Frostvore - Drowned by Blood (2020)

We've heard the influence of Swedish death metal worldwide in the past, particularly in the German, Finnish, and North American scenes, but I cannot recall having heard Japan take a spin on it 'til Tokyo's Frostvore. The hope here is the regional differences will take the popular guitar tone of this niche and come up with something interesting in turn, and while I don't know that that is 100% the case with this debut album, it's definitely not the most blatantly unoriginal use of the aesthetics. The cover art is strange and creepy, with that blood-limned celestial body spreading a sanguine gloom over the smokestacks and corpse-piled landscape, gore and gravestones and even what looks like a skeletal titan chained to the sky in the distance, and various maws and eyes emerging from the heaps of bodies. Unnerving, with eye catching color.

Is the music as great as the cover? Hardly, but it's got a hustle to it that reminds me of other bands in the Swedish throwback style I've enjoyed like Bastard Priest or LIK. The idea is to take those formative, early Nihilist and Entombed releases, make them a little more raw, almost punkish within the d-beat fold, though more in the drum-beats, as their riffs are a little choppier thank your Discharge derivatives. Apply a bunch of strong, forceful melodies and some slower, roiling classic death metal riffs in the vein of old Chuck's debut, and you've got something which should appeal to devotees of this death denomination. I like the guitar sound, as familiar as it is, but it's a bit thinner and more atmospheric than some comparable bands, and the lower, chugging guitars sequences in spots like the intro to "Extreme Cold Torture" or the breakdown of the title track sound devastating. It's also very even, the melodies are just as corpulent as the rhythm guitars, rather than just being these weaker threads woven though the churning substrate. The drums and bass don't quite dazzle me, they do their job, but it's the guitars and the moments where they do branch into their own thing (the epic bridge of the title track) that really impress the most.

Vocally, it's definitely got a hoarse, abusive style similar to L-G Petrov, but maybe more energized and raunchy and with a little less of the phrasing and character. It's fully hostile and fits really well to the apocalyptic thrust of the tunes. The band also gets some credit for variation, they definitely try to swap tempos and moods with the bleeding, faster pieces offset by a slow, dark chugger like "Eroded Mind", and thus it's a well-considered debut. As someone who does often grow exhausted with this style, I admit that lately it hasn't been quite so saturated, so Drowned by Blood was fairly enjoyable, not exactly a unique progression to the Swedish niche, but balanced and checking off a lot of the boxes of what we so enjoy about those old records in the early 90s. If that's your thing then this one is worth hearing.

Verdict: Win [7.75/10]

https://www.facebook.com/frostvorejapan/

Outrage - Run Riot (2020)

Outrage could safely be considered an institution of Japanese thrash metal, with almost 35 years of experience and recordings behind them, no massive gaps between releases, no sizeable breaks of any sort, very little if any deviation from their chosen path; yet they've gone virtually unnoticed in the rest of the world beyond the microscopic (but always increasing) niche of metalhead Japanophiles. Even then, this is not a band that fits into any of the major trends of their own country's metal scene writ large...they're not visual kei artists, they're not playing the blistering, trendy symphonic power metal nor are they a mashup of extreme groove metal and some idol group. I can recall a day when I'd read mention of them as a 'next Metallica', probably around their old albums like Black Clouds and Blind to Reality, back in some old metal or skater rag, but as with most such predictions and appraisals, it turns out only Metallica was the next Metallica...

That's fine, because Outrage is still pretty good, and Run Riot, their 14th full-length effort, doe just what its title advertises, a molten hybrid of thrash and speed metal aesthetics which doesn't sound like the band members have aged a day since that late 80s era. If you're looking for complex song structures or nuanced riffs, this is not exactly the band for you, but if you want simple, predictable, catchy energy drenched in wild lead guitars and charismatic barking thrash/hardcore vocals, that's all here. Noaki Hashimoto, who has fronted the band for most of its career, has a nice timbre which ranges from mid-ranged grit to a higher scream, and although his accent does naturally mold his delivery, the lyrics are hammered out clearly and don't delve into Engrish. He's often got some solid gang shouts backing him up and ultimately they get a broader selection of vocal weapons than you'd expect from the style. The guitars are a mesh of pure old blitzkrieg US thrash circa 80s Metallica, and bluesier speed/heavy metal which would make Lemmy and company blush; naturally this might create a split identity for the band, but somehow the strong studio mix and the vocals hold it all together into one unified, fist flailing brawl with cuts like "Cyclops" and the hilarious titled "Supernaturally Outlaw of the Cosmic Void" providing ear candy for anyone who likes their thrash metal straightforward and effective.

If they have any faults, it's only that they can occasionally get a little overly silly like "Science Spirit Hits" which is more like Butthole Surfers style rock & roll, but even that is catchy here, and I rather like how the effects on his vocals kind of evolve as he gets angrier, and it's some mean driving music either way. Surely there's nothing present on Run Riot that would surprise anyone that had heard the band's music before, only that the band hasn't had a wider reach. It's not like they do anything more crazy or special than other, comparable bands, but from front to back this is just a fun album with enough versatility that it never gets boring across the 44 minutes and change. I usually check out all the band's albums as they arrive, because I've always had a fondness for the veteran Japanese bands like this one, or Loudness, or Anthem, and I'd have to say this is one of the best they've come out since their first three. It's about as un-pretentious as it gets, and there aren't a lot of unique riffs that will stick out for long, but it's perfect for your Corvette cruises, or at least the dreams you have of having them.

Verdict: Win [7.25/10]

https://outrage-jp.com/

Jurassic Jade - Wonderful Monument (2000)

Jurassic Jade has always been one of those fringe Japanese thrash bands that I'd place alongside a Doom, Gargoyle, or an Aion, so clearly trying to shed the conventional European or American influences, or at least morph them into something more distinct and avant-garde. Some of these bands did this better than others, and I can't say these guys were one of them. Probably best known for their 1989 full-length debut Gore, and for their front woman Hizumi, who has such an angry, barking delivery style that I find it almost impossible to determine her gender from the vocals. Not that I need to, but I feel kind of bad about that, because she's just got such a crazy, spastic attack on her voice, flying in and out of pitch and structure...even when she's calming down and singing something more clearly and have a hard time telling. Credit to her for that.

Wonderful Monument is obviously an album that arrived well past the 'death' of the thrash genre, or at least the 'temporary' death throughout the 90s, so you can hear how they latch onto all manner of disjointed, influences, making for one hell of an ADD-riddled, insane record that uses thrash only as its core blueprint. In fact, a lot of this album seems like a mutation of metal, punk, grind, mathcore and even stuff like funk somewhere in its DNA strands. All of this is unified by Hizumi's vocals, which range from a raving, pissed off hardcore/grindcore bark to some punkish vocals not unlike a Japanese Johnny Rotten. The riff-set is all over the place, with lots of bouncy rhythms that embed a layer of generic and uninteresting dissonance into the chord selections. Whereas a band like Doom was capable of coming up with interesting stylistic fusions into the riffs, I find that the guitars on this album are one of its weaknesses, alongside the vocals that don't ever stick with me despite how raving and novel they seem. They just never break out into some killer guitar hook that is so desperately needed, even when they're channeling bands I love like Prong and Voivod.

