‘Grave of the Sacrifice’ is the long awaited first album by underground Japanese rock four-some Nega. The album was released in mid 2009.

‘Grave of the Sacrifice’ starts with track ‘Hold a Funeral’ a haunting 2 and a half minute instrumental which introduces you to the dim and dark world of Nega.

It then explodes into the second track ‘The Grave’, a hard, fast number with a harsh guitar riff, courtesy of guitarist San. Vocalist Jin then comes into the equation, singing with his unique blend of shouts, animalistic screams and catchy melodies.

The album continues with ‘Soul Cry’ another tough track, Yuu’s accompanying piano gives this number a different sound and Jin hits the high notes in the chorus showing the listeners the versatility of his voice.

The fourth track is the controversial ‘Muddy Cult’ a song which the band released a music video for earlier in 2009 – described by viewers as ‘one of the most disturbing things they’d ever seen’ because of the scenes of excessive graphic violence and mutilation. The explicit lyrics make this one of the most memorable tracks on the album – defiantly not one for the kids.

The album continues it’s fast rocky pace, barely giving listeners chance to recover from ‘Muddy Cult’. The haunting piano notes are present again in previous single ‘Nameless Alice’ where bassist Ray delivers an impressive heavy bass line. ‘HATE HATE HATE’ shows off that Yuu is not only an amazing pianist, but he can also beat the hell out of a drum kit and do a great job of it too.

Though track ‘Lust[er]’ is similar to ‘Muddy Cult’ lyrically, musically it is unlike the others and is the type of song that would be amazing to watch live.

The last two tracks ‘Reminiscence’ and ‘In the Shadow of the Raincloud’ are much softer, emotional songs, showing a whole new side to Nega. Yuu’s beautiful piano playing and Ray’s noticeable bass give the start of ‘Reminiscence’ a dream-like feel, and despite that the track has been cut from being over 10 minutes to 6 minutes it is still as heart-wrenching as ever. ‘In the Shadow of the Raincloud’ shows off Jin’s emotional side, and if you haven’t already fallen in love with his vocals this song will make you.

Whether you love or hate them it’s impossible to say that this album is boring. If you fancy a change to the usual mainstream rock music then give Nega a listen, they won’t disappoint.

By Paige Robinson.