Even with a global pandemic in full swing, Andrew Lee’s had a packed 2020 and released killer death metal with Ripped to Shreds and Azath. For one of his final releases of the year he’s turned to grind, albeit in a downright fun way courtesy of Houkago Grind Time. Lee formed the project last year with the intention of writing anime themed goregrind and grindcore, and with a name that parodies the band from the anime K-On! you should know pretty quickly whether this is for you or not. While you’ll find a lot of bizarre and downright unlistenable music in this genre that is dripping with anime imagery on Bandcamp and other platforms, on Houkago Grind Time’s debut full-length Bakyunsified (Moe to the Gore) Lee makes it clear that this material is just as much a love letter to classic grind as it is about anime, and that makes this a quick and enjoyable listen that knows its audience.
If you’re as big of an anime fan as I am, half the fun of listening to this album is picking out all the references to shows in its song titles and clips that are incorporated into the music. Lee’s chosen to go the moe root here, choosing the anime that has been known by otaku and casual fans alike for its cuteness factor and lighthearted nature, which contrasts nicely with the brutal, chaotic riffing and inhuman screams and gurgles. For the anime fan you’ve got references to K-On!, Yuru Yuri, Lucky Star, and even familiar jokes related to fan-subs (see “P is for Keikau”). Not every song features an anime clip, but quite a few of them have them seamlessly woven into the madness and hearing that burst of moe before Lee goes back into extremely distorted screams and growls is super appealing. Vocal wise Agathocles and Last Days of Humanity are close comparisons, as you’ve got a healthy dose of the gory and over the top vocals mixed with more traditional grindcore screaming. Houkago Grind Time’s also brought in quite a few guests for this debut album, with Derek Lin (Brain Corrosion),Tom. G (Death Fortress), and Brandon Corsair (Draghkar) all contributing some intense vocals on specific songs. It’s a mixture that flies by so fast you might need a few times through to make heads or tails of the vocals and anime clips, but for those people where the anime and metal/punk fandoms overlap you’ll likely feel like this album was tailor made for you.
So, if you’re not into anime and none of the previous references mean anything, does Bakyunsified (Moe to the Gore) still have enough to be worth a listen? The answer to that question depends on how big you are into grind, but if bringing up the likes of Agathocles piqued your interest than chances are you’ll still be able to appreciate what Lee’s written here even if the song titles and sound clips go over your head. While you might be expecting this to be a case of style over substance where the clips define each song and the actual music feels secondary, Houkago Grind Time has plenty to offer grind fans. With only one track reaching the two-minute mark, the material flies by at a brisk pace with gnarly tonality that seems to only get denser with each passing second. Ripped to Shreds occasionally had some hints of faster grind blasting and some of its jagged edges, but here Lee’s able to let loose with riffs that recall early genre innovators like Napalm Death and Repulsion along with the goregrind of General Surgery and early Carcass. Even with the anime clips breaking things up, there’s little time to breathe across this twenty-minute album as you get a dizzying array of pummeling drums along with guitar leads and solos that feel like they could break through the foundations of buildings. If you want a perfect example of what this project has to offer, throw on a song like “Ruptured in Akkarin” that has those familiar yet so catchy mid-tempo grooves that feel like they’re growing to drown you in sludge, only for the tempo to reach an all-out blitzkrieg by the end. And like with the vocals, there are also some guests on guitar, with Harlan (The Men’s Toilet), Dave Callier (P.L.F.), and Leon del Muerte (Impaled) all contributing to the madness.
Houkago Grind Time is hardly the first band to combine grind and a love of anime, but it’s one that shows a true love of both and has some killer riffs and over the top vocals to back it up. If you absolutely can’t deal with moe anime or anime in general this may not be for you, but if you’re open to it you’ll likely find the material to be brutal and fun in all the right ways even if the references don’t make sense. Bakyunsified (Moe to the Gore) is available from Outrageous Weeb Power Productions, Grindfather Productions, and Psychocontrol Records.
-Review by Chris Dahlberg
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