Now the bass playing on this album is actually fucking rad, a huge tone flopping all over the place with grooves that are more mentally stimulating than everything going on over them. When the band starts to space out with some atmospheric, jazzy, weird guitars over these lines, as in "This is Ma' Song", it finally starts to get interesting, to the point I wish it were all like that. The drums are good and flexible, usually playing some rock beat behind the weirdness but capable of picking up in intensity where needed, or laying in some jazzy groove or fill. On the other hand, some of the tunes create a departure entirely from their heavier sound, like "Itsuka (A Requiem for K)", which is more of an atmospheric ballad without percussion, and the whole thing just feels like a mess that can't play up to its strengths. Wonderful Monument is one of their more obscure albums that you'll never hear anyone really talk about, and there's a pretty good reason, it's just too scatterbrained and can't find its own way through the bouncing, pummeling oddity it has birthed. If you're checking them out for the first time, you're better off sticking to the more nasty, coherent thrash of Gore, which has more of a basis in bands like Slayer and then tacks on Hizumi's angry vox, and better riffs.

Verdict: Indifference [5.5/10]

http://www2.odn.ne.jp/jurassic-jade/

Morbid Art - The Cult of Flesh (2017)

If there's one thing I'll never grow tired of, it has to be the classic death metal cover art which goes overboard to evoke a cryptic sense of horror and wonder. Japan's one-man act Morbid Art gets some points for the sarcophagus being carried prostrate towards headless undead Baphomet, cultists flanked by seas of spectral skeletons and columns of twisted phantoms, cone-shaped torches burning cold flames which illuminate the scene. Perhaps a typical sort of image to find on any remotely old-school fashioned album of this genre, but fuck it if I don't get drowned in nostalgia for that one time my Dungeons & Dragons character barely escaped such a scene with a few precious hit points and a tale to scare fellow adventurers at the next tavern stop. Also gotta mention that I dig the logo.

As for the music, it's sort of what you'd expect, but with a few unusual elements that prevent it from feeling all too familiar or predictable. This is, in truth, crushing old school death metal which draws heavily on the Swedish tradition in terms of guitar tone. Rough, raw, flesh-ripping chords bombard the listen in either drudging chord patterns or tremolo-picked accelerations akin to old Entombed. Quite a number of groovier break-downs sure to please pit-hards, but none as catchy as what you'd find on a record like Clandestine. The vocals feel like Consuming Impulse-era Pestilence, early Asphyx Van Drunen-isms or maybe a bit of countrymen Intestine Baalism, only there's a little less of the gruesome pitch-dynamics which made those memorable...Infernal Demolisher definitely goes for the more guttural end and his voice is tucked a bit too neatly beneath the harsher edge of the distortion. Once in awhile a Deicide-like snarl pops in alongside them, but overall they are not too distinct, pretty much standard for the style, a little monotonous but not much of a detriment.

The beats here are a bit too clean and programmed, but mixed just right so that their mechanistic feel never burdens the songs or takes you out of their cavernous, hostile mood. Bass guitars are hovering in there but again, really get lost up against those guitars or even the vocals. The little edge of what makes The Cult of Flesh not a complete photocopy of its influence are some of the weirder, almost happy or silly chord patterns that occasionally invade the riffs or an almost proggy little fill part, or some wailing harmonies embedded into a song like "Summon the God of Plague", so you can't always tell what's about the happen around any given corner of the disc. By and large, though, this is intestine-gouging death metal which heralds the earlier 90s, just not with the most memorable set of riffs or ideas put into its composition. If you're dying for more of that feel you got when you first heard Left Hand Path, Clandestine, Dark Recollections, and Symphony of Sickness, or if you dig similar Japanese acts like Baalism or Deadly Spawn, or Rogga Johansson's groups like Revolting or Paganizer, this album is far from a dud. But it's also not super inspiring or memorable beyond the look of the thing.

Verdict: Indifference [6.75/10]

https://morbidart.bandcamp.com/

Gridlink - Longhena (2014)

Abandoning the Oni devil masks of their previous album covers for something more sleek and contemporary, one might also assume the music of Gridlink would follow the same course, but that's not wholly the case. Hands down one of the more curious and technical grindcore acts I've heard over the last decade, their third and final full-length outing Longhena is a breat...blast of fresh air amidst a largely stagnant scene of acts who perhaps too closely ape a small catalog of records from the mid 80s through the early 90s. In fact, structurally the music here seems to have evolved more from a dissonant post-hardcore aesthetic, dialed up to annihilation, rather than the more death metal-infused albums I usually come across, so this is more apt to appeal to fans of Agoraphobic Nosebleed, Discordance Axis, Melt Banada and the faster-paced Dillinger Escape Plan tunes over Napalm Death and Terrorizer.

What makes Longhena ultimately so listenable is its pinpoint musicianship and variation. Most of the tracks are cut of a comparable, spastic fabric, but they're not afraid to jump genres entirely, like on the scintillating ambient string/guitar piece "Thirst Watcher". Granted, I wish they would have offered 2-3 more instances of such broad departure as 'breathers' amidst the typical turmoil, but being a grind group, it's not like they waste a lot of time battering away...the entire track list has blown (or drifted) by you in 22 minutes; they never just stand their with their dicks in their hands, but piss and flail wildly about and then collapse in on themselves. The rhythm guitar progressions infuse a lot of hyper-thrashing picking sequences with a lot of jarring minors which give that impression of DC/NY post-hardcore being played on fast-forward, but they'll also splay out some surprise trad/power metal guitar patterns (like the intro to "Look to Winward") or a few slower bricks of power chords before they do their impression of the Road Runner. During a number of the blasted elements, when vocalist Jon Chang is meting out his most vulpine snarls, I was even left with the impression of a bit of hi octane dissonant black metal if it were bisected by jumpy, mathematical break riffing.

In other words, Longhena is simply not the most predictable of these sorts of records, and that goes a long way when tunes have to impress you in 90 seconds or less. The drums are naturally intense, blasts all over the place, but they're also exhausting, so I found myself appreciating the fills and change-ups more than the constants. Bass has a nice, low curvature to fill out the rhythm guitars, but they're such a driving force that it often feels understated when it's not veering away from the root notes. I've come across so much of the Swedish-style d-beat/guitar tone penetrating grind and what's being lately dubbed as Entombed-core that Gridlink's more direct, punchy saturation seems distinct and refreshing, and while Chang's rasping and raving might not seem all that unique for the style, it fits the riffing like a glove, capitalizing on the incendiary songwriting, brief flash-fires that speckle a distraught urban landscape. The album isn't as futuristic and fashionable as you might guess by looking at the cover model, who seems like she's about to pilot an EVA mech. It's not 'cubicle grind' or anything of the sort, but it's adventurous enough to retain the attention span of its audience, and even if not incredibly memorable, an intense swan song to leave us pondering while we reattach our heads.

Verdict: Win [7.5/10]

http://www.studio-grey.com/gridlink/

Balflare - Downpour (2012)

Balflare has always espoused a number of Japanese power metal stereotypes, but not necessarily to their disadvantage. With their fourth full-length effort Downpour, they tend to exaggerate these traits to the point that the album feels too processed and sugary to take seriously. First, there's the overt, romantic use of melodies, which is even more pervasive than past efforts like Tempest or Thousands of Winters of Flames. Familiar progressions in the guitars and keys remind me of a hybrid of J-pop artists and 90s Stratovarius, which would be fine if the writing was exciting, but here comes across too laid back due to the prevalent, washy synthesizer tones orchestrated with loads of strings, bells, and bright chiming pads that occasionally drown out the rhythm guitar to the music's detriment, and give one the impression that Tinkerbell is fluttering by. I suppose the title of Downpour is particularly apt here, because this disc sounds wetter than a buoy after being hit by tsunami waves.

