GOUM - Noise Sap CD

I've been hooked on GOUM since I first heard Rensa from their demo CD. I haven't been able to track down a copy of that yet, but got their demo tape and first 7" as soon as I could. These were just great and left me desperately wanting more from the band. Well after about a year since 'The Motherfetus", GOUM released their first full-length album - "Noisesap". Of course I desperately wanted a copy, but most of the sites selling were Japanese and thus poorly translated by google. Luckily I emailed Kotaro from Cyclone records/ Narm Discos and he was able to sort me out with a copy in a couple of days. Sadly it is only on CD so isn't quite as exciting as a nice new 12", but it's really all about the quality of the music right?

Noisesap brings 8 new tracks, spanning just over 32 minutes. All the elements from their previous work are still present; from the beautiful acoustic pieces such as 'Own Sins'  to the furious thrashing of 'Live to Live'. I don' think there's a point throughout the album that I wished wasn't there, it's all just excellent. And I still find it difficult to believe this band has a female vocalist!

 The CD has the usual band logo imprinted on the front, and comes with a nice lyrics booklet full of illustrations as you see above. 

I had a nice chat with Kotaro about how great the band is, and how much of a fan he is. If you're keen on this band (or similar bands like Parasite) I'd recommend getting in contact with him, it's probably one of the easiest transactions I've made.

GOUM - 2010 demo tape

I got into GOUM really quickly after hearing "Rensa" for the first time. As I usually do, I searched the web for any and all releases by the band. After getting "The MotherFetus" I set my sights on getting the 2010 demo tape released by Crysis records. only 100 were produced and they were pretty much nowhere to be found, but I decided to try my luck at emailing Crysis to see if any were left. At first I didn't hear anything, but after several months they replied saying they had some left over! Needless to say I bought one as soon as possible, and to my surprise it arrived in the mail within the week. Now that is good service.
This demo tape contains 4 tracks from GOUM; 2 from their previously released demo CD-R, as well as the songs from the MotherFetus EP. 

I'm pretty sure the star shown on the artwork is meant to serve as the band logo, it is printed on the tape as well. Although I can't really tell what is going on with the artwork besides the star, I do like the artwork this time around. It really gives a crusty feel.

The artwork folds out into the lyrics sheet, which like last time has been  translated into English. Again it isn't the best translation, but at least they tried though right?

While I'm writing about releases, I generally like to have them playing. As I went to put this on, I noticed the magnetic tape was caught underneath the head and so wouldn't play anymore! Luckily after some carefully operation-style tape surgery it is all back to normal now. 

GOUM - The Motherfetus 7"

I guess one would classify GOUM as a crust band. To be honest, I don't really care for endless genres and subgenres, all I know is that this band is AWESOME. They are from Japan, which really seems to be putting out some quality stuff. 

This EP contains 3 tracks totaling around 13 minutes. I was surprised to find they have a female vocalist, you would not be able to tell from listening to these songs.

I do like the artwork on this release, although I'm not really sure what it is about. It appears to be an eye looking down on a girl crying with bamboo stalks on the sides.

The record is on black vinyl and contains the band logo on the centre labels. I don't think I'd want the vinyl to be any other colour, it really fits the rest of the packaging.

 

 A lyrics sheet was also included, which contains the lyrics in Japanese and English (well kind of). It is not the best translation of the lyrics, but you get the idea of what they are trying to convey in their songs.

Inside the sleeve was all kinds of other things. I got a GOUM fabric patch (top right), stickers from Cyclone Records and Narm Discos and what appears to be a flyer for something. I guess these would be gigs, but I can't read Kanji so I can't really be certain.

These guys are really good, I urge you to check them out.