When an EP contains just one track (masquerading as two and totaling at some thirteen minutes, mind), not to mention the sort of brain-boggling (Paul Kirchner) artwork that gives you a contact high just from the viewing, you know this is a band you want… no, need, in your life. And so it transpires, for Kurokuma are absolutely stunning in the literal sense of the word. From the moment the blistering riff of ‘Dope Rider pt. 1’ detonates like an A-bomb inside your skull, this band will seize your soul and return it, black and shriveled only when they have extracted every last ounce from it.
A svelte five-minutes in length, ‘Dope Rider pt.1’ is built around a riff so potent that even Matt Pike would shrink from deploying it without safety goggles. The sound of a thousand Orange amps set to overload, it’s hard to believe a humble trio are capable of making this much noise, and yet there it is – rendered digitally, on cassette and (in September) on glorious wax (surely the desired format for such an excessive sonic scree) – for all to hear. However, if you think ‘pt.1’ is brutal, it soon becomes apparent that it is simply the hors d’oeuvre, for what follows (on side b, if you’re so inclined) is a second installment so utterly unhinged, it all but flays the skin from your face. An eight minute trip into a heart of darkness so complete that even Joseph Conrad would balk at its exploration, ‘dope rider pt.2’ is a ferocious sludge-fest that sees Kurokuma achieve a place alongside genre masters Conan and Slabdragger, which should, perhaps, be no particular surprise as it is Slabdragger’s Sam Thredder who has given Kurokuma such demonic clarity in the studio, whilst the EP was mixed and mastered by the legendary Chris Fielding (Conan). With seismic riffs, ravaged vocals and percussion which does not seem to emerge from the speakers so much as resonate somewhere just behind the eyes, like an incipient hangover waiting to pounce, ‘Dope Rider’ is a masterclass in the efficient dispatch of sanity.
This is a perfect example of a band making good on their live promise. The recording and production is exemplary, the track (OK, it’s in two parts, but it really is one, giant, sonic slug-fest) utterly devastating and the artwork perfectly matched to the concept. This is essential listening for riff-worshipers everywhere and cannot come highly-rated enough. 10
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