bloodthirsty butchers - kocorono

Bloodthirsty Butchers are a long-running indie rock and punk rock band from Sapporo, Hokkaidō, Japan. Although little-known in the West, they have contributed to two compilations on the Olympia, Washington based Yoyo label. The band has also released a split single with Rocket from the Crypt and a split CD-EP with +/-. Japanese act Lost in Time named their band after a song from band's third album Lukewarm Wind. The long-term members are Hideki Yoshimura (Vocals and Guitar), Masahiro Komatsu (Drums), and Takeshi Imoriya (Bass). Former Number Girl member Hisako Tabuchi joined as an additional guitarist in 2003.^[1] Famous Japanese actor Asano Tadanobu is an avid fan of the group and has sung and played guitar on a few of the band's songs.

Frontman Hideki Yoshimura also plays guitar for other Japanese indie acts such as Copass Grinderz and Discharming Man.

kocorono
As is clearly evident from the tracks named after the months of the year, kocorono is a tried and true concept album, and its slow pace coupled with noisy, complex melodies would risk running any lesser recording into the ground. But as much as each of the individual songs were carefully constructed from the bottom up, the album as a whole was cleanly sculpted from the top downwards. And amazingly, kocorono almost never sags, thanks to the complementary nature of its tracks. The upbeat "march" kicks the album into gear after introspective "february," just as "september" helps the album wind down (perhaps a bit too well) after the emotional apex of "july" and "august." "october," with the drill-like intensity of its opening riffs, gives the album a strong jolt to the finish line after its lengthy mid-section. In a surprise move, the butchers finish their opus not with a quiet touch, but with one of their most melodic and high-spirited numbers ("december"), catching the listener with one final shot of adrenaline on the way out the door to leave a gripping impression.


bloodthirsty butchers - kocorono