Seasons Are Going And Going...And Lives Goes On

A couple of weeks ago, while I was listening to the recent SPHC repress on wax of Final Exit 2008 "seasons are going and going...and lives goes on" 3"cd, my partner suddenly came in the room. While she sporadically appreciates some hc/punk music, she usually hates grind/death/noise and everything in the middle. To my surprise she said: "I like this band. Who are they? They remind me Melt Banana. No wait, how was called that John Zorn band?". "Naked City", I promptly answered with my heart full of pride. "Yeah, Naked City! They sound like them". And I think she nailed it perfectly. It would be indeed too reductive to tag this album, and this japanese duo in general, simply as a noisecore band. 

I've been enjoying Final Exit since they released their first split eps in the mid 90s. They've always been an unique band that was able throw in their low-fi noisecore assault a lot of weird and unexpected parts. But on "seasons are going and going...and lives goes on" they've outdone themselves to assemble their masterpiece. In barely 10.30 minutes, they melted perfectly their aural decimation with NWOBHM, Death Metal, HC/Punk, Pop, Doom, Surf, Rock, Industrial and Jazz parts. While they've obviously taken clue from Anal Cunt and Meat Shits (they are indeed named after the last ones), both Hisao and Ryohei are excellent musicians who could play whatever genre they wanted but consciously choose to stay loyal to their roots and keep gracing us with their wonderful noisecore. They've been able also to avoid the usual clichés of the genre: "SAGAGALGO" is a twelve tracks concept album about the flowing of the time. Tracks are named after the 12 months and the artwork reproduces perfectly the four panels of the cd version. It's housed in a full-coloured gatefold cover with a beautiful picture to represent each season. SPHC has given this reissue all the attention and quality it needed.