Sans Visage

Sans Visage are a three-piece screamo band from Tokyo, Japan that began in 2014. They play a dark and chaotic brand of screamo that incorporates some rhythmic complexities of post-hardcore, along with the hints of melody coming through in some lead lines and backing vocals. Their debut full-length Moments came out a few years back via Dog Knights Productions and Asian Gothic, and is virtually essential listening for screamo fans in the modern era. It's straight-up screamo done as it should be, baring it all through every dynamic twist and turn, with a raw, uninhibited delivery. If you're into bands such as Loma Prieta, Matsuri, Nervous Light Of Sunday, or their fantastic splitmates Blind Girls, you need to check this out. Enjoy.

demo #1 (2014)

1. song 1

2. song 4

3. song 3

demo #2 (2015)

1. -

2. Barricade

3. song 2

4. distance

5. past

Careless/Det Är Därför Vi Bygger Städer/sans visage (2016)

1. Careless - Dalliance

2. Careless - Lucid Dreaming

3. sans visage - counterfeit

4. sans visage - indolence

5. Det Är Därför Vi Bygger Städer - Förlåt För Allt

6. Det Är Därför Vi Bygger Städer - Edgwarebury Blues

Blind Girls/sans visage (2016)

1. Blind Girls - Sentient

2. Blind Girls - Silhouette Friends

3. Blind Girls - Grey Permanence

4. sans visage - Kyogen

5. sans visage - Sight

moments (2017)

1. 22

2. song 1

3. song 2

4. worthless

5. denial

6. alt

7. barricade

8. distance

9. life

10. sway

11. past

sans visage/Look At Moment (2020)

1. sans visage - Deception

2. sans visage - Desperation

3. Look At Moment - Rigging

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Gauge Means Nothing

Gauge Means Nothing were a four-piece emo/screamo band from Tokyo, Japan that began in 1997 and broke up in 2005.  Their output was fairly limited, with only one EP and one split (that I can find, at least). They were a truly unique band that's hard to pin down where they sit in screamo history. They constructed long, dynamic songs that can be be loosely compared to a band like Envy, but they go above and beyond and incorporate things that no other band would do. For one, the vocals are split harsh screams and sweetly sung with pop sensibilities, and are often layered on top of each other thanks to their dual vocalists. They utilize a variety of instrumentation (often in the background), including keyboards, trumpets, and what I think is a xylophone one one track. They even take the standard four-piece band instrumentation to another level, particularly the drum interlude in "I Think I Sink Ai Shinku". For the few tracks we have of theirs, they really set themselves apart as a must-listen. Enjoy.

The Absent Trail Of An Echo And My Future Plagued By Surrender (2003)

1. Pilgrims

2. My Glasses Reflect an Untrue View on My Eyes

3. Boku Wa Bikaiin (I'm Glorify Commissioner)

4. (Surely) Dyes Black

5. Right Hand

My Precious/Gauge Means Nothing (2005)

1. My Precious - Lost in Transition

2. My Precious - I Love Daddy (For Daghdad)

3. My Precious - Bliss

4. Gauge Means Nothing - Lost Eternity

5. Gauge Means Nothing - I Think I Sink Ai Shinku

6. Gauge Means Nothing - Beneath the Same Sky

Komusō - Luck Will Be On Your Side This Week EP PREMIERE

Today (October 13th) Komusō are back with their anticipated second EP, Luck Will Be On Your Side This Week. It's the follow-up to their debut self-titled EP that was released earlier this year, and set the bar very high for this band. They are a four-piece from Tokyo, Japan that features members from multiple notable bands, including No Omega, Careless, Det ar darfor vi bygger stader, Cape Light, and 5000. Luck Will Be On Your Side This Week features three new tracks, all of which offer up something different and make for an incredibly intense listen. You can pre-order the 7" EP from Zegema Beach Records today, with 149 records being pressed on black and 151 on clear. It's also being released by Left Hand Records, zilpzalp records, and Adabana Records. Check out the full album stream and pre-order info down below.


"Still / まだ" introduces a pulsating rhythm section with an immediately recognizable Spiderland influence. The guitar arpeggios are dissonant and off-tempo, while the vocals mutter quietly in the background. The song slowly builds tension through clashing guitars before blasting into its climatic end that recalls the final moments of "Good Morning, Captain".