Of course, there's nothing inherently wrong about setting this sort of mood, but Balflare seem to allow the atmosphere to do its own talking, and the songs just don't stand out from one another. At its core, the music is very much neo-classical European styled power metal in the vein of other Japanese acts like Galneryus or Concerto Moon. You get loads of shredding runs from both the lead guitar and keyboard, and most of these are managed with an effortless amount of skill, both performed by Syuta Hashimoto, a young virtuoso who has been at the heart of this group since their debut. Synth tones vary between full orchestra and a more proggy, Moog like vibe, which fans of 70s and 80s prog rock will undoubtedly take to. The drumming here is pretty bog-standard for this niche, with lots of driving double bass during the power sections, suitable for the rhythm guitar. That said, it took on a more machine-like aesthetic this time out, with a lifeless snare and kick setup that didn't really add much feel or emotion to the performance. The bass lines are predictable and rarely deviate from the familiar chord patterns, and the rhythm guitar, while chunky and harsh enough that its presence isn't entirely lost, serves as little more than a backbone to the hovering precipitation of the keys. A faint few memorable riffs breakout from the rainy din.

This is Eijin Kawazoe's third studio performance with Balflare, and not his best. When hanging in a middle register, as he does for most of the verses through the album, his performance is average, the strong hints of his accent carving themselves deeply into the English inflection. That's not a bad thing at all, but there is very little by way of interesting melody in his lines. Once he hits a higher pitch, the delivery is stronger, but pretty similar to a Timo Kotipelto with a few hints of Michael Kiske; just nothing special or unique. The lyrics are decently written, personal and loaded with that same 'take me away' sensation that the album's atmosphere carries; but a lot of the imagery and titles are pretty much a grab bag of cliches from bands like Angra, Gamma Ray, and Blind Guardian. All told, while I thought all the prior Balflare records were decent, exciting and loaded with potential, Downpour sets the bar a little lower. The first 4-5 tunes are tolerable, and the later instrumental "Rain's Realm" provides a window into their influences, but then you run into "I'm Your Shadow", a vapid pop rock drama redolent of X Japan's more forgettable work, and the last few cuts "From the Edge of Time" and "In the End of Journey" are also exceedingly weak.

Downpour isn't entirely terrible, and for a few moments grants the fantastical escape it promises, but its too wrapped up in its dreamy, cheesy haze to really prove effective. Compared to the latest Anthem, or the last few Galneryus records, for example, it seems soggy and limp. Newcomers to the band would be better off checking out their first two albums, which streamlined similar aesthetics into ballsier songwriting.

Verdict: Indifference [5.5/10] 

http://www.balflare.net/

Anthem - Burning Oath (2012)

What's always so astonished me about Japanese entertainment is just how meticulous the country's artists are, across many mediums, at assimilating and regurgitating culture from abroad. That is not a gripe, because in many, many places they actively improve upon the subject matter and evolve it to another level. Metal is a great example of this process, and Anthem no exception. In the early 80s, they took their queues from Deep Purple, Judas Priest and later Ozzy Osbourne's solo records and really ran with the style, producing a long string of quality records that only took a dip through the 90s, when the band was largely inactive (thus avoiding most of the metal slump of that decade). When they returned in full force for the 21st century, their roots had eventually transformed them into a fusion of traditional/NWOBHM, power and party metal with something for nearly everyone, and since that point I can't recall a single outing which didn't have at least SOME great songs...peaking with the surprisingly excellent Black Empire in 2008.

If I've any complaint about the latest and 15th full-length Burning Oath, it's that to an extent Anthem are playing it safe here. A number of verse and chorus sequences and vocal melodies here stick pretty close to those we've heard before over the last decade, and there must have been 4-5 points on the record in which I felt my internal fanboy about to erupt into the chorus of "The Voices" or some other amazing tune they've written. It's not that note for note they adhere to the same blueprint, but they seem to flirt with such similar structures that a lot of the tunes' riffs and vocals could be interchanged with some previously released. That said, this is probably the ONLY complaint I've got with the new album, because in just about every other department the band excels with jaw dropping precision. Burning Oath is so bloody good that you have to wonder why Anthem is not a household name among traditional metal fanatics? Is it the language barrier which makes the lyrics a bit hard to swallow even when they're in English? Is is that they're just too damn polished and lack the characteristic flaws of cult recordings? Or is it that people seem to have settled into a limited array of popular artists and there's just no more 'room' left? Because I will say it here: Burning Oath, and really almost ANY Anthem record of the past decade has been exponentially more impressive than what Judas Priest or Iron Maiden have put out lately, even if they don't have the safety net of having 'been there first'.

In terms of pacing, production, and enthusiasm, you are not going to find a more professional outlet than this 30+ year veteran. In particular, I've got to point out the performance of axeslinger Akio Shimizu who is hands down one of the most prominent and skilled lead players the world over. His techniques are like a love triangle between Randy Rhoads, Yngwie Malmsteen, and Eddie Van Halen. Technically impressive, catchier than most of the rhythm licks, emotionally resonant and exciting. A beautiful balance of both classical and rock guitar fundamentals, spinning that old 80s verve into the present and future. But this is NOT a 'shred' album, because all of Akio's acrobatics complement the rhythm progressions, and they take center stage here with ample force. From the Judas Priest/Accept/Primal Fear power metal chugging in "Evil One" or "Life of Crime" to the more spacious chords and harmonies of something like "Unbroken Sign", you never get the hint that even one note is misplaced. Not to say that every riff sequence is dazzlingly memorable or innovative, but when you take a step back to look at the overall structure of the album, Anthem never bites off more than it can chew and this is yet another incessantly reliable set of songs.

Of course, Shimizu's playing doesn't carry the album by itself. He's got the support of one of long time bassist Naoto Shibata, and then drummer Hirotsugu Homma, who came into Anthem around the same time as Akio. The bass lines hear are nothing out of the ordinary, but the tone is muscular just like the best of that whole Teutonic, Priest-inspired scene, and it'll continuously clout you between the ears even if the note patterns don't stand out far from the guitars. It'd be hard to imagine a better drum mix for this super-polished style, but there aren't a load of crazy fills or anything, just strenuous rock and metal beats flush with the riffing. For not the first time, a number of orchestral synthesizers, strings and bells and such are incorporated here for atmosphere, usually in the intros to tunes like "Get Away". It's not a full-on 'symphonic' metal suite here, and the rock instruments take center stage, but there's certainly enough dressing for fans of the more epic power metal scene, without the cheesy competing guitar/key leads and others that generally transpire.

This is now Ezio's 10th album with Anthem, and he sounds pretty consistent with Immortal, Heraldic Vice of Black Empire. The guy's not a screamer on a Halford scale, but what he might lack for range he always makes up for in passion and closely knit melodic lines that are almost always catchy, even if they often seem redundant with past tracks. His inflection also holds up quite loudly for sustained notes, and I personally love the accent that always creeps through, it's one of the major reasons groups like this and Loudness are so distinct and timeless. I generally don't try too hard with the lyrics, because my Japanese is far from perfect and when I attempt to understand them in English the imagery doesn't always fit my Western sensibilities (a common issue in song translation between the two tongues); but at the very least songs like "Double Helix", "Struggle Action" and "Face the Core" seem pretty unique for this medium. Anthem is a band immersed in a modern world of social networking and technology. They're about as metrosexual as you're going to find in traditional heavy/power metal, so don't expect flowery songs about trolls and unicorns. Not that I have a problem with all of that, but I can ride the T in the morning with this stuff blasting from my headphones and feel like it's somewhat relevant to what's happening around me.

