Over the past decade, Kenyan vocalist, songwriter and producer Martin Kanja, AKA Lord Spikeheart, has become a figurehead of the African metal scene cultivating a distinctive blend of guttural growls, screeching screams and gravelly rap verses that seep menacingly through head-banging instrumentals.

His debut album ‘The Adept’, recently released on his own label HAEKALU Records has gained widespread recognition from prestigious media outlets such as The Guardian, BBC Radio, Pitchfork, Arte, Dazed, The Fader, NTS, Crack, Resident Advisor and The Quietus, — captivating audiences globally from East Africa to the rest of the world as a new frontier in extreme music.