voila_la_scorie Several years ago, my wife and I watched the anime version of "Death Note". It's a story about a shinigami (a Japanese angel of death) who loses his notebook for recording the names of who will die next and how. An ordinary guy finds it a learns its secrets from the shinigami. If he writes a person's name in the book, they die of heart failure. If he writes how they die then that exact incident will occur. One thing I really liked about the series was the theme music. Both the opening and closing songs were by a band called Maximum the Hormone.

I bought their album "Buiki Kaese!" (Give me back my life!) and thought it interesting but couldn't really get into it other than the two songs. Skip ahead to the end of 2015 and I reconsidered it and discovered that I really liked it. And then I ordered this one, "Kuso Ban" (the shit disc). Yes, notice the exciting cover art of a human butt spraying excrement in the face of a startled victim. The Japanese fart sound effect "buuuu" is partially covered by the album title.

So just what the hell kind of an album is this? Maximum the Hormone consists of Daisuke-han (vocals), Nao (drums, vocals), Maximum the Ryo-kun (vocals, guitar), and Ue-chan (bass). This is the present line up of the band and has been together since 1999. According to Wikipedia, they play a blend of nu metal, metalcore, and hardcore punk but you can catch pop, ska, funk and hip hop in their music as well. Daisuke handles the rough and roaring vocals and rapping, Ryo handles the clean vocals and punk shouting, and Nao adds her female vocals from time to time. The music is by and large insane and intense and not without humour. Song titles on this album are like "The Sweet Shit Fist of Love", "Menstrual Cramps are the Temperature that Freezes November" and "Cefiro Radio Comeback - The Lowest Level of Youth".

Oh, and perhaps I should mention that the band mixes different music styles in one song. You can jolt and lurch with the abrupt changes in meter and sheer force. The vocals are especially insane. I personally prefer the intense and crazy wild sounds over the lighter punky ones, but over the course of eight short songs, it's all really good.

A student of mine who loves the band said that they are really fun to watch live. Like their music, they are wild, intense and crazy. After this second purchase I've now become interested in their sound enough that I want a third album, perhaps "Rokkin Pokkoroshi". Great music for going all out nuts while still keeping it fun.

Time Signature Ode to the bluetiful people...

Genre: Maximum the Metal

At the present moment, the most recent release by Japanese nu metallers Maximum the Hormone, "Greatest the Hits 2011-2011" is a three-track single. The band is known for their complete disregard of genre restrictions, a disregard that serves as the foundations of Maximum the Hormone's very own brand of nu metal. Thus, the album takes the listener on a journey through a landscape of heavy grooves, hardcore punk aggression, alternative metal funkiness, metallic brutality and then some.

The opening track "鬱くしき人々のうた" (officially translated by the band into "Ode to the Bluetiful People") is apparently a song about depression, which is interesting, because it starts out an uplifting happy hardcore tune, but quickly morphs into an aggressive groovy crossover/thrash affair, featuring vocal styles ranging from growls and screams over male and female rap to male and female clean vocals. After a couple of the different riffs of this more uplifting and aggressive series of riffs, a very melodic bridge kicks in which combines very soft female background vocals and ballady music with aggressive rapping. It might seem strange that a song about feeling blue combines uplifting and aggressive aesthetics, but - hey - what cures the blues better than some uplifting melodies and empowering aggressive grooves?

"Maximum the Hormone" starts out heavy and groovy, but takes on a more atmospheric character when the verse kicks in, which has the form of multi-harmonic chanting (which really utilizes the fact that all four members of the band can sing). After changing back and forth between this more atmospheric verse and more aggressive sections, things get brilliantly funked up for a while, building towards a burst of aggressive hardcore punk. And then the tempo drops again, as the band go back into the groovy opening. The entire sequence is repeated, but - true to the Maximum the Hormone ethos - with a number of variations.