Just about every song here is good enough to sit through repeatedly, but particular favorites were "On and On" and "Face the Core" with their crispy, crunchy verse rhythms and uplifting chord escalation; "Ghost in the Flame" for its strange, pumping bass, bluesy swagger and atmosphere; and "Life and Crime" which brings out that German-loving banger within me and makes me want to flip over a car with my bare hands (though I admit that primary riff sequence isn't a hell of a lot different that several Primal Fear or U.D.O. have released). Also, every single fucking lead guitar sequence chokes me up with envy. The worst you can say for Burning Oath is that it's barking up the same tree as the last five albums, but all of you J-metal diehards into Loudness, E.Z.O., Blizard, Saber Tiger, X Japan (sans ballads), (old) Earthshaker or even the more symphonic outfits like Galneryus, Balflare and Concerto Moon should at least give this disc the opportunity to win you over. Low on originality perhaps, but Tokyo Tower-height in quality.

Verdict: Win [8.75/10]

http://www.universal-music.co.jp/anthem/

Anatomia - Shreds of Putrefaction EP (2009)

I've read lots of praise for Anatomia in the past few years, for how they press primacy and psychedelic intricacy into the traditional death/doom mold, but their Shreds of Putrefaction EP is the first time I've actually sat down to spend any serious time with one of the Japanese trio's records, consisting of 4 originals and a Repulsion cover. Right away, I was drawn into the grotesque, understated color palette of purple and green on its cover, and coming away from the listening experience I have to admit they're one of the murkiest sounding bands I've ever heard. Not that this becomes a major hurdle for the music itself, which revels as it soaks in this muddy, primordial aesthetic, but it would be unwise to go into this record expecting the smoother drudgery of the British bands who once pioneered this sound with a Gothic grandeur.

No, this is more of a psychedelic, unusual spin on the grimy death/doom materialized by groups like Winter, Autopsy and Asphyx in the 90s. The most obvious comparison would be their countrymen Coffins, but I actually found Anatomia's compositional style less straightforward. Ruddy, churning chords dominate the very live approximation of the mix, while the drums splash beneath the weight of the grooves. Vocals are a pretty nihilistic, disaffected cross between a bark and a snarl, hacking along like a lung full of blood, but I did not truthfully find them to be all that interesting. Nor did I really enjoy the actual riff selections, which seem as if they've just been changed around from numerous influences and then refashioned. Where the band gets far more fascinating is when they change it up from the general sluggishness. For instance, the doomy bass break in "Morgue of Cannibalism" really sets a creepy mood, and the weird, suppressed, spacy guitar tone that leads off "Suicides" is the sort of effect I wish they'd use more often. To their credit, the band is not exactly the 'slow' sort of doom/death; they mix up tempos well enough that the chord patterns never sag along.

Interestingly, their rendition of "Splattered Cadavers" from Horrified has been transformed into something more befitting their genre, a morbid and repressed feeling, drawn out slog with enormous, crushing guitars. Not that it's got the same charm of the original, but it's a fitting mutation. All in all, the sewer production and chord choices just weren't enough to satisfy me, nor did they ever feel 'evil' enough to live up to that great, gruesome cover artwork. It's heavy as fuck, disgusting and bloodied like a series of slow, wet farts after ingesting shards of broken glass, but all too rarely memorable. The lyrics are really nothing more than a cliched sequence of violence, carnage and horror that have all appeared on many death metal albums. Perhaps this EP wasn't the best place for me to start with them, and a full-length might allow for more of their experimental tendencies since it would have more space than the 20 minutes of this, but even in lieu of its filthy aural aesthetics, Shreds of Putrefaction is pretty bland all around. Didn't hate it, but didn't care for it either.

Verdict: Indifference [5.75/10]

http://www.myspace.com/anatomia

Zombie Ritual - Night of the Zombie Party (2004)

Even if I'm a little jaded on its 'subject matter', and have been for some time now, Night of the Zombie Party looks like the sort of album I'd enjoy even before hearing a single note. The gruesome, colorful cover art fits in well with the Razorback themes of camp and horror. I'm quite a sucker for many Japanese acts, and the decision to use the actual word 'zombie' in every song title seems a direct tribute to their countrymen Metalucifer and their 'heavy metal' fixation. Musically, I was expecting that brand of goofy, gory death, and grind that dominates this particular US label, and thus have been surprised at, in spite of its own silly and childish characteristics, there's quite a lot of depth to the riffing and a genuine overall effort in the songwriting department.

Yes, to some extent this sort of death/thrashing with over the top growling and snarled vocals is in that same post-Carcass niche that spawned Ghoul, Impaled, Exhumed, Splatterhouse, Blood Freak and so forth, but Zombie Ritual are quite heavy on the thrash element, mixing up some serious guitar progressions in the vein of anything from Slayer and Possessed to Kreator and Destruction. They'll occasionally break out into a D-beat styled rhythm ("Zombie Party"), or experiment with some jangly discordant patterns ("Zombie Axe Massacre") or traditional heavy and speed metal licks, but very few of the tracks could be dubbed pure death metal with the exception of maybe "Zombies Devour You Alive" which structurally bears comparison to the classics of Death or Autopsy in the late 80s. What floored me is that, while there are clearly a lot of derivative cycles being performed throughout the debut, that quite a lot of creativity has gone into specific riffs, often strangely melodic or eerie in nature, but well written overall. Thus, far more of the songs stick than falter, and it's easily competitive with the other Razorback acts of the time like Ghoul and Splatterhouse.

If anything holds me back from truly loving Night of the Zombie Party, it's probably the vocals, which are a pretty standard concoction of brute, gargled gutturals and sneers which have no distinguished character of their own. Granted, as soon as you LOOK at this album, you know how the singing is going to sound. They don't exactly rock the boat. But at the same time, while competent, they fail to stand out over the far more interesting riffing variations. Occasionally they'll throw in some outside element like kiddy inflections used as backups, but not really enough through the 12 songs. Otherwise, the production of the record is quite good, with meaty guitars, balanced, furious drums and a loud, bombing bass tone which helps extract some of its more interesting lines from the voluminous guitar. It's never too tidy or clean, but certainly on par with the other bands of this sort which I've listed above. The lyrics are all about...zombies, usually from the first person perspective, and of course transforming the attached terror and pathos into desensitized hilarity, with the requisite Engrish loss in translation.

Fans who have invested loads of love and intention into records like The House That Dead Build, Death After Life, Splatterthrash, Slaughtercult or maybe even other psycho Japanese thrash bands like Fastkill will probably derive the most enjoyment out of this album. Most of the members hail from other extreme metal acts like Magane, SSORC and so forth, but I have to wonder: if they shook the Walking Dead Have a Kegger gimmick, threw in some more memorable vocals and kept that intense level of business and creativity to some of the thrash riffing, how remarkable they might actually sound. As it stands, I enjoy the album even with the comic elements, but I'd almost say the musical composition deserves more.

Verdict: Win [7.25/10] (happy to be poisoned by alcohol)

http://zombieritual.com/

Sigh - In Somniphobia (2012)

Sigh's 2010 effort Scenes From Hell seemed to arrive to a generally positive response, and I personally admired it for its primal gravitas. Gone were the bombastic, sweeping symphonic overtures of its own predecessor, Hangman's Hymn, and the newer songs were distinctly murderous and obscure, Eliran Kantor's surreal and psychotic cover art a perfect match for their aural aesthetics. With In Somniphobia, Japan's black thrashing eccentrics once again allow us to feast our eyes on one of the more visually stimulating album we're likely to experience this year, but musically I would say that it was somewhat of a throwback to the mesh of black, thrash, trad heavy metal and wild, eclectic outside influences that were so prominent during their 1997-2001 period on albums like Scenario IV: Dread Dreams and Imaginary Sonicscape, which just happen to be my favorites...

