•
Rating: Very little information has reached us from this Japanese ensemble, but a single listen to their music is enough to make us grasp the potential of a group that is too "avant-garde" to achieve even an acceptable level of visibility, despite their discography not being limited to this truly surprising LP, as dark as it is brilliant and innovative for its time.
The band, led by Kousuke Ichihara, on sax and flute, was completed by Yokota Toshiaki, also on sax, Hiro Yanagita on keyboards, Kimio Mitzuani and Naoi Takao on guitars, Masayoshi Terakawa on bass, Chito Kawachi on drums, and Shigenori Kamiya on arrangements: Satsujin Juushou (1971 - CBS Sony) follows closely after their debut album Love Will Make a Better You, mainly based on free jazz atmospheres. The full translated name of the LP, titled 10 Chapters Of Murder, is a sort of concept album inspired by the modern murder theories put forward by the noted writer Colin Wilson, which, incidentally, analyzes the psyche of some of the greatest crimes of the last century. The result will be shocking.
The album surprises for its modernity and originality, completely diverging from any musical convention of the time: in reality, the 3Ls were blatantly indebted to the "Free Jazz" atmospheres of Miles Davis, but in this case, the result is less experimental, more reasoned, but above all, considered in every minute detail. The main peculiarity of this work is to be found in the diversification of sounds: no song is the same as the other, each track follows a different sonic theme, based precisely on the type of "murders" to be tackled.
The whole will range between touching moments on sax, vocals at the limits of delirium and psychedelic clashes between guitars and sax, but the heterogeneity of the sound could prove indigestible to the less curious, since there is no point of continuity between one track and another, no foothold to hold onto; each song is based on a different experience, changing from genre to genre.
The start of the LP is entrusted to a sort of "spoken" introduction, where the sound of the sax enters forcefully; a soft melody anticipates a delirious representation of a matricide, then moving to a very brief yet delirious depiction of the "St. Valentine's Day Massacre," highlighted by an almost cabaret-like musical theme, abruptly closed by a shooting. The album continues between jazz interludes, delirious laughter, and almost "out of place" intense melodies, leading to the organ litany of Epilog (Requiem): the entire album is performed with a truly first-class technical skill, between poignant melodies and more experimental moments. The question then spontaneously arises: why did an album like this not achieve the visibility it deserved?
If we consider that in Italy the Museo Rosenbach were censored due to the famous cover featuring the bust of Hitler, imagine what reception an album that presents a speech by the "duce" among the tracks, entitled moreover Auschwitz no daigyakusatsu (Massacre at Auschwitz), could have received, in Japan nonetheless... furthermore, this mix of styles and genres can surely highlight the musicians' ability but, at the same time, make them indigestible to the average listener.
In summary, 10 Chapters Of Murder is certainly not an album for everyone, but the more curious and enterprising listeners will find something to sink their teeth into, making us witnesses to one of the darkest and most refined chapters of the Japanese rock movement of the '70s.
Here is the tracklist translated into English of the album:
Introduction
Why bad do I kill a mom
St. Valentine's Day Massacre
Chill at foggy night
Hentai man eats girl boiled
Kill the avec in the full moon night
Beautiful Demon poisoning
Lord woman of Great gang in Western
Slaughter at Auschwitz
Epilog (requiem)
Loading comments slowly
