REVIEW

Debut album from Japanese alternative rock duo Denkyu.

The monochrome cover art suddenly appeared in my streaming recommendations, and a casual play immediately pulled me into its dense, immersive world. The heavy, doomgaze- and drone-infused walls of sound, layered with foggy ambience, create a dizzying effect, like wandering through an endless gray labyrinth. The contrast between the crushing heaviness and surprisingly poppy vocals adds an addictive depth, and before I knew it, I was completely lost in the album for half a day. It’s astounding to find a Japanese artist with sensibilities akin to Jesu or Infinite Vacation (now Central Pacific State Beach).

Highlights include “Nukegara”, where inorganic beats merge with delicate melodic harmonies; “4-Bansen”, with guitars slicing through the ruins like a rushing wind; “Yuudachi”, approaching Jesu through a Japanese folk (1970s-style) lens; and “Hoshi wo Matsu”, whose seismic walls of sound shake the mind. The album’s vivid imagery is striking: in “4-Bansen”, the repeated train announcements evoke a scene from Ray Bradbury’s “There Will Come Soft Rains”, while the impermanence in “Nukegara” conjures the abandoned nuclear testing grounds of J. G. Ballard’s “The Terminal Beach”. My imagination was fully activated, and I’m curious what visions this album sparks in others.

A monochrome psychedelia has blossomed in the Japanese shoegaze scene. This is an album to experience live as soon as possible.

Note: “Gekkou” is only available on Bandcamp—don’t miss it.