Review: Hibushibire ‘Magical Metamorphosis Third Eye’
When I recently told the head Shaman about my nascent interest in classic Japanese psych rock as I had just read Julian Cope’s Japrocksampler, I was suggested the new album from Japanese psych group Hibushibire as another stop on my burgeoning Jappsychsampler – I’m not sure if that works or not, but you get my gist!
Magical Metamorphosis Third Eye is the first effort from the second lineup of the band, with mainman Changchang joined by Aoi Hama on drums and Tetsuji Toyoda on bass. A three-pronged vocal approach is new as well, but most of this is new to me completely so let’s dive into the five-track album that’s out now through Riot Season.
The almost Middle Eastern tinkling opening to Orangesunshine Of Your Lovemachine gets shredded by an incredible riff, cutting through the air like a desert wind. There’s some odd vocal strangeness that reminds me a little of Melt Banana or that really weird bit on Colony Of Birchmen by Mastodon, but the soulful guitar and wandering bassline is an absolute hook to the upper lip. The spacey clean vocal that follows up is a dreamy incantation of psych-soaked rock and roll, shimmering like a mirage of Plant-esque wails and squalling guitar solos. Man, what an entrance.
We Won’t Go Back To The Past is a little dreamier, like ‘60s influenced dream pop but with Wata from Boris teasing stinging solos from the ether. Boris are an obvious comparison point for me, such as on the psych rock blast of Death Surfin USA, where Pink and Smile seem like obvious reference points, but you can also see a little Shinki Chen & Friends in the sleek shimmer of the trippy The Beatles tribute that is Tomorrow Never Ever Knows.
Magical Metamorphosis Third Eye is a psychedelic masterpiece…
There are even some real hallucinogenic Acid Mothers Temple vibes in spiralling closer Ayahuasca Witch Abduction, which is unsurprising when you know that Makoto Kawabata from the aforementioned Acid Mothers Temple is a producer here. In fact, from what little I know of AMT, you can hear some of Kawabata‘s howling guitar lines lasering through this record in places.
I adore the eerie female vocal wail around the seventeen-minute mark; it really gives me some ‘70s B-movie soundtrack vibes before a swirling, distortion-drenched solo swoons across an increasingly frantic drumming performance. A shrieking, spiralling end to a record that has many roots in their native scene but an almost energetic need to expand even further. Hark at me, the new guy sounding like I know what I’m talking about!
If bands like Hibushibire are the kind of thing I can expect to find if I delve deeper into this subgenre then I’ll see you all on the other side. I may never get out of here. Magical Metamorphosis Third Eye is a psychedelic masterpiece; underpinned by a stubbornly desert rock core and then allowed to flourish into the clear night sky under the influences of who knows what. An evocative, meditative frenzy of stoned up rock and chilled out psych, intercut by the odd freakout jam.
Label: Riot Season
Band Links: Official | Facebook | Bandcamp | Twitter | Instagram
Scribed by: Sandy Williamson
