Reviews:

From Ascension: (by Walter Piano)

  Probabilmente solo Cold Spring poteva scegliere di riesumare questi alfieri del noise-industrial giapponese di cui si erano perse le tracce nel 1996 dopo la pubblicazione dell'album "Flash". Questo "Chaos Is The Cosmos" è composto da un'unica traccia live di 45 minuti concepita negli anni novanta a Tokyo in un concerto antecedente l'uscita di "Flash". Siamo di fronte a quello che non esiterei a definire un vero e proprio manifesto di quella musica noise che, proprio nella cultura giapponese, trovò terreno fertile per esprimere la sua devastante potenza sonica. I componenti di C.C.C.C. alle prese con questo lavoro (ricordiamo che sono tutti provenienti da altre esperienze in ambito di ricerca musicale estrema) sono: Hiroshi Hasegawa (synth ed effetti), Mayuko Hino (electronics), Fumio Kosakai (electronics e chitarra) e Ryuichi Nagukobo (basso). Insieme, questi quattro rumoristi nipponici si abbandonano ad un'esibizione live sempre al limite della saturazione sonica, dove ogni strumento produce un muro ossessivo e lacerante di suoni e rumori. Abbiamo dunque a che fare con distorsioni soniche capaci di dissolvere i suoni originari trasformandoli in un olocausto sonico al limite del rumore bianco. I pochi momenti di pausa che attraversano il CD rimangono quelli in cui Mayuko Hino is esibisce in una, se cosi possiamo definirla, scarna interpretazione vocale. In definitiva, ritengo questo "Chaos Is The Cosmos" come un'importante testimonianza di una delle band culto di quel fenomeno noise giapponese che negli anni novanta riuscì a rinverdire i fasti di Merzbow, incontrastato guru della sperimentazione nipponica più estrema.

From Obliveon: (by MK)

  Mitte der neunziger Jahre aufgenommen, veröffentlicht Cold Spring dieser Tage „Chaos Is The Cosmos“, ein Live-Album des japanischen Noise-Kollektivs C.C.C.C. Dabei besteht das Album aus einem einzigen, fünfundvierzigminütigem Stück, das an krachiger Intensität und mentaler Unbarmherzigkeit kaum zu überbieten ist- Nur hartgesottene Lärmfetischisten werden dieser absolut brutalen Soundwalze ihre künstlerischen Qualitäten abgewinnen können, denn die gnadenlose Intensität nahe an der Schmerzgrenze, die C.C.C.C. musikalisch zu kreieren im Stande sind, ist sicher nur etwas für Genre-Fans. Melodien, Harmonien oder einen Ansatz von Emotionen liebreizender Art sucht man hier vergebens. C.C.C.C. sind eine musikalsiche Dampfwalze pur. Gnadenlos, unbarmherzig, brutal und alles vernichtend. Kurz, ein Album, das sich jeder musikalischen Bewertung verweigert.

From Rock-A-Rolla: (by Scott McKeating)

  Japanese Hiroshi Hasegawa is the link between [C.C.C.C. 'Chaos Is The Cosmos and South Saturn Delta 'Experience The Concreteness'], a man whose musical direction looks more like the output of an industrial shredder than a discography. As the founder of both established noise legends C.C.C.C. and his new South Saturn Delta trio, the pair of albums highlight why 2008 is already looking like his year.

 For their first album in a decade C.C.C.C. couldn't have found a better way to drag people back in. This live set, resurrected from the mid-nineties, is a near-perfect ambassador for Japanese noise and still vital enough to take on anything ahead on the genre's curve. This disc could be a lot prime era Hijokaidan album (guitarist Fumio Kosakai has played with both Hijokaidan and Incapacitants), the live instrumentation wrestling with the electronics and avoiding all the usual pitfalls. The only brief chinks in the armour of the album are Mayuko Hino's malapropos bouts of near hysterical screaming. Where Hino's spoken word has panic hanging in the air, sticking thickly to the language, the shrieks just don't work within the context of the album. The bent angles of guitar and nerve rummaging overload express a focused abandon that much noise just doesn't get near. the bleeding whistles of multifarious minor melodies are coarsened against great bowed tones, but neither is subdued. Many performers make a racket, very few can handturn the energy into something with grain, density and acumen while playing it.

