GUERNICA

Full of symphonic sounds, in comparison with the previous electronic one ... should their 5-year hibernation induce them to get more symphonic and dramatic? Or the mainstream of the times in Japan do so...?

Short songs but with powerful synth plus orchestration and paranoic voices in it ... a hard-to-categorize musical style as before.

The theme is exactly a Japanese Dadaism named "Taisho-Romanticism", shouted about a hundred years before in Japan. The members of GUERNICA veiled themselves antique dresses and archaic words & music, produced by a talented multi-instrumentalist Koji UENO, a voice bewitcher Jun TOGAWA, and a terrifically illusionary artist Keiichi OHTA. The songs here have, just as the previous ones, frequent rhythm alterations and quick changes of the scenes, far from the current pop- or media-ism. Even only the instrumental plays on her background are so avantgarde and progressive, and Jun's mysterious and paranoiac voices can completely immerse us listeners into her psychotropic caravan. Yes guess almost all of progressive rock fans have not known about Japanese old-fashioned songs at all but let me say they should have such flavour as GUERNICA - loud and exaggerated horn sections, inorganic and strict-for-tone voices, and a bad recording condition (oh, it's not here...sorry). GUERNICA went ahead and showed antique, archaic, and artistic technique on a progressive way.

Maybe...in my humble opinion, surely...GUERNICA will be progressive forever all around the world.

Hard to be categorized - as I say by one phrase.

I've wondered how the Japanese music scene itself should diagnose GUERNICA, and simultaneously been very happy to come across them. In those days, there might be no artist like them...neither purely avantgarde nor purely electronic, absolutely progressive with psychedelic spice...all over the world, not only in Japan. Jun's antique atmosphere, mysterious voices, and charming eyes (!) - with Koji's wonderful creation - were more important than anything else. The stories of this album were set up as in Japanese 1920s - about Taisho era, one of Japanese developing period. All the tunes are electronic-avantgarde with ancient, dignified and magnified flavour. However, they could not produce such a characteristic style without Jun's eerily terrific voices - I can imagine without difficulty.

Forgive me but you cannot realize only with my review without listening to the album...on the contrary, can understand why it be difficult for them to be classify strictly I guess.

"Progressive Antique" genre should be made soon! ...cracked a joke. Please enjoy!