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Reviews

Corima — Humab Ku
(Soleil Zeuhl 63, 2026, CD / DL)

by Jon Davis, Published 2026-04-07

Humab Ku Cover art

Corima recorded the suite of music released on Hunab Ku back in 2017, but its public release had to wait until 2026. I’m not sure about the reason for the delay, and it’s certainly not useful to waste time on might-have-beens, but the bottom line is that this music was bound to be among the best releases of any year when it came out. As with most of Corima’s music, Hunab Ku consists of a number of tracks (seven in this case) which comprise a continuous piece of music, with recurring motifs and moods, but all working together as a unified statement. Anyone familiar with Corima’s particular brand of zeuhl will be at home here. They take some of the qualities inherent in Magma’s best music and put a unique spin on them. Odd-meter riffs churn energetically while violin, saxophone, and vocals soar above the maelstrom, by turns evoking 20th Century composers like Bartok and Stravinsky, jazz visionaries like John Coltrane and John McLaughlin, and rock innovators like King Crimson. The vocals are often dramatic and emphatic, chanting in an indecipherable language that may have elements of ancient Mayan in the mix. At other times, the vocal lines skip around melodically like jazz scatting. I’m going to risk ridicule by saying that this is a party album. It’s obviously not filled with simple good-time grooves that anyone above the age of two can dance to, and there are no lyrics about putting your hands in the air like you just don’t care — it’s more like the soundtrack to a joyous ritual designed to bring forth the often hidden spirit of ecstasy hidden in the human brain. Hunab Ku satisfies on so many levels, whether you’re a musician prone to analyzing the rhythms and harmonies or a more intuitive listener sensitive to the emotional frequencies put out by the musicians. It’s wonderful to have this amazing band back, and hopefully we’ll be treated to new music before too long.

Filed under: New releases, 2026 releases

Related artist(s): Corima

More info
http://corima.bandcamp.com/album/hunab-ku

 

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