Massively-anticipated pair of releases from Keiji Haino’s new post-Fushitsusha avant blues rock group. Seijaku is a trio, with Haino on vocals, electric guitar, steel guitar and, on You Should Prepare..., blues harp. He is joined by Mitsuru Nasuno on bass and Yohsimitsu Ichiraku on drums for two live in the studio/no over-dubs recordings. The closest comparison for both discs in terms of atmosphere is Haino’s double acoustic/electric set Black Blues, albeit transposed to a group setting. However, both records have their own particular atmosphere. Mail From Fushitsusha obviously makes the most overt connection to Haino’s past and the interplay between the bass and drums marks a direct extension of where the Takahashi/Ozawa backline were headed, with staggered, overlapping rhythms that fall into odd repetitive/organic cycles that are massively hypnotic. Haino’s guitar is more taught than on latter-day Fushitsusha recordings, sometimes playing with a clean tone and sometimes with a just little growl of fuzz and the aggressive, auraless appeal of his interactions connects to the whole No Wave/Mars aesthetic that he has long championed. But like Black Blues there’s a real focus on the vocals, with some of Haino’s most soul-scraping singing, while “Humiliation To Be Selected To Come Down From Elsewhere” comes closest to the Fushitsusha of old with a beautiful fuzz/reverb guitar solo in elegiac Star Spangled Banner/Peter Green style. You Should Prepare... is based around four longer tracks that really punish the blues rock metaphor with some fantastically aggressive brokedown boogie cut-up with wailing blues harp that harkens back to the 1^st Fushitsusha album. Dedicated to “Albert King, The Doors and Steppenwolf”, it takes roots based rock music back to the future with a transcendent vision of the still pregnant possibilities of guitar/bass/drums that sounds like nothing else. They might have changed their name and their personnel but they’re still the greatest rock band on the planet. An easy late entry for albums of the year. Highest possible recommendation!

Massively-anticipated pair of releases from Keiji Haino’s new post-Fushitsusha avant blues rock group. Seijaku is a trio, with Haino on vocals, electric guitar, steel guitar and, on You Should Prepare..., blues harp. He is joined by Mitsuru Nasuno on bass and Yohsimitsu Ichiraku on drums for two live in the studio/no over-dubs recordings. The closest comparison for both discs in terms of atmosphere is Haino’s double acoustic/electric set Black Blues, albeit transposed to a group setting. However, both records have their own particular atmosphere. Mail From Fushitsusha obviously makes the most overt connection to Haino’s past and the interplay between the bass and drums marks a direct extension of where the Takahashi/Ozawa backline were headed, with staggered, overlapping rhythms that fall into odd repetitive/organic cycles that are massively hypnotic. Haino’s guitar is more taught than on latter-day Fushitsusha recordings, sometimes playing with a little growl of fuzz and the aggressive, auraless appeal of his interactions connects to the whole No Wave/Mars aesthetic that he has long championed. But like Black Blues there’s a real focus on the vocals, with some of Haino’s most soul-scraping singing, while “Humiliation To Be Selected To Come Down From Elsewhere” comes closest to the Fushitsusha of old with a beautiful fuzz/reverb guitar solo in elegiac Star Spangled Banner/Peter Green style. You Should Prepare... is based around four longer tracks that really punish the blues rock metaphor with some fantastically aggressive brokedown boogie cut-up with wailing blues harp that harkens back to the 1^st Fushitsusha album. Dedicated to “Albert King, The Doors and Steppenwolf”, it takes roots based rock music back to the future with a transcendent vision of the still pregnant possibilities of guitar/bass/drums that sounds like nothing else. They might have changed their name and their personnel but they’re still the greatest rock band on the planet. An easy late entry for albums of the year. Highest possible recommendation!