In Somniphobia resembles Scenes of Hell in that the production of the guitars and drums are not overly polished or as 'in your face' as you'll hear in a lot of modern extremes, but I'd say the actual composure of the riffs is cleaner and more accessible. There's a bit of the charging, 2007 symphonic era present in the structure of songs like "Purgatorium" or the bridge of "The Transfiguration Fear", but instead of an orchestra they are carried out with proggy organ pads and the fetching 70s hard rocking leads that were so prominent on an album like Hail Horror Hail from 15 years ago. The vocals are the same, abusively rasped incarnation that Mirai has been implementing for ages, but Dr. Mikannibal contributes her graceful accompaniments in carefully selected places through the course of the album, and certain guest features are present like death metal cult maven Kam Lee of Floridian forefathers Death and Massacre. In truth, though, while I found the vocals overall to comply with the band's modus operandi, they were not the stars of the show here...

No, that honor is bestowed to the many instances of avant-garde escapism strewn through the tracks, creating at once an exotic and familiar variety show, a circle of the sinister, silly and the gloomily macabre. From narrated, eerie orchestral interludes that descend into glitchy computer noises ("Opening Theme: Ludic Nightmare") to cutesy Eastern ethnic/ambient passages (the intro to the titular "Somniphobia") to the plucking of clean, jazzy Spanish guitars and ballpark organs ("Equale") to the scarce but effective use of Mikannibal's saxophone, you are greeted with must be one of the more worldly, scatterbrained exercises in Sigh's history. At times I felt some reminiscence for Hollenthon's debut Domvs Mvndi, at other times it felt like it was a natural successor to Imaginary Sonicscape, but what's so striking about the level of variation on this album is how it never manages to interrupt the natural flow of the song structures or the serial killer din of the black/thrash/doom riffing, vocals and lyrics.

Sigh excel at the grotesque, the weird, the left of center, while miraculously avoiding that 'forced' multi-genre-culturism pitfall that even a taut and talented act like Mr. Bungle would often succumb to. In Somniphobia is like trying to watch some colorful cult, foreign horror film while having three roommates simulcast 80s thrash, hairy progressive rock and cheesy world music on their respective stereos. It all congeals into this expansive, vicious and melodic broth of ear candy that is easily one of the more unique trips you'll be taking in this or any other season. Wonderful, batshit loco music. While I can't say I found myself quite so glued to the songs as I was on past works like Scenario IV: Dread Dreams, Hail Horror Hail, Imaginary Sonicscape or even its direct predecessor, it's an admirable addition to the band's legacy and sure to appear on or even top many year's end lists, and undoubtedly deserves to be there. Pure escapism 1 0 fucking 1.

Verdict: Win [8.75/10]

http://www.facebook.com/pages/SIGH-official-page/227550909275

Abigail & Fornication - Drink Beer. Listen Hell Metal! EP (2011)

Of Engrish and the damage done! Drink Beer. Listen Hell Metal! is one of the latest in Abigail's nigh on endless parade of limited press split recordings, this time paired with the Canadian newcomers Fornication who appreciate a similar taste in sluts, blackened speed thrash and spent kidneys. As is usual with this sort of thing, the focus is strictly on the collector/consumer who views this band's output (and that of countrymen Sabbat, etc) as a paragon of rarity and long-term value. With just over 10 minutes of content, there's hardly even an impetus to break out the gramophone, but what the hell, right? Abigail and Fornication are cool bands, and whoever their cover model was this time out seems...rather agreeable.

You get two tracks by Abigail, one of which is a rehearsal recording of "I Am Holocaust" from their 2005 album Ultimate Unholy Death. Even in such a crude capture, I actually found that particular track more entertaining than either of the others on the split, with its burning and dirty speed metal aesthetics and Yasuyuki Suzuki's splattered vocals, but it's one that the Abigail fan will have already known and in no way better than the finalized studio alternative. Their new contribution, "Nocturnal War" takes more of a straight black metal approach with a lot of tremolo/blasting, and until the thick, distorted bass ruptures of the Hellhammer inspired bridge and the wild, rocking lead I admit that I was mildly bored with it. Fornication's anthem "Fornicator" is a predictable, messy but fun hybrid of speed/punk metal with black rasped vox that accelerates into blasting territory before the verse, with a thrash bridge breakdown, but the riff didn't really catch me, and the production was mediocre raw.

At any rate, these two bands are a good match for one another stylistically, I just wish they had brought more of their 'A' game and perhaps given us 6-8 songs of better quality. As it stands, I could not muster any real enthusiasm for this split outside of the smutty, sexy cover and another in Abigail's canon of smile inducing titles. Both bands are fun, but I'd urge you to check out their better studio works, like Abigail's Forever Street Metal Bitch or Sweet Baby Metal Slut, or that compilation of demos that Fornication released last year. This split itself serves as little more than an obscurity for the collectors to pin onto their collection like butterfly wings. But, hey, tracking down a copy might afford the bands a pack of smokes.

Verdict: Fail [4/10]

http://www.myspace.com/666abigail
http://www.myspace.com/fornicationofgod

Hausu (1977)

While the anomalous Hausu (aka 'House') is not the sort of horror film to truly torment the audience, or even really scare them, there's no question that it sticks with you long after you've experienced it, and whether you wound up enjoying or hating it. This is largely in part to the rather unique, over the top cinematography which involves all manner of cheap, half-assed special effects that come off beautifully amateurish, even for the mid to late 70s. Make no mistake, though, these were no accident. Director Nobuhiko Obayashi, who had previously worked exclusively in experimental film, decided that he'd intentionally incorporate such phantasmagoria to transform an average at best plot line into something so completely bonkers that it feels as fresh about 35 years after it was first unleashed as a cult hit in Japanese theaters.

Seriously, you need to see this to believe it. Obayashi's pastiche of circular close-up shots, black and white flashback reels, film overlays, still picture clippings and pure animation is only scraping the tip of the iceberg here, and even at its most tranquil, the film is a cheesy but effective wonder of ill-advised filmcraft that works despite itself. We are transported from the 20 minutes of ridiculously bubbly character development to what is one of the more unique and oddly potent ghost films I've ever seen. Now, let's be clear on this: I generally fucking HATE ghost movies, which rarely abide by any horror rule-set that would create any real tension. It's hard to be afraid when the script has folks eliminated at random by spiritual manifestations that can do just about anything at any given moment, but while Hausu does not necessarily deviate from the formula (which was not commonplace in the 70s, granted), its lavish and peculiar eye candy more than compensates for its corny, sporadic chills.

*Supoirasu ahead*

The story's not a complex one: due to various family situations and scheduling screw-ups, a group of six school girls and a professor chaperon head into the countryside for their Break, to visit one of the girl's Aunts, who happens to live alone and 'crippled' in a sprawling, rustic manor near a watermelon shop. Auntie is not who she seems, the house is haunted, and what's up with the fluffy white cat that happens to appear just about everywhere? The rest you can probably guess, and Hausu soon transforms into a series of deaths and disappearances as the 'House' ingests the girls in various, absurd ways. Not all of the bucket kickings are filmed directly, and this often feels cheap, but where they are presented in all their splendor, like the character 'Melody' (haw haw) being devoured by a piano and then having her disembodied head comment on her fate, are hilarious and subtly disturbing somehow.

