Japan

Kruelty, Untopia (Profound Lore 2023)

Wayne Edwards, , , , , , ,

Kruelty brings its message of metallic hardcore to the masses once again on Untopia.

Coming together in Japan six years ago, Kruelty took the path of many hardcore acts before it, choosing to release a large number of demos, EPs, and splits. It is a lot of fun for collectors as it creates a kind of treasure hunt that becomes increasingly more difficult the later you get on board. Their first long-player came out in 2019, A Dying Truth. Their latest might only be their second full-length album, but the band has done a lot of groundwork prior to this new one and you can tell when you hear it.

A chime starts the set in motion. Chants, as in Gregorian, follow. “Unknown Nightmare” is quite creepy. The guitars land with a massive doom slap, and in the next stanza have begun their rampage. The croaking vocals hover over the rumbling riffs and the clip slows and accelerates at unpredictable turns. “Harder Than Before” sounds like a tagline for a new ED treatment and, given the vibrant energy that the song opens with, it could be used in an ad for a new blue pill. This one is a flesh ripper, speeding and slowing and grating its way to your bones. The shrieking ending is startling. Excellent metal. “Burn The System” is a high-tension mission ender. The killer percussion and rhythm will give you a well-earned rash. “Reincarnation” is surprisingly peppy. I wouldn’t call it a happy song, with all the screaming and what not, but its early attitude is less dense than the previous songs. It does turn less than a minute in, though, and the savage, chewing metal is at you again.

“Maze Of Suffering” made me feel like I was drowning in its crushing doom and ominous death summoning. “Manufactured Insanity” goes the other way, starting out as a rollicking cracker and laying in the heavy later on. The record finishes on the title track, and this one will eat you alive. I haven’t followed Kruelty very closely over the years, but this new album has inspired me to go back and listen to everything they have done before. Recommended.

Untopia is out on Friday, March 17th through Profound Lore Records. Have a closer look at the links below.

Band photo by Seijiro Nishimi.

Links.

Kruelty website, https://www.kruelty666.com/

Bandcamp, https://kruelty666.bandcamp.com/album/untopia

Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/krueltyjphc/

Profound Lore Records, https://profoundlorerecords.com/

© Wayne Edwards

Kruelty, Untopia (Profound Lore 2023)

Gods Of Decay, Collective Psychosis (Sliptrick Records 2021)

Wayne Edwards, , , , , , , ,

Tokyo-based metal band Gods of Decay release their first full-length album, Collective Psychosis.

The musicians in the band are listed as Anna (vocals), Frost (guitar), and Yorke (bass). Regarding the new album, Anna remarks: “On this album we scattered a myriad of shards of meaningfulness lost in the abyss of absurdity of our day and age. We hid them with metaphors and double entendre and we hope that our listeners enjoy the ‘treasure hunt’ on their journey through the mesmerizingly sinister spaces that make up the world of Gods Of Decay. Seek, and ye shall find.” That tells you a little something about the band, too. The music is a modern metal amalgam.

Listening to these songs in order is like walking down the aisles of a flea market in an aging armory – there are all sorts here. “Self-Castigation” is a club music intro. In “Collective Psychosis” you can really feel the mental state fray as the song progresses. The vocal harmony, which gets regular use on the album, is a deep enhancement. “Metamorphosis” has a great groovy riff and a somewhat squealy vocal. There’s that harmony again in there, too. “Plague” starts on a rolly-polly riff with a sting plus a shock vocal. After the bracer, clean vocals propel the story on. And then the very next track is something else entirely, and on and on.

Different looks; different takes. According to the band, that is the conscious intention. Some of the music reminds me of a smoother version of the Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black but with considerably more polish and far greater detail in its assertions. There is a center to all of this that the galactic material orbits. You can hear it in every song. No matter how different one is to the next, you can feel that gravitational pull towards the essence of the band. That is where the cohesion comes from and why I recommend this album. It is heavy and delightfully variegated throughout.

Collective Psychosis is out now from Sliptrick Records. Give it a spin.

Links.

Website, https://www.godsofdecay.com/

Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/godsofdecay

Sliptrick Records, https://sliptrickrecords.com/gods-of-decay/

Gods Of Decay, Collective Psychosis (Sliptrick Records 2021)

Mortify, Grotesque Buzzsaw Defilement (HPGD 2021)

Wayne Edwards, , , , , , ,

The new EP from Mortify will punch you into unconsciousness with Grindcore madness in less than 10 minutes.

Mortify is Ryohei Kikuchi (drums), Takuya Koreeda (guitar), and Adam Jennings (vocals). After demos in 2017 and 2019, they followed up with the full-length album Stench of Swedish Buzzsaw that holds twenty songs with a running time of ten minutes. They are on the same trajectory with the new one, Grotesque Buzzsaw Defilement, that has thirteen songs in under ten.

So what do we know? Mortify is a fairly new band that plays short, blazing Grindcore with a buzzsaw through-line. OK. Ready to go.

If we do the math here, these songs are going to be less than a minute for the most part. The shortest is twenty five seconds, pushing the envelope on the idea of a fully realized stand-alone concept. Mainly, they are getting in and getting out quick, with a blistering pace and destructive attitude.

My favorite tracks are “Flesh Creep,” which is a thirty-five second doom song that opens the set, and “100 Rats,” a beautiful horror story that shreds all surroundings and has a catchy riff. “Mangy Mutts” and “Deviant” also spoke to me because of the guitar riff in the former and the oppressive, weighty shots in the latter. I’d love to see the band perform this entire album live, straight through in a sweaty, claustrophobic club. That’d be great.

If you are not into commitment but you are a fan of fast, loud, and aggressive music, this one is for you. Recommended.

Grotesque Buzzsaw Defilement is out on Friday, April 2nd from Horror Pain Gore Death Productions. Hit the Label Bandcamp link below for the download, CDs, and merch in the US.

Links.

Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/Mortify666/

Bandcamp, https://mortify666.bandcamp.com/album/grotesque-buzzsaw-defilement

Label Bandcamp, https://hpgd.bandcamp.com/album/grotesque-buzzsaw-defilement

Label, http://www.horrorpaingoredeath.com/

Mortify, Grotesque Buzzsaw Defilement (HPGD 2021)

Coffins, Defilements (HPGD 2021)

Wayne Edwards, , , , , , , ,

The new compilation from Japan’s Coffins scoops together nearly two hours of out-of-print musical pieces from across almost ten years of work.

Coffins has an astonishingly long list of releases dating back to 2000 including splits, EPs, live albums, LPs, compilations … you name it. The music is a Death/Doom Metal amalgam that takes a grind-you-down approach to melody. The Metal Archives lists the member as Uchino (guitar), Satoshi (drums), Jun Tokita (vocals), and Masafumi Atake (bass).

Defilements gathers together materials from five EPs that have been out of print for a while: Craving To Eternal Slumber (2015), Noise Room Sessions 2014 (2016), March Of Despair (2012), Sewage Sludgecore Treatment(2012), and Live At Asakusa Deathfest 2016 (2017).

It is out now, and you can get the digital, CD, and merch at Bandcamp. If you missed a couple of these beauties when they first appeared, now is the time to make amends. It will press the pain right out of your brain. Recommended.

Links

Bandcamp, https://hpgd.bandcamp.com/album/defilements

Website, http://www.coffins.jp/

Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/intothecoffin

Coffins, Defilements (HPGD 2021)