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Kyoufu Shinbun“死”

Where punk and industrial merge can be very good - think Big Black, Godflesh, Killing Joke - but like all music, the more underground and obscure you get, the more out there it is, the less accessible it is.

死 (Death) by Kyoufu Shinbun is probably right down the middle of the road for harsh noise fans, of which I'm definitely not, so give me some grace as I'm way out of my depth here. This is interesting, but it's not relaxing, nor is it something you can even say you're listening to for the lyrical content, as the vocals, such as they are, are so distorted that they're undecipherable, even if you did know Japanese - or can interpret coyote-style yips, yelps and howls. Lots of feedback, noise clipping, banging noises - but there's the occasional tune or melody in here, you just gotta find it. Originally from 1990 as a cassette, this was re-released this year by Bitter Lake Recordings.

This is not unlike fellow countryman Crow and his Apocalypse project or Death Comes Along in terms of its listenability to me - I mostly own this as a curiosity than genuine interest.