Track 2, "Forgotten People / 忘れられた人々" wraps around a single arpeggio with melodic subtleties added to it, and again brings back the whisper-thin vocals. The build in this song is absolutely fantastic, and a strong indicator of Komusō's strong musicianship. It's the way they walk the fine line between melodic and dissonant, and make for entirely new emotional experiences through their very deliberate notation. Plus the guitar solo on this is an unexpected but very welcome surprise, as the underlying instrumentation begins to trip over each other to bring the track to a surprisingly pleasing end.

And finally, "Extension / 拡大". This song takes a bit of a detour from the Slint influence, and the first to bring back those insane screamed vocals from their debut EP. This is a passion-fueled scream fest, with enough dynamic depth and instrumental aptitude to not fall into total chaos. They manage to create an incredibly sad emotional palette through longing chords and an over-the-edge vocal delivery, which really hits and resonates with the listener. It's an incredible closer to this short-but-sweet EP.  Overall, it's a notable progression from their already-solid debut, and a fantastic demonstration of a new band whose about to make waves in the screamo world.

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Heaven In Her Arms

Heaven In Her Arms are a five-piece screamo/post-hardcore/post-rock band from Tokyo, Japan that formed in 2004. Two full-lengths and numerous splits and EP's later, Heaven In Her Arms are definitely one of the most notable Japanese hardcore bands. Perhaps the other one of most note is the one that everybody knows (and for good reason), Envy. HIHA and Envy are definitely quite similar, in more ways than just geographical location. They both craft immense songs that balance atmosphere with gripping intensity and emotional passion. There's definitely a very prominent post-rock influence, with tremolo-picked guitars, massive crescendos, and spoken monologues, but where they really peak is their dark and heavy climaxes, which are topped by some animalistic screaming. This band is highly recommended, especially if you're looking for more progressive and experimental screamo/post-rock. Pretty much all of their song and album titles were originally in Japanese, but most have English translations floating around the internet, which are below. So if you wanted the titles in Japanese, sorry about that. Thanks to the people that mentioned them in the cbox who reminded me of this amazing band, and enjoy.

Demo (2004)

1. Light To The Hope

2. Just To Find The Answer

3. Untitled

4. Owareta Kokoro

5. Bikasareta Omoi

Heaven In Her Arms (2006)

1. A Secret Signal... Here Is...

2. Akai Yume

3. Get Out!! (Live)

4. A Secret Signal... Here Is... (Remix)

5. Akai Yume (Remix)

Heaven In Her Arms/Tomato Steal (2006)

1. Tomato Steal - You Can't

2. Tomato Steal - Love O.G.R.2003

3. Tomato Steal - C.C.K.C.257

4. Heaven In Her Arms - Tessen to Kanaria

Koenji (2007)

1. Heaven In Her Arms - The Old World Is Behind Us & The Jailors Speak Of Freedom (Ampere cover)

2. Killie - Giugno (La Quiete cover)

Erosion Of The Black Speckle (2007)

1. Manifesto

2. Filled Up With A Bruise

3. Intersection Arrangement

4. Iron Wire And A Canary

5. A Sublingual Tablet

6. Correlative Sign

7. Get Out

8. The Balance Drowned In A White Rub

9. Partiality Of Luminosity Eight

10. Recursive Dependency

11. Red Dream

12. Erosion Of The Black Speckle

Duplex-Coated Obstruction (2009)

1. Wound Dehiscence

2. 39/40

3. Rusty Trace

4. Moon Get Distorted By Cornea

Paraselene (2010)

1. 46x

2. Anamnesis Of Critical

3. Morbidity Of White Pomegranate

4. Jade Vine

5. Echoic Cold Wrist

6. Halcyon

7. Butterfly In Right Helicoid

8. Veritas

Heaven In Her Arms/Aussitôt Mort (2011)

1. Aussitôt Mort - Une défaite à la piaule

2. Aussitôt Mort - Supraliminaire

3. Heaven In Her Arms - Lost Title/Inversion Operation

Heaven In Her Arms/Yumi (2012)

1. Heaven In Her Arms - White Night Recrystallization

2. Yumi - Empty Circle

Heaven In Her Arms/COHOL (2013)

1. Heaven In Her Arms - 黒い閃光

2. Heaven In Her Arms - 繭

3. Heaven In Her Arms - 終焉の眩しさ

4. COHOL - 不毛の地

5. COHOL - 木霊

6. COHOL - 疎外

白暈 / White Halo (2017)