The third track "My Girl" is an uplifting hard rocker which features a funky verse complete with raggamuffin style toasting and an extremely melodic almost poppy chorus as well as a more groovy and aggressive passage. Again, the band make use of their full range of vocal styles, including clean female and male vocals, rap, growls, and screams. Showing that they are the masters of making genre transgression seem like the most natural thing, Maximum the Hormone even include an pop/AOR-style section towards the end without it seeming forced at all.

Like the "Tsume Tsume Tsume" single from 2008, this single only contains three tracks but has enough variation in this three tracks to keep things interesting all the way through. The music ranges from being aggressive over uplifting to being almost introspective, and - not just for nu metal but for metal in general - it strikes me as being quite innovative. The songs are kind of complex because they feature a lot of different riffs, but the song structures - like the chorus melodies - are actually considerably simple and accessible.

Time Signature Nail nail nail...

Genre: Maximum the metal

With their avant-garde approach to genre transgression, Maximum the Hormone might well be the elusive progressive nu metal band that some people are looking for. In any case, I think they are one of the most innovative bands on the nu metal scene, which, I think, is quite well documented by this single release.

The opening track "爪爪爪" (or "Tsume tsume tsume" in Romaji) was the first song from Maximum the Hormone that I heard, and it remains one of my favorite metal songs ever. After a brieft drum explosion, it starts out with an uptempo aggressive dissonant riff accompanied by extreme metal growls and screams and a fast drums, changing to a more off-beat figure and then again to a more samba-like riff and drum beat, while a more rapping style of vocals (accompanied by riot background vocals). Then the tempo drops and a crushingly heavy groovy riff kicks in, as the vocals go back to a more extreme metal style, before an extremely melodic chorus that just compels you to sing along even if you don't speak Japanese. The entire sequence of riffs is repeated, and then a groovy percussive bridge kicks in, evolving around a Latin-type of groove. Giving you another chance to sing along, the chorus is repeated, and the dissonant riff serves as a coda.

The following track "「F」" is no less sensational It starts out with a simple aggressive figure, featuring some thrashy drums, a slapping and popping bass, and aggressive riot singing, and then morphs into a melodic section featuring both vocal harmonies and rapping in extreme metal screams and growls. This is followed by a nu metal groovy riff accompanied by the same type of aggressive rapping. A brief interlude is given in form of an of beat funky section which also combines the melodic vocal harmonies and aggressive rapping. This is followed by an extremely melodic sing-along chorus and complete with underlying guitar harmonies. The entire sequence is repeated but with a couple of variations in the vocal styles to keep things interesting. Then a guitar solo kicks in, and the chorus is repeated in different variations.

The third track "Kill All the 394" starts out a fierce hardcore punk song, complete with old school blastbeats, simple aggressive guitar riffs, riot vocals and extreme metal vocal styles. After a frenzied barrage hardcore passages, a coda kicks in which has the form of an uplifting sing-along-part (this time in English).

What I like about the songs on this album is the way that a lot of different genre elements are included without it seeming forced or artificial. In fact there is a quite fluid dynamic feel throughout the album, and it actually seems natural whenever Maximum the Hormone jump from one genre into another. I would say that this genre transgression is an, if not avant-garde, then at least a quite innovative trait. Still, the listener will notice that, despite the many elements that each song contains, the overall song structures are not too complex, but rather easy to follow. This ensures that the music is accessible at the end of the day.

I also like the many different vocal styles included - ranging from rap over clean vocals to growls and screams. Moreover, all members of the band contribute to the vocals-aspect of the album which definitely ensures variation. In addition, the drummer, Nao Kawakita, is a woman; apart from being a kick-ass drummer, she can naturally contribute to the overall sense of variation with the quality of her voice (just check her brief lead vocals section in "爪爪爪").

This is only a three-song single, but listening to it is almost like listening to a full-length album in terms of variation. And, well, to put it very briefly, it's fucking awesome!