Japanese Progressive Rock presented by DamoX

BANDVIVIL, formed in 1993, is a three-piece outfit featuring Issei Takami, a great guitarist and the leader. The formation is indeed very simple, with a guitarist, a bassist, and a drummer. But their power should be bulky as of a big band, and their songs should be delightful as lots of attractions in an amusement park. We wonder how deep their inner space should be, and in spite of our wondering we can enjoy this album full of their magic.

Trust me the important point is - no suspicion that Issei's guitar is terrific - that the rhythm section, supporting the band basis, should be steady and secure. They cannot construct the eccentric but enjoyable music-style without Jun Isobe, a strict drummer, and Naoki Sawada, a funky bassist but a serious pacesetter. :-) You can do understand this fact as above mentioned by listening to their first full album. Please enjoy!

This album has two parts - one is named Vivid and another Evil. I feel the Vivid side is brighter and more pleasant than the Evil side - although I cannot say that in a wholesale.

At first...what a dramatic development and an impressive guitar play at the injection of Jemah & She! We can be very surprised and shocked with finding their unity in their variety of sound & style. Be careful not to be crushed by their madness, eccentricity and variation. Afro has a lot of varied rhythms and phrases - with lyrical guitar and elusive drum & bass sounds. Well I guess - sorry I'm not a specialist of musical theory - it might be so difficult for them to mix both sounds as above. So amazed they can do that easily and naturally. We can mention that Issei's one-man show is the next track Eat Triplet. Based on the hard, rigid, and simply-held bass & percussion, his guitar can dance and twist with flexibility. With the heavy guitar sounds he can let us palpitate wonderfully. W.P. is a spacey and gentle tune with Issei's graceful guitarsynth. And a real rock shot with wow-wow guitar and streaming rhythm section is To King Rush. All instruments can run and jump right and left, up and down. Get Up may be a loud and cool alarm clock for us...by this track we should be burned away before getting up hahhaha. The heaviest guitar sounds are in the song E.G.F. that we always wonder the title be the abbreviation of what. Whatever, how hard the song is! But be relaxed...the last track in the side Chili Mens Ballade is very smart and soft, can let us cool and melt down. Wait, Chili Mens I suggest should mean 'crepe paper' or 'boiled and dried baby sardines' ??? So, it may be enjoyable for us. :-)

Well another side of the band - it's called Evil. Seven Spices is, as the name itself says, very dry and spicy. In Japan, we cannot live without a Shichimi-Tohgarashi (seven spices), with very hot and tongueache taste and flavour. (Of course, just kidding.) In the simple rock song Abraham Bee we can realize the Oriental (not Japanese but Indo-) flavour. Issei's guitar can shout high-tone and solemn words with various looks. In the middle part, Jun's drum can get exploded violently. Cool! San-Byou-Shi is a trad song for BANDVIVIL. Going with a swing and with a laidback style, this song should have strong passion of three talented men and previous members. We can feel not an atmosphere of Evil but of 'Will' from the song. Complex guitarsynth sounds can be around the track Hane, maybe meaning wings. Like wings of a bird, this let us fly in the sky. Comfortable stuff. A short but very avantgarde tune Strange Smoke may express an eccentric rise of smoke with the ascending current. Zoo Zoo Da Juju pushes us with its repetitive phrase of guitars and percussion. They can play so freely but so seriously...it's their attractant, like a cannabis or a morphine, not an apomorphine (a nauseous stuff). Again Issei's speedy play we can enjoy in Shuffle De Go. And keep in our mind...without such a strict rhythm section, he cannot play well at all! So understand the outfit should be the 'one'. All members let us enjoy fantastically, I wanna say. The last song Zoo Zoo Da Juju (Slight Return) is also druggie...

From start to end, we can be pleased with many delights in the toy box named BANDVIVIL! Ultraremarkably recommended.

How should the scene go, with three talented HEROINES?

In the first track Morgan, Keiko's keyboard say gracefully to us that our fate should be already formed stably and we cannot struggle away from here forever. The first few phrases may let us enter into the dark area of our mind. The synth string sounds and rumbling guitar ones are active, aggressive and so violent I feel. I can understand Keiko can 'imagine' the tune fit for her solemn and spiritual imagination about the land of the dead. Meanwhile about the tune itself, their play are completely steady and united without any blur. That is, Keiko's imagination is not fuzzy but strict and stable. Let me say, yes, the story is really the story and should go ahead without hesitating - should make clear visions in our brain. Not only by the approach of heavy rock but also of classic, they can play flexibly and make 'visible sounds' as it is said. Fury has very speedy stream of sounds and heavy riffs. Absolutely we can shout THIS IS FEMININE POWER! Strong and soulful intention of three ladies is only one - really an impressive bodyattack with strangling sounds. Forgive me but this song always reminds me they play with sweat gushing out. :-) More heavy and darker scene has come here by The Gorgons - a messenger from the hell. Well indeed Gorgon is a goddess, with an ability letting a people looking at her be a stone. But why? From The Gorgons here we can feel some tragedies. We, altered into stones, can weep with some teardrops. What weird, but graceful Goddesses they should be! Keiko's keyboard, Kyoko's bass, and Akiko's drum can shout, cry, and whisper with complex words to us. Ainsel gets started with dry and scattered piano noises. Avantgarde keyboard sounds follow and develop. Hm, some classical melodies we should have heard somewhere before...should knock our brain continually. May not be relaxed by the song - although there are much classical essense with their passion. I see, their passion itself should be suspicious - it should make us anxious fully. Kali should be suitable for the last track of this album. Again very speedy keyboard solo and heavy bass sounds can let us palpitate speedily. And painful scene should face the death with some parts just like Zarathustra by Museo Rosenbach.

No fantasy, but spiritual tragedy. Watch, not listen.