From Darkroom: (by Piercarlo Tiranti)

  C.C.C.C. è una 'storica' noise band giapponese assente dalle scene discografiche da una decina di anni, se si esclude l'ultima raccolta "Early Works", un box di quattro CD del 2007. Da inserire ovviamente nel filone rumoristico più estremo, la band è formata da Hiroshi Hasegawa (già membro di Astro,YBO2, South Saturn Delta e Mortal Vision), dalla bondage-porno star Mayuko Hino, da Fumio Kosakai (Incapacitants/Hijokaidan) e da Ryuichi Nagakubo. Questo "Chaos Is The Cosmos" è basato su spezzoni ripresi da Hino durante un live show del gruppo, e contiene una sola traccia di circa 45 minuti. Pur non essendo particolarmente vario, il disco è piuttosto ben centrato, e gode della potenza derivante dalla formazione estesa utilizzata nello show in questione. Una sorta di noise 'estetico' ed emozionale opposto al rumore freddo e meccanico di buona parte della scena noise giapponese. Difficile dire quanto di effettivamente 'umano' sia riscontrabile nei cruenti assalti all'arma bianca del disco, ma qualche elemento diverso dal solito 'spaccatimpani nipponico' si fa notare, così come si fa notare una struttura ben definita e mai casuale. Ovvio che il disco rimane destinato agli aficionados del rumore (meglio se bianco, si capisce...) e difficilmente farà breccia fuori dalla super-nicchia in cui è confinato, ma potrebbe essere un buon ascolto anche per i coraggiosi che desiderano avvicinarsi al noise giapponese senza partire dalle vette di inaccessibilità di Masonna o senza perdersi nella palude delle mille uscite Merzbow.

From Compulsion: (by Tony Dickie)

  What with this release and the Early Works 4CD boxset on No Fun Productions there's been quite a bit of renewed activity around C.C.C.C, the Japanoise group comprising Mayuko Hino, Hiroshi Hasegawa (Astro, South Saturn Delta), Fumio Kosakai (Hijokaidan, Incapacitants), Ryuichi Nagakubo who were active during the nineties when the first wave of Japanese noise acts began garnering attention overseas. In terms of noise C.C.C.C. avoid the register extremes; there's no high-end or low-end frequencies. Instead C.C.C.C. opt for elongated blasts of subtle layered noise. It's a forceful sound that gushes with intensity, the convoluted electronics throwing up a mass of noise. It may be surprising but compared to earlier releases such as Loud Sounds Dopa and Flash (a 1996 Cold Spring release) this one features guitar squall with formless clouds of noise being cajoled from the instrument. It certainly adds another dimension to the torrent of noise being whipped up. The other surprising thing here is porn actress Mayuko Hino's performance. At one point in the first quarter of this performance, recorded in Tokyo in the mid-nineties, she unleashes a series of tortured screams and anguished cries, returning later on with some spoken poetry, as the instruments drop out leaving only electronic hum and machine like throttle to shroud her readings. Don't worry though, as it quickly returns to whirring and gliding sheets of noise and hits some wonderful screechiness and wind-tunnel like dynamics. Aside from the 5-minute or so sojourn into poetry, once again, C.C.C.C. offer an unrelenting slice of captivating atmo-noise. Chaos Is The Cosmos never attains the unrelenting corrosive textures of Flash but it's best not to resist and just let the saturated noise wash over you. It's a timely reminder on just how good they were.

From Heathen Harvest: (by S:M:J63)

  I first came across C.C.C.C many many years ago when I was editor/publisher of my own small-press fanzine FRÄCtüred and Endorphine Factory (via Charnel House) sent me a copy of ‘Live Sounds Dopa – Live in USA’. All copies of the ‘zine have long since gone and I can’t remember whether I got around to writing anything about the CD before I stopped publishing FRÄCtüred, but I still have the CD fifteen years later, and it still gets an airing every once in a while. C.C.C.C are still on the scene and recently released their first album in 11 years on Cold Spring.

