| Mamaleek | |
| Landscape: | yes |
| Origin: | San Francisco, CA, U.S. |
| Years Active: | 2008–present |
| Label: | Enemies List., The Flenser |
| Past Members: | Eric Alan Livingston |
| Current Members: |
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Mamaleek is an American experimental metal group from San Francisco, founded in 2008[1] by two anonymous brothers.[2] The name supposedly derives from Arabic, and is the plural of mamluk, or "slave".[3]
In 2011, the band was signed with Enemies List; that year, their album Kurdaitcha topped Leor Galil's "Best Free Albums of 2011" list.[4] The band has released seven albums, and are signed with the San Francisco-based alternative label The Flenser.[3]
Regarding the band's style and genre, Noisey wrote: "It's black metal, but then again, it isn't; there are massive electronic, jazz, and psychedelic influences, as well as pronounced Middle Eastern inclinations in melody and aesthetic".[3] According to Stereoboard, they "are a band like no other....Portishead playing lo-fi metal might be somewhere vaguely near the mark".[2] Galil said they "mix Middle Eastern song structures and samples, atonal experimental and avant-garde accents, guttural metal howls, accessible electronic breakbeats, sludgy doom metal guitar-work, nimble piano interludes, and plenty of pop panache to create an unrelenting, moving sound".[5]
Band member Eric Alan Livingston died on March 6, 2023, at the age of 38.[6]