HEBI KATANA ~ IMPERFECTION ... review

Hebi Katana's self-titled full length debut, "Hebi Katana", took essences of grunge, doom, glam and proto-metal and blended them all together in one big melting pot of groove, it was a sound that was different but at the same time bore elements of familiarity. The band followed up their debut with "Impermanence" and here they leant towards a much more 70's proto-metal sound, the grooves were a tad more strident and gritty, the guitar solos a touch dirtier and the vocals sneerier. The band then went back into the studio and what came out was "III", an excellent album that apart from the punkish desert rocker "Darkest Priest" seemed to take a large part of its influences from cult rockers Budgie's first four albums. The bands star was on the rise and people were starting to realise that at last Church of Misery and Boris had some competition in the best known Japanese underground band stakes. One of those turning their heads in Hebi Katana's direction was Todd Severin who signed the band up to his Ripple Music label for their next album, that album, "Imperfection", has now dropped and it's a BANGER!!!!

Opening number "Bon Nou" begins quite restrained with a gently picked guitar arpeggio but then in comes a dirty bass motif and the song takes off on a galloping groove that leans to the more punkish side of stoner rock, a strident but not overly furious groove decorated in clean vocals that have a similar stoner punk dynamic. The pace is slowed down somewhat for the following "Dead Horse Requiem", musically the song has a proto-doomic feel, all reverberating riffage and thunderous rhythms, but boasts a very cool  theatrical vocal melody not too disimilar to the melody utilized by rockabilly stalwarts Stray Cats on their UK chart bothering song "Stray Cut Strut". "Praise The Shadows" is up next a frizzy fuzzy medium paced rocker with an ear-catching verse/chorus/verse structure that features rhythms, chord progressions and guitar solos that sit at the more classic end of hard rock. "Echoes From Old Tree" begins dark dank and menacing but then morphs into something more akin to playful with choppy reggae(ish) chord work  and swinging rhythms framing equally swinging vocal melodies, the song does take off on a few musical tangents along the way but overall the feel is more hard rock than heavy rock. There is a Deep Purple Mk III vibe to next song "Blood Spirit Rising" albeit without the keyboards, especially in its fiery closing passages where we find guitarist Nobu shredding a mix of bluesy and neo-classical flavoured guitar solos over bassist Laven and drummer Goblin's incessant rhythmic backdrops. "Yu gen" is restrained, psychedelic and grungy, both musically and vocally, and is punctuated with occasional burst of  heaviness a trick that is repeated on final track "Yume we Kareno" only here the vocals , both lead and backing, are delivered a little more lilting and melodious. 

It would seem that Hebi Katana, with "Imperfection", have decided to dial down their worship of bands like Budgie and Black Sabbath and have instead opted to explore territories a little further afield, the band jamming grooves still very much rooted in proto-metal and doom but that are not limited to or by those genres. It may have taken a few albums to get there but it would appear Hebi Katana have at last found their sound. 

Check 'em out ..... 

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