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Music

Corrosive Club Beats Meet Heavy Metal on House of Kenzo's New EP

The San Antonio collective's 'Bonfires of Urbanity' comes out this week on Rabit's Halcyon Veil imprint.
Photo by Kristel Orta Puente

After making a name for themselves in Texas' underground experimental performance scene, San Antonio multidisciplinary arts collective House of Kenzo have shared a new EP, which builds on their vision of "fearless expression in order to help realize awareness." Out July 7 on Houston producer Rabit's imprint Halycon Veil, Bonfires of Urbanity features three corrosive, club-ready songs from LEDEF and Tone Padron. "Melania Carry" is an extreme metal-inspired track channeling "pure rage, shade, and opposition," while elsewhere, the release marries the short-but-sweet punishment of a hardcore punk 7" with the kind of frantic sound design you might hear in a Transformers film.

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Over email, the crew told THUMP how the project came together during a 2017 SXSW performance discussing city planning.

"Tony [Tone Padron] and Gemel [LEDEF] began creating music on a frequency of rejection, deception, and destruction by integrating elements from the region we come from. Texas has experienced so many physical, structural, cultural, and internal battles and this project is scoring that devastation. Fusing heavy metal double bass with a cunt disposition is natural when you realize that it is a war out here and we must battle in order to build. Dark, dirty, ruby red roots embodying the architectural virus. The amalgamation of populous meeting progress. Show me your body. Build me up and break me apart."

Stream Bonfires of Urbanity below, and if you live in Houston, catch House of Kenzo at Walter's on July 14 with Rabit, Elysia Crampton, B L A C K I E, and more (tickets here).

Bonfires of Urbanity Tracklist:

1. LEDEF - Purity Bynez
2. Tone Padron - Melania Carry
3. LEDEF - Hangar Queen

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