Ningen Isu has been around for over thirty years. But even in their native country of Japan, they did not really get the audience they deserved until a few years ago. In a way, I can understand their cult status. Their heavily Black Sabbath-inspired music is a bit of an anachronism and the fact that none of the three members are particularly strong singers or make-up clad pretty boys makes them difficult to market to a wider audience. On the other hand, if music as good as that on ‘Mandoro’ fails to attract a decent audience, that’s really the audience’s fault.

‘Mandoro’ was released almost exactly two years after ‘Shigan Raisan’, Ningen Isu’s first great album after a string of fine, but surprisingly forgettable albums. Surprising, because like the bands that influenced them – besides Black Sabbath, Budgie and to a lesser extent Led Zeppelin are fairly obvious influences, with the occasional Motörhead-ish faster track – Ningen Isu’s riffs were always memorable. One can’t help but admire how Ningen Isu’s crushing doom metal and monolithic hard rock riffs refuse to be forgotten. ‘Mandoro’ is full of them. If anything, despite being over an hour long, ‘Mandoro’ trims most of the fat many Ningen Isu albums tend to have.

Overall, ‘Mandoro’ is slower and heavier than most Ningen Isu albums, but not devoid of the slighty proggy touches that characterize their best works. Shinji Wajima’s guitar sounds manage to be fuzzy and heavy at the same time, no doubt helped by the solid foundation of Nobu Nakajima and Kenichi Suzuki, whose bass lines have more melodic qualities than the average stoner or doom bassist. Admittedly, many of the songs on ‘Mandoro’ needed some time to truly reveal their brilliance to me, but ultimately, that only increases the replay value of the album.

The memorability of this album’s songs seems to be confirmed by the fact that more than a few of them remained on Ningen Isu live sets for several years. In fact, the intro track ‘Shigan Goeika’ is still frequently used as their concert intro. I kind of wish they would actually play it, however, as its heavy riffs and vocal interplay would profit from the live environment. The following ‘Kuroyuri Nikki’ took forever to grow on me, but has a fantastic build-up in intensity, not to mention a few of the album’s greatest riffs. ‘Jikan Kara No Kage’ is an excellent proggy, semi-psychedelic composition, while the slight folky touches (the shamisen, the guitar solo melody) in ‘Sakura Ranman’ are a nice stand-out.

Honestly, there really aren’t any disposable tracks on ‘Mandoro’. It is one of the most consistent Ningen Isu records and definitely a top five album for them. And how many bands this old school can say that three decades into their career? In fact, with albums like ‘Kaidan Soshite Shi To Eros‘, ‘Shin Seinen’ and in deed ‘Mandoro’, Ningen Isu might just be better than they have ever been these days. The international attention ‘Mujo No Scat’ has gathered them is well-deserved, but as albums like ‘Mandoro’ prove, also later than this hard-working band should have gotten it.

Recommended tracks: ‘Shigan Goeika’, ‘Kuroyuri Nikki’, ‘Neputa No Mandoriko’

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Mandoro [UHQCD]

Ningen Isu