  C.C.C.C (S&M porn-star Mayuko Hino and her husband Hiroshi Hasegawa) have lost none of the power that drove them to the top of the Japanoise scene. Great humungous slabs of thick guitar sludge and nerve-shattering feedback, neuron-shredding keyboard abuse and Hino’s shrieking and screaming all compacted into a single forty-three minute track, and all played with joyous abandon. Hino and co subscribe to the theory that noise is an emotional release rather than an intellectual exercise – and this is one shitload of a roiling maelstrom of chaotic catharsis. It’s as if the whole eleven years of not releasing an album had built up a mighty store of angst and it’s all been detonated in one massive explosion in the studio; this album is the resulting fallout.

  There’s nothing much else I can say about this – it’s absolutely magnificent and shows many lesser bands the way to keep a listener’s attention for the entire epic duration. There are noise bands and then there are noise bands who possess an innate sense of how to give structure to what is essentially an all-out skin-peeling and senses-melting wall of freeform distortion and chaos. Clearly, after something like two decades in the field, C.C.C.C know their stuff – there’s no pretence here, it’s just plug in and play. Japanoise is a phenomenon unique to that nation, at least I have heard very few similar efforts from other areas of the world that work in quite the same way or as successfully. My parting comment is that I hope someone can persuade them not leave it so long until the next release – I don’t think I can wait another decade for more improvised sonic madness from this outfit. SO JUST GET ON WITH IT PEOPLE!!

From Plan B: (by FM)

  Cult Japanese sonic warmongers CCCC dive right back in there with their first since ’96 and eschew dynamic foreplay for a good 45-minute pounding. A trapped-sounding guitar gasps psych solos as it’s chainsawed into oblivion, a final, lyrical outburst at the point of death. Spoken vocals cut through the track’s mid-point, transmission-like, but it’s too late by then, and Chaos’ final section takes you out like a pack of spinning, sharp-bladed stars.

From Terrorizer: (by Alex Boniwell)

  With just one track spanning almost 45 minutes C.C.C.C. conjure up the primordial swirl and, as the title suggests, chaos, that is the cosmos. Bass, guitar, keyboards and electronics meld into a mass of organic noise to further explain in musical terms how the worlds, stars and galaxies seemingly abide with no set pattern. Granted, it won't tell you the secrets of the universe but this live recording from teh mid-'90s does have a stunning creationist feel. As the track progresses, from the chaotic noise storm starts to emerge an order. Out of the sonance a calm descends and softly spoken poetry brings the beast to a near-stationary existence. But the beast is chaos after all and soon amasses the power to break free and carry on its massive, churning existence until it finally dies in a barrage of, well, noise

From Mentenebre: (by Fernando O Paino)

  Las siglas C.C.C.C. han querido significar distintas definiciones a lo largo de la historia de esta banda, entre las muchas que se han otorgado podemos destacar Chaotic Custom Cock Commandos, Cosmic Coincidence Control Center, que se utilizaba a su vez como título de su primer CD editado por una discográfica, o Community Center Cyber Clash, que daba nombre a su primer lanzamiento en formato LP. Realmente, a día de hoy, no tengo ni la más remota idea de por cuál de ellas se decantan, pero una cosa está clara, esta formación, capitaneada por Mayuko Hino, es uno de los paradigmas más remarcables del panorama noise japonés de todos los tiempos; a día de hoy cuentan con nada menos que veintidós trabajos en diferentes formatos, todos ellos portadores de una inconmensurable agresividad sonora que intimida hasta a los más acostumbrados al ruido.

  Lo que ahora presenta el sello inglés Cold Spring es una ejemplificación de lo que esta banda puede dar de sí en directo. El concierto fue realizado a mediados de los años noventa en la ciudad japonesa de Tokio, sus sintetizadores distorsionados estremecen y ponen los pelos de punta a quien lo escucha; como su título refleja, es puro caos sonoro concentrado en el universo, dispuesto a explotar en cualquier momento.

