‘Heal my pain before you fade away, Bury my shame deep before you fade away’ (Serenity)

Tokyo’s Kriegshög are back with their first full-length since their self-titled debut some 14 years ago, and their first release since 2019’s steamroller of a 7-inch, Paint It Black.  And Love & Revenge very much continues to build on the transition heralded by the latter.  So, gone is the wall of noise discordance that defined their earliest releases.  The emphasis is now on unfurling a crushingly heavy groove – the unrelenting, almost hypnotic rhythm section locks in the bottom end while the guitars unleash waves of muscular, galloping riffage as well as occasional flourishes of dark melody, most notably the fiercely raucous finale to Grey Agony.  The largely Japanese vocals retain their growled intensity as they explore a mind plunged into a maze of anxiety, shame, and frustration.

The key though is the band’s success in imbuing this groove not only with a monolithic heaviness, but with a dynamic fluidity that ensures that you can’t help but move.  The rhythmically visceral P.S.M (Pure Slave Mind) and the infectiously, fist pumping Grey Agony perfectly capture this potent blend as does the fiercely staccato 眠らない身体 (The Body That Never Sleeps) and the utterly rollicking, bass-driven title track.  Album closer 冷たい人間 (Cold Person) brings matters to a fitting climax, melding a surging, strident central riff with a swinging bass line to pulverising effect.