弌 (TWO) [AKA: VIVA KOENJI !]

I've got the 'Prog Archives' to thank for this one. I'd never heard of these crazy Japs until searching out Zeuhl bands on the net. From the ruins of "Ruins" arise these demented folk from Japan.

Imagine Magma on steroids looking for a fight - that's how this album sounds. Immaculately played with precision timing at high tempo make this a mastepiece. Brilliant production with volume level control helps things enormously. Each time I hear this it simply gets better and better. The fourth track - 'Quidom' sounds to me like a Japanese version of Laibach only far more eccentric. It's very difficult to find out any news on Koenjihyakkei or if they'll ever record another studio album. I really hope they do, as all four of their releases are brilliant. Much more intense in scope than most prog bands and they're full of playful vocals. Koenjihyakkei clearly owe a debt to the mighty MAGMA in this respect. One of the most intense Zeuhl albums you'll ever hear. It'll either annoy or please, with nothing in between. Probably the best album I've heard in the last year.