This Friday at Salon IKSV, we are thrilled to host Kenyan vocalist, songwriter, and producer Lord Spikeheart, for his first performance in Turkey. Lord Spikeheart has become one of the prominent figures in the African metal scene, cultivating a distinctive blend of guttural growls from the death metal tradition, screeching screams, and gravelly rap verses that resonate menacingly through head-banging instrumentals — a hard-hitting encapsulation of industrial, death metal, grindcore, African traditional rhythms, and club sounds. His work has gained international recognition from major platforms such as The Guardian (which named his album The Adept one of the 10 best global albums of 2024), BBC Radio, Pitchfork, Arte, Dazed, The Fader, NTS, Crack, Resident Advisor, and The Quietus. Completing this highly energetic night are the equally explosive Frozen Clouds, who consistently amaze audiences with their energy, and Human Scum/Golem, a hugely influential musician and DJ for over two decades, who released his new album in September. TESTING GROUND is a month-long series unfolding like a slow festival, tracing cultural rhythms across the city’s selected venues and art spaces. Each event breathes out its own messaging and preserves it through printed publications and digital artifacts. In an era that favors speed, TG originates from fatigue and overlapping acts, aiming to create the right conditions for a resonant rhythm—one that trusts in time, listening, and chance encounters. Year Zero, along with its Istanbul-based radio station, Year Zero Radio, hosts a constellation of artists, musicians, and publishers who have constructed autonomous worlds driven by care, persistence, and a dedication to creation even as the world accelerates around them. The program features workshops, panels, screenings, and performances in addition to the artists’ presentations. Poster design by Brodie Kaman and NMR in collaboration