  Este trabajo tan sólo cuenta con un único tema, eso sí, es versátil y sorprendente, varía en su intensidad sin dejar de lado en ningún momento la tensión y la anarquía sonora por las que C.C.C.C. son conocidos. Gritos y gemidos se funden en un descontrol sin medida que hace entrar en éxtasis a un público invadido por la intensidad que desprende la actuación. La concepción de Mayuko Hino sobre su música se caracteriza por servir como foco de escape en dos vertientes, por un lado la emocional y por otro la intelectual. Como podemos comprobar, el ruido que molesta a algunos es arte y forma de vida para otros, explorando sus efectos, sus matices, sus texturas y su alcance, concibiéndolo matemáticamente, exponenciándolo y saturándolo hasta el infinito.

  Este directo fue posteriormente masterizado entre los años 2006 y 2007 por Kelly Churko y Hiroshi Hasegawa en los estudios Kaikan y Astral Orange Echo. El resultado del trabajo ha sido un suculento plato servido en un restaurante de cinco tenedores dispuesto a ser masticado, saboreado y deglutido por los paladares más exigentes del género noise.

  C.C.C.C. ha trabajado en sus dieciocho años de carrera con numerosos sellos discográficos entre los que destacan Vanilla Records, Endorphine, Ant-zen o la propia Cold Spring. Todos sus componentes han tenido o tienen actualmente proyectos paralelos, como es el caso de Hiroshi Hasegawa con su grupo South Saturn Delta, del que se habló hace poco por motivo de la presentación de la mano de Cold Spring de su último lanzamiento.

  C.C.C.C. se posicionan en el lado más radical del noise y nos demuestran a dónde puede llegar el ruido.

From Ritual: (by Roberto Michieletto)

  Non era necessario che C.C.C.C. interrompessero un silenzio che durava dal 1996 per offrirci una saturazione di feedback, distorsioni e power noise elettronico elargita con costanza cerebralmente invidiabile. La sola volontà e quella di edificare il più inaccessible muro di rumorismo industriale (ignorante), senza la minima pretesa che non sia quella di produrre un suono monotematico, fine a se stesso e incapace di comunicare alcunché. Estremo, di sicuro, nel suo essere deludente.

From Blow Up: (by Paolo Bertoni)

  Nell’ambito sconfinato del japanoise C.C.C.C., soprattutto per le performance di Mayuko Hino, improntate ad un discretamente estremo sadomasochismo, che portavano sul palco anche le esperienze da lei maturate come attrice porno, rimangono nella memoria come una tra le formazioni nipponiche che con più vigore misero in pratica il dalle loro parti molto diffuso intento di oltrepassare ogni limite uditivo. Della coppia - con il coniuge Hiroshi Hasegawa ci sono in questa occasione Fumio Kosakai e Ryichi Nagabuko, attivi in sigle non meno tenere come Hijokaidan, Incapacitants e Tangerine Dream Syndicate - da diverso tempo non si avvertiva traccia, dopo una numericamente discreta discografia nell’arco degli anni ’90. Anche “Chaos Is The Cosmos” è in realtà una registrazione dal vivo alla metà di quel decennio. Il ritorno su Cold Spring, per l’etichetta britannica era stato pubblicato uno dei loro capitoli più significativi, “Flash”, è suggellato da un rendez-vous di grande virulenza e ferocia che nei suoi quarantatre minuti ha l’enorme qualità di non tediare, un mostruoso alieno che fiotta inaudita violenza sonora, tra scrosci, tonfi e sibili in un movimento incessante e frenetico, un ciclone di chitarre in feedback e synth votati alla cacofonia e maltrattati con fisicità spasmodica, con la voce di Mayuko che ha parte molto contenuta ma che reca un drammatizzante refolo di disperata umanità in un caos cinicamente azzerante.

From Dagheisha: (by Roberto Michieletto)

  Non ce n’era assolutamente bisogno. Nessuno avvertiva la mancanza di C.C.C.C. dalle scene musicali da oltre un decennio, almeno non in questa veste. Una veste dove la sola cosa che viene evidenziata è la saturazione di ogni spazio esistente tra feedback e distorsioni continue e le bordate di power noise elettronico elargite con costanza cerebralmente invidiabile, ma priva di significato. Hiroshi Hasegawa (Astro, YBO2 e South Saturn Delta), Mayuko Hino (ex attrice porno/bondage), Fumio Kosakai (Hijokaidan e Incapacitants) e Ryuichi Nagakubo (Tangerine Dream Syndicate) si preoccupano solo di edificare il più inaccessibile muro (ignorante) di rumorismo industriale senza la minima pretesa che non sia quella di produrre un suono monotematico, fine a se stesso e incapace di comunicare la violenza e la barbarie che ci si attenderebbe in casi simili. Estremo di sicuro, ma nel suo essere deludente.

