Mass Of The Fermenting Dregs No New World is as welcome a surprise as you could ask for in 2018. The band largely stopped putting out new material following 2010’s triumphant third full-length from the trio, an urgent and propulsive set of songs that shoved against the usual placid pace of Japanese rock music. They re-emerged last year, with a song that sounded more fitting for end credits than anything else. Wisely, that’s what “Slow Motion Replay” basically serves as on No New World, with “New Order” leading off and asserting that, no, Mass Of The Fermenting Dregs still bring that energy rush to their songs. Like their best numbers, the band waste no time, driving off with the vocals zooming into focus a second in. The mood feels a little more downcast on verses, not because of changes to tempo but just because of how the singing comes off as more reflective, a mood only doubled down for the hook. But even if a tinge of melancholy has snuck in, the rush remains, and few do it better. And from there, they barrel into a welcome highlight of 2018. Listen above.
