Butterfly White Night CD

Moments like this are exactly why it’s such a pleasure to review records for Maximum Rocknroll. BUTTERFLY are a long-running traditional Japanese hardcore band (first album released in 2005) that I’ve never heard or even heard of before, and they absolutely destroy! This is exactly what you want to hear when you’ve got an itch for burly, aggressive, and uniquely Japanese hardcore punk. The backbone is hard rocking hardcore Á  la TETSU ARREI plus touches of GASTUNK-style melodrama, with crazy over the top guitar solos, some of which are double-tracked in the style of DEATH SIDE. Singer Nora stands out as the female analogue of Tokurow of BASTARD, or Butaman of aforementioned TETSU ARREI: ultra-tough, but musical as well—super impressive! Really though, every member of the band gets to shine, especially drummer Tsukasa, whose playing has a creative jazzy feel that produces some unexpected and very catchy results. To top it all off, this self-produced CD includes excellent, if menacing, artwork by the rising multimedia artist Mega!

• Reviewer Andrew Underwood
• Label self-released
• Issue MRR #433 • June 2019