From Judas Kiss: (by Lee Powell)

  It’s been quite some time since Cold Spring has babbled in the Japanese noise genre. In fact a good ten years or so have passed since the label gave us not one but two slabs of Japnoise in the form of the extreme deluge of noise that was Masonna’s ‘Spectrum Ripper’ and C.C.C.C.s sonic attack ‘Flash’. At the time these was quite a considerable wave of excitement about the nauseating extremes to which our eastern cousins could push noise, and with help from the likes of Merzbow’s hugely prolific catalogue of releases amongst others, it seemed like the sky was the limit. And then as quickly as the racket started it quietened down. Aside from a few releases by Mr. Merzbow that were getting rave reviews in the more avant-garde music press, there was very little else happening. However, over the last few years the Japnoise scene has started rumbling away again, with a select few reigniting the excitement this genre has to offer, in a more subdued and structured way compared to the smash-and-grab antics of years gone by, but still delivering the power and noise that you’d expect from this genre. So now seems like the perfect time for Cold Spring to venture into the extremities of Japnoise again by releasing, as before, not just one but two high-profile albums, including the CD in question here, C.C.C.C’s ‘Chaos Is The Cosmos’.

  Containing one long track of around 43 minutes in length, ‘Chaos Is The Cosmos’ is a gruelling attacking of noise, frequencies, screams and distortion that is so far removed from the preconceived notions of music it would be wet-dream material for those who like to punish themselves with the more extreme elements of the industrial scene. With a seemingly endless barrage of noise, ‘Chaos Is The Cosmos’ offers little respite for the listener, and instead leads a full-frontal attack on their senses. The aural shapes that the album throws up twists and contort like an epileptic kaleidoscope, never holding the shape and structure long enough to make any real sense. It offers no apologies or pretentiousness. Instead it delivers what it set out to do, going for the jugular with a savage, unrelenting ferocity.

  However, the album also seems to be one of contradictions. On one hand, it appears to be very structured and controlled, with its delivery of noise and extreme aural textures being held in check so they don’t out-and-out alienate the listener. Instead, they push just enough but never quite too much. The noise and severity of the album is extreme by any measure, but it’s not out of control. It’s formulated to be savage but still structured. On the other hand, the album has a very improvised feel to it, like some extreme avant-garde / experimental jazz musician going hell for leather, throwing shapes and structures, noise and distortion randomly together in a free-formed improvised set.

  It’s difficult to ascertain exactly which option C.C.C.C. took in constructing this album, but needless to say they knew exactly what they were doing, and have produced a devastating array of extreme sonics that will certainly push all the right buttons for the discerning collectors of extreme noise. Of course, it goes without saying that ‘Chaos Is The Cosmos’ won’t by any stretch appeal to everyone. In fact, its market is somewhat limited. Yet I feel that those who relish this style of extreme music will be salivating intensely throughout its nauseating 43-minute running time.

From Musique Machine: (by Roger Batty)

  Coming in not long after the interesting if a little mixed box set of early material here Japanese noise/psychedelic terrorist C.C.C.C offer up their first new material in ten years and take you on a fiery head melting, many layered noise trip that you wont forget in a hurry.

  The album consist of one long 43 minute track which slides, rips and burns through all manner of sound and textural changes along it’s devastating path. Going from clearly defined guitar feed back and sculpturing, to amped-up and fucked-upwith melodic samples. To ear drum scoring walls of noise, whopping clouds of psychedelic electronics, to rhythmic bombardments of sound. With Every now and then sensual, haunting & sometimes disturbing Japanese female voices and vocals appearing out of the splendid chaos. There really is no sonic filling on display here, it literal rips you’re off your feet from the opening moments throwing into C.C.C.C demented and overloaded soundworld, leaving you 40 minutes later breathless with your mind reeling and your ears ringing eager to jump back into the beautiful maelstrom of sound once more.

