The Japanese guitar player Takafumi Matsubara was already known in the underground extreme music circles for his work in the band Mortalized when he appeared in the pages of Disposable Underground in the 2000s, and since then he’s kept busy with releasing music in several bands, including a personal favorite of mine, GridLink. He specializes in guitar-forward grindcore, layering riffs upon riffs with twisted, ear-blistering melodies.
Mortalized (Poison EP) is one of his solo works (with guests on vocals and drums) which has come out in a couple of formats on a few labels, one being on CD and digital from Selfmadegod.
To say this guy is a shredder almost doesn’t do him justice, and the songs on this EP are maddening and turn a lot of corners within this style of music. It’s a 7″ worth of six songs (which are previously unreleased Mortalized tunes) that pack a wallop and the CD comes with a sticker. This version of the Mortalized (Poison EP) came out last year and is still recommended.
Further reading: The one time I talked to Takafumi Matsubara was in 2005 when I interviewed GridLink.
Photo: Takafumi Matsubara performing with GridLink in 2008 (D.U.)
