Japanische Kampfhörspiele - Bilder Fressen Strom

JaKa MySpace
Type: CD / Vinyl
Release: 2010
Label: Unundeux

As always you get your money's worth with Jaka (their last EP was 19 minutes before the 19-minute bonus track). Jaka have also always been good for writing quality riffs, often penning one-off, throw-away riffs lesser bands would design complete songs around. In their usual realm of punk and grind, these were treats adding flavor to their "short, composed poems" take on grind's micro song format. Bilden Fressen Strom adds a new twist to the formula - featuring 27 songs in 42 minutes (those number are usually swapped) and the name of the game this time around is Thrash. There are three instrumentals - by title - but lyrics are at such a premium that instrumentation was definitely their style of choice during the writing process.

From a purist stand point (read: you have a closed mind and think every band's earlier work is better) a little of the punch and urgency of their earlier songs has been lost. Instead of ten to 45 second outbursts we get songs with body, mind and spirit. In reality, it's a trade off leaving behind an album with more personality. It's a CD that can grace your home stereo system all day long, or, in MP3 format, can get you through your whole commute while you deal with assholes who never learned how to merge...

Bilder Fressen Strom begins with "Die Schlachtung," a five minute song with enough stop-and-go action to make even Antigama blush. It has so many quality riffs that a reviewer working on a word count would simply give up and call it epic. I am a firm believer in transitioning. It's not just "the riff" but how you build up to it and where you go after it. Any one who listened to classic thrash knows what I'm talking about. But if that didn't make sense, just pay attention to what is happening leading into the 1:40 mark and to where the band goes from there. As the tune works to it's inevitable end the only thing I can really ask for is louder bass kicks. The tone is set: it's skin-tight black jeans with white high-tops Thrash time. And there's 37 minutes to go...

There are so many great songs and moments. Take "Supermacht," which meanders through the first half of the track before suddenly morphing into a crossover bordering powerviolence finale. There's the industrial number "Jochbeinbruch" that certain early-90's power houses in the genre are probably furious they didn't write. Then there's "Wie geht nochmal ficken," featuring driving, mid-paced palm-muted riffing that scream out for blast beats. Showing their patient side, Jaka instead offer up an extended, ankle exercising double bass passage that sounds absolutely brilliant by virtue of not being triggered. Another one that comes to mind is "Rentnerparadies," the kind of song that makes kids want to hit up their dads for the car keys and some gas money.

Without question "Bilder Fressen Strom" is their heaviest and most metal album yet. This will probably be the one the band is eventually "known" for - primarily because the songs should appeal across the extreme spectrum. From the punk side, fans of Abscess and Massgrav; on the thrash side, fans of Ghoul and Population Reduction; and especially old school death metal fans: we can all learn German, play air guitar and snarl along. Both disk and vinyl are available directly from the band here.

Japanische Kampfhörspiele - Luxusvernichtung EP

JaKa MySpace
Release Date: 2009
Label: Unundeux
Release Type: CD; 10"

Japanische Kampfhörspiele, or JaKa, as the band so kindly refers to themselves, roughly translates to Japanese Combat Radio Plays. This little gem is subtitled Vierundfünfzig vertonte Kurzgedichte which translates to "Fifty-four composed short poems." Haiku would be the better term, since like haiku these are songs that are done before you know it, with only an image of what you heard remaining in memory.

With that subtitle in mind, it is easy to see that what we have here is a concept album. The play list contains 55 songs in 38 minutes. It would be equally easy to jump to the conclusion that the "concept" is nothing more than paying homage to the cornerstone of Grindcore: the Micro-Song; one riff blast fests that serve little purpose beyond adhering to the grindcore mantra of "Short, Fast and Loud." JaKa actually takes a different route; in fact they are on an altogether different autobahn: there is maybe one minute of blast beats on the whole release.

The simplest way I can describe their approach to this EP is ADHD Thrash. The are playing thrash within grindcore's micro-song structure. And I mean they play proper thrash; ripping out riff after riff that, when compiled, would easily provide enough fuel for a lesser band to use over the course of two or three albums. True to the title, less than 10 of the 54 main haiku are over 30 seconds, with only two of these breaking the one minute barrier. Like a collection of poems, which can follow a theme but must inevitably consist of individual pieces, these guys took great pains to ensure nearly every song, no matter how short, has its own recognizable riffs. There is little obvious borrowing or altering from song to song.

Also of note: the vocals are in German. We get a two-fronted attack, with the main duties coming from a thrash snarl/rasper and accents coming in the form of death growls. The vocals are generally humorous (see: Metallica) but non-native speakers are far from missing out: like death metal and grindcore vocals (which you can't understand anyway) the vocal pace creates rhythms that fit well with the songs. Finally we come to percussion. Thrash drumming and double bass abound. As mentioned, there is very little blasting to be had. What blast beats we do hear are well placed and organic - you might not even notice them until after the fact.

Taken as a whole, I have no interest in this approach to music. It begs a serious question: what's the point of all these songs if they tend to end right as you are getting into them? The answer is simple: Track 55. I call it the Moment of Greatness. Here we get a 19-minute instrumental slab of the previous 54 songs. Many of them are mixed together, while others are separated by a one-second gap. It plays like a sample platter and is truly Reason Number One to buy the EP. Throughout the album there are riffs galore, loads of quality thrash drumming (a ton of double bass) and a general feel that JaKa are tremendous musicians - but the micro-song approach featured here is an understandable distraction. Track 55 addresses this issue triumphantly - I can't recommend it enough.

If you appreciate what they are doing but want lengthier songs, you will enjoy their previous releases. The songs are indeed longer while more importantly, the music is pretty much the same. Win-win situation.

Songs that stood out:
Leben; Enttieren; Uberall; Werd Doch; Vernetzte Welt Geht Unter; Halsabscneider.