  A great overdue work from one of the legends of the noise scene- showing that there still firing on all cylinders in pure loudness, inventiveness and downright brutality of sound.

From Brainwashed: (by Simon Marshall-Jones)

  These Japanoise legends' first album since 1996 is a triumphant return, a single joyous no-nonsense extreme noise barrage lasting for 43:18, and their second album (after 1996's Flash) on the UK label Cold Spring. The trademark walls of fuzz-drenched guitar overlaid with howls and ear-splitting high-end keyboard screeching coupled with Mayuko Hino's vocals are all there and are a perfect recipe for further consolidating their status in the upper stratosphere of japanoise acts.

  C.C.C.C. (Cosmic Coincidence Control Centre) is porn star Mayuko Hino and her husband Hiroshi Hasegawa (YBO2, Astro & South Saturn Delta) with contributions from Fumio Kosakai (Hijokaidan & Incapacitants) and Ryuichi Nagakubo (Tangerine Dream Syndicate). It is worth noting that Hino believes that noise should be emotionally driven rather than intellectually, in other words it is a matter of being in the moment and expressing that moment in whatever way feels appropriate; she also believes that much can be gleaned of a performer's personality through the species of noise produced. On a personal note I think this is how the best abstract art operates, that every painting, drawing, or performance is representative of a particular point in time and a particular emotion. Without the straitjacket of intellectual underpinnings the results become less restricted and much freer with a much broader canvas on which to be expressed. Chaos is the Cosmos is painted with broad frenzied brushstrokes and with flailing abandon for the most part, slabs of guitar fuzz feedback and keyboard generated noise providing solid background for the sound of howling instruments being tortured and abused whilst Mayuko's voice and screams and screeching caterwauling guitar pick out the highlights. It never lets up for the entire length with the exception of a brief interlude that lasts about a couple of minutes. It then picks up the relentless tempo once more until the conclusion. It is the roiling boiling heat of chaos and creation—which is indeed the foundation of cosmos—that beneath every manifestation of apparent order there prevails, on some microscopic level, disorder; atoms and molecules colliding with and spinning off each other in eternal turmoil, planets, asteroids and huge star-systems tearing themselves apart and reforming in continuous galactic evolution. It is the black hole that swallows everything within its purview, rending and smashing, dissembling matter into its constituent particles in a violent whirlpool of wanton destruction.

  This, however, is not to imply that this is just noise for the sake of it. There is constant evolution and invention, always something new to engage the ear, enervating the mind and listener. This is what marks this out above a great deal of noise: the sheer playfulness and inventiveness, and my attention was held for the full length of almost 45 minutes. This ever-changing and evolving piece reflects the hermetic dictum as above, so below it would appear—just like in the deepest reaches of our cosmos the engines of chaos bring order out of themselves in bursts of intense creation. Moreover, this monumental maelstrom of cacophony gives the distinct impression that it has always existed even before the play button was pressed to ON and that it will go on existing well after the CD has stopped. I would hope that C.C.C.C. will take the time to capture another glimpse of that eternal creation and unending destruction for us to enjoy sometime in the near future; at least I hope we don't have to wait another ten years before the next release.

From Alternativmusik: (by Marius Meyer)

  Hintergrundmusik fürs Kaffeekränzchen, Klänge zum Entspannen, romantische Musik für einen besinnlichen Abend zu zweit. All das ist es, was es auf Chaos Is The Cosmos von C.C.C.C. garantiert nicht gibt. Nein: Das genaue Gegenteil ist der Fall. Die japanische Noise-Formation bedenkt die Hörerschaft und Freunde dieser Art von Klangkunst nach zehn Jahren Album-Abwesenheit nun mit einem neuen Werk, das mit nur einem einzigen Titel bereits Albumlänge erreicht. Ein einziger Noise-Teppich mit einer Länge von 43 Minuten, bei dem man schon von den ersten Klängen an allem hinterherwinken kann, was auch nur auf peripherste Weise mit musikalischen Konventionen zu tun hat.