The acting is pretty much shit across the boards, overshadowed by all the swirling psychedelic set pieces and special effects, but it by no means cripples the film. What I found mesmerizing were all the odd little details throughout the film, like the guy reading the Horror movie guide on the train ride to the country, the rats exploding out of a cupboard, the lizard being impaled by shards from a chandelier and no one making much of a big deal out of it. How about the bear noodle chef cropping up in one of Mr. Togo (the other chaperon who separated from the girls for some reason)? Or the most unforgettable watermelon chef ever? Or the cat, 'Snowy', who plays a central role in the film. Its movements are remixed to the soundtrack in one scene, and its likeness appears everywhere when the shit hits the fan at about an hour into the film. Its eyes glow green to signify something bad about to happen. Its eyes glow from the various walls of the set, like a haunted house attraction. It spews blood once the character Kung-Fu's amputated leg kicks it, and then another character drowns and dissolves...fully unclothed...in that blood...

Truly, truly a screwy experience, and I don't actually mind the sensory overload in the slightest, but where the film does stutter is with a few of its more cluttered choices, like the scenes of Mr. Togo wandering around in the city which don't have much to do with the central events, or the use of multiple, flaky pop songs used to create drama in the finale. There are so many random details being cast at the audience that some seem silly and disjointed, and as cool as the special effects are, several seem incredibly hack to the point that they're not even ironically amusing. But that aside, Hausu remains a very intriguing view for those into the unique perspective of Japanese cinema, and several of its aesthetic tones were recycled for later, more successful films like Ringu or Uzumaki. From its excellent, psychedelic rock soundtrack laden with jazzy grooves, to the innocent innuendos of its seductive cast, to the the jaw-dropping clamor of its climactic hauntings, Hausu is the very definition of compelling cult horror-comedy.

Verdict: Win [8/10]

Anthem - Heraldic Device (2011)

Few Japanese acts (in any medium) have brought me as much joy as the melodic speed metal stalwarts Anthem. First introduced to their music through countless bargain record bins and mail orders in the 80s and 90s, I've been constantly impressed with their devotion to a sound that so few people truly appreciate anymore. The first six studio albums (1985-1990) were loaded with quality songwriting comparable to the great American and European acts of the day like Accept and Judas Priest, with the added flair of the mildly Engrish accent and the competent all-around performances. I mean, this band was (and is) better than fucking Loudness, a band who caused a far larger splash internationally! And I actually enjoy Loudness, so that is saying something...

Well, there was a bit of a dry stretch in the 90s through albums like Domestic Booty and Heavy Metal Anthem, but they suddenly hit full force again with 21st century records like Overload ("The Voices" is so good it hurts), Immortal and the superb Black Empire a few years back. Heraldic Device, the band's 14th full-length, more or less follows the examples set by its direct predecessor: lots of variation, insanely polished and competent musicianship, and a production that rivals anything coming out of Europe. Where bands like Hammerfall are tripping over themselves attempting to branch out their sounds (and not quite succeeding), Anthem plays it pretty straight, with fast, heart-pounding rhythms and reliable chorus sequences ("Contagious"), throw down 80s styled block parties ("Go!"), and even a moderate attempt to recapture the glory of Scorpions rockers "Rock You Like a Hurricane" or "No One Like You" (here dubbed "Blind Alley").

They can also go just as big and mystic as their peers Concerto Moon or Balflare with the broad traverse cut through "Wayfaring Man", or soften their hearts without going all ballad on us ("Remains"). Personally, I prefer when the band evokes the steamy street appeal of their 80s catalog ("In the Dead of Night", "Code of the Silence"), but the majority of the new tunes here are at worst solid, and at best dynamo. It's not equivalent to Black Empire in terms of its overall quality, but Eizo Sakamoto's familiar pipes, and Akio Shimizu's penchant for flawless shred will ensure that the diehards are still having a good time, and if you enjoyed any of their releases over this past decade, then there's hardly a reason to hold back here, even if its not as catchy nor revelatory as its predecessor, nor as rugged and effective as its elderly 80s siblings. Worth hearing for any ardent J-metaller.

Verdict: Win [7.5/10]

http://www.jvcmusic.co.jp/anthem/

Volcano - Mythology (2011)

It's been a good decade since Volcano has erupted on us with a new full-length, but they've kept busy in the interim with some live DVD releases and a pair of EPs. If you've never heard the band before, then you were missing out on another of Japan's untold secrets, a hybrid of power, speed and thrash metal which musters comparison to countrymen Anthem and Loudness, only with a far ballsier tone and huge, pissed off vocals that feature a strain of forced melody not unlike Flemming Rönsdorf (ex-Artillery). The band's first two albums Violent and Davi were evidence of an authentic riffing titan, and probably deserved a lot more recognition than they received. Mythology is cast in much the same mold, and though I didn't enjoy this quite so much as its predecessors, there's still a strong case to be made for the band.

One aspect I didn't enjoy here is the sparse use of melodeath vocals. A few of the tracks like "Dead Men Tell No Tales" certainly tread that territory musically, but I feel that Nov's vocal presence is so strong in of itself that such a tactic feels unnecessary. They are, however, an exception to the rule, and for most of the playtime he's cruising along with his standard style. The band does incorporate a fair amount of variation into their composition. Personally, I favor the rampant melodic power/thrash of "The Head", "Warrior's Play", "Goddess", "Strange the Strong" and especially the escalating "Shine in the Dark", which opens up with clean guitars and explodes into an amazing sequence of riffs not unlike something you'd hear from Concerto Moon. But they do deviate, as with the groove-oriented "Claim" and its series of generic, groove metal rhythms before the one decent guitar line at about :50. I also don't exactly love "Hell in the Paradise", but it has its moments.

Otherwise, Mythology is a modestly crushing good time with a thick low-end centric production and a lot of great, neo-classical guitar lead breaks with attitude that may very well thrill fans of Double Dealer, Sly, Saber Tiger, Sex Machineguns, Galneryus, and so forth. The material is more complex than their past albums, and this in part might be due to the new rhythm section of Akira and Shun (Youthquake) that joined the band in 2010. I felt that this was a more hectic experience than what I was expecting, but that didn't lead to an increased impression, and I don't feel like I'll get much distance out of this. It's fun for a few listens, with a handful of riffs to die for, but is unlikely to expand the trajectory of the band, especially after a decade of such scant output.

Verdict: Win [7/10]

http://4148.jp/profile_v.html

Sabbat - Sabbatrinity (2011)

It's hard to believe that Japan's Sabbat have not put out a new, original full-length album in eight years, but instead they've kept themselves busy with dozens of live efforts, splits and EPs through obscure imprints; most of which seem to instantly become collector's relics by means of their scarcity. However, seeing that they're one of the best metal bands in the world, I feel that Gezol and crew deserve our patience. As they prove with Sabbatrinity, it really pays off for us in the end, because this is yet another rush of truly senile black, thrash, speed and traditional heavy metal aesthetics with more charisma than any ten other hand-picked nostalgia addict bands.

The production here is perfect for the band's intentions, but it is by no means modern, so expect the same repressed live feeling you've felt with their past albums. Delicious, delirious, well written proto-black evil is rampant in riff-fests like "Black Metal Scythe" and "Total Destruction", the interaction between Gezol's distorted bass lines and the leads of Damiazell prove that the band can easily survive the loss of long time guitarist Temis Osmond. Sabbat truly strips everything down the basics, writing songs that sounds as if they've escaped straight out of the 80s and early 90s, rather than 'trying to sound' that way. "Witchflight", "Witch Hammers", and "Ravens Tell" are all great fun, but I felt that the truly standout tracks were "Northern Satanism" with its bristling, infernal energies and grave-borne, ghast-spun vocals; and "Root of Ultimate Evil" with its choppy thrashing and mix of Gezo's ghoulish and higher pitched presence. "Witch's Torches" is another exciter, with a thick, workmanlike rhythm section that drags you straight back to Slayer's Hell Awaits or Show No Mercy, with an added trace of Venom. The album's closer, an instrumental called "Witch's Weed", is breathtaking, as its guitar leads rip along over the ominous pipe organs, evoking the campy occult horror that the band is so endeared and loyal to.

