Korekyojinn

Korekyojinn (是巨人) (also spelled Korekyojin) is a Japanese progressive rock power trio. Founded in 1998, the band is a project by members of several bands within the Japanese progressive rock/zeuhl scene and has released albums on two US labels, John Zorn's Tzadik Records and Skin Graft Records as well as on the Japanese label Magaibutsu.^[1] In Japanese, the band's name means "this giant" and is a pun on the band names This Heat and Gentle Giant.^[2]

Members

Drummer Tatsuya Yoshida, owner of the Magaibutsu label, has founded the band Ruins and has been active in several other bands and collaborations, e.g. Kōenjihyakkei and Daimonji.^[3] Bassist Mitsuro Nasuno was a member of the noise/improvisation bands Ground Zero and Altered States and has been a member of Daimonji;^[2]^[4]^[5] guitarist Natsuki Kido has been a member of the zeuhl band Bondage Fruit.^[6]

Music

Korekyojinn plays instrumental music composed by Yoshida Tatsuya. The band web page describes it as "Progressive Jazz Rock Polyrhythmique" – "where progressive rock and contemporary jazz collide into a breathtaking, futuristic, hard rock funk".^[2]

Reception

Allmusic reviewers have awarded the first album Korekyojin (1999) with 3.5/5 and the third album Isotope (2005) with 4/5 stars,^[1] while Sean Westergaard states in his unrated Allmusic review of Tundra (2011): "Tundra is a great album by a great band".^[7] Pitchfork Media's Dominique Leone reviewed the second album Arabesque (2004) with a rating of 8/10.^[8] The German progressive rock review website Babyblaue Seiten rated Korekyojin and Arabesque with 11/15 and Isotope with 13/15.^[9]