5 out of 5

Label: Skin Graft Records

Produced by: Koenjihyakkei

I love when things just instantly blow your mind.  Especially when you’re prepping yourself for it a bit, having certain expectations, such as: I’ve listened to Ruins – drummer Tatsuya Yoshida’s main / other band – and I’d listened to some later Koenjihyakkei, both of which had me taking a deep breath before making the listening plunge on Viva Koenji.  Koenjihyakkei is a zeuhl band – made up vocals, chanting, thundering music, proggy elements – and this was the group’s second release, so with all of that swirling around… I dunno, I was expecting Ruins’ type intensity with some male / female vocals.  And I really like Ruins, but they can definitely be a bit exhausting to listen to.

So: ears prepped.  Putting on Viva, while there’s no doubting that opener Grembo Zavia is a Tatsuya creation, I’m please as punch to discover a key component of Koenjihyakkei – restraint.  The ten minute track rocks, for sure, but it makes sure to ‘roll’ as well, including definite riffs and breakdowns, and an amazing bridge toward its last portion that builds back up into a killer climax.  Instead of brazen noise and sweat for that runtime, it forms an actual song, in other words, and this is fully carried over throughout the discs ten tracks, offering a surprising amount of variation on the theme.  Followup track Graddinoba Revoss, for example, sets things to a staunch marching pace, while Quidom sticks to staccato keys to make its points.  Sllina Vezom goes beautifully slow and brutal, giving vocalist Kubota Aki space to go operatic, while later on, Brahggo is more in a traditional prog / Magma vein, followed up by the gloriously cheery Rissenddo Rraimb, and, prior to a short coda, the penultimate and scorching Guoth Dahha, which amps the intensity of both the music and vocals up to shudderingly awesome levels.

The disc is very much an experience, and one that feels much more measured in ebbs and flows than I was expecting.  Each player, without necessarily going down a ‘solo’ route, gets to impress with their contributions, meaning that no one is outplaying one another – this is a unit, swirling together to create this mystical zeuhl beast called Koenjihyakkei, and one of the most satisfying hard, hard rock discs I’ve listened to in some time.