Kimachi – “Separation Anxiety”
Kimachi is a Boston hardcore punk band who I’ve reviewed before in TNB, and though I mistook them before for some fiery, traditional Korean dish- I’m happy to relate they’re still dishing out some politically aware, socially commenting hardcore in a fiery, intense manner.
And they also run a small record company called Wild Eyed Noise (wildeyednoise.com), a “collaboration between Boston and Denver.”
When they e-mailed us recently about reviewing this release, I relayed I would, though I was a bit backed up at the moment, (the prunes are having a tremendous affect, thank you.) I further relayed that I had just finished up reviewing the new Crystal Methodist album and how wonderful it was and had they heard it?
They replied in the affirmative and stated, that in fact, it was actually released on Wild Eyed Noise!
That album was one of the best I’ve reviewed this year and this year has been the best year for music reviews, by far, in the five years TNB has existed. (I just wished that I wasn’t so backed up).
But enough of my problems, this is an EP that can stand strongly aside Crystal Methodist’s last release. It’s hardcore with metal edges that are sharp, that prick the skin, stab the heart and plunge hard and true to the bone.
Let’s operate:
“Intro” starts with the sounds of trains screeching momentarily on tracks in the back of your mind, as glass shatters for a second before the sound approaches your ears; underneath it all are buried vocals until a guitar comes crashing through to break on through. Some guitar distortion and gliding tones then appear before the guitar barges in again. “Consumed by overwhelming feeling/ A wave of misplaced fashion…I think I’m drowning.” This ambient, experimental tune eventually picks up speed and rocks out and headbangs a bit. And I think this song is a pretty, great start.
Thrashing metal guitar and pounding, solid drums and bass lead off “Fight For Air” with forthright, intense vocals emoting above them. “It’s hard to see what once bound you and me…But I can’t help in thinking what might have been/ Not if things were different/ But if we never met- I wish we never met.” After that line the guitars start swirling and growling with an ominous sound representing aurally, regret. The rhythm section picks it up a notch but the words and vocals still paint a feeling of remorse and anger. The chorus brings the tempo down but the intensity increases- then the guitar feedbacks like a fire alarm gone berserk. A song of regret and sadness but one I’m very glad to say I’ve heard.
“Hatespeech” starts with “Outdated ideology used as a soap box, spewing hate…Your institution’s one of ignorance/ So you prey on the fears of the ignorant.” Oh My! Why it sounds just like it was taken from the current Republican election platform- but musically, sounds like a hurricane of awesome, hardcore noise tearing apart our eardrums majestically. There’s some ambient parts but mostly this song contains some great, aggressive hardcore. Though even in the last part of the song when the reigns are pulled in, the music looses none of its punch and the lyrics none of its bite. “Centuries old intentions are firmly buried beneath/ Rampant corruption and medieval beliefs…You stand in the way of progress and I can’t wait/ To watch the tide wash you away.” This is a song about hate, against hate, that I love and is my favorite on the EP.
“Haunt” starts with the drums throwing wild punches of rhythm while the guitar slices in with sounds resembling brutal uppercuts and jabs. But once the vocals enter the ring it ignites the rhythm section to overdrive. “I struggle to simplify/ Reach for a thread of yesterday/ When it was all so easy/ When the world was so small.” The rhythm in the chorus pulls back like a boxer bouncing off the ropes, but soon the bass and drums are hardcore swingin’ again. “And I’m afraid of what I’ll find/ If I look deeper/ Introspection is the process of haunting yourself…Lost my way in this void/ Will I let it defeat me?” This is an impassioned, powerful song that should haunt you forever.
So Kimachi is a band that’s not on the punk side but on the hardcore/metal side whose boundaries have recently been certified at the recent Geneva convention/Olympics in Rio De Janeiro.
And what that means, is what you get here, is the sonic wallop of metal- the loudness, the aggressiveness- along with the lyrical social consciousness of hardcore and the honesty, the truth of that coupled with some powerful, potent music.
But what does that get me?
I still haven’t got a nickle to my name. I’m out here pitchin’ pennies in the gutter, waiting for my ship to roll in.
But what that means for you, is that the future is bright even if you can’t see it yet.
And here, the music is great as long as you have ears to hear it.
(Slimedog)
