High Rise

This Japanese power trio -- and rarely has the word "power" seemed so appropriate -- takes deep-groove, rump-shaking, freak-out ultrarock to the peak of delirious ecstasy, reeling in the faithful with the heaviest riffs around. Infusing the sludge rock of Blue Cheer with Punk's inexhaustible energy, the High Rise experience is nothing short of a glorious rock 'n' roll catharsis. The band's Hard Psyche songs range in length from fifty-second blasts to fifteen-minute odysseys; rest assured that every tune is packed to capacity with as much wah-wah frenzy as is humanly possible. Their High Rise II, released by Japanese PSF Records, was hard-won collector's gold until a series of 1998 reissues finally made that and other records available to rabid fans around the world. Without question the undisputed kings of modern Psychedelic music.