Watch Japan’s Zazen Boys steal the show at this year’s Mori Michi Ichiba Music Festival. The awesome guys at Space Shower Music recorded them play Maboroshi in My Blood, from their festival set and we can watch it in amazingness via YouTube. Which we’re counting our lucky stars for, considering Zazen Boys have never even made it close to Australian shores.
A seemingly standard 4-piece setup, the avant-garde rock outfit is a vehicle for experimentation wrapped up in huge punk riffs, spoken word, and funk. The hostility of maths rock complexity gets whittled down to an unrelenting dance groove that’s unshakable with Zazen Boys.
The song Maboroshi in My Blood, is off their self-titled 2004 album with the band laying pretty low on the recording front since 2012’s Stories.
Maboroshi in My Blood starts with a modest strum on lead singer’s Shutoku’s guitar, before launching straight into an earth-shattering riff, synchronised by the band with so much swagger. Without breaking a sweat the entire 4-piece chop and change between the unforgiving time changes. The relentless wall of sound is broken by Shutoku’s fast lyrical growls. His fierce ferocity barely makes an impact on his cool stage demeanour as he punches out the long drones of the chorus, screaming ‘in my brain, in my blood’.
Like nothing to it, the group ends the song with a polite bow to the audience and continues on their way. So cool, so incredible and we’re so happy to repeatedly be able to hit repeat on this video.
See Zazen Boys play Maboroshi in My Blood on YouTube.