Dhidalah

So much goodness coming out of Guruguru Brain right now. With the news of the final Kikagaku Moyo album on the rise, the label does a quick turn with the surprise release of a new Dhidalah album as well. The volatile nature of the vinyl industry lately seems that quite a few labels are waiting until discs are in hand before announcing, and that cuts down the long run-ups and singles sprawls of the past decade or so. So, with the full platter in place, Dhidalah continue to be the propulsive heart of the label (though Minami Deutsch are pretty even contenders to the title as well). The band continue to bring the crush, with four tracks that stretch out on Sensoria 認識 , culminating in a 20+ minute closer.

The band dives in deep right away, letting plenty of fire consume the heart of “Soma.” The song nods on a steady patter of drums and dry ice before the band lights the match about halfway through, letting Ikuma Kawabe’s guitar snake along the acetylene paths. The cut sets the tone for the rest of the album’s scorched seance. The first side pushes the listener through the eye of the vortex, grounded by the ice pick tattoo of drums scratching through the haze created by Kawabe and Gatoh.

The band douses the molten openers in the cool waters of “DEAD,” an appropriately serene interstitial before the sidelong closer takes shape. “Black Shrine” only perfects what the band was doing on the first side, pairing the bonfire riffs with a mantra-like vocal that floats on the smoke. The band can sometimes be overshadowed by their higher profile labelmates, but Sensoria 認識 stands as a testament to their power and potency.

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