TZOMBORGHA

Ruins are one of cornerstone of Japanese avant prog, founded by legendary drummer Tatsuya Yoshida and usually released in a form of drummer and bassist duo (with vocals). Bassists beside of Tatsuya Yoshida are changed often, this album is released in duet with bassist Hisashi Sasaki.

Music on this album is generally what you could expect from Japanese avant prog drummer and bassist duo - extremely fast and technical instrumental hardcore with Japanese vocals and some doze of psychedelia. This album is not very heavy or extreme, and even contains two interesting tributes - to Black Sabbath and Mahavishnu Orchestra!

Songs are very sharp, with broken complex rhythms, but you can hear some Japanese folklore elements included on sound mix as well. In a moments listener can even catch some funky moments. Even if this music is played by rhythm duo, for me it sounds more like classic Japanese avant, not (Japanese) zeuhl (ok, zeuhl elements are presented there as well). In all cases, this release is really interesting one for Japanese avant prog lovers, and possibly could be not a bad entrance point for newcomers to dark rhythmic world of Tatsuya Yoshida.

My vote is 3+