Artist: 鏡 (Kagami)
Title: 6 Track Demo
Release: Tape / Digital
Year: 2021
Label: Society Bleeds Records
鏡 (Kagami) is a hardcore punk quartet from Tokyo doing it the old school way, and with the old school way, I mean the rough-and-ready approach of the earliest Washington, D.C. hardcore bands like the Teen Idles, Youth Brigade, Untouchables, Government Issue, Void, The Faith, and SOA. Now imagine all these influences delivered with urgency from a wild singer screaming in Japanese and you’ll get the full picture!
The record rips and roars through six tracks with a total length of less than five minutes, finishing things off with a Government Issue cover. Just when you’re really getting into it, the whole thing finishes! That’s why the tape release from Society Bleeds Records consists of a double A-side, so you can easily flip and repeat all over again.
I believe that hardcore punk is a great place for experimentation, both in terms of music and radical new ideas. It’s also perfectly fine however, to emulate the exact same sound as its pioneers 40 years ago. I’m saying this for a reason as 鏡 feature prolific Japanese scenester Kasumi “Zaiden” Hayano on bass, who also plays brutal hardcore crust in Klonns, darkwave in Xian and synth-punk in ゲタゲタ (Getageta), along many other solo and collaborative projects.
This demo is 鏡’s debut release and I hope they’ll sound completely the same on the next one. A seven-inch release would be rad as well. Now, go flex your head!
