Tag Archive: Junk War


Rewired Riot Technology - DespairLocation: Tokyo, Japan – Genre: Heavy Industrial, Electro

On October 3 Despair released its new remix CD, Rewired Riot Technology offering nine tracks from the band. Despair is best described as post-industrial carnage, discarding the traditional instruments for reworked noise and samples backed with a digital keytar. My recent review of the band’s 2006 release of Deserted Technology Riot (DTR) was very positive.

Igor’s final call on DTR is that this is a must-buy album for serious industrial-music lovers. It marks the evolution of Despair from a largely live band (they always drive the crowd nuts!), to a band that can produce high-quality recordings that excite CD listeners in the same way! See my full review here

In truth it took me several listens to reach my decision as DTR was a very tech-heavy piece of work unlike any other CD I had heard (even from Despair itself).

The new CD, Rewired Riot Technology features 9 remixes from DTR totaling nearly 40 minutes. There are three rewired versions of Jarring God and MPD Conflict and one for Mechanical Rabies, Filth Pig and Junk War. I will save judgment for a review when I get a hold of the new CD, but the sample remixes on the site are pointing towards an awesome piece of re-worked music.

Rewired Riot Technology - DespairRewired Riot Technology :: Track List
1. MPD Conflict (A New Model) – Sample
2. Jarring God (Rebel Action Remix) – Sample
3. Mechanical Rabies (No Vaccine For Your Machines) – Sample
4. MPD Conflict (Mind Control Mix) – Sample
5. Jaring God (The Devil Built My Beat Box) – Sample
6. Long Pig – Sample
7. Junk Whore – Sample
8. MPD Conflict (A New Machine) – Sample
9. Becoming God – Sample

The price for this 9 track 39 minute CD is 1,500 yen or 10 Euros. Once I get my hands on a full copy I will do another review!

Despair’s music is available at a number of music stores in Japan, the U.K., France and Australia. Just check out the bottom of the Destore page (that is also where you will find all the samples).

Dark WatersWith the growing interest of Japanese Gothic music over the watered-down Visual Kei (which is still often mistaken as Japanese Goth), so too has the number and quality of Gothic music releases increased. Perhaps the best way to get into this exciting avenue of the Japanese underground scene is through omnibuses of leading artists in the scene.

Dark Waters, released in late 2006, does an admiral job of introducing the world to JGoth by featuring a compilation featuring 12 artists in Japan. The tracks run the gamut from harsh electro-industrial and EBM to death rock and hardcore industrial. This is the first time for all the songs to be on CD, with a number of purely new tracks and those that were only available in CD-R format at events.

The label, Deathwatch Asia, is based in Osaka and through connections in Tokyo and Nagoya has resulted in a nation-wide mix of artists. This ensures a healthy cross-section of Goth-industrial music from throughout Japan. This album is perfect for anybody seeking a broad view of the true Gothic scene in Japan.

The album starts with a hard industrial beats from 2 Bullet’s Drain People’s Blood (Cold War Remix). This is followed hard electronic industrial Satanic Panzer Unit (SOTF Remix). The third song is a very danceable remix of Agent Murder’s Ballet of the Unhatched Fools. Psycho Dream’s self-titled track mixes traditional sounds and beats with heavy guitar riffs all backed by the soft vocals of the lead singer. This is followed by the soft rock ballad of Satanyanko’s Little Abandoned Cat in the Dark (sadly this quickly maturing group broke up shortly after this recording), probably the best track on the album.

The next song on the menu was Jet Pepper Tower’s Nocturnal Cabaret, and this straight rock piece jagged against the other tracks on the CD. It would be great on a J-Rock compilation. The CD got back into order with the next track from Baal, a downright scary piece of cybernetic electronicka and industrial noise with a powerful femme voice leading the action. The next track was an ultra-heavy industrial grindcore of Despair’s Junk War (Riot Command Mix). This leads into an inspiring self-titled, heavy rock-industrial piece from Destruct System.

This was followed by the fine electro-Euro-friendly-beat Death Wish from Sins of the Flesh. The next track was a fun tongue-in-cheek electro-slash called Bad Movie Disco King from Aural Vampire. The CD finished with the electro-rock Future by Future from Speecies.

Being in Japan I have had access to a number of the songs on CD-R or seen the live versions, but the CD was still very fresh to listen to. There were a couple of tracks that I did not like, one that really should not have been on a Goth CD, but in general it was a great selection of tracks. On the technical side all the recordings were professional, crisp and clear.

