Soshi Takeda: Secret Communication
When house music hit the shores of Japan back in the late '80s, local producers quickly developed a style of their own. Clearly influenced by early Balearic, Italo and deep…
Over Kill: The Purge
It is often a problem with Japanese trap acts that they start out with hard-hitting tracks, then, as they are getting more popular, they start to tone down their sound…
Ålborg: The Way I See You
One of the nicest surprises of 2024 was the first album from Ålborg, a fairly new group from Yokohama. They are active since 2022 and I came across their music…
Shadows: DIG
Six years after their latest full-length (and five after their latest EP), Shadows in finally back with a new album and while DIG took quite some time to make, it…
Crossfaith: AЯK
With its first longer release after quite a few years, Crossfaith first gives fans exactly what they have been waiting for: their own unique brand of brutal and fun metalcore,…
Meat Beat Manifesto & Merzbow: Extict
There are new Merzbow releases all the new albums, reissues, collaborations and so on. Any many of these are actually pretty great, but due to the high volume, obviously only…
Sugar House: Sugar House
Sugar House popped up on my radar last year and became an instant favorite thanks to their songs that belenced between groovy post-punk and sometimes edgier, sometimes more melodic indie…
Prana: Sense Of Unity
This album, released 27 (!) years after the project's previous full length is easily one of the nicest surprises of this year (and yeah, I know it is only March).…
Capsule: Metro Pulse / #2022reviews
Capsule was always about change, right from the start when the duo of producer Yasutaka Nakata and singer Toshiko Koshijima released their first album in 2001. That one was a…
FEMM: Tokyo Ex Machina / #2022reviews
Tokyo Ex Machina's release had the worst timing ever, which almost ruined an otherwise decent EP. Let me explain this: it was released sort of out-of-nowhere just a month after…