 Chinmoku No Kiri No Naka (2006) – 4/5 Link |  A Small Elephant in a Large Forest (2008) – 4/5 Link |
This is "Mind of Asian." They’re Japanese, and if you clicked the link provided you’ll probably have noticed they’re all female as well. Ordinarily you’d think this would be enough to get them noticed, after all we have the all-female Gallhammer on a major label, the all-female ‘Oreskaband’ that made it big despite really doing anything special, so here we have yet another up and coming band that whilst have yet to garner widespread attention, look set to follow suit. Much like the artists already mentioned, they aren’t the most proficient at their instruments, but whilst others compensate by playing slow and simple music, Mind of Asian have decided to make up for their shortcomings by playing as loudly and quickly as they possibly can.
There are the obvious powerviolence and grindcore comparisons, but it’s without the doom-laden tone of the former and the serious nature of the latter. Everything feels more rooted to the old-school hardcore punk way of thinking, the fun and chaotic attitude running through their frantic minds as they chaotically blast away at a blistering pace that causes what should have been a full-length release to finish in a quarter of the time. In fact, if the track exceeds a minute long then its only because it has a slow intro to give the audience something to listen to whilst the vocalist finally breathes some much needed air, and for the guitarist to find a guitar that still has some strings attached.
There is little more that really needs to be said; this music was never intended to do anything new or mix things up (or indeed ever really has time to, both releases combined still coming it at under half an hour long) but this simply constructed crossover thrash will come out kicking and clawing and wont relent until its all over. Raw, chaotic, anarchic, destructive; this delivers oestrogen-fuelled domination by the bucket load, and with the odd bassy grooves thrown in for good measure all that’s left to say is bring on the blitzkrieg! I think I’m in love…
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