Mettā by Rooteo & Mahura

Mettā is a Pakrit word meaning benevolence; it is also an important concept in Buddhist and Hindu scripture, the practice of meditating to direct amity outwards. As the title of the debut album from the duo of Rooteo & Mahura for Made in Green Records, it captures the atmosphere of their expansive, dub-oriented sound, which reaches outwards while maintaining its deep, meditative sensibility.

The Eastern feeling doesn’t stop at the title: the buzzing, tamboura-like electronics of the ambient-dub highlight ‘Sharing Vibes’ suggest expansive mysticism, as do the finely-manipulated droning electronics of ‘Earth Vibration’ or the strings, tablas, and odd tonalities of opener ‘Ceremonia’ and closer ‘Harmal’, which brings the album full-circle. The influence remains audible throughout the album, but this is far from another Eastern pastiche, especially in the its second half where more propulsive tendencies take over, blurring the line between techno and world sounds from Jamaica to Berlin to Mumbai. Tracks like ‘Sincrotune’, where a forceful dub techno architecture underlies more aggressive, experimental electronics, positions itself between the East and outer space, and the deft, otherworldly synthesizer swells of ‘Caxixi’ play counterpoint with its more traditional ethnic sounds. ‘Psychofunk’ clearly puts the duo in its proper European context, a Spanish sampled vocal, funky house bassline, and dark, bass-heavy talkbox vocoder lines taking the album onto the dancefloor.

With its contrasting halves and careful assemblage of wide-ranging world influences synthesized with expertly-wrought, cutting edge production, Rooteo & Mahura’s work sits easily alongside other celebrated electronic fusion albums while exceeding many of them in quality. Whether for meditation at home or in the motion of the dance, Mettā is an accomplished debut for both the duo and Made In Green and a solid foundation for things to come.