The price is also amazing – just 1,500 yen in Japan, or 10 Euros for over 60 minutes of a very fresh music scene – making this a great item to get for someone into J-music styles or international Goth or if you are just looking for a new sound to love!

Dark WatersDark Waters Track List
1. 2Bullet :: Drain People’s Blood (Cold War Remix) – 5.23
2. Demonoid 13 :: Satanic Panzer Unit (Sins Of The Flesh Remix) – 6.38
3. Agent Murder :: Ballet Of The Unhatched Fools (Re-Hatched) – 4.03
4. Psycho Dream :: Psycho Dream – 3.31
5. Satanyanko :: Little Abandoned Cat In The Dark – 3.48
6. Jet Pepper Tower :: Nocturnal Cabaret – 7.31
7. Baal :: On The Surface 2006 (Start The New Brutal) – 6.08
8. Despair :: Junk War (Riot Command Remix) – 3.07
9. Destruct System :: Destruct System – 3.44
10. Sins of the Flesh Death Wish (Mayan Sacrifice Mix) – 6.15
11. Aural Vampire :: Bad Movie Disco King – 5:18
12. Speecies :: Future By Future – 4.42
Total time: 60:17

Available From:

Despair - Deserted Technology RiotLocation: Tokyo, Japan – Genre: Heavy Industrial, Electro

Nothing compares to Despair live – check my first reaction to Despair at one Tokyo Dark Castle in 2005. All traditional instruments have been thrown on the junk pile with heavy industrial noise tracks and a digital ax-style keyboard being the only thing between you and the stage screamers. Despair has one of the most intense industrial sound in Japan and they ignite the crowd every time with a napalm bomb of noise. Rieu and Ana ride the industrial monster noise and Jude’s keytar in a scream fest that can only be considered industrial opera. Anyone who has seen the band perform live knows what I’m talking about – raw industrial power amped up to the max. Just how the hell they managed to get this experience onto a silver platter is beyond me, but somehow Deserted Technology Riot (DTR) has managed to capture the soul of Despair’s live performance. How the hell they did it, I don’t know – but it has been surgically attached and DTR delivers the full Despair experience to you!

The new CD is a quantum leap ahead of the 2004 CD, Beautiful Japanese Sight. Don’t get me wrong – Beautiful Japanese Sight is a fine example hard-industrial, and I thoroughly recommend getting your hands on a copy – but I found it lacking the violent wall of mashed-up noise that would hit you at a live event. In a way, Beautiful Japanese Sight was too precise and clinical when compared to the madness of the live versions of the songs.

This is where DTR takes Despair to a new level with a sound that grabs your attention like an oncoming tidal wave of noise. The tracks are pure Despair with broken up, smashed industrial, aggressive soundscapes of destruction. DTR takes you screaming down the highway to hell.

The CD starts with Jarring God, an extremely hard, fast-paced track that is just as good as seeing the band live. MPD Conflict plays hard, but a little slower and is one of the few Despair tracks where the vocals overpower the machine noise to stand out clearly. Filth Pig is a ballad by Despair standards but still wrought with post-apocalyptic overtones as the whispered lyrics play sadly over the quieter parts of the song. Junk War starts like a techno track, but steps into extreme rock-industrial with guitar-work giving the track an extra boost of aggressive energy that gives the band an extra dimension beyond the mashed-up, distorted sampled sounds of other tracks. Mechanical Rabies is a brutal final track where the mechanical sounds are once more in a face-off with Ana & Rieu. This thumping track finishes quickly after two minutes – intense, but too short.

Igor’s final call on DTR is that this is a must-buy album for serious industrial-music lovers. It marks the evolution of Despair from a largely live band (they always drive the crowd nuts!), to a band that can produce high-quality recordings that excite CD listeners in the same way!

The samples below and many more can be found on Despair’s Web site.

Despair - Deserted Technology RiotDeserted Technology Riot :: Track List
1. Jarring God (3:45) Sample
2. MPD Conflict (4:08) Sample
3. Filth Pig (5:19) Sample
4. Junk War (4:48) Sample
5. Mechanical Rabies (2:13) Sample
Total time (20:13)
Released: December 2006

Are you excited yet? Good, because the band has a number of distribution arrangements with a number of music stores in Japan, the U.K., France and Australia. Just check out the bottom of Destore on their site.

I cannot wait to write about the remixed version, Rewired Deserted Technology!