13 JAPANESE BIRDS, VOLUME 11/SHIRASAGI (EGRET)
we are....sorta back?
shirasagi is heavier and more digital, but other than that, there isn't a ton setting it apart from the previous 11 installments. it mainly features a more tried and true sound that has already been wrung out to the extreme by this series, which sets this back quite a bit. we start with "transformed into food", which starts out really interesting with this looping subdued noise, choppy hi-hats, and even what ... read more

this man is at this point married to racism itself because it's basically his entire shtick. this is a pure unfiltered example of that, but this time with gallons of holocaust glorification! i don't even have to explain this song further, because that's all there is to it! even worse, it sounds like something that a certain somebody who i really really hate would make if he made music, and that thought disgusts me and makes me hate this even more. i would have given it a 0 either way ... read more

this has some very high highs, but sadly it also has some really low lows. and though i do want to like this more, i am unable to ignore those lows.
"in utero" is by far the most abrasive and raw of the nirvana albums, which sharply contrasts with the cleaner production of "nevermind". kurt cobain sounds absolutely anguished on here and the songwriting really reflects that. "heart shaped box", for example, has these really metaphorical and almost abstract lyrics ... read more

ah shit, here we go again....

13 JAPANESE BIRDS, VOLUME 10/NIWATORI (CHICKEN)
i love most of this series but i wish for it to end already!!! it's starting to get bland, but regardless of my opinion regarding that, i must persevere.
i had a lot of high hopes for this tenth installment given its now-previous rating of a 70, but sadly this isn't nearly as impactful as i'd thought it would be. it is just kinda really boring to me. while there are some great sounds here and then, ... read more

mocking an innocent depressed man for his wife dying is an all-new low. parodied his album made out of his grief for her death and instead of even trying to be even somewhat artistic with it, you just made it the most agonizing 5 minutes of my entire fucking life. y'know, at least with happy ending and anime thighs, they had some semblance of an interesting idea, but nothing here even comes close to being interesting. all of it is just disgusting sludge and i am ashamed i wasted any of my time ... read more

13 JAPANESE BIRDS, VOLUME 8/HIYODORI (BULBUL)
oh my goodness! three 100s from the series so far??? who could have thunk it?
yep, i really love this one. honestly, it's only second to kokuchou as of writing this. this one is actually the most fun of the series, with the dystopia and chaos still being very dense here but with more rhythm and kick-ass drumming. the title track starts us off slow though, it feels very tortured and dark with little sense of what would come later. it's like ... read more

"more of the same" describes this entire album down to a tee.
vatican shadow, as most of you are aware, is the pseudonym of dominick fernow that focuses on ambient techno and club music rather than harsh noise, which he makes under prurient. i listened to this one while working on an assignment for school and i must say, this was as uneventful and boring as it could have possibly been.
we start with the only two good songs of the entire record, "ziad jarrah studied ... read more

13 JAPANESE BIRDS, VOLUME 8/KOKUCHOU (BLACK SWAN)
i have urgent news to deliver! there's a new rival to the great force that is suzume.....it's kokuchou.
this one, like yurikamome, is really unique and features a lot of new sounds, including elements of alt rock and harsh noise wall. i don't know how to even explain the mood other than that it's quite disturbing. to kick it off though is "mesmerism", which blends alt rock, noise, and shitgaze (why is that genre ... read more

13 JAPANESE BIRDS, VOLUME 7/KUJAKUBATO (FANTAIL PIGEON)
i started to lose hope after kamo, fearing that the proceeding ones would be just as boring as it. however, any hope i lost from that has been regained thanks to this one. it is quite unique-sounding in relation to the other six, with this one feeling much more sinister and dystopian. the noise textures here are some of my favorites of the entire series and the drumming, which reminds me a lot of that on fukurou, really compliments them. ... read more

13 JAPANESE BIRDS, VOLUME 6/KAMO (DUCK)
mr. akita, i need to ask you something. listen closely.....
.....what the fuck happened?
this is by far the worst and most unoriginal of the bird series (at least as of currently), everything here just feels recycled and reused without any purpose whatsoever. it's meaningless, absolutely meaningless.
we start off with "bird killer governor ishihara deserves to die" (a tantalizing mouthful if i've ever heard one), which is very uneventful and ... read more

