Review: Tomoyuki Trio's second album is now out, featuring Tomoyuki Aoki, Mike Vest, and Dave Sneddon, following their debut album Mars on Riot Season. Tomoyuki Aoki, the founding member and guitarist of the legendary Tokyo psych band UP-TIGHT, leads this powerful trio. Known for their reverence in the Japanese psych-rock scene, UP-TIGHT’s music channels the spirit of icons like Fushitsusha, White Heaven, and the legendary Les Rallizes Dénudés. Shitsuren, the trio’s latest, takes their sound into even darker, heavier territories. With super-fuzzed guitars, melancholic ballads, and grinding, distorted epics, the album plunges deep into stoner psychedelia. Across two sides, the album delivers hypnotic guitar work, numbing rhythms, and a ferocious intensity that demands to be played at maximum volume. This release sees the trio exploring the shadowy depths of their sound, reminiscent of the overwhelming, locked-down intensity found in the works of Okhami No Jikan, Asahito Nanjo, and Musica Transonic. Shitsuren is a relentless, speaker-shattering journey through the darker side of psychedelic excess. The band’s fierce commitment to their craft is on full display here.
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