New York-based dark rock mavens Vajra (pronounced “vaag-rah”) have returned. The long silence between debut album Pleroma (2012) and the group’s remarkable new album, Irkalla, was the product of a rigorous touring schedule and a complex confluence of unexpected life events that paused vocalist / visionary Annamaria Pinna’s prolific (and profound) songwriting output. Indeed, the creation process for Irkalla pushed forward in the darkest shadows and the most brilliant of lights. That this drive, ambition, and perseverance originate and radiate outward from a self-sufficient—not corralled by a record label—vehicle like Vajra is not only inspiring but mind-bending.
“We have the freedom to musically, lyrically, and visually explore what we are driven to
explore, and to release what we decide to release when the time is right,” offers Pinna. “It’s a
combination of instinct and business. We usually release on auspicious days. For Irkalla, each
release also will be released on a day that is a derivative of three in terms of numerology. For
Pleroma, it was the summer solstice. In terms of content, I see us as travelers who go outside
the bounds of a sense-based perception to catch a musical or lyrical idea and then translate it
to the material realm. When we get out of our own ways, we are translators or conduits for
energies that move through us. Honoring what comes through is important for us.”
Pinna’s complex puzzle of lyrics, music, and themes are always in constant kaleidoscopic motion.
While some pieces of Vajra’s musical picture come together with relative ease, others take time
to marshal into place. The push and pull of the process isn’t nested in time per se. The
songwriting (and overall aesthetic) comes together through surreptitious cosmic provenance and
sheer artistic will. An album, like Irkalla for instance, isn’t merely the sum of its parts. To
wit, Vajra recently released (and internally-produced by bass player Dave Sussman) the video for
“Maya,” the first of several stunning singles. They operate as separate but part of Irkalla’s
whole.
“Things shift and move throughout the album depending on the song and each moment within the
song,” Pinna reveals. “More concretely, we attempt to weave a tapestry of melodic rock with dark
ambient experimental interludes. Perhaps the music and lyrics of Irkalla reflect an esoteric
space to explore the dark night of our souls. What is important is that the music may provide a
portal to go on a journey. The journey will be different for each individual. My musical heroes
have done this for me.”
Throughout Irkalla, Pinna and bandmates Sussman (bass), Al Javier (guitar), Mark Collom
(guitar), and Jimmy DeMarco (drums/percussion) conjure music from a diverse panoply of threads.
At its core, Vajra can be called dark rock, but the spectrum isn’t always pinned to the tinges
of the abyss. Throughout the journey on Irkalla, Vajra paint with vibrant reds (“Maya”), splash
blues and greens (“Irkalla”), project arboreal greens (“Wind”), and weave autumnal oranges
(“Crown or Crucify”). This is possibly a natural outcome of Pinna’s perceptional condition
called Synesthesia, but more likely the varied influences coming into the Vajra camp.
“The influences are varied,” affirms Pinna. “I lived in India for five years, Italy for a
summer, NOLA for three years, and San Francisco for a couple of months. My dad was a monk before
he met my mom. I'm a yogi and mediation person, and I have this condition called Synesthesia,
which affects how I process music. Nature, life, art, Tarkovsky, von Trier, Kubrick, Lynch,
philosophers and consciousness astronauts (e.g., Terence McKenna, Alan Watts, Baba Ram Das,
Joseph Campbell, etc.), mysticism, the occult, history, dance and politics are influences.
Musically, Tool, A Perfect Circle, Om, Classical Hindustani, Alice In Chains, Duran Duran, Black
Sabbath, Deftones, soul music, The Mars Volta, etc.”
Conceptually, Irkalla is the first part of a trilogy exploring the various levels of
consciousness. Not the medical definition, but rather the philosophical (Eastern and Western)
and esoteric. The use of the Sumerian word, “Irkalla,” which is a mythological Underworld of
sorts for which there’s no return, is both metaphorical and literal. The trials and tribulations
Pinna experienced while writing Irkalla appeared overlapping and ceaseless. Her own personal
Hell. Similarly, the lyricist wanted to also venture into the lowest level of consciousness as
theme entwined throughout the album’s six snake-like songs. The metaphoric association to the
ancient Underworld also plays out in the bonus tracks on Irkalla, where Vajra deconstruct their
influences and spirit animals into a three-part music ritual dedicated to the Shadow Queen (her
Sumerian name is Ereshkigal and her Greek counterpart is Hekate).
“Irkalla focuses on the lowest level of consciousness,” Pinna says. “It is the base, material,
selfish, ego aspects of ourselves (i.e., the ego-driven, lie, cheat, steal, aspects of the
self). It is the place that we must shine a light and acknowledge before we move to the next
levels of awareness. Also, I’m obsessed with the Sumerian history right now. I was contemplating
Goddess energy, and when and what prompted what I see as an imbalance between the masculine and
feminine energies. I was wondering what it really meant to have a God and why it was considered,
by some, a ‘He.’ I’m also interested in what is behind the concepts of heaven and hell.”
Irkalla was produced by New York native Daniel ‘Sahaj’ Ticotin (Ra, Mötley Crüe). Pinna was
introduced to Ticotin in 2018 after both were on different spiritual missions while in India.
The twosome hit it off as former expats and with similar interests in music. The majority of the
sessions were captured in Los Angeles, with keyboards and some harmony vocals being put to
proverbial tape at Pinna’s home studio in New York. The drums were also tracked in upstate New
York at a different studio by session drummer and long-time friend Blake Fleming (ex-The Mars
Volta). Based off his impressive work for non-album single, “The Mirror,” Vajra again hired
two-time Grammy winning studio ace Camilo Silva. Between Ticotin’s sage experience as
producer/mixer and Silva’s deft mastering job, Irkalla, with all its hidden caves and
spectacular peaks, sounds positively explosive.
For sure, Vajra have the future pegged to today with the launch of the riveting “Maya” video and
the broadcast of their striking Tas Limur (Volto, Tool) designed cover art. It’s from here that
the adventurous outfit will continue to unfurl angels and demons, light and dark as they prowl
into the release of Irkalla on new indie Thunder Cult Records on January 15th, 2021.
By Chris Dick
Annamaria Pinna - vocals, flute, keys
Mark Collom -guitars
Al Javier - guitars
Jimmy DeMarco - drums
Dave Sussman - bass
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