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人間椅子 > 萬燈籠 > Reviews > TheStormIRide
人間椅子 - 萬燈籠

Unhinging Dedication to Quality - 97%

TheStormIRide, December 9th, 2013

Note: Ningen-Isu utilizes Japanese characters, text and language. For ease of reading and differentiating tracks, I'm going to be using transliterations into the Latin alphabet. Not only is it easier for my fellow English speaking readers, it is more universally acceptable to web browsers and page formatting. Apologies to my Japanese speaking and reading friends who were hoping to see the actual Japanese titles.

Ningen-Isu is a Japanese heavy metal act that has been toiling away in relative obscurity since their formation in 1987. Always featuring the dynamic duo of Kenichi Suzuki on bass and vocals and Shinji Wajima on guitar and vocals, the band has employed four drummers, with their current lineup being home to Nobu Nakajima, who joined the band in 2004. Ningen-Isu has released seventeen full length albums to date, with their latest, Mandoro, being released in August of 2013. The title actually means “10,000 Hanging Lanterns”, which is a reference to the bright light of the moon. While the band doesn't have an extremely large following outside of their home country, they've been dubbed “The Japanese Black Sabbath” by many fans. Unlike Black Sabbath's frequent drops in quality, though, Ningen-Isu is known for a commitment to releasing extremely tight and consistently high quality albums that, while not carbon copies of their previous releases, are instantly recognizable as Ningen-Isu. Even within their home country, the band was criminally underrated until a Japanese Ozzfest appearance that bolstered their native status.

Thanks to some of the regulars at the Metal Archives forums for recommending this band to me (Crick and Metantoine, mostly), as I probably never would have found this band without their recommendations and continuous high praise of the band. Delving into the band's back catalog, I found one of the most consistent bands that I have ever heard: seventeen albums and not a single dud. It's almost absurd in this day and age of fly by night bands and basement studios to hear a band so committed to excellence and so committed to producing top quality albums for their miniscule fan base. Any time I delve into a Ningen-Isu album for the first time, it is with the utmost anticipation and a very curious mind. While the band has seventeen albums under their belt, they have yet to repeat themselves. Every album is completely recognizable as Ningen-Isu, with humongous riffs inspired by Black Sabbath, Ritchie Blackmore / Rainbow inspired solos that border on shred at times, tinges of Stoner Rock, extremely tight musicianship and a pair of the most intriguing and unique vocalists in Metal history.

If you couldn't tell by the track titles, the band name or the album artwork, then you should know Shinji and Kenichi sing in entirely in Japanese. I know a lot of people that will never get into this band just because of that, but they are missing out. The Japanese lyrics give the band a mystical, foreign feel (at least to this somewhat backwoods American writer) and it helps cement the band as one of the most unique acts in metal because of that. Perhaps I'm not extremely versed in the Japanese metal scene, but all of the other Japanese acts I've ever listened to sing or scream in English (Sabbat, Church of Misery, Loudness). It's actually quite a refreshing change of pace. Both vocalists are heavily accented (well, no shit, they are singing in Japanese) and go for a mid-ranged singing style that sounds smooth and cool most of the time with an occasional, endearing gruffness to counteract. Perhaps the most striking aspect, vocally, is when Shinji and Kenichi harmonize their vocals to bring both sides into the fold at once. There's just this untouchable chemistry between the two, which leads me to the music.

Ningen-Isu is one of the tightest bands I've ever heard. Nothing sounds out of place or forced here, at all. Mandoro features over an hour of solid tracks; no reason for a track forward button here: thirteen tracks – no filler. I don't want to downplay the drums here, as they are solid and carry the music forward with some interesting patterns, but they are far from the focus, which is the incredible tightness of Shinji and Kenichi's instruments. That being said, Shinji's guitar riffs are reminiscent of Tony Iommi in all the good ways, with tons of crunchy grooves, catchy licks and an overall doomy feel. Kenichi's bass is constantly bouncing, technically proficient but not to the point of wankery. The chemistry between Shinji's Sabbathian riffs and Kenichi's thumping bass is just remarkable, like the main riff on “Neputa no Mandoriko”. While the music is decidedly heavy and the riffs are surely derived from the same school as Black Sabbath, the entire offering sounds very psychedelic in nature, as evidenced by the spacey leads towards the end of “Kuroyuri Nikki” or the clean strumming and melodic breaks of “Nekoja Nekoja” and “Eisei ni Natta Otoko”. Even with all the throwback riffing and psychedelic elements Ningen-Isu can still get heavy, as evidenced on the rollicking “Kumo no Ito”, which features a rolling drum pattern and some harsher, gruff vocals, or the pummeling double bass drumming and thrashy punk flair of “Jinsei Banzai”. The band keeps things fresh by constantly changing tempos, adding crunchy grooves and solid, psychedelic solos throughout.

Honestly, this is a band that deserves your attention more than any other band out there. Yes, their music is actually quite difficult to track down (at least it is stateside), but this band's brand of psychedelic grooving heavy metal and doom is better than just about any other band out there. Shinji and Kenichi are two of the tightest musicians in the metal world. I challenge you to find another band who has been around for nearly three decades, released seventeen albums and has yet to produce a dud or even have a noticeable drop in quality. Ningen-Isu are a rare breed. Check out if you like classic heavy metal and doom but are looking for an awesome twist. Ningen-Isu should be legends by now, so help them reach that status by supporting them now. Mandoro the band's seventeenth album, is mandatory listening, so go find it now.