HUNDRED SIGHTS OF KOENJI

The debut Koenjihyakkei album is quite transparently constructed as a tribute to the classic Magma sound, with the use of vocals and martial rhythms being cribbed from the key Magma albums more or less directly. Whilst the album doesn't feel especially original, it is at least both a loyal and a competently performed tribute to its great inspiration, with particularly good percussion work from band leader Yoshida, who has clearly studied the work of Christian Vander in sufficient detail to construct this loving and painstaking reconstruction of the Magma sound circa Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh or Kohntarkosz. However, this time around at least I don't detect enough of an individual spin on the zeuhl sound which in my view is needed if an album such as this is to rise above three stars.