I'm pretty much death metal illiterate, but I've been listening to this Japanese band, GOTSU TOTSU KOTSU, lately and they have brought much joy to these jaded old ears. They describe their music as Samurai Metal. They're obsessed with Samurai folklore & history, seem to indulge in some Samurai shenanigans and apparently Gotsu Totsu Kotsu was the name of a real warrior (at some point). That's about as much info as I can dig up on 兀突骨.
Perhaps their myspace blurb will serve to bestow some enlightenment upon the wasteland of my Gaijin ignorance:
Gotsu-Totsu-Kotsu was initially formed in 2000. With their extremely brutal sound and unforgettable character, all the local metalheads had eventually recognized them as the only one "SAMURAI warrior death/thrash metal" band around Kawagoe, the most traditional city in Saitama. But now that they have totally ruled the whole city, becoming the "Brutal King of Kawagoe", their next aim is the whole world... Yes, they will be the next Brutal King of this PLANET.
There ya go. Total global Samurai domination. What more needs to be said?
To complement these brutal sonic katanas, here's some gore-soaked 19th century depictions of (real) Samurai brutality in Japan. Just Samurai's killin' and fuckin' shit up.
From the book Bloody Ukiyo-e in 1866 & 1988:
In 1866, the world of Ukiyo-e saw the blooming of the flower of blood. These flowers were both gaudy and splendid. The artists who had part responsibility for the drawing of these bloody pictures were Yoshiiku and Yoshitoshi, who were also known to be great artists. Even though society at the time was in chaos, and violence existed everywhere prior to the Meiji Restoration, the publishing of these bloody pictures probably caused fear and anxiety for the people of Edo.
You can dl the whole beautiful book from Flying Teapot. It also features the amazing 1980's work of Kazuichi Hanawa and Suehiro Maruo.
rad!
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