When you grew up in a country with such diverse cultural roots, it would seem almost impossible not to turn to them for inspiration. Kariwa, an emerging band from the highlands of Colombia, turned their in our pre-columbine heritage, more accurately, in the deep rain forest of the Amazon and Orinoco river Basin. This Friday, Kariwa will release the video for their first single called ‘Metal-É’ at Acido Bar in Bogotá, Colombia.
The name of the band is inspired by a column written in the sixties regarding where two colonists were murdered by a tribe that was displaced from their ancestral home to the deepness of the rain forest to escape from the western world and eventual slavery of the Native-Americans. The tribe remained unknown for several decades until the rubber industry and illegal lumberjacks decided to explore the forest looking for new territories. The encounter did not go well as you may imagine. As a result, there was the rediscovery of a lost word used by the Amazon tribes regarding the white conquerors and their culture, the “Kariwa Pica” which meant ignorant white people.
That term was later used in several articles and journal chronicles depicting how indigenous people view our western culture and its lack of connection and respect for Mother Nature. In 2013, Mauricio Ramiréz (drums, ex-Patazera), Juan Pablo Chaparro (bass, Dia de Los Muertos), and Nicolas Vargas (guitars/voice) decided to create a music project based on extreme metal and Colombian folklore music. During the creative process of their debut EP ‘Blanco Ignorante’, Nicolas Vargas left the band, being replaced for the recording period by Alejandro Corredor serving as well as producer of the EP. In 2014, singer Jose Luis Jimenez (Aire Como Plomo) joined the band as a permanent singer. From 2014 to 2015, the band worked in created the songs for their debut album ‘10,000 years’, which also meant testing different guitar players, finally settling with Ricardo Salamanca, who recorded the tracks.
Musically speaking, Kariwa has embraced a sound basis given by extreme metal and explored the nuances provided by other musical genres, more specifically those in Colombian folklore, which includes indigenous flavors, African percussion, and Spanish instrumentation.
[blockquote cite=”Kariwa”]Kariwa comes from the phrase ‘Kariwa Pica’ (Ignorant White). That is how some Amazonian ethnic groups refer non-indigenous people, who cannot survive in the jungle by their means. Beyond that, it alludes to a human being that is not in balanced with his/her environment, which is the way we see our species nowadays. The music is framed in the genre ‘Metal-É’, it is a development of this idea by exploring different metal elements and going deeper in various emotions and issues in this journey we call life.[/blockquote]
This Friday, Kariwa will make a pre-release party of their first official video called ‘Metal-É’ in preparation for the release of their debut album ‘10,000 years.’ The video was filmed in November 2015 with the participation of several fans that had met Kariwa in their life performances during 2014 and 2015. The release party will be held at Acido Bar at 20:00. Entrance is free, so feel free to check them out.