  Nun: Wie beschreibt man das, was einem hier begegnet, denn am sinnvollsten? Fest steht: Der Titel hat ein Anfang und ein Ende. Diese beiden erkennt man durch ein Lauterwerden am Anfang und ein Leiserwerden am Ende auch noch einigermaßen. Ansonsten herrscht auf der knappen Dreiviertelstunde durchweg so etwas wie Füllungsfreiheit. Und diese Füllung besteht zu 100% aus Noise. Dröhnende Klänge, fieses Rauschen, verwirrende Sprachfetzen (auf Japanisch), immer neue verstörende Klänge in allen möglichen Frequenzlagen und nicht die Spur der Ankündigung, wann wieder eine neue Explosion in den Klängen zu erwarten ist.

  Natürlich ist Chaos Is The Cosmos mal wieder Musik für Minderheiten. Zumindest hierzulande. In Japan hingegen ist diese Art von Klangcollagen anerkannte Kunst. Und der künstlerische Aspekt des Ganzen lässt sich ganz und gar nicht abstreiten. Denn diese gewaltige und verstörende Geräuschkulisse kann einen durchaus fesseln. Es steckt Wucht dahinter und man merkt, dass da jemand voll und ganz hinter dem steht, was er macht. Ob man das deswegen mögen muss? Nein, natürlich nicht. Aber wer gerne Noise hört, findet hier sicherlich ein sehr begeisterndes Tondokument vor.

  Um damit noch einmal zurück zur Einleitung zu kommen: Als Hintergrundmusik für das Kaffeekränzchen eignet diese Veröffentlichung wohl nur dann, wenn man möglichst schnell wieder allein sein möchte. Wer Entspannung sucht, findet hier eher die Stufe davor, indem er aufgestauter Aggression zunächst freien Lauf lassen kann. Und wer Musik für den Abend in trauter Zweisamkeit sucht, könnte schneller mit seinen Kerzen allein gelassen sein, als ihm recht ist. Denn: Diese CD geht so intensiv, gewaltig und wuchtig los, dass es eben wirklich eine Veröffentlichung für Industrial-Freunde ist, die sich in derlei verstörenden Klangkulissen fallen lassen können. Aber für diese ist es Chaos Is The Cosmos dann auch ein wahres Eldorado.

From Judas Kiss: (by Simon Collins)

  After Cold Spring’s recent forays into folk, with the new Von Thronstahl album and the John Barleycorn Reborn compilation, the label is reasserting its rank within the industrial scene with a brace of Japanese noise releases, the first C.C.C.C. album since 1996’s acclaimed Flash, and South Saturn Delta’s Experience The Concreteness (also reviewed by me for Judas Kiss). Musical pain-sluts the world over will be rolling around on the floor in an ecstasy of submissive joy, whimpering ‘Ooh Daddy, it hurts so good! Harder! Louder!’ as their eardrums get well and truly spanked in that sadistic manner that the Japs know how to dish out so well.

The four deviants comprising C.C.C.C. are Hiroshi Hasegawa (also of Astro, YBO2 and South Saturn Delta), Mayuko Hino, Fumio Kosakai (also of Hijokaidan and Incapacitants), and Ryuichi Nagakubo (also of Tangerine Dream Syndicate). Chaos Is The Cosmos consists of a single 43-minute track recorded live in Tokyo in the mid 90s, so there’s no escaping here, you just have to sit back and let the sonic riptide surge over you. This is like every sound in the universe being sucked into a black hole and blown out of the ass of a giant cosmic leaf-shredder. An electric guitar is being tortured alongside the usual electronics, and a series of abandoned screams around the 11-minute mark add to the delicious cacophony. There are some female spoken word vocals later on, but since it’s all in Japanese, I have no idea what they’re about. Something gnarly, I bet.

The cover art of Chaos Is The Cosmos features flickering flames rather than the Japanese bondage porn of its predecessor Flash, but in no other way is this release anything less than utterly intense. It make you wonder why it took so long for this to see the light of day.

