KYOBO NA ONGAKU (A VIOLENT MUSIC)

The title of this record is exactly what you are going to listen inside: violence in music. It doesný mean we are in front of a great metal record, but rather in front of a highly aggressive version of the more aggressive BI KYO RAN (or, if you prefer, the most aggressive side of the most aggressive KING CRIMSON). Kunio Suma offers here a great amount of distorted guitars, an incredible rhytm section (the drummer in this occasion is Yoshiyuki Shimizu, who offers great talent and lot of immagination) and Noriyuki Kamiya on keyboards helps to create the soundscaping counterpart. But never forget throughout the review: it´s a hard record, hard to listen, absolutely electrified, with no relax for the listener.

This record shoul be divided in two parts: songs 1 to 4 and 5 to 7. Why this separation? Because the work appeared in both parts is absolutely different, outsatnding the first, quite boring and repetitive the second.

"A violent city", the longest track, is a great song, which offers a great work in composition, with lots of change of rhytms with a clear intro, middle section and conclusion,sometimes rememberin a bit to "Starless". "Feet on the Ground" can be considered a great electric jam, with superb work on drumming; maybe a simple track, but very intense. "A violent Party" is a strange song, not only for the record, but for BI KYO RAN in itself; it reminds me a bit of the chamberistic works of ZAPPA, but in a crimsonic vein; very original. "A violent Fort" is the masterpiece of the record, an incredible composition which reminds me FRENCH TV in an aggressive way (never forget: it´s a very aggressive album!), where the keyboardist Noriyuki Kamiya gives his best performance in synths and mellotron.

IMHO, the album should finish here, in what I named the first part of the album. The rest of the album is a bit boring, with songs without remarcable differences, very similar one to each other. It should be considered that, given the high level of the first part, it is very difficult to reach and maintain the same level in the rest of the record.

In conclusion, although I consider that only the first four tracks are at the highest level, not only in composition, but also in performance and origiality. The second part, as I said before, doesn´t deserve great attention. Anyway, those four songs (more than half an hour of music) are absolutely great, and make worth of getting the record. 4 stars, but if the whole record had been at the same level, it would be 5 stars, no doubt about it!