full-length debut. The live footage reveals a trio that plays their rippers with a feral intensity and the self-assuredness of old pros. Play this one loud and headbang your night away, y’all.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Madagasacar’s LohArano Releases Another Mosh Pit Friendly Ripper

LohArano — Mahalia Ravoajanahary (vocals, guitar), Michael Raveloson (bass, vocals) and Natiana Randrianasoloson (drums, vocals) — is a rising Antananarivo, Madagascar-based trio that formed over six years ago. And since their formation, they’ve develop and honed a remarkably unique, boundary pushing sound that meshes elements of popular and beloved Malagasy musical styles — in particular, Tsapiky  and Salegy — with metal. The Antananarivo-based trio’s sound and approach represents a bold, new generation of young people in their homeland, a generation that respects and honors the traditions of their elders but roaring with the fierce urgency that our moment requires.

Building upon the buzz that they received with their debut single “Andrambavitany” and a handful of standalone singles, the members of LohArano released their self-titled debut EP last Friday. The EP’s latest single is “Tandroka” continues a run of enormous, mosh pit friendly rippers centered around a rumbling, down-tuned bass line, thunderous drumming, scorching guitar riffs and Mahalia Ravoajanahary’s Karen O-like vocals, which alternate between feral howls, screeching and shouting. We can’t have mosh pits for a bit longer — but play this one as loud as possible and remember what it was like to be colliding with sweaty bodies in a dark room.

Directed by Andriamanisa Radoniaina, the recently released video follows the trio as the embark on their every day life, from the band’s members getting up to start their day, meet up and rehearse, write material, play a friend’s house party — before moving up to an actual club.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Madagascar’s LohArano Releases a Boldly African Take on Metal

Formed over five years ago, LohArano is an emerging Antananarivo, Madagascar-based trio featuring Mahalia Ravoajanahary (vocals, guitar), Michael Raveloson (bass, vocals) and Natiana Randrianasoloson (drums, vocals)  that specializes in a unique sound that meshes popular and beloved Malagasy music styles — in particular, Tsapiky  and Salegy — with metal.  The Madagascar-based trio’s sound and approach represents a a bold, new generation of young people, who respect the traditions of their elders but while roaring with the urgency of our moment. 

The Madagascar-based trio’s official debut single “Andrambavitany” is centered around a shimmering and looping guitar lines, an enormous power-chord riff-driven, mosh pit friendly hook, thunderous drumming paired with a brash and forceful delivery to create a unique sound: a boldly African take on metal — or a boldly metal take African music that roars, kicks ass and forcefully taking names, but while being defiantly pro-Black and pro-women. “Andrambavitany,” as the trio explains plays on the Malagasy word for “fallen nature of the Malagasy women.”

VThe recently released video is split between footage of young women stripping and the band kicking ass  — with the video expressing a misunderstanding the need for these young women to strip and show off to others on social media. The video points out that a very modern phenomenon among young people everywhere — that everyone is desperate to show off and be an influencer or be popular.