Grind Taiko Shrine Shines!
A big surprise coming straight from the
land of Japan. The Ep is fourteen minute of... experimental grindcore
as the band comes with some help on their sites. And to put briefly,
it's almost impossible to dispute with such a fact. Led by Tomoki
armed with guitar and different kinds of vo-kills, they use two
drums, the standard drum set demolished by Onobone and taiko (or
wadaiko) played by Kaiki. And this third instrument I consider to be
experimental for sure, as I have never heard anything like that in
such a genre. The main question occurring to me is: do they fit to
the whole?
But from the start, these minutes runs
extremely fast, the tracks differ in length, from „G.S.A.” song
lasting fifteen seconds only (and the only one that falls under one
minute) to broken a bit and more complex, if I can say so,
„Fuminijire” which is almost three-minute monster. Of course, as
mentioned above, it is kept simple and directly to the (grind)core,
yet for the Japaneses the light velocity pace isn't the main
guideline. What's more, I have an impression that slower parts
dominate, just listen to this absolutely crude roadroller-like
„Hakikudashi”. Even in the shortest one there is a small room for
breather. The production-wise has got a clear underground flavour,
guitars are sharp and rough, however taiko sometimes lose its place
in the final mix. And those traditional taiko are present all the
time, giving its first breath on the very beginning, and for sure
being just good and very interesting addition. By using it, the stuff
gets archeological (yep, it sounds strange, but the first usage in
Japan has been dated on the sixth century C.E.) and tribal touch
definitely, and even mysterious, as the origin of taiko is still
unclear. Anyway, including Kaiki to the line-up is really bold and
great idea that works without any hindrance.
The music itself is pretty varied. Some
parts are just a highlight for headbanging, other do a complete sonic
havoc where there's no place for escape. All balanced and despite
some chaotic layers, well-thought-out and executed with precision.
Musically speaking, I would be prone to place them somewhere in
Takafumi Matsubara dimensions with the best example in „Fuminijire”
(really good to be a track for „Longhena” album) or
„Dissemination”, being a proper thing for his last solo title. Of
course, I cannot forget about the vocals, they are delivered by each
of them, throat grunts, agonizing screams, yells, shrieks, and some
kind of chanting („Dissemination”, „Kobudo”), so I tell you,
all the vocal bands madness included. Concluding, there is a vision,
there is an idea. This is sick and organsmashing. This is different
as well, not only in musical terms, just look at them.
80/100
-Tlacaxipehualiztli
(written in June, 2020)
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