Sabbatrinity sounds old. Old and dark. Like a friend that has been away on a long voyage, come back from the mist of obfuscation to once again share a fire and a few tales with you. Blessed (or cursed) by the authenticity that so few bands can muster when they've run out of ideas and simply photocopy the muse of those past. And that's because they are old, going on 27 years of existence without once changing their direction to suit the flashy trends that have come and gone. If you're into any of this legends' past material, or really any of the early wave of black metal influences (Venom, Mercyful Fate, Bathory, Bulldozer, Piledriver, etc.) then you already know what to expect. This is the real deal, so spill your purses. throw your goddamn horns and elbow the nearest poseur as hard as possible. It's not necessarily perfect, but then, neither are you.

Verdict: Epic Win [9/10]

http://welcome.to/sabbat/

Defiled - In Crisis (2011)

There are not a lot of Japanese death metal bands out there playing with a pure sense of brutality. Generic slamming gore seems to abound, as well as all those metalcore/melodeath hybrids dressed in the latest street fashion, but when it comes to bands dishing out the straight carnage, they are painfully few. Intestine Baalism comes immediately to mind, but another seasoned veteran with almost 20 years experience is Defiled, who have released a couple decent if not exactly memorable efforts in 1991's Erupted Wrath or the 2001 follow-up Ugliness Revealed. The band have pretty much been in hiatus after their 2003 effort Divination, but at long last there is a return through Season of Mist records, with only guitarist Yusuke Sumita returning from the original lineup.

However, I'm guessing many of the band's previous fans could be in for a bit of a shock here, because In Crisis is unfortunately rather shoddy. Through most of the album, the band uses this huge, bludgeoning bass tone which almost overpowers the frenzied, chaotic guitars, and throws the ears off balance. It truly sounds like being beaten to death by a club or wrench, especially the early tracks like "Lethal Agitator" and "Retrogression" where the drums play along with savage but uninteresting, crashing dynamics. Once you dig deeper In Crisis, you'll begin to pick out more interesting individual components. For example, the bass in "Unconscious Slave" tears forth a schizoid, loopy line, or the title track lays you flat with some brickhouse churning rhythms and spastic, paranoid transgressions. I feel like the transitions remain fairly grating and sloppy over the entire course, but eventually there were some tunes like "Intolerant" or the again bass-heavy blast of "Maze of Nescience" where I found a few riffs I could agree to.

Defiled do not lack for playing ability, but it seems what they try to create here is something so bottom heavy, repulsive and violent that it trips over itself. It's a massive platter of splatter and violence, but on one of those rare occasions that you're just not hungry for the guts. Kenji Sato, formerly of Butcher ABC handles the vocals with adequate brutality, but they rarely appear in patterns appropriate to anything more than a baseline clobbering. That said, the approach they're taking here is rather unique, even amongst a loaded international scene of sledgehammer neanderthals and their choke and slam death. A little more precision and better transitions, with perhaps some more evil riffing patterns, and Defiled might find themselves right back near the front of the widening pack.

Verdict: Indifference [5.75/10]

http://www.defiled.info/

Concerto Moon - Angel of Chaos (2010)

A bloodied, maniacal clown dancing about on its cover at the fore of an exploding cityscape. An intro called "The Earth Dies Screaming". It doesn't take long to ration out that Japan's Concerto Moon have returned, more pissed off than ever, to deliver their heavily shred based, classically infused bursts of power metal anew, and Angel of Chaos is by far the most frenzied and interesting album the band have likely ever crafted, though its predecessor Rise from Ashes was not exactly slacking off. It's sad that the band have gone so long below the radar of many power/progressive pundits, because really they are one of Japan's best at this style, joining similar acts like Galneryus, Anthem and Balflare to create a dynasty of empiric talent that stands tall despite the world's unwashed metal masses failing to recognize it.

Turns out that "The Earth Dies Screaming" is but a warning, a cascade of guitars plucking across the steady thrum of synthesizers, shifting into a melodic dual elegy that climaxes at the arrival of the title track, an explosion of Helstar meets Anthem joined by Takashi Inoue's weighted vocals. The guy can do melodic very well, but he's also got this nasty, aggressive bite to his tone that creates a multi-dimensional weave of emotion that is beautifully affixed to the racing and undeniable talents of the band below him. These gentlemen know exactly what the fuck they are doing here, and each song scorches the fan's heart, especially if that fan is appreciative of the Japanese peers like Animetal, the heavier material of X Japan, and so forth, plus those I've already named above. Tracks like "Lost in the Dark", "Right Here, Right Now", "Dance With the Ghosts" and "Plectrum" are loaded with excellent, immediate riffs and complex choreography that should have fans of Yngwie and Symphony X drooling and trading in those artists' entire discographies in order to import this.

I'd also point out that the band kick your ass nine times in sequence, no cheesy ballads in sight until "Just Before Midnight", which is merely a teaser to a jamming, melodic instrumental anthem. Then they kick your ass twice again with "Stand Up and Fight" and "The Voice of My Heart", both as intense as anything that has come before them. In other words, Concerto Moon do not brake for anyone here, and the furious energy and musicianship keeps coming with that sole exemption. Angel of Chaos is a barn burner, a frenzied effort that not only returns to form, but slashes the form straight in half, lights in on fire and then dances around in the ashes. Earlier works like Fragments of the Moon or Gate of Triumph had some clear potential, but this is angrier, more efficient, and well worth the coin of any diehard for traditional Japanese metal with kick and attitude.

Verdict: Win [8.5/10]

http://www.vap.co.jp/concerto/

Hellhound - Tokyo Flying V Massacre (2006)

As they prepared for their first studio full-length effort, Japanese retro metal worship cult Hellhound had a few challenges to overcome. Could they climb above the rank and file of generic tribute band biting off riffs and tweaking them to the legal definition of unique, and could Crossfire tighten up his own act like a sphincter to increase the level of compulsion the listener would feel at listening to him for a complete album of 'original' music? If the ensuing debut Tokyo Flying V Massacre is any indicator, the band had improved quite a lot in just a few years. Though the end result is hardly that much more memorable, it delivers a number of decent tracks among some that should have been scrapped permanently.

I was somewhat confused by the first track, "Metal Attack", which is essentially a chunk of the song "Heavy Metal Generation" from the Welcome to Metal Zone EP in 2004. It sounds a lot like Metallica's versions of "Blitzkrieg" and "For Whom the Bell Tolls", and not very interesting, though the production of this version is better than its original form. The confusion is that "Heavy Metal Generation" itself is also included as the finale of the album, which seems strange and a waste of space, unless the band had plotted this as some sort of 'reprisal' effect. The lyrics to both tracks are different, granted, but this was a redundancy best avoided. The track "Metal Zone" is also included upon the Tokyo Flying V Massacre, and as that was not very good in its original incarnation, it was also unnecessary, especially when the new originals are so much better.

Speaking of which, the namesake "Hellhound" is pure, raging old fun inspired by the British and German greats at the dawn of the 80s. Crossfire has somehow married his voice a little better to the music. Its the same meaty shrieking as the previous EP, but a little lower in the mix, which merges in with the thick, simple chords and driving rhythm section. When the backing vocals cut into the chorus, it works very well against his grating air raid siren domination. "Samurai Warrior" is a powerful if predictable speed metal anthem celebrating the near mythic historical figures from the band's homeland, and "Rock Like Hell" is basically AC/DC taken to Accept levels, with ballsy backing vocals. "Metal Assassin 666" spins off into darker, power/thrash territory, crunchy mutes building up to some of Crossfire's more insane screaming that reminds of Peavy Wagner on the early Rage records. We all know where the name "Take You Like a Hurricane" came from, but the song is pretty standard, mid paced metal with big grooves and siren-like shrieks. Two more 'metal' title songs round out the bunch (for a total of 6/10 of the album): "Heavy Metal Patrol" and "Metal Warrior", the latter of which is some charming and fuzzy speed metal.

