A bandcamp.com advert for a band called Mnajdra definitely got my attention. Being a history buff and a lover of metal, my first thought was, how on earth have I missed this Maltese band? Though very rich in history, Malta is a small island right in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea and everyone knows anybody else in the local metal community. Curious on how this secret was so well kept I delved further and noticed that the band was based in the United States of America. Having inquired with local guru, DJ Noel Mifsud, who also had no knowledge of Mnajdra, I took it up on myself to contact the band and here is what the band spokesperson had to say:
Musically speaking, Mnajdra basically formed from leftover ideas of other projects. I've got a lot of other things I do and ended up with a pile of incomplete songs and parts that didn't seem to fit anywhere else. They were good ideas that I liked quite a bit so I decided to start something new to see where those songs could go and if they could gel together. That's why the first album has a bit of variety in it. The mix of black, death, doom, etc.
In terms of the name Mnajdra and the concept of the material, I've visited Malta a few times and absolutely love everything about it. The culture, history, architecture, temples, all of it. Malta has a such a mysterious nature about it that gets overlooked by the bigger and more talked about ancient cultures like Egypt, Greece, Rome, the Vikings, and so on. I thought it would be fun to explore Malta's ancient temple period for lyrical inspiration and sort of fill in the blanks of who the builders may have been and imagining what their gods were like and what the purpose of everything was.
Initially it was going to be just a one-off album but it ended up going over incredibly well with the people that heard it. One music writer gave it his album of the year nod which blew my mind. So at that point I figured why not do more? Malta has such a rich history the ideas of where it could go are endless. Ancient Malta's culture of goddess worship is fascinating so I decided to explore that next, hence the second album being titled In the Name of the Goddess. The songs touch on various goddesses and female figures that are associated with the islands either historically or mythologically. The challenge of the second album was actually intentionally writing music from scratch that fits the same sound since there weren't any leftover ideas to pull from again. So in that regard I feel like this new album sounds more consistent with itself since it was written all together with intent. There is one leftover track titled The Lady of Verdala that will pop up somewhere sooner than later. If the second album goes over well and grows the audience then I'd like to think we'll do more.
We've worked with Fiadh Productions for CDs and cassettes on both albums but we've yet to land a vinyl deal.
The band member identities are being kept anonymous for now to let the project stand on its own.
Well, that is quite the story. It makes me think of how for granted, we Maltese, sometimes take our own history.
The first album, which is self-titled, includes eight tracks and was released on May 1st, 2023 via Fiadh Productions. It is themed around Malta’s prehistory as the song titles attest:
1. The Worshipping Stones
2. Giantess
3. Under Earth
4. Place of the Echo
5. Disorder
6. Sleeping Lady
7. Illumination
8. Golden Gate of the Ecliptic
The album can be found as a digital version and was issued both on cd’s and cassette.
On April 5th, 2024 the band released their single ‘Bastion’. This was followed by another single ‘At Earliest Dawn’, released on May 31st, 2024.
The second full length album is set to be released on August 9th, 2024. Entitled ‘In the Name of the Goddess’, it will consist of eight tracks, including the singles released earlier this year.
1. Mouth of the Wind
2. Bastion
3. Anna Perenna
4. The Maymuna Stone
5. Oracle Chamber
6. At Earliest Dawn
7. Calypso
8. For the Son of Bat, the King
This is another rendering to Maltese history and mythology. It’s a fascinating way to make history known through extreme, yet beautiful music. The magnificent bay of Fomm ir-Riħ; the island’s unassailable bastions, dating back to the period of the Knights of St. John; Anna Perenna and the last track ‘For the Son of Bat, the King’, both have connections to Malta through Virgil’s Aeneid.; the Maymuna Stone, a beautiful 12th century tombstone found in Gozo; the mysterious underground burial place of the Hypogeum , with its magnificent Oracle Chamber; At earliest dawn is a translation of Ogygian (Calypso’s island) and Calypso is all about the nymph, that had her adobe on the island of Gozo. Well, if you want to learn about the fascinating history of Malta and are allergic to books, here is your chance, courtesy of Mnajdra.
Make sure to visit the band’s bandcamp page https://mnajdra.bandcamp.com/ and help support this project by buying Mnajdra’s music and merch.
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