Review by Kayla Hamilton (@kaylazomboid)

HYPER MAGIC MOUNTAIN: Before My Life Fails w/Falling Asleep, PROMPTS and True Fight.
Shibuya Cyclone, Tokyo, Japan
December 27th 2024

In our last live coverage of the year, I headed down to the infamous Shibuya Cyclone to catch a varied, but stacked line-up of underground metalcore/hardcore acts. It wasn’t quite a full house, but with so many lives happening all on the one night as many Japanese people were finishing up work for the year- the crowd was good and rowdy from the start.

Opening up proceedings was hardcore band True Fight. Giving us a classic bordering on punk furious hardcore style, it was a two-step beat right from the jump. Delivering us groovy as hell bass and songs that were just short, fast and loud- they set the pace for the night. High energy in delivery, to the point even members were tripping over themselves- it was just the perfect balance of refined sound and rough spirit.

Straight after was a band I have spent a bit of time this year covering, and that is of course Greyscale Records latest signees PROMPTS. Watching this band go from strength to strength this year has been a total delight and knowing that guitarist Yasui was pulling double duty, having to run upstairs to another venue to play for his other band Hikage, just made it all the more impressive. I think the Cyclone stage feels so small when this band plays- as their sound is larger than life. Kicking off the set with ‘Face Me’, they sounded as good as ever. One thing I’ve really noticed is the confidence in singer PK rising, especially in the clean singing sections he has taken over. Going from a more hesitated delivery to a strong presence- it truly is a joy to see a singer start come into their own. That does not pull attention away from the rest of the band, as they ripped through a condensed discography, playing both their banger new releases from this year and some of their older hits.

Now, you may have seen us write about Falling Asleep before in our new music coverage and if you are radio show listener, we have featured their tracks in the past but this was the first time I’ve been able to catch them. I was quite surprised how much heavier their sound is live and that just endeared me to them even more. Frontman Vito is a force to be reckoned with, and the high energy and crisp performance they delivered without missing a beat was something to behold. The pit was not quite as chaotic as it was for the first two acts, but there definitely a lot of us getting down and having a boogie to their unique brand of post-hardcore. With samples that turned the room into a rave and breakdowns that crushed, this is band is definitely being slept on in the wider metalcore community (no pun intended).

Finally it was time for our hosts, the headline band of the night, Before My Life Fails. This where the gap of my knowledge of the underground scene in Tokyo was evident, as this was the first time this band had been on my radar but judging from the crowd and who was amongst it- they were definitely local legends. It was chaos right from the start. Their guitarists captured my attention straight away. Classic metalcore riffage that told me exactly what decade this band is from.

There was a sense of nostalgia that their music was drenched with but at the same time, nothing felt dated. The pile ons started at the beginning. Matsuno, their frontman was seasoned and knew exactly how to get the room moving- not that he needed to do much. Even though I was unfamiliar with their music, a great cover of Rage Against The Machine’s ‘Guerilla Radio’ really broke the ice for me.The driving force of the rhythm section made it an impossible task to stay still and I found myself constantly mesmerised by the two guitarists.

Sometimes I hear this rhetoric that Japanese crowds can be a little stoic, but when this stereotype gets repeated abroad, this is is the kind of set I wish people could witness. It brought out the wildness of the scene, making nowhere in the room truly safe to stand. Spin kicking, circle pits, stage diving and even their singer spending quite a bit of the set on the floor- I felt honoured that I this band would be last band I would review of the year.

All in all, this show as brilliant showcase of the past, present and future of the Japanese core music scene. A great blend of hardcore, metalcore and post-hardcore that all in all just had good vibes through the room from start to finish.

Tokyo, it has been an honour and privilege to spend so much time covering your scene this year- and this live truly was the cherry on top of 2024.