So Hideous - "None But a Pure Heart Can Sing"(CD)

When Downfall of Gaia did a Japan tour a long time ago, I was told that the band members would be arriving in Japan a day ahead of schedule, and I thought, “Hmm? I thought, “Aren't they all coming from Germany? But Michael, the drummer, lived in New York.

I remember picking him up at the airport and talking with him over drinks at night. When I asked him what he does when he is not touring with the band, he replied, “I teach drumming. I asked him what he did when he wasn't touring with his band, and he said he taught drumming, and that he did jazz as well as metal stuff. Then he joined The Number Twelve Looks Like You, which also came to Japan, and before I knew it, he had joined So Hideous and became more and more active.

And when I listened to So Hideous' 2021 album, I was so happy to hear that his expression of the jazz side finally came to fruition here! I was so happy. I think that the drums are the most responsible for the physicality (strength) of the band form, and a band with good drums has a very cool overall performance.

Downfall of Gaia would not have been as powerful live as it was without his drumming. This album is also a great example of a band that has completed a serious “post-black” album in a genre that has been called “post-black” but has been half-fixed in its direction. The soulful songs are beautiful, of course, but this time around, the rhythm section has been strengthened in a sound that swings from intense to quiet and in many other directions, and it's clear that the overall sound is overwhelmingly better. Strong and gentle. Buy the album.

Tracklist:
1. Souvenir (Echo)
2. The Emerald Pearl
3. Intermezzo (3)
4. Motorik Visage
5. From Now (Til The Time We're Still)