COVEN JAPAN – Promised Land

vote
5.0

• Bands:
  COVEN JAPAN
• Duration: 00:43:33
• Available from: 07/24/2026
• Label:

• No Remorse Records

When we find ourselves in the position of having to give an opinion on a very young band, perhaps on its debut album, there are many considerations that we try to balance to arrive at that number printed on the cover of the albums in our pages. It is clear that, for example, a personality that is not yet perfectly defined, a certain tendency towards imitation, technical means and smaller budgets are all defects that deserve to be partially reconsidered in a debut album, because they are an integral part of the maturation process of a band. And if it is true that there are many cases of artists already perfectly focused right from the start, one cannot think that this always applies to everyone. At the same time, however, it is not possible to hide behind this screen for too long and the desired maturation should gradually become more and more visible. Unfortunately, Coven Japan not only showed no improvement compared to their debut “Earthlings”, but actually took a few steps back, recording an album that, in 2026, becomes almost unacceptable.

At the time of the debut it had already emerged that the Japanese band had a spirit and attitude perfectly inserted into the tradition of the 1980s, with clear references to Iron Maiden, Angel Witch, Saxon, Satan and many others; however, their interpretation of the NWOBHM dictionary ended up being flawed in several technical aspects, both vocal and instrumental. In fact, despite some interesting guitar passages, we were faced with less incisive vocal lines and a particularly flat rhythmic section, undermined above all by such basic drums as to have left us in doubt that it wasn't even played by a real musician.

The new “Promised Land”, therefore, not only keeps all the defects that we had already noted unchanged, but actually seems to have gotten worse in every respect. Now reduced to a duo, we find on one side the singer Taka, on the other the guitarist Akihiro, who also divide the rest of the instruments, with truly disastrous results. Engaged in roