Summer is here, the heat is here, shirtless obnoxious twats are back too like wasps bent on ruining your lunch (they extra points if they are on mopeds) and the shitty job is (tragically) still here as well. Isn't this the perfect, ideal time to take a look at some Japanese crust compilations from the 00's in order to get inspired and pick the right shirts for festivals, the ones that will have the rest of the audience stare at you in awe and envy? You have to enjoy these little moments in life even though the said precious shirt might eventually and unexpectedly "disappear" from your tent only to "reappear" on another bloke's back the next day (true story that, I still mourn for that missing Electro Hippies shirt I never had the guts to reclaim because, to be fair, the other guy was definitely harder than me). But anyway, I have been toying with the idea of just chatting relaxedly about some nice Japanese records, nothing I haven't said before I guess but then isn't life structured around repetitions aimed at reaffirming and confirming what our inner selves are all about? It's a bit like connecting with your inner crust pants instead of your inner child. Crusties not hippies or something.
This will be a short four-part enterprise but the opening one is pretty massive it includes three records that were part of a series of compilations called Crust Night. There were four volumes of these compilations but we will only deal with the first three because I was never able to find the last one, Crust Nights 2005. A small discrepancy that will not impact your reading and listening pleasure I'm sure. Beside, a lot of bands appeared on the four volumes so that there were not that many newcomers on the last installment anyway. The Crust Night's were released on Tribal War Asia, the Tokyo-based label run by Masaki from the band Power of Idea - which accounted for the band's inclusion on the four compilations despite not being actually crust - and by Shige from Crocodileskink and engineer at the infamous Noise Room studio. The label released records from Japanese bands (some excellent ones like AGE's Four Wings and the very underrated Social Crime and Answer Crying) but also Japanese versions of European or American bands (like Warcollapse or Döm Dar). At the end of its run, Tribal War Asia started to work with hardcore bands from Malaysia or Singapore and I wish it had been able to go on and develop further in that direction but it was not to be.
Can the Crust Night's be considered as classic Japanese crust compilations that all soap-dodging foul-breathed Disclose worshippers should own? Well, in my opinion, the answer is mixed. First and foremost, to be blunt, the curation was quite uneven, if not patchy and even the sound level between songs is not always on par. While you could find some absolute gems that should be appreciated by punks loyal to the crust doxa and while it certainly provides a relevant snapshot of parts of the Japanese crust scenes, there were also very rough and rather forgettable songs. However, this might have to do with the philosophy behind the compilations too. The label ambitiously strove to release one volume a year so that I think he may have had to work with the songs that were sent to him, whether it was a scorcher or a band dicking around in the practice room. Not unlike a 00's Japanese crust version of the Bullshit Detector? I wish some sort of introduction to the compilations were included in order to describe what the Crust Night was all about beside being a record that your mum hates. All this is therefore very much left to interpretations. Second, well, they are cd compilations and outside of Japan this format has been ignored by most and is deemed to be about as uncool as your dad's pager that he's been keeping since 1998. Fortunately for me and you, it means that you can get these for cheap. This is not to say that the Crust Night's had nothing going for them. They were a great way to discover largely obscure bands that I would have never come across otherwise, especially in the pre-youtube years (also referred to as "prehistory" by people under 25). I got to become familiar with classic bands like Reality Crisis, Abraham Cross or Contrast Attitude through these. If you were to trim the compilations a little and select the 20 best songs, you would undeniable have a classic 00's crust compilation.
The first volume must have been one of the first - if not the first - Japanese punk compilations I owned because back in the early 00's, Tribal War Asia records were pretty easy to find and, as I mentioned, rather inexpensive. It is unsurprising that I hold it quite dearly even if it was objectively not a game changer but at the time I was just enthralled to be able to discover all these exotic unknown noisy bands. I loved, and still do, how they looked. A simple foldout Ep sleeve with all the bands providing lyrics and some artwork, pretty old-school and simple. A very striking thing on these compilations is the absence of any Osaka band (apart from Argue Damnation). There could be contextual rivalries (what with it being a Tokyo label) that I am unaware of but, from a synchronic perspective, one can only be surprised and muse at the astonishing absence of the classic and now legendary Osaka crasher sound especially since a lot of top bands were very much active during the first half of the 00's (Framtid, Defector, Zoe or Ferocious X to name a few) and that the genre is indeed represented here. Again, this is left to interpretations and as I said there are probably reasons that I am clueless about. But let's have it, shall we?
Crust Night 2001
The first volume starts strong with a raw aggressive classic crasher crust song (like early Gloom or something) from the oft overlooked Peaceful Collapse, from Sendai up North, a band that would have deserved a proper vinyl record but that never happened for some reason. Next are Reality Crisis, this time a well-known act from Nagoya that would start changing their sound a bit later in the 00's (the synth introduction to "Times goes by so fast" kinda already gives it away I guess) but we're very much still in the cavemen crust territory of Doom, Hiatus or Abraham Cross here, with a slight more polished production. This song also appeared on their split with Avskum. Two numbers of Power of Idea follow, two covers actually, Battle of Disarm and Social Crime respectively. Not bad in itself, they are energetic and angry enough, but I don't really see the point here. Speaking of Battle of Disarm, they offer a raw live version of "Control shit" (that was unreleased at the time I believe) that is pretty much what you would expect from this iconic 90's crust band although not their best take.
Then it's the mighty AGE from Niigata follow with a live version (again) of "Invisible future". The song is brilliant, total SDS-styled dark and rocking metallic crust and you can feel the energy and power. I am usually not a huge fan of live recordings but this is really good. Käng lovers Crocodile Skink are next with two cover songs, a cover of a classic No Security hit and of Within Range, an obscure Norwegian hardcore band from the late 80's that I have never heard of and this one feels unnecessary. Then, it's a song from the classic 80's metallic hardcore punk band Asbestos that would also appear on the 2002 Ep with a riff that reminds me of Brazilian thrashing hardcore. Otherwise a traditionally executed Japanese hardcore song with an epic solo and gruff vocals that could have been recorded 15 years before.
A band called Change from Hiroshima follows and if they were a wrestler they would be in the mid-card. Quite a good fast crusty hardcore number with yelled vocals, distortion and dynamic singalongs. It lacks a bit in intensity but it does the job here (they did a split double Ep with Agree to Differ that is of the same caliber). Next are the enigmatic A.A.N.A (or An Apology Nature Rise) from Tokyo I'm guessing, a band I wish I knew more about because, for all the relative snotty sloppiness of the song, I am always up for some old-school anarchopunk with female vocals and "Forgot things" is exactly that, somewhere between DIRT and Avaricious. The band released a split tape with Diskonto but I have sadly never heard it. Then, Screen Out play an epic 6 minute song. Like Change, something of a mid table band with a future member of Unarm that released a satisfyingly brutal crustcore Ep in 2000. The song starts with a slow emo-sounding introduction before exploding into traditional Japanese hardcore with intensity, energy and gang style chorus. Enjoyable but I prefer the raw crust aggression of the Ep (funny how the sound, the intention and the production can affect the result in this case). The only Osaka band on the cd comes after with their brand of fast thrashing hardcore punk with a message. I quite like Argue Damnation but this recording is rough and I don't really see the point of its inclusion.
Crossover long-timers Beyond Description are the next in line, a band with a long resume and a certain craftsmanship when it comes to fast hardcore thrash, but this is a a pretty average live recording bound to please die hard fans but that's about it. Gotcha follow and I'm not sure what to think. This is rough and ready and sounds like the noisier dissonant Japanese version of peacepunk bands like Media Children. Primitive, heartfelt and pretty good. Information is scarce but welcome. Next up are the mighty Abraham Cross and this was my first introduction to the band and... it is a fucking ambient song, not crust whatsoever. I realized the band evolved into more experimental electronic territories by the end of their run but, being clueless at the time, I did not understand what they were doing on a compilation called Crust Night. Finally, the compilation ends with Indistinct Unrest from Chiba and a very harsh noize crust song that would make Death Dust Extractor blush. This is barely listenable I suppose but if you crave poorly recorded and barely discernible cavemen crust (I know I sometimes do), this could be your thing.
Crust Night 2002: the War Begins For them
The second installment is probably the best of the four in terms of overall cohesion and quality but a lot of the bands already appeared on the first one so that it feels like an extension of a select crust club with strict membership rather than a new volume and the difference between the two remains light. The compilation does not starts that well with an untitled rehearsal track from Battle of Disarm. It's alright but its very inclusion is difficult to understand from an outsider's point of view. The listener is then offered a short and sharp song from Voĉo Protesta from Tokyo. You've got to love their dynamic brand of distorted crasher raw punk in Esperanto. Direct and to the point. You've got Asbestos again with a fast thrashing hardcore with fast paced Japanese lyrics and a lot of energy. I like this one. As I do the next contestant, Peaceful Collapse, gracing this compilation with a solid crasher crust song that ticks all the boxes.
Abraham Cross finally unleash their full power with a Doom-loving cavecrust song and amazing grizzli-like vocals. Are they the best to have ever done it this way? Probably. This one won me over of course. Next up are Power of Idea with a pretty typical fast and direct hardcore song with some blast beats and Answer Crying from Aichi, a highlight of the compilation, with high-energy crasher crust that is well worthy of your attention if you are into Deceiving Society or Contrast Attitude. This is followed by It's You, a Tokyo band playing hardcore punk bordering on screamo at times and it sounds a little stale after Answer Crying. Not my thing but this had an ex member of Macrofarge apparently.
We keep going with more classic noize crust devastation with Contrast Attitude from Mie City back when the band was still in its infancy and not yet a point of reference as this song is their first official appearance on a record. Needless to say they were already brilliant and in full control. We'll be talking more about Contrast Attitude later on. Next up are Воля (meaning "will" in Russian) from Kyoto and they play straight-forward female-fronted hardcore punk with lyrics in Japanese. Not bad at all. D-beat fanatics Final Blood Bath follow with a raw song of Disaster-meets-Discharge's State Violence State Control in a basement. "Glow (!) strong" can't be said to be the band's strongest number but there aren't many strict d-beat bands on the Crust Nights so I'm digging it, brother.
