ALBUM REVIEW: Agony 憎悪 Remains (Reissue) – Zouo

For all your crust punk obsessives out there, there is an excellent reissue on the horizon for you to add to your collection! Introducing, seminal hardcore punk mob ZOUO, with a reissue of their legendary 7″ Agony 憎悪 Remains, compiled with a complete collection of other recordings from the era. 

Musically, Agony 憎悪 Remains is pure filth, in the best way possible. One can picture the guitar player attacking the fret board with layers of dirt under their finger nails, and the drummer covered in years of grime from his ferocious attacks on the kit. One can only imagine the filth encrusted venue that these songs would have been performed in, a far call away from the neon lit streets of 1980s Japan. You get the sense that this is everything the band are railing against, showing their disdain for the system around them with scabrous tracks like No Power and Frustration.

Things also take a blasphemous turn, with the band announcing their fealty to the devil in Sons of Satan, before getting amorous in Making Love With Devil. It is clear that ZOUO wear their anti-establishment beliefs on their sleeve. Stand out track is Bloody Master, driven forward by a relentless D-beat barrage, whilst vocalist Cherry Nishida furiously gargles and spits his way through the song with whole bucket loads of crust charisma. 

Agony 憎悪 Remains also contains a myriad of recordings from when the band were performing live in the 1980s. Whilst not the most clear recordings, they exude an energy that will have the listener digging out their old leather jackets and yearning for a venue stage to jump off. This is a set that all hardcore punk collectors could do with having in their collection, for ZOUO and their ideals still ring home today. System Fuck Off indeed.

Rating: 7/10  

Agony 憎悪 Remains (Reissue) is out now via Relapse Records.