From Chain D.L.K.: (by Maurizio Pustianaz)

  New release for the japanoise quartet C.C.C.C.. This time is a live concert recorded in the mid '90s. The CD contains one track 43 minutes long which recalled me the image of Ouroboros crawling within grinding guitar noises, synth hisses, screams and subtle drum sounds. CHAOS IS THE COSMOS isn't properly a noise album, if you have Merzbow as your reference point: this live recording is sounding more like an hippie community having a really bad trip. On some moments the sound become sonic and it seems to be in the eye of a cyclone. After 23 minutes of this treatment, sound changes a little and what seems to be a mix from a guitar and a monophonic synth plays a light background noise for a female recitative voice. Just few moments and a throbbing sound starts. It's the signal for the beginning of the final devastation. Love it or leave it...

From Feindesland:

  In der japanischen Noiseszene tummeln sich Damen und Herren, die auf die unvorstellbarsten Perversionen abfahren. In Ansätzen existiert eine ähnliche Bewegung in Deutschland, aber völlig abgeschottet und ohne jegliche Wahrnehmung von Seiten der Gesellschaft im Untergrund. In Japan hingegen, gilt diese Art der Kunst als Kult und unzählige Aktivisten frönen ihren extremen Leidenschaften, auch wenn sie dafür mit dem eigenen Tod bezahlen. Bitte sehen Sie es mir nach, wenn meine Person an dieser Stelle nicht auf einzelne Praktiken eingeht und sich ausschließlich der Musik zuwendet (Mein Dank für Ihr Verständnis!).

  Die überwiegenden Veröffentlicht aus dem Land der aufgehenden Sonne transportieren ausnahmslos Krach, wo die Suche nach Strukturen zum lebenslangen Abenteuer ausufert. Hinzu kommt die Tatsache, dass die Produktionen in vielen Fällen auf unterirdischem Niveau basieren.

  Mit C.C.C.C. meldet sich nach über 10 Jahren eine Formation zurück, die ein Ehepaar an der Spitze vorweist. Sie, Mayuko Hino, eine der japanischen SM Pornoqueens und er, Hiroshi Hasegawa, der Powerelectronicstüftler bei Astro, YBO2 & South Saturn Delta. Ihre Mitstreiter Fumio Kosakai (Hijokaidan, Incapacitants) und Ryuichi Nagakubo (Tangerine Dream Syndicate) sind beileibe keine Unbekannten im musikalischen Randalieren, sondern erfahrene Strategen im Noisegenre.

  Inhaltlich vertonen sie im Gegensatz zu anderen Akteuren keine Abartigkeiten. Ihr Schwerpunkt auf "Chaos Is The Cosmos" liegt in der Betrachtung des gesamten Universums, welches mit vielen Irritationen und nicht erklärbaren Zuständen die Menschen verblüfft. Der geneigten Konsumentenschaft wurden verschiedenste Interpretationsmöglichkeiten gelassen, die Sie bei Ihren Hördurchläufen explizit einbinden sollten.Der Personenkreis, welcher Noise oder Powerelectronics in jeglichen Varianten ablehnt, kann "Chaos Is The Cosmos" für sich komplett streichen. Für den Fankreis hingegen, hier die Fakten zum Opus: Mitte der 90er trafen sich die "Irren" um das Tondokument von einer Länge von über 40 Minuten in Tokio aufzunehmen, welches seinen letzten Schliff im Zeitraum von Dezember 2006 bis März 2007 erhielt. Die Herren Hasegawa, Kosakai & Nagakubo "pflastern" einen üblen Soundteppich, der aus völlig verzerrten Gitarrenlinien, Basspassagen und synthetischen Elementen besteht, der für Liebhaberinnen und Liebhaber von extremen Drones (Sun O))), usw.) auch ein Leckerbissen sein dürfte. Mayuko Hino steuerte Sprachsequenzen bei, die den Eindruck vermitteln, dass ihr Ableben in naher Zukunft liegt. Insgesamt eine phantastische Noisecollage, die unter Garantie zu den Besten des Genres gehört. Von gewalttätig bis einfach nur rauschend erfasst "Chaos Is The Cosmos" die Hörerin bzw. den Hörer.

  Die langen Abschlussarbeiten lassen diese Arbeit in einem wunderbaren Licht erscheinen und zeigen auf, dass Noise in einem vernünftigen Soundgewand wesentlich mehr Ausstrahlung bzw. Kraft besitzt.