Review Summary: "My eyes make a circle...and my mind make a brainwarp..."
In 1989, Japanese avant-thrashers Doom were evolving at a brisk pace. Having released their debut EP
Go Mad Yourself! a scant three years earlier, their introductory EP and LP were straight-up thrash through and through, albeit played with a subtly maddening edge and with incredible proficiency on bass guitar. But the following year, that small bit of weirdness would develop into a sound reminiscent of the dissonant prog-thrash stylings of Voivod, only amped up with a dash of manic surrealism. But these guys weren't Voivod copycats; they were Voivod contemporaries, with their brain-twisting 1988 LP
Complicated Mind debuting just six months after Voivod's opus
Dimension Hatross. Their sound having already blasted off into the avant-garde edges of thrash metal, the band decided there was but one direction in which to go: weirder.
Incompetent... stands out as one of the most unique metal albums of the late 80s. Front to back, it's a mind*** of a record. The opening track "I Can't Go Back To Myself" is a teaser of what is to come. The song kicks ass and is surely one of the best on the album, but aside from its extended length (nearly 8 minutes), vaguely bluesy beginning, and absolutely incredible bass solo, it sticks to the thrash template fairly well with a verse-chorus-solo-verse-chorus structure. But even in this more "typical" thrashing, you can hear a certain stop-start jerkiness; a gung-ho willingness to shift rhythms at will.
This relationship with rhythm is a crucial part of Doom's sound, especially on this record. The album is packed with dizzying time signatures and tempo changes that shove the listener into different directions like a big rowdy crowd. Adding to this panicked mood, Doom's avant-garde aural leanings really came into the fray here. Some songs, such as "20th Century A Proud Man" and "Killing Time", feature spoken word passages atop the music, delivered in broken English and doused in pitch shifting and reverb, or layered atop itself. The frantic "Lost! In My Head" ends with a collage of pitch-shifted shouts and guitar feedback, coming back for one last surprise after seemingly fading to nothing.
At times, these experiments run the risk of collapsing into sheer incoherency. The directionlessness of "Eating It Raw" and the sloppiness of "Desert Flower" (save the bedazzling trippy midsection) show the band perhaps playing it a little too loose, coming across kind of aggravating. This isn't helped by frontman Takashi Fujita's unconventional voice, which can grate a bit as he tries to pull off a bit more aggression than he's capable of.
But for the most part, the band holds it together, thanks in part to the excellent, varied songwriting. "20th Century A Proud Man" builds tension with its subtle drumming, creepy riffing, and bizarre Engrish ruminations (the awful grammar is unintentional, but adds to the effect), then settles into a bluesy shuffle before memorably ending the song in a slow, sinister no wave-ish march. "Killing Time" is mostly a demented exercise in pre-Atheist jazz metal, sounding like an enraged Frank Zappa, but in its last minute suddenly cranks up the thrashometer for an incredible climax. "A Sandglass of the Jungle" sees Koh Morota's bass proficiency and Jyoichi Hirokawa's incredible drumming take center-stage in a song that shifts in and out of grooves, breaking in the middle for yet another psychedelic fretless bass-driven exercise beneath a guitar solo that echoes across the speakers.
Yet in addition to unapologetically weirding out, Doom can unapologetically rock out too. While reveling in odd timing, "Death of False ROCK!!" tempers the band's penchant for tech-thrash with a 70s hard blues rock edge, making for a straight jam. "Lost! In My Head" shows the band embracing their thrash side in full, brimming with the energy of the 80s hardcore punk which partly inspired thrash, including shouted chorus vocals throughout. "Sympathy for the Devil" is not a Rolling Stones cover, but still stands out from the rest of the album in part for its middle section, when Takashi pulls out a nice huge 80s metal riff and the rest of the band just grooves along with it. The final track "Incompetent...the War Pig" really closes the album with a bang, but while its Voivodian dissonance is already engaging, it's the massive catchy riff starting around 1:44 that gets me grimacing in a way that only a bitchin' metal riff does. These more straightforward moments help keep things grounded and enjoyable on a primal level.
Doom's third LP goes a lot of places in 54 minutes. It peppers its often jerky approach to metal with surreal effects and an overall panicked atmosphere. Yet at other points, the band pulls off some good old 80s style thrashing or relishes in a hard rockin' groove. There is a subtle bluesy dimension to some of the music as well, which culminates in the last few minutes of the last track, whose wholesale stylistic shift is maybe the album's most surprising moment of all. This album can be a bit directionless and obnoxious in places, but with its incredible performances by all three band members, stellar multi-faceted songs, and clear production, it's anything but incompetent.
