08. Nokemono From the Black World 1979 (SMS)
Hard Rock
The new wave of Japanese heavy metal.
Overview
With the huge interest that rock had created in Japan by the latter part of the decade due to the western acts that regularly toured there, the Japanese had taken most of them to heart and it was therefore obvious that a few quality home-grown acts would surge through to record some really good material. Japan though was no stranger to quality hard rock and heavy metal acts, largely due to the exploits of pioneers The Flower Travellin Band earlier on in the decade (see those cool reviews) and of course they were used to hearing their own heavy metal band in Bow Wow. At this time there were countless Japanese heavy bands popping up and based on the very few that I’ve ever listened to, Nokemono which means ‘Beast’ in English were certainly one of the best and they were a quintet which in my opinion were far more talented than the better known Bow Wow. Unsurprisingly and like most Japanese manufacturers who preferred to copy rather than being original, Nokemono would continue this national trait with their music and largely be no exception to this rule. Their debut album carries influences from the bands that inspired them which range from Deep Purple to UFO, even though these influences are not overly obvious when listening. Sadly the band would only ever record one studio album, after already having come to national attention as opening for Judas Priest on their Japanese tour in 1978 (which would appear on Judas Priest’s live
Unleashed in the East album) The band also have the added bonus of singing in Japanese rather than in English and all credit to them for choosing this option. The album cover has a very mid-1970s style and is a fashion leftover from the glam rock period and just the type of cover that was worked on a budget to encompass the band in one fell swoop.
Yukihiro ‘Ace’ Nakaya- Vocals
Shigeo ‘Rolia’ Nakano- Guitar
Bunzo ‘Bunchan’ Satoh- Guitar
Massaki ‘Cherry’ Chikura- Bass
Tadashi ‘Popeye’ Hirota- Drums
Production- Nokemono
Album
Run Away- A fast opening track that goes straight for the jugular and the type of track when sung in English would be typical NWOBHM material.
Terrible Night- A well constructed track and one of the best on the album and it shows the ability of the band on a slower paced track.
The Closed City- Similar to the previous song but this time the heavy guitar work is even more dominant in places and the song is well paced.
Lost Love- With a gentle guitar intro the songs threatens to be a ballad, but then we move into some typical Deep Purple riffery that changes the tempo of the song and is probably the best overall song on the album.
Big Wednesday- Dominated by its big riff and equally accompanied by its big chorus. It’s the kind of sound that a band like Accept would adopt on their Ball to the Wall album a few years down the road.
From the Black World- The title track is one of the faster tracks on the album to start the album’s second side and contains some pretty nifty guitar work in its middle section.
Back Street- A standard album track and probably the weakest track on the album.
Path of the Ashes- A slow burning ballad that sets itself up as one of the stronger tracks on the album.
Ant Hell- A great song name that is started off by an almost Jimi Hendrix heavy style psychedelic intro, before taking on a more hard rock approach and then we jet into some early speed metal.
Run Away (Reprise)- As the name suggests, a 30 second acoustic reprise.
Verdict
Not only is
From the Black World a good album, even more importantly the album displays many of the traits that would go onto characterize the NWOBHM which of course would break onto the scene the following year. This fact in itself is a unique factor considering that the Nokemono debut came out in 1979 a year before most of the NWOBHM metal acts did (excluding the likes of Saxon and Samson of course) As far as I’m concerned the NWOBHM was largely about new British metal bands issuing home-made metal using the ethos that punk had used earlier in 1976 and 1977, but here we now have a Japanese band with the same ethos that was doing it a year earlier! In fact besides Nokemono, French metal band Trust were were also issuing out a similar kind of home-made metal as well, which begs the question just how original were the British bands in this respect? As for the Nokemono album, the music is fast when it matters and is also slowed down to give a good balance on other parts of the album. In fact it’s the mid-paced tracks which resonate the best and where they demonstrate their love for the bands that influenced them, and these are the stronger cuts on the album. Also not to be overlooked are the ballads, which the band either use at the beginning of certain songs or as stand alone ballads on their own. The guitar riffs on the album meld in nicely with the vocals of Yukihiro ‘Ace’ Nakaya who sounds fairly cool and competent over most of the album. In addition what makes
From the Black World a good album for me, is that I’m often harder on non-British and American bands from this era when it comes to making this kind of music, as often these bands can be found wanting in certain crucial areas and tend to come off as lesser copies of their British and American contemporaries, of course this viewpoint would all change by the following decade, and in this respect Nokemono were early international quality pioneers. Overall this is a good album for any aficionado that likes to listen to lesser known international acts from this time period.