No band in the world gives its fans as much as Balzac. The Misfits-inspired ghouls from Japan routinely release huge packages containing tons of music, DVDs packed with extras and special packaging. "Deep Blue: Chaos in Darkism" is the latest and the guys have outdone themselves again. This is enough Balzac to gorge even their hungriest fans.

Though they're obviously humongously into the Misfits, it has to be said that Balzac adds their own style to the simple horrorpunk of their idols. This new record sees them experimenting quite a bit more and coming up with tunes that are a far cry from the usual "whoah-oh-oh" stuff (although you still get a lot of that...too much for my taste). "D.A.R.K." is maybe the harshest Balzac tune ever, mixing frenzied breakbeats, sick vocals and intense thrash with the more standard singalong. Even stranger is the doomy plod of the nameless 10th track, full of droning electronic vocals. The vocals of Hirosuke take a lot of getting used to, ranging from extreme rasps to a slurring, mush-mouthed delivery that often as not doesn't work well. In the end, the more effective Balzac tracks are the fast and furious ones like "Japanese Chaos", "The Game" and "Japanese Trash" that are catchy but keep the rockabilly "whoah-oh-oh's" to a tolerable amount. I did like their cover of Bowie's "Ziggy Stardust" but the ballad "XXXxxx" is horrid stuff and builds to a noisy climax that many industrial death metal bands would have a hard time taking.

In addition to the main CD, you get some bonus tracks, including re-workings of old favorites, and a DVD that contains a fun and frantic live show from Tokyo with more stagedivers than I've ever seen at a Japanese concert. There's some documentary stuff from the band's recent US tour, promo videos that demonstrate the band's flair for uneasy visuals and a booklet that seems big enough to deserve a Library of Congress number. Balzac's sound is not really a favorite of mine, but I can only admire the band's generosity to its fans and its desire to chart its own eerie course.

Hailing from Chicago, the band Juicehead are label-mates of both Balzac and the Misfits and would seem to share the same horror-punk mentality. But these dudes are more pop-punk oriented and despite a pleasingly analog, DIY sound, they just aren't abrasive enough to suit me. The lyrics are quite clever and the band has a knack for a catchy tune, but I'm looking for something rawer yet. When they started to play REGGAE tunes, I checked out for good. No way, no how am I endorsing that. It's just too HORRIBLE!!!