JACKSON

One of the finest talents in the ever expanding Japanese progressive scene is guitarist Kido Natsuki. Best known for his work with Bondage Fruit, he has developed numerous projects of varying styles. Korekyojin is a power trio that can best be described as an instrumental technical progressive garage band. This band is frantic and raw with rock and roll virtuosity.

Natsuki has written great music with BF, but has subdued his guitaring 'wild beast' at times for the sake of composition (not a bad thing). Korekyojin is a different story. Being a classic Guit/Bass/Drum trio allows him to bring forth his monstrous guitar abilities. Yet Tatsuya and Mitsuru's Drum and Bass abilities are far from overshadowed. Influences from a wide array of rock players can be heard, but the easiest influences to hear are Yes in the instrumentation (sans the metaphysics) and King Crimson in the writing (sans the long-winded improvisations). The album mix is very untampered with, for lack of a better term. Compression, limiting and effects in mastering seem to be kept to a minimum to give the impression of the band being in the room with you.

The CD version reviewed also has a limitted edition mini-disc Yes medley included. Korekyojin plays a part from just about every Yes song written for full band between 1972 and 1977 in a 5:38 tribute. Has to be heard to be believed.

This album is very exciting and qualifies as a masterpiece. Fun stuff.

4.8 stars... rounded up.

Yet another great album from Yoshida and crew here. While the last album, Isotope, was a live recording, this one's back in the studio. They really rip it up no matter where they're playing though, live or studio. This is a sure sign of that. The album includes two tracks which were present on Isotope, but slightly more polished (which seems pretty tough to do as they already sounded great in 2004 when recorded for that album), along with a good amount of new material.

Just like on all of the group's other albums, they waste no time getting right into the crazy, fiery instrumental interplay I've come to associate with the group. Sometimes the sound is heavy and menacing, sometimes it's still heavy but playful. They really did a great job here of mixing the two together, and songs like the title track are a good example of how the group can sound cheery when they want. The song does turn a bit darker later on, which isn't a problem.

One of my favorite things about Korekyojinn is the equality of the musicians in the group - sure, Kido gets the majority of the solos, but as far as the compositions go, everyone's pretty much equal, and they can all show off their abilities without seeming over-indulgent. With three amazing musicians like those on board here, I couldn't hope for anything else. Kido Natsuki is very possibly my favorite guitarist, both for his work here and in Bondage Fruit. There's something about his style that not many have, in my opinion. Anyone who's talked to me on the forums probably knows I've got a mild obsession with anything which involves Yoshida and his drumming (first discovered through Koenjihyakkei), and ever since I discovered this group, Daimonji, and Altered States I've grown to really love the sound and style of Nasuno's bass playing. This is probably my favorite "super group", especially considering Hoppy Kamiyama provides keyboards and some vocals for the next album, Swan Dive.

If you are on the lookout for incredible instrumental rock, then you owe it to yourself to find albums by this group, because they really are some of the best of the best at what they do. Along with Swan Dive, this is one of my favorites from the group, and it easily earns masterpiece status from me. I'm eagerly awaiting the new album due out later this month.

Kido Natsuki's power trio take the listener on a brutal prog tour de force which, much like the work of groups like Yoshida Tatsuya's home group Ruins or Natsuki's own Bondage Fruit, helps to keep Japan at the forefront of forward-looking progressive music. Refusing to wallow in nostalgia, the album offers a hard-rocking take on the Ruins sound, dialling back the zeuhl influence and giving Natsuki plenty to do when it comes to intricate guitar solos. Coming close to math rock in precision at some points, it saves itself from the unemotive tedium that genre can sometimes find itself trapped in simply through offering an explosion of energy; if anyone listens to this and claims that the sheer excitement of the compositions isn't infectious, check their vital signs. At point it comes across as an avant-garde spin on the most vapid flavours of jazz muzak, with all the good and ill that suggests.