1. 光芒の明時 / Ray of Light at Dusk

2. 月虹と深潭 / Abyss of the Moonbow

3. 赦された投身 / Forgivable Drown

4. 終焉の眩しさ / Glare of the End

5. 枷 / Chain With Fetters

6. 円環を綯う / Entangled Torus

7. 幻霧 / Turbid Fog

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Envy

Envy are a band legends from Tokyo, Japan that began their musical endeavours in 1992. In the early years of these titans' lifetime, they leaned towards a hardcore-oriented style of sound to wield their weapons of emotional destruction/instruments with, being upfront and straight-forward. As they progressed and developed, they gradually began to shift their sound towards what they are most associated with, which is mixing post-rock and screamo. They take the grandiose, gargantuan, lush, atmospheric aspect of post-rock, creating epic sound pieces in terms of both length and content, and mesh them with the emotional intensity of screamo. The guitars can play soft, gentle, meandering passages, or explode in cathartic climaxes. Vocalist Tetsuya Fukagawa can let out hoarse, guttural bellows of passion, or whisper spoken-word style parts that make the overall dynamics feel emotional and ever-changing. This creates the music of gods, flooring mere humans both physically and mentally. If one has not experienced the tremendous output of the deity known as Envy, then I advise you start with the gospel of All The Footprints You've Ever Left And The Fear Expecting Ahead, and thoroughly enjoy everything they have blessed us with. Amen.

Breathing And Dying In This Place (1996)

1. Remember

2. Ability

3. Under The Sky

4. You Have A Voice...

5. Passage Of Wind

6. Still Remain

7. End Of The Line

8. Just Alive

9. Reach Out

Envy/Sixpence (1997)

1. Envy - Guilt

2. Envy - Castle Of Life

3. Sixpence - Prophecy

Envy/Endeavor (1997)

1. Envy - Cape Of Despair

2. Envy - This Self-Crusaders

3. Endeavor - Mother Of God

4. Endeavor - Nothing More

From Here To Eternity (1998)

1. Limitation

2. Trembled

3. A Vicious Circle, Again

4. Compensation

5. Off

6. Crusaders

7. For You Who Died

8. Black Past

9. Grey Wind

10. Carved Numbers

11. 444 Words

Angel's Curse Whispered In The Edge Of Despair (1999)

1. Angel's Curse

2. Pendulum

3. Leaden Wings

4. Breeze And Destiny

5. Unrepairable Gentleness

The Eyes Of Final Proof (2000)

1. Testimony To The Existence

2. The End Of Memories 

3. Awaken Eyes

Burning Out The Memories (2000)

1. Testimony To The Existence

2. Angels Curse

3. Grey Wind

4. Echo Regenerates

5. Leaden Wing

6. Limitation

  

Envy/This Machine Kills (2000)

1.  Envy - A Red Wound Picture

2. This Machine Kills - Forty One Bullet

The Eyes Of Single Eared Prophet (2000)

1. Echo Regenerates

2. The End Of Memories

3. Awaken Eyes

4. Testimony To The Existence

5. An Encyclopedia Of The Unification

Last Wish (2001)

1. Left Hand

2. A Cage It Falls Into

 

All The Footprints You've Ever Left And The Fear Expecting Ahead (2001)

1. Zero

2. Farewell To Words

3. Lies And Release From Silence

4. Left Hand

5. A Cradle Of Arguments And Anxiousness

6. Mystery And Peace

7. Invisible Thread

8. The Spiral Manipulation

9. A Cage It Falls Into

10. The Light Of My Footprints

11. Your Shoes And The World To Come

Our Dreams Walking Their Way - Chapter One (2002)

1. Iscariote - Soleil Trahi

2. Iscariote - Moonbeam And The Dark

3. Iscariote - Auto Pilote

4. Envy - Invisible Understanding

5. Envy - Chacun de Tes Pas

Yaphet Kotto/This Machine Kills/Envy (2003)

1. Yaphet Kotto - The Fall

2. Yaphet Kotto - Tracing

3. Yaphet Kotto - Momentary Loss Of Breath

4. This Machine Kills - Define Silence

5. This Machine Kills - Carpet Of Gold/Carpet Of Bombs

6. This Machine Kills - Our Histories Have Burned Holes In Your Flag

7. Envy - A Far-Off Reason

8. Envy - Signal

9. Envy - An Adventure Of Silence And Purpose

10. Yaphet Kotto/This Machine Kills/Envy - Untitled

A Dead Sinking Story (2003)

