"I'm probably going out on a limb here, but from my vantage point, this is not only the most brilliant of all of contemporary Japanese bands, but perhaps the greatest group currently operating in the world." -Alternative Press
Yes.
Well OK, best band in the world might be pushing it a bit, but if you're grading based on intensity, musicality, prowess and sheer weight of sound, then Koenjihyakkei is definitely one of the best bands out there.
If Fantomas, Ex-Girl, John Zorn and Godzilla were all battling at the end of the world, than you might get close to the sound of Koenjihyakkei. They are first and foremost an avant-garde, progressive, jazz/rock/choir fusion band. There isn't a straight time signature to be found for miles, and the concept of verses and choruses have been thrown right out the window. Instead, Koenjihyakkei focus on an ever evolving wall of voices and massive drums, conjuring up the aforementioned epic space battles on the edge of an erupting volcano. The most distinguishing features have to be the operatic vocals sung by just about everyone in the band. In that respect they are a lot like Adachi Tomomi Royal Chorus, only with a furious band full of synths, bass and drums behind them.
The official genre-fication of Koenjihyakkei is called zeuhl. While Wikipedia has a full explanation, it's summed up simply (in my opinion) as intense prog-rock with made up words. Drummer, vocalist and founder Yoshida Tatsuya is part of another zeuhl band called Ruins, which gets its major influence in the ur zeuhl band, Magma.
While the following videos are awesome, they don't compare to the utter heaviness of the albums.
Grassttrumm (live)
Official Site
Unofficial MySpace
Members
Yoshida Tatsuya: drums, vocals
Sakamoto Kengo: bass & voice
Kanazawa Miyako: keyboards & voice
Yamamoto Kyoko: vocals
Komori Keiko: reeds & voice
Major Releases
Hundred Sights of Koenji - 1994
II - 1997
Nivraym - 2001
Angherr Shisspa - 2005
Mederro Passquirr (live)
Rattims Friezz (fan-vid)
Rattims Friezz (live)
Axall Hasck (live)
Live at WFMU
2 comments:
Woohoo! I'm glad to see some Koenjihyakkei lovin' here.
Their CD Angherr Shisspa is on sale here:
http://www.skingraftrecords.com/shop.html
(Click the santa icon on the left)
Thanks for introducing me to this band! I didn't know that zeuhl was a full-blown genre. I just knew about the french band Magma and how they had their own language, and a bunch of other bands had similar styles to it.
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