"Standing against those that ruin art," was the tagline for the After Hours festival, which took place across four venues in Shibuya on April 9. The sponsor-free event, curated by the bands Mono, Downy and Envy, featured more than 30 artists from a wide range of backgrounds and genres, coming together to provide an antithesis to the stagnant and corporate domestic festival scene.
Instrumental rock band Mono set the tone for the event as it opened the festival at the biggest participating venue, O-East. Starting off with "Ashes In The Snow" from the group's "Hymn to the Immortal Wind" album, the performance felt like the beginning of an era, almost a call to arms directed at the packed-in crowd. The set, which was quite dramatic, closed with "Requiem of Hell" and with it the band immediately set a high bar of artistry for the rest of the day.
Of the four venues, O-Nest proved to be the most forward-looking of the entire lineup, with younger bands playing some of the most extreme music of the festival. The standouts were undoubtedly black metal outfit Cohol, who revealed its new four-piece lineup with a supporting guitarist, and noise band Endon, who is currently supporting new album "Through the Mirror." Both acts delivered extraordinary performances, pummelling through their sets with a flurry of screams and blast beats, causing a sea of bodies to smash into each other on the O-Nest floor. By the afternoon, the Shibuya venue seemed more like the hardcore and metal-leaning underground lair of Shin-Okubo Earthdom.