1. Chain Wandering Deeply

2. Distress Of Ignorance

3. Evidence

4. Color Of Fetters

5. Unrepairable Gentleness

6. Go Mad And Mark

7. A Conviction That Speeds

8. Seasons And Oblivion

9. A Will Remains In The Ashes

Compiled Fragments 1997-2003 (2005)

1. A Far-Off Reason

2. An Adventure of Silence and Purpose

3. Invisible Understanding

4. Chacun de Tes Pas

5. A Red Wound Picture

6. Cape Of Despair

7. This Self-Crusaders

8. Trembled

9. Guilt

10. Castle Of Lies

11. Connected Voice

12. Awaken Eyes (Live)

13. Go Mad and Mark (Live)

Insomniac Doze (2006)

1. Further Ahead Of The Warp

2. Shield Of Selflessness

3. Scene

4. Crystallize

5. The Unknown Glow

6. Night In Winter

7. A Warm Room

Abyssal (2007)

1. A Road Of Winds The Water Builds

2. All That's Left Has Gone To Sleep

3. Thousand Scars

4. Fading Vision

Envy/Jesu (2007)

1. Envy - Conclusion Of Existence

2. Envy - A Winter Quest For Fantasy

3. Envy - Life Caught In The Rain

4. Jesu - Hard To Reach

5. Jesu - The Stars That Hang Above You

Transfovista (2008)

Part 1  Part 2

1. Chain Wandering Deeply

2. Lies, And Release From Silence

3. Grey Wind

4. Carved Numbers

5. Fading Vision

6. Awaken Eyes 

7. Left Hand

8. Leaden Wings

9. The Light Of My Footprints

10. Color Of Fetters

11. The Unknown Glow

12. Go Mad And Mark

13. A Warm Room

14. Farewell To Words

15. Scene

16. Limitation

17. Testimony To The Existence

Note: This was a DVD with live footage and some stuff in between. The download just contains the audio tracks for the live songs, and you can check out the entire movie here 

Envy (2008)

1. Farewell To Words

2. A Cradle Of Arguments And Anxiousness

3. A Far-Off Reason

4. Chacun De Tes Pas

5. Color Of Fetters

6. Go Mad And Mark

7. Fading Vision

 

Thursday/Envy (2008)

1. Thursday - As He Climbed The Dark Mountain

2. Thursday - In Silence

3. Thursday - An Absurd And Unrealistic Dream Of Peace

4. Thursday - Appeared And Was Gone

5. Envy - An Umbrella Fallen Into Fiction

6. Envy - Isolation Of A Light Source

7. Envy - Pure Birth And Loneliness

Recitation (2010)

1. Guidance

2. Last Hours Of Eternity

3. Rain Clouds Running In A Holy Night

4. Pieces Of The Moon I Weaved

5. Light And Solitude

6. Dreams Coming To An End

7. Incomplete

8. Worn Heels And The Hands We Hold

9. A Hint And The Incapacity

10. A Breath Clad In Happiness

11. 0 And 1

12. Your Hand

As Serenity Calls Your Name (2011)

1. As Serenity Calls Your Name

Atheist's Cornea (2015)

1. Blue Moonlight

2. Ignorant Rain And the End of The World

3. Shining Finger

4. Ticking Time And String

5. Footsteps In The Distance

6. An Insignificant Poem

7. Two Isolated Souls

8. Your Heart And My Hand

Alnair In August (2018)

1. Dawn and gaze

2. Marginalized thread

The Fallen Crimson (2020)

1. Statement of Freedom

2. Swaying leaves and scattering breath

3. A faint new world

4. Rhythm

5. Marginalized thread

6. HIKARI

7. Eternal memories and reincarnation

8. Fingerprint mark

9. Dawn and gaze

10. Memories and the limit

11. A step in the morning glow

Seimei (2022)

1. Seimei

2. Zanshin

3. Tamayura

Eunoia (2024)

1. Piecemeal

2. Imagination And Creation

3. The Night And The Void

4. Beyond The Raindrops

5. Whiteout

6. Lingering Light

7. Lingering Echoes

8. January's Dusk

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