BOMBORI

Deep electronic bass tone starts, blotting out the sound of the outdoor crowd and nearby Palace. The song starts proper with a patter of cymbals like leaves in a storm, drone from bass and guitar matching it. The drums break into a more conventional rhythm before the vocalist enters. The song still dominated by the same pulsing bass note but the other instruments slowly start to diverge away from mimicking it. This all fades away and fades back in with a giant wall of distortion, the instruments gain in complexity and the roughness transfers to the vocalist with him launching into screamed lyrics.

With the mammoth first song done, the next starts threateningly with a roll of drums with a running sequence of low melody racing away after the drums. A humming electronica beat seems to send the guitarist crazy as he shadow boxes the air, the bass building around the electronic pulse with feral screams from both drummers before it finally erupts into a dancing beat thanks to the bass. Scything guitar runs sprint away from the rhythm as all the built up tension is released in a violent explosion of melody. The two drums work together to create a forcing rhythm that fades away to end the song. It’s this primal force to their experimental sound that makes listening to some of the more obtuse passages worth it.

The last is a more gentle start that soon soars on the back of vocals, rudely interrupted by an explosion of noise in screaming guitars and pounding dual drums. And then things get interesting, with the band going overtime. At first, they’re allowed to continue. Then after ten minutes of gesturing from stage staff and sound attendants, the stage speakers’ power is cut. The band continues on the amps on stage, to the laughter and cheering of the audience. When the power to them is cut, the two drummers just keep on going. It takes a confrontation from the boss of the stage for them to end, all up fifteen minutes overtime, with the crowd sarcastically chanting for an encore in the background. It’s one way to go out on Fuji Rock and probably ensure they’ll never be back too.