Here we see a rare return to the vinyl format for a certain Mr. Haino–not to mention his second commercially available outing with the Ruins. Like you might expect, this 12″ black saucer contains eight tracks of mega-distorto guitar with hyperactive bass and drums lightly peppered with the occasional moan or scream. Basically, it’s a big, long electric tantrum. So, do you really need this? (Sorry, I couldn’t resist.) Well, yes, if your’re a fan of Haino’s solo electric guitar workouts and/or the Ruins and/or, obviously, the first Knead CD. No dis to the Ruins, but I like the rhythm section of Yasushi Ozawa and Jun Kosugi a heck of a lot more. I’m talking Fushitsusha here, man! Overall, this release is a good one, though, no matter how you try to divvy it up. The cover sports a curious combination of one of Haino’s abstract line drawings repeated as a pattern over a photo of a natural sandstone arch. Unexpected.

Label: Fractal Catalog Number: Fractal 023 Format: LP Packaging: LP jacket Tracks: 8 Total Time: Unknown Country: France Released: 2003 Related Artists: Fushitsusha, Keiji Haino More: Forced Exposure, Official, Poison Pie, PSF, Wikipedia

Keiji Haino meets The Ruins. Superficially, Knead sounds like a faster, hyper, prog-like Fushitsusha. But, of course, the spare, skeletal rhythm section of Fushitsusha is very unique and important to that band and no guitar-based creation on Earth can match their supreme density and abstract beauty. But, Knead doesn’t need to. (Sorry, I couldn’t resist.) This new trio happily launches Haino into territory that he has never really operated in before. We’re talking complex mathematics here, folks, and it’s well-known The Ruins practice it in spades. Crazed precision drumming and bass playing that meticulously teases each and every fret offer plenty of melding support for Haino’s crunchy feedback explosions and searing peak wail. There’s some quiet, spacey moments here and there and the “no overdubs” man even throws in some real-time vocal loops and other special effects. It’s nothing less than an entire CD filled with ultra intensity—so much music, it’ll leave even the most hardened fan tuckered. Pretty dang impressive.

Label: PSF Catalog Number: PSFD-128 Format: CD Packaging: Jewel case Tracks: 8 Total Time: 75:46 Country: Japan Released: 2002 Related Artists: Fushitsusha, Keiji Haino More: Forced Exposure, Official, Poison Pie, Wikipedia