Houkago Grind Time - Koncertos of Kawaiiness: Stealing Jon Chang’s Ideas, A Book by Andrew Lee

Angry Metal Guy

It’s a reliable pattern that every two years, Andrew Lee (Ripped to Shreds) crawls out from under his waifu body pillow, clears his work bench of Haikyuu!! figurines and Mountain Dew Code Red cans, and assembles a new full-length LP of otaku-themed death grind. Houkago Grind Time’s appropriately named third album Koncertos of Kawaiiness: Stealing Jon Chang’s Ideas, A Book by Andrew Lee finds Lee bowing to his senpai of Discordance Axis and Gridlink fame, the first to deem anime an appropriate theme to explore through the lens of grindcore. If you’re familiar with past Houkago Grind Time material, or anime culture in general, you’ll be well prepared for these 21 minutes of completely unserious meme music packaged as brutal death played at neck-snapping speed. For the uninitiated, I’ll break it to you gently: there’s less hentai here than you were probably hoping for.

As I noted in my review of Houkago Grind Time 2: The Second Raid, this all may be ridiculously themed novelty metal, but Lee is a talented death metal riffsmith. You can expect stank face grooves like the ones in “Some More Moe” and “Miyajima Reiji Can’t Keep Getting Away With It” and impressive, if short, guitar solos like the one in “Kirara Chainsaw.” Lee, who handles all instruments as well as vocals, employs a deep, distorted belch/growl that approaches goregrind levels of burbling illegibility. There are “lyrics” to the songs here, but the vocals don’t match them since both exist in that same joke-space as the concept and spirit of the entire project. Themes range from annoying character catch phrases (“Nico Nico No!!”) to criticizing those who worship at the altar of that little piece of shit Shinji Ikari (“Cruel Grinder’s Thesis”), but if you really want to know what’s being said, all you need are the lyrics for “Yuru Yu-Rot.”

Koncertos of Kawaiiness: Stealing Jon Chang’s Ideas, A Book by Andrew Lee by Houkago Grind Time

Koncertos of Kawaiiness is a good record, and I’ll happily tell you why in a minute, but first let’s lay out why it isn’t better than good in this reviewer’s estimation, though the potential was there. Facing his battle opponent (me), Lee dons a bejeweled Shinobi headband, slightly askew. He takes his stance and initiates his technique. “Sound Breathing,” he says, “Sixth Form: PONG SNARE!” and with that, his huge, chained Nichirin blades whirr, jab, and PONG from all directions. For a high-ranking Upper Moon like Dolphin Whisperer, this attack would pose no issues. He would laugh maniacally and insult Lee’s bloodline. But I’m not even a Lower Six when it comes to annoying drum tones, so it’s a barrier for me. If someone like Kenstrosity, an enjoyer of pong snare and other brutal death metal affectations is Mob from Mob Psycho 100, that would make me the fraudulent but well(ish) meaning Reigen. So be it. It tarnishes an otherwise highly enjoyable grind record.

For those who can push through the snare tone, fun brutality awaits. Songs like the knuckle-dragging “You Broke My Nutbladder” make good use of the contrast between the frequent UwU sound samples and the stupidly violent deathgrind assault. The real highlights come when ugly grooves jumble together with sudden machine gun blasts and economical solo squealing like so many toddlers in a bouncy castle with one big kid that just keeps launching them into each other (“Some More Moe,” “Kirara Chainsaw,” “Houkago Grind Time Still Cares”), but songs like the 30-second scorch mark “Get On the Stage Bocchi” form the connective tissue that make Koncertos of Kawaiiness a more varied yet unified effort than The Second Raid. There are fun riffs packed into every corner of these 21 minutes, and Lee’s gore gurgles are employed with more creativity than most.

If you appreciate sick death metal riffs played really fast and girls in school uniforms, Houkago Grind Time might be your jam. If you like those things AND snare drums that go “pong” AND pig burp vocals, you’ll be chasing after Koncertos of Kawaiiness like a pathetically love-sick Zenitsu Agatsuma chases Nezuko Kamado.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Outrageous Weeb Power Productions
Websites: houkagogrindtime2.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/houkagogrindtime
Releases Worldwide: August 16th, 2024

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