KIJU „Nothing To Play For”

Italy’s Kiju are playing self-described neothrash, so fundamentally it’s a new breed thrash or what could easily be bunched in with the nu-metal craze, mixing thrash and hardcore. In researching the CD, I read a few reviews relating Kiju to Korn. But as my only experience with Korn is seeing them live as an opener for Metallica, and since I really can’t remember any Korn songs, nor do I care to, I can’t compare the two K’s (Korn and Kiju).

What I do perceive is a vocalist who varies clean vocal choruses, somewhat in the Fear Factory style, with passages of a raspy hardcore shout during the verses which intersect with melodic choruses. Due to the fact that I’m a major fan of Fear Factory's OBSOLETE and DEMANUFACTURE, I would say that similarity is a good thing. The vocalist for Kiju’s doesn’t sound quite as refined as Burton C. Bell and the music isn’t as tight, but the overall effect is very prominent. The melodic, Fear Factory styled choruses are quickly apparent on the opening title track ‘Nothing To Play For’, and track nine ‘Out OF Control’ nearly comes across as a Fear Factory clone. Kiju also use machine-gun styled drumming which is also very similar to what can be found from the Fear Factory’s camp.

NOTHING TO PLAY FOR is Radio metal for the modern rock/metal stations and you would think college radio worldwide would be very willing to spin more than a few tracks if they had a copy of the CD in their collections. Kiju are taking the aggression of Slayer into a mechanical age, as has been done in the past by many of their peers (both on major labels and from the underground) in their particular genre. NOTHING TO PLAY FOR is available through METAL AGE PRODUCTIONS (www.metalage.sk). Check it out if you are into the whole computerized sounding effect in your metal.

www.kiju.it