If you can ignore the 'trist' of previously used material on this album, the remainder is actually quite a good time. All of the instrumentation has come together in unison with the vocalist, and I love the chunky tones and backing vocals. The band's leads fulfill the potential of the debut EP, and a few of the songs like "Metal Warrior", "Samurai Warrior" and "Take You Like a Hurricane" and "Metal Assassin 666" will stand out beyond just a few listens. Tokyo Flying V Massacre also has one of the best possible titles an album of this sort could ever possess, and the title alone makes you want to get excited. Unfortunately, the album is not wholly consistent enough to be considered 'good', but its a nice set-up for the following Metal Fire From Hell, which expands upon even this sound to produce something worthwhile if you're digging for Japanese hilarity.

Verdict: Indifference [6.5/10] (we're gonna show you tonight)

http://hellhound-japan.com/

Hellhound - Welcome to Metal Zone EP (2004)

Hellhound are another of those Japanese acts who take the roots of thrash and traditional heavy metal from the late 70s and early through mid 80s, mash them together and simply serve as concrete, humorous reinforcement to their proliferation and survival. They are hardly the first of their kind, as the great bands Abigail, Barbatos and Metalucifer had already been established by 2002 and cruising along into cult status for a sizable number of diehards; but still, Hellhound are pretty good at this, if you can shut down your expectations and desire nothing more than a headbanging good time that reverts you back to 1984 before you heard Master of Puppets or Reign in Blood and everything suddenly got more serious.

The Welcome to Metal Zone EP was their first honest to goodness recording, and though it previews some of the charm of their full-lengths Tokyo Flying V Massacre and Metal Fire from Hell, it could not be counted as among their strongest material. The band basically starts with a sound similar to Accept and Judas Priest and just runs with it. In fact, most of the songs here sound like some combination of "Fast as a Shark" and Ram It Down era Priest, veering ever so slightly into speed/thrash terrain, but not enough to make a difference. Vocalist Crossfire has one of those Brian Johnson/Udo Dirkschneider voices, but far more annoying, almost as if being performed as a caricature. Fortunately, unlike many other bands that pull this maneuver, you do get used to him. Another nice touch are the leads, which generally stand out from the very average riffing content that surround them. They're hardly original or mind bending solos, but one gets the impression that with better packaging they might be a force to be reckoned with.

The EP features five tracks, only two of which have the word 'metal' in the actual title, a practice this band will expand upon in the future. "Metal Zone" moves at a fast clip, like Accept with a seasoning of early Rage, gang shouts in the chorus and a pick and play, utterly simple set of riffs. "Flight of the Demon" is essentially a ripoff of "Balls to the Wall" with slightly paraphrased guitar lines, rather blatant about it. "Deathrider" is insanely Judas Priest, with simple NWOBHM chord patterns that flirt with speed metal, and Crossfire switching to a cleaner, lower register to offset his screaming. "Stormtrooper" is decent heavy/speed metal with some bluesy, burning guitars, and "Heavy Metal Generation" is another too familiar track, mixing in elements of "For Whom the Bell Tolls" and "Blitzkrieg" among others.

Without good vocals or good ideas musically, Welcome to Metal Zone quickly expires from the realm of curiosity. If it's meant to serve as a tribute or exclamation that these Japanese gentlemen enjoy classic metal of taste, well then it certainly delivers on that. The problem then lies in just what Hellhound are going to DO with these tastes, and this debut EP simply doesn't have an answer. Songs were written or stolen, laid out in some studio and then the band had something to gig on. Down the line, this band does manage to tighten their ideas and improve in the songwriting department, but in 2004 they were just not worth hearing yet, and they were surprisingly void of too much excess Engrish, expressing themselves clearly through most of the lyrics. Boo!

Verdict: Fail [4.75/10] (you're just a tribute for the ruler of the night)

http://hellhound-japan.com/

Iron Attack - Arashi No Hurricane (2010)

With his 14th full-length in four years, it is a safe bet that Hiroyas 'Iron' Chino has now cornered the market on Japanese shred with neoclassical and video game influences; but what's really staggering is the general level of quality he commits to his recording software. I don't think there is a single Iron Attack record that I don't at least somewhat enjoy. Granted, part of this stems from the manga and anime addict within me, breastfed an unending stream of escapist joy ever since I was old enough to turn on a TV knob in the 70s or slap down my allowance at the local comic store's import section, but truly, Iron Chino's compositional skill holds up even by comparison to legendary shredders like Yngwie Malmsteen, who are undeniably huge influences to why this lone, scaling ranger wakes up in the morning for his tea and shred.

Arashi no Hurricane is just another day in the park for Iron Attack: another dazzling manga model graces its cover, strapped a V, and the diminutive but expanding legions of his fans are armed for an attack of catchy, explosive leads over driving rhythms, the perfect balance of Children of Bodom and Stratovarius with no vocals. He throws us for a loop briefly with the choral intro "Immortal Mountain" before bursting into what he does best, "The Moon for a 1000 Years", a tasteful if predictable melodic shred with some mellowed moments of piano and clean guitars. "First Coverage" has a pure, rocking core not unlike a Judas Priest or Iron Maiden rhythm section with glinting leads, and "Princess in Alcatraz" festoons a more desperate surge of plucky melodic thrashing, following a descending motif which is essentially the perfect anime metal for driving or cyber diving, with a little traditional Asian progression deep after the opening impact. Within "Ancient Dreams", the man shows off his excellent balance of keys, rhythm guitars and over the top, glimmering sensations that have you feeling like you're in a metal-charged alternative to a Mega Man game.

As par for the course as the album is up to this point, the quality is difficult to deny, and as the hugely classical inspired "Spring is Here" arrives in its flourishes of piano and a raging mid paced rhythm, you're either with him or bored to tears by the excess. I have no doubts that Iron Attack could use a vocalist and use one well, if Chino could appropriately ration out the verses and chorus with the leads, especially on savage power metal numbers like 'Brequet in Pavilion" and the emotionally uplifting "Sky Starbreaker". The tracks function as is, but the music is so strong that an applied vocalist of note would catapult it into the top tiers of international power metal, certainly a match for Japanese bands Galneryus or Concerto Moon, which a touch more of the 80s pop/rock Romanticism so prevalent in Japanese popular music. Still, this would perhaps detract from the uniqueness of this project, and as "Dominant of Dark Pain" weaves its way through the closing moments of baroque shredding bliss, you will feel satisfied that this is another album worth your time and an excellent background for the right situation (custom soundtrack to an exciting videogame works well).

Arashi no Hurricane might not be the singular most interesting album this man has put out below this banner, but its certainly one of the tightest. He doesn't experiment a whole lot, and the songs aren't as catchy as a Dead Heat Refrain or Far East Judgment, but its all wrapped up so lovingly and in defiance of popular convention that I found myself once more aboard, kissing the feet of his manga Muse. One wonders how quickly it would take to toss most of his albums into a digital playlist and become jaded with the works, but at this time I don't feel he has yet saturated his potential or produced his masterpiece. Apply only if you enjoy shred instrumetal with a clear Asian influence.

Verdict: Win [7.75/10]

http://sound.jp/ironchino/attack.html