13 JAPANESE BIRDS, VOLUME 5/UZURA (QUAIL)
after reading lexa's scathing review of this album, i was terrified to say the least of what this installment would have to offer. the fear filled my body like poison when i pressed play. however, merz surprised me here with what is one of the best installments of the series so far, not saying much ofc because it's 3rd place as of when i am while writing this review.
this album is by far the harshest and angriest installment, with the somewhat ... read more

13 JAPANESE BIRDS, VOLUME 4/KARASU (CROW)
probably the most devoid of joy and dystopian of the bunch, volume 4 is also the harshest thus far. and while i do have my problems which i will describe soon enough, it's definitely a solid release.
the album starts off with "argus", a chaotic mix of blistering harsh noise and bleeping tweety wobbles that radiates pure unfiltered anger. it's definitely a harrowing track but i just don't find it to be all that engaging. i get ... read more

13 JAPANESE BIRDS, VOLUME 3/YURIKAMOME (BLACK-HEADED GULL)
after those first two, i took an almost week-long break from the series to listen to some other music. however, this morning, i was able to find the time to listen to this next volume.
and damn, it's about as spectacular as suzume.
it's by far the most varied volume, with many different sounds interspliced throughout the runtime. and for the most part, these sounds are ones we haven't heard before from the series. ... read more

13 JAPANESE BIRDS, VOLUME 2/FUKUROU (OWL)
i listened to this immediately after the first one and i'm glad to see that even though this is not as good as that first one, it serves as a great proceeding to it. it's much more relaxed and slow, with the harsh noise being more sparse and the drums more reminiscent of "tori uta" in their plotting feeling. "variation, no. 2" and the last song aren't all that special, they follow in much the same footsteps as before ... read more

i encountered this series while looking through merzbow's discography (at least the albums that are on here) and i found this series. it's a very long series, with each one pertaining to a different type of bird. the art was really intriguing to me, so i thought to myself, "why not check this out and listen to the entirety of 13 japanese birds?"
so here we are. let's get started, gang!

13 JAPANESE BIRDS, VOLUME 1/SUZUME (SPARROW)
an absolutely chaotic yet also really ... read more

thank you so so so so much to @tundraprincess for recommending me this album 💜 from the bottom of the hole in my heart, i appreciate you

this...is heartbreaking. it's beautiful, but it's genuinely so heartbreaking. even in the most intense harsh noise segments, it retains that deep and suffocating sense of intense dread and melancholia, and from the first second to the last, it serves as basically a soundtrack for dying a slow and painful death. the album cover really fits this: it looks ... read more

this record is....distraught. throughout the entirety of the record, toledo conveys a raw and unflinching expression of what seems to me like brutal and almost disheveled hopeless romanticism. it's quite clear that he's not in the best mental headspace here. the writing makes it especially clear as it is just so genuine and natural rather than dressing to impress or anything. he really knows how to find that balance in between where it's not too poetic/abstract and confusing like ... read more

what drugs are pitchfork on????? this has to be one of the most beautifully crafted horrorcore albums i've ever heard. the entire album is so well-done, with each song feeling like a scene from a horror movie (one probably is lmfao) besides the last one which is just a recording of a piano on fire but i digress. it encompasses a wide variety of sounds and atmospheres, ranging from the 80s horror vibe of "nothing is safe" to the voided screams of terror on "club down" to ... read more

i can certainly see why this is such an iconic album in the metal genre (i disagree ofc), but that doesn't mean that it's amazing. because i don't think it really is.
don't get me wrong, i don't think it's an entirely BAD record per se, it does have its moments where it truly shines but a fair amount of it feels like run-of-the-mill metal that has barely anything special about it. these instrumentals tend to be bland and uninspired, with the same formula of guitar riff, midtempo drums, and ... read more

for my 300th rating, i decided to do something special and listen from front to back this entire album. it was a daunting task for sure, but it was worth it 1000%. the entire album is heartbreaking and bittersweet all the way through, the sampling is the best I've ever seen, the entire premise is beyond depressing, it's just truly an experience. i'll review all stages here as each stage is important in the narrative, so without further a do, let's get started:

STAGE 1 (87)
the opening stage of ... read more