South African slamming deathcore giants Vulvodynia have unleashed the official music video for their hard-hitting track “The Randlord,” taken from their latest album ‘Entabeni,’ released earlier this summer via Unique Leader Records.
“The Randlord” is a sonic onslaught that showcases Vulvodynia’s brutal yet technically excellent approach to extreme metal. The track dives into the darker aspects of South Africa’s history, with a title that references the magnates who exploited the country’s gold and diamond resources in the late 19th century. The accompanying video is as intense as the track itself, featuring live footage from various stops on the band’s recent US run with Fallujah, using the the pure, unadulterated ferocity of the Vulvodynia live experience to backdrop the theme of the track.
Vulvodynia vocalist Lwandile Prusent comments on the release:
“The Randlord is written from the perspective of a wealthy, glutinous, maniacal, narcissist who has discovered that mass monetary gain directly coincides with absolute positions of power. The concept is based on the European financiers and capitalists who took control of the diamond and gold mining industries in South Africa from the late 1800s.
We wanted the vibe of this track to have a certain braggadocious swagger whilst simultaneous showcasing the brainwashed perspective of the citizens that have turned into devoted followers of The Rand Lord.
During our most recent North American tour with Fallujah we filmed all the footage of this video in various venues to multiple amazing crowds. After the release of this video we are set to hit the road once again this September and bring our live show to Australia and New Zealand.”
“Randlord” is the latest single from ‘Entabeni,’ an album that has been heralded as Vulvodynia’s most ambitious and cohesive work to date. The record is deeply rooted in African folklore and history, exploring the intersection of myth and reality through the lens of extreme metal. Earning multiple 9/10 reviews from the like of Ghost Cult Magazine who state “To say the record is “heavy” is insulting. Vulvodynia don’t do heavy, they do “massive enough that it would exceed the maximum capacity for modern elevators.”, New Transcendence, who call the album ” A lesson in savagery from start to finish,” and claim that “Vulvodynia have brought to the world one of the few can’t-miss records of 2024.” Dead Rhetoric who assert that “Entabeni is an easy nod for the strongest extreme metal release of the year.”
Reflecting on the album’s significance, Vulvodynia states,
“Entabeni is a very important album for us, it sees us at crossroads in our career. We’ve fully embraced the idea of writing as a collective, exploring every member’s ideas, experiences and formed them all together to create what we think is our most ambitious album yet. We wanted to explore the concept of African folklore on this album and based a lot of the songs off of old stories found in poems, books and even through word of mouth from our vocalist Lwandile’s older family members.”
Entabeni Track Listing
Imbawula
Devil Tree
The Randlord
It Follows
Isandlwana (feat. David Simonich of Signs of The Swarm)
Mamlambo
Adamaster (feat. Kyle Medina of Bodysnatcher)
Entabeni (feat. Damonteal Harris of Peeling Flesh)
Mangled and Maimed
Generational Segregation