Slam of the Rising Sun

Inspired by a good friend of mine taking a trip to Tokyo this summer, I've decided to do an in depth look at the Japanese brutal death metal scene. In my opinion Japan has tons of good brutal bands and it's hard to argue that there is a better country for this kind of metal in Asia. If you're at all interested in brutal death metal Japan should not be overlooked. Here are some good ones to start with.

Vomit Remnants: One of the oldest bands on the scene, Vomit Remnants is also one of the best. They describe themselves as "Hyper-Groove" which is actually fairly accurate. Vomit Remnants is all about the groove and remind me a lot of Dying Fetus and Soils of Fate with touches of Suffocation. All of their stuff is great and insanely catchy and most of it is available on their discography CD called Supreme Vehemence. The only thing that bothers me about this band is that they have not released anything in four years.

Infernal Revulsion: This band is relatively new but their debut full length Devastate Under Hallucination shows they know what they are doing. It's incredibly heavy and the slam breakdowns are immense. If you want to be absolutely crushed by a slam death record, check out Infernal Revulsion. It also features a common trait of Japanese bands - great vocals. Not sure what makes the Japanese such good gurglers and growlers, but it's almost a guarantee that a Japanese brutal death band will have awesome vocals. Infernal Revulsion has a second full length on the way called Dead But Breathing.












Infernal Revulsion standing near a scary fence

Gorevent: I can't figure out how to pronounce this band's name (Gore - Vent? Gor - Event?). Either way they rule. They fall on the simpler side of things and don't complicate things with technicality or melodic riffs. They just straight slam. This plus a thick and heavy production on their album Abnormal Exaggeration reminds me of Abominable Putridity. Again great vocals.













Members of Gorevent plus the coolest old dude ever


Disconformity: Another band that needs to release more material, Disconformity have only given us one EP and two demos. Disconformity manage to combine slam's catchiness with a slightly higher than average amount of technicality. Their style is very heavy not unlike countrymen Infernal Revulsion. It's hard to judge this band based on so little material, but what they have put out shows great potential.

Blunt Force Trauma: Despite having some humorous Engrish song titles in their discography (Inconsistency Politics and Vomit Christmas being my favorites), Blunt Force Trauma are emerging as a good band and managed to hold their own on a split with the excellent and relatively more experienced Katalepsy. Blunt Force Trauma favor abrupt, stomping slam as opposed to smooth grooves. They remind me of Vulvectomy in this way. I'm hoping for a full length from these guys sometimes soon.














Blunt Force Trauma slamming in the woods



Jenovavirus: Probably the most obscure band I've talked about and sadly the only one that is no longer active, Jenovavirus are also the most unique. They're just weird. They throw in synthesizers, multi-layered vocals and weird atmosphere. If you are a Dripping fan (and you should be) Jenovavirus is definitely worth checking out. Unfortunately for us they only recorded one demo.