I have been telling myself that I needed to post some Japanese hardcore for a while and what better place to start than with the almighty Paintbox? The thing about Japanese hardcore is that it's fucking awesome. To me, it has always seemed that while American punk/hardcore, during its inception, was always about being primitive or basic in structure, the Japanese were never afraid to acknowledge the influence of music from decades past. Because of this, you can have hardcore that is not only Beach Boys-level catchy, even at its darkest (listen to Etae… seriously), but equally impressive in its structure and arrangement. To top all of these interesting ideas off, you have Chelsea from Death Side, a retardedly influential Japanese hardcore band, shredding his fucking balls off all over the place. Now saying that Chelsea, who passed away not long ago (RIP my dude), had an ear for melody is the understatement of the century. Along with Randy Uchida of G.I.S.M., he arbitrated a style that was and still is, for the most part, unique to Japan and that will continue to be bitten by American crust nerds who only wish their spirits could burn as brightly (lol). Now, by no means do I mean to imply that Paintbox is the end-all be-all of Japanese hardcore, this is only one of its many facets. I chose this record because of how diverse and frankly, how fucking sick it is. These guys are balls crazy and just let the whacky song ideas fly. There are literally moments on this record where I have to stop and go "Wait, what the fuck am I listening to?" and not in a bad way. I would love to hear what all the Behemoth Skin readers think of this, so please make use of our post comment section, chat box and message board.
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