In the realm of Taiwanese music, few acts have as intriguing a journey as 破地獄 / Scattered Purgatory. In January 2021, the duo made a bold statement with their final performance at Taipei’s FINAL, a club known for its eclectic mix of genres. This event marked a pivotal moment for the band, as they had been pushing the boundaries between rock and electronic music for years. Guitarist Lu Jiachi, who honed his skills in the stoner rock band Sleaze, had been experimenting with deconstructed club music since the late 2010s, releasing tracks for local labels like JIN, OverMyBody, and Sea Cucumber. Their sound was a fusion of distorted guitar tones, traditional Chinese woodblock and cymbals, and ambient textures, inspired by the ritualistic mysticism of Taiwanese acts like Mong Tong and Island Futurism. This unique blend of genres set the stage for their evolution.
The band's early work was characterized by slow-building jams that could stretch to over 20 minutes, but with their latest album, they've taken a bold change in direction. The album '波地獄 / Post Purgatory' features shorter, more pop-oriented songs infused with trip-hop, jazz, and synth-pop elements. 'Wunai' is a prime example of this shift, incorporating a phrase meaning 'helplessness' commonly used in '90s C-pop ballads. Despite the poppier style, the band maintains its dark and hallucinogenic sound, drawing inspiration from the spoken-word delivery of Cold War-era songs. The track is a powerful cry into the void, with Lu Li-yang's voice echoing through an ambient soundscape.
However, not all tracks on the album are as cohesive. 'Thundering Dream' feels less integrated, with Hokkien vocals overshadowed by sputtering electronics and haunting ad-libs. The English lyrics on 'Moonquake' also seem to drag on endlessly, lacking substance. The band's recent collaboration with New York's Dis Fig might have been a better fit for this album. Other songs meander, struggling to find their footing, like 'Above the Clouds,' which starts with a Beiguan accelerando but loses steam halfway through. While the album showcases the band's evolution and experimentation, it also highlights the challenges of maintaining cohesion in their genre-bending approach.