The mighty Acrostix, from Mie, are next with "Filth chain", a deliciously raw Amebix-style anthem taken from the band's first demo, well before they morphed into a more traditional Japanese hardcore band. By far my favourite period of Acrostix back when they were crustier than a bum's sock. They are followed by the always excellent Revölt from Kumagaya doing a fairly similar style, although doomier. The band was also in its early years and had a sound that was not unlike Effigy's but they were going for the Axegrinder-snogging-Misery vibe. The production here is a bit saturated but this is top shelf stenchcore. The band C.P.S (standing for Cunt Penis Sucker apparently) seal the deal with, I'm guessing, something of a joke song recorded in their rehearsal space, I'm guessing again. Pretty useless here to be honest.
Crust Night 2003-2004: Destroy All War Bastards and We Know It
This third volume is supposed to be for 2003 and 2004 so I suppose Tribal War Asia did not have enough material for the 2003 installment and had to wait a bit. Like for the other two you will have some faces that are growing very familiar by now. And yes Battle of Disarm and their gruff crust open the compilation with a pretty solid song this time. They are followed by Border Line from Fukushima and Miyagi, a very obscure band with members of Sacrifice and Corbata doing quite well what you are entitled to expect from Japanese crasher crust bands. The now traditional Peaceful Collapse song comes next and it is an absolute Gloom-loving chaos scorcher while Power of Idea sneak in discretely as usual just after with some grinding hardcore.
The grindcore banner keeps flying high in the crust skies with, first, two songs from Parkinson from Malaysia that are old-school and primitive and punk-as-fuck and then two songs from Little Bastards from Kumagaya, a long-running band (since 1992!) with Revölt's drummer, who deliver disgusting thrashing grindcore with an Agathocles vibe. I don't often listen to grindcore but when I do I want the bands to sound like this. The supremely obscure Calamity follow with a wonderful Doom-loving cavecrust song not unlike Battle of Disarm or Abraham Cross but apart being from Tochigi I know fuck all about them. Too bad. The band Tohchika comes next and I have no idea who they are. They deliver pretty standard 90's crustcore with groovy bass lines probably done by Shige Tribal War Asia/ Crocodileskink/Noise Room especially since the name of the song is "Noise room". Could Tohchika be a couple of friends dicking around in the studio?
The brilliantly named Arize are up next and they did not come nothing. Great noize crust reminiscent of SDS (Arize were also from Gifu actually), early Gloom and Final Noise Attack bands. It sounds pissed, it sounds raw, it sounds like quintessential Japanese crust and it is a shame the band never got to do a proper record. The quite unique Proletariart from Aichi follow with one song (and not two as the cover indicates) of raw käng hardcore sung in Japanese and I like it a lot, like Diskonto holidaying in Tokyo and learning the lingo. The band has changed a lot throughout the years and this was their first endeavour on record. After that Revölt come crashing with their anguished metal crust and a long and (very) heavy song to mosh to and Asbestos come say hi again with a pretty solid live song although I don't really see the point of having it included once again.
The band Baptism from Fukushima are up next. Clearly a young band at the time (in fact they never recorded anything else) that kind of announces neocrust with its dual angry male/female vocals dark but somehow melodic crust punk (like a much simpler Muga or Antiproduct maybe). I actually like this very 00's sound. Beyond Description then contribute an impressively crushing hardcore thrash number before Destruction (future members of Unarm here) provide an intense slice of crusty anarchopunk with some more melodic and emo bits (gasp). The sound is raw but I like the layers and the story told here. Of course, it reeks of mid-00's neocrust but I can enjoy some and I think it is meaningful to have this kind of crust represented on the compilation and not just your usual wall of noise. Speaking of which Voco Protesta follow with a barely listenable overdistorted low-fi raw punk. I like the band but this is silly. The last song of this Crust Night is a looooong number by Sacrifice from Sendai (members of Border Line, Little Bastards, Peaceful Collapse, small is the world of crust) that is clearly a tribute to the nationally beloved Doom. Japanese cavecrust to the max.
As you can deduce, listening to the three compilations in one sitting is not recommended because many bands are included on two or even the three of them. The Crust Nights are not deprived of fillers but if you were to take the 20 best songs off these you would end up with an absolute classic compilation so that, while I understand that they are not hailed as canonical or mandatory, I think any self-respecting crust fans keen to refine and boast their knowledge should be familiar with them as some noticeable bands who would eventually become popular started with these like Acrostix, Voĉo Protesta or Contrast Attitude. And why not use reverse snobbery if the local record bully points out that these are uncool cd compilations? Just answer something along the lines of: "The format is still very much in use in Japan, I would have thought you were aware of that. I mean, don't you own the Disturd/Ulcer split?".
