Creation and Destroy: Japanese Hardcore Starter Pack

Japan is the home to one of the earliest scenes for hardcore, dating back to the early ‘80s, roughly around the same time Black Flag, the Adolescents and Circle Jerks began speeding up punk rock and amp up its aggression. However, for the most part Japan mirrored the European scenes, worshiping the likes of Discharge and Anti-Cimex instead of their American counterparts. The aesthetic and music remained essentially the same, though with a noticeable difference; as a general rule Japanese hardcore is far more noisy, abrasive, and much, much more aggressive – and obviously it can be metallic. Some bands do not shy away from making weird ass hardcore too; Confuse for instance dabbled with psychedelia, and G.I.S.M is… hard to categorize.

This starter pack covered a lot ground in order to give a general idea of what you should expect from the scene, so if you’re interested on diving into it then this post is for you.

SS - The Original (1984)

The Rosetta stone of Japanese hardcore? Yeah. Assuming this was actually recorded in 1979 you can consider that the SS is one of the earliest pioneers of hardcore punk as a whole, which is quite surprising since the band is seldom named. But then again the fact that this band is obscure by a lot of people’s standards I guess I really shouldn’t. Either way, this recording is more or less of what you would expect from early hardcore punk; sped-up, raw trad-punk rock that occasionally nods the Ramones and their contemporaries (in fact, this band covered ”Blitzkrieg Bop” and it’s incredibly dope). The best thing about it though it basically made early Black Flag sound tame in comparison.

The Comes - No Side (1983)

I love the vocals on this one. The Comes is a female-fronted band. Their sound is like a logical progression of what the SS was doing by being much more melodic and fun. Interestingly the band went on playing heavy metal in their second and final album.

Gauze - 面を洗って出直して来い (1997)

This is a super fun record from one of the biggest names in the scene. Essential and very unique fastcore, this album got tons of stellar drum work that gives off a strong energetic vibe that can't be easily compared. Really this is a pretty crazy record, quite spazzy even by most fastcore standards.

Bastard - Wind of Pain (1990)

Like every music scene in the world Japan has multiple distinctive styles of hardcore. One of them is Burning Spirits. It is mainly distinguished by its peculiar emphasis on a melodic and uplifting sound, like an aural equivalent of a bunch of bloodthirsty warriors celebrating the notion of glory in death like they have nothing else to lose. Cringe statements aside Burning Spirits bands noticeably stayed close towards speed metal more than their contemporaries outside of this niche style, with flashy solos and riffs tend to be the mainstay. Vocals, of course are barbaric, visceral, and oddly melodic. Bastard is one the early purveyors of Burning Spirits. This is their only full-length album, and despite being released in 1990 it still sounded “modern” and timeless.

Death Side - Bet On the Possibility (1991) 

The Gods of Burning Spirits themselves, Death Side is truly the embodiment of this distinctive style. This is their sophomore effort. The songwriting is tight, filled with flashy solos and uplifting riffs, but still maintaining enough aggression for every speed freak to enjoy. The speed metal influence is undeniable here, and yet they didn't cross the line to be considered as metal. This ain't a bad thing, of course.

Warhead - この想いを何処へ… (1993)

I don’t know why not a lot of people mention this band a lot when it comes to Burning Spirits. Obviously they sounded pretty much like Death Side & co. but the vocals on this record are definitely something else. Its super energetic and exciting with fuck tons of gang vocals. The speed metal influence shines quite bright here, and it’s somewhat thrashier too in some ways.

Etæ - All Possibilities Will Come From There (2011)

Another Burning Spirits record, Etæ came from the same region where their contemporaries Crude, Mustang, Grass and Bad Trip are all located. This is actually a compilation of their entire discography I think, so you can pretty much consider it as their only full-length album if you want.

Muga - s/t (2004)

I remember someone said that Muga is Japan's answer to His Hero Is Gone. Well, they're right since that's pretty much it. This self-titled is pretty sludgy, heavy and lowkey atmospheric. Alternating male/female vox dominate this record (the female vox is incredibly similar to the Comes especially in its delivery) which gave the band an edge amongst their peers. Neocrust as its finest.

Kuro - Who the Helpless (1984)

Here's a fun trivia for ya: some of the band members of Kuro are rumored to be a part of the yakuza. They even beaten up members of 44Magnum (heavy metal/AOR band, as far as I know) merely for having blond hair and signing up to a major label. Despite being straight up goons Kuro offered great, simplistic, Discharge worship songs with a whole lotta attitude.

Tranquilizer - s/t (1985)

Pretty much Kuro on coke. This is absurdly fast hardcore with muddied production, with weird ass vocals that sounded like a damn kazoo of all things. Quite a crucial record for the scene too.

Disclose - Tragedy (1994)

This is a dangerous record primarily because of its notoriously lo-fi production. I mean, it's not often I would say that guitars can sound like like a chainsaw that's capable of cutting through steel. That's what Disclose is.

Gloom - Recomendation of Perdition (1997)

A very straightforward album, Recomendation of Perdition (yes, I'm aware of the typo) is just a barrage of d-beat inspired noise/crasher crust that ain't for the faint of heart. It's fast, the guitars are drenched with absurdly noisy feedback, and the vocals are downright visceral sounding like they're trying to wage a damn war (even though most of these bands are against it). This is actually my favorite EP from the scene when it comes to this kind of stuff, next to D-Clone's "Creation and Destroy".

D-Clone - Creation and Destroy (2012)

Oh hey. Let’s be real here the majority of extreme metal bands that y’all are listening to are tame as hell when compared to this beast. D-Clone (a clear poke towards the tradition of Discharge-inspired bands’ naming themselves with words starting with “Dis-“) took ideas from Disclose and Gloom and pushed it to max. This EP is straight-up noisy and absolutely crushing, and I’m not exaggerating. This is a god-sent EP for the trvest of trve people, so if you can’t fuck with it then I certainly can’t fuck with you fam.

G.I.S.M. - SoniCRIME theRapy (2001)

The big one. G.I.S.M. was notorious for their confrontational live shows thanks to their frontman Sakevi, with his antics including, but not limited to: “running into the crowd with a chainsaw, attacking front rows with a lit flamethrower, throwing fireworks at the crowd, beating random concertgoers with a club, threatening the audience with a loaded revolver and firing gun shots on stage”. I think they had close ties with the yakuza too, so yeah, pretty crazy and violent group. Since the band is violent their music must be violent too, right? Well, yes. For the most part the band took a lot of notes from heavy/speed metal (their legendary guitarist Randy Uchida had a side project “specializing” in metal) making their brand of hardcore incredibly metallic, but the band also dabbled with a lot of weird stuff too. This is their final album before their disbandment, and it’s an absolute essential listen if you’re morbidly curious about Japanese hardcore.