Smiqra – Rɡyaɡ̇dźé! – CD Review
20th March 2025Rɡyaɡ̇dźé! by the Japanese technical death avant-garde metal band Smiqra, and I’ve no idea how to pronounce it either! I thought I’d take the plunge and give this album a proper go.
Now, if you’re not familiar with Smiqra, let me paint you a picture: Imagine a metal band that’s decided conventional music is just too tame. Smiqra has quite literally taken all the rulebooks, bundled them up, and thrown them into a woodchipper, probably while wearing a sequined jumpsuit just to make it more dramatic.
You’ve got your technical death metal, but it’s all wrapped up in the sort of avant-garde madness that’ll make you question your very existence. There’s riffs that sound like someone took a blender to a metal concert and hit ‘pure chaos’.
The first track, I Am The Broken Generation , kicks off with this symphony of shrieks, growls, and guitars so fast, I honestly thought the band was trying to outrun a horde of angry honey badgers! I mean, really, it’s utterly bonkers. It’s the sort of thing that leaves you clutching your pearls and asking, “Did I just hear that?” Then there’s the drumming, it’s less ‘beating the drums’ and more ‘hitting every possible surface in the studio and hoping it sticks’. It’s chaos, pure chaos, but in a way that makes you want to laugh and cry at the same time.
The vocals are like howling like a cat that’s just realized it’s been locked in the attic. Some parts of the album will have you checking to make sure your speakers are still in one piece, and others will make you think, “Did I just hear a blender in the background?” Smiqra seems to think that subtlety is for the faint of heart.
You can’t help but appreciate the technical prowess, even if you’ve got no idea how they’re managing to play some of these time signatures without having a complete breakdown.
I’m not suggesting you’ll be humming any of these tunes on the way to work. I’d be concerned if you did. It’s the sort of album you need to be prepared to embrace complete and utter mental disarray. But if you’ve got a taste for the strange, the impossible, and the utterly ludicrous, then “Rɡyaɡ̇dźé!!” is a ride worth taking.
It’s technical, it’s chaotic, it’s a bit mad, and I’m not sure I’d recommend it to your nan, but, if you like your music loud, fast, and just the right side of bonkers, give it a go.
Smiqra has certainly made an album that’ll have you scratching your head and wondering if you’ve just stumbled into the Twilight Zone.
Score 6/10
Track List
1. I Am the Broken Generation
2. Rɡyaɡ̇dźé
3. Vdzärnga
4. 1960怪人
5. Po-ti-ni-ja!
6. 未知舞蹈
7. Imaginary Minotaurian Academia
8. Peer Review by Oxen
9. Major Revision!
10. 反哲學牛
11. 頭虱惡魔
12. 犏牛舞！
13. 犏牛心
14. 犏母子州
15. Qa-si-re-u!
Label – Self Release
Release – 14th March 2025
