It’s Monday and Mondays suck, so let’s grind it out with Takafumi Matsubara’s Strange, Beautiful and Fast.
Those that remember the mighty Gridlink should recognize the name Takafumi Matsubara (also: Retortion Terror, Mortalized). He is one of the hardest grinders in the genre in addition to being one of the best guitarists in it. Still. Even after a brain infarction left his left hand partially paralyzed, that didn’t stop him from making a return. Five years later, he has unleashed his solo album and it is a whirlwind of epic grind.
Strange, Beautiful and Fast is a collaboration album of friendship and grindcore. Matsubara’s wailing guitar is paired with a plethora of players from Dylan Walker (Full of Hell), Bryan Fajardo (Cognizant, Noisear), Bhotey Gore (Chepang), Yasuhito Fuchibe/Yuki Uyama/Yosuke Ueda (Completed Exposition), Richard Hoak (Total Fucking Destruction), and so, so, so many more. The album is never lacking in personality or intensity and remains massive sounding through and through.
“Stuttered Rope” opens the record going full nose to the grind. The blast is like the gust of an explosion and the intensity is full bore. Walker, Fajardo and Hiroyuki Uno (Black Ganion) contribute to this. It’s a hell of an opening that only leads to more insanity. And what one can ascertain from this track alone is that Matsubara spared nothing to make this album as insane as possible. But also meld his styling with other players in the genre.
A great example of this is “Dignity 尊厳”, a track that features a drum do (Fajardo/Surya Pun of Chepang) and a vocal duo (Gore/ Sanshiro Yamazaki of Mortalized). And it sounds like it’s pulling elements from all around these backgrounds, especially Chepang while maintaining plenty of that shred/technical grind that Matsubara is well known for. “मेटिन लागेको अक्षर” has an Organ Dealer vibe via Eric Schnee’s drumming but also would sound comfortable on a Chepang record with Matsubara’s stylings. The point being, that this is Matsubara’s album, but it’s got so much more going for it than just his relentless talent.
Not every track is a billion blasts per minute. The record does take a step back and slows down for a bit with “Pull Out My Eyes.” Moving more towards a moodier, slower sound, the piece lands about dead center in the record, giving us some time for recovery. But the track becomes uneasy quickly. Alan Dublin’s (Gnaw, Khanate) vocal delivery sounds frenzied. And the track has already been following suit. Things pick up, the song starts to speed forward, but its focus remains on ambiance. And just when we think it’s going to stick with it, the song lurches forward, blasting for its final stretch.
Following this, the album gets back into death-dealing its grindcore via “Controlled Matrix of Thought” with Champ Morgan (Kill the Client) on vocals and Hoonee Joe (Mortalized, Banran). “Fate of Fear” (ft. Completed Exposition) takes things for a powerviolence turn. Or, rather, a neo-powerviolence turn. Meanwhile, “Abstract Maelstorms” is…very, very Total Fucking Destruction sounding. And it’s awesome. I’m not spoiling that one.
There is a lot to unpack on Strange, Beautiful and Fast. A lot. It’s definitely the most ambitious grindcore project of the year. Matsubara’s contribution to the grindcore scene could never be overstated. But this record also shows the fluidity of the genre, and how great musicians can come together to make one ballistic blaster. This is the width and breadth of grindcore; an outstanding achievement. Grindcore is love. Grind on, folks.
This record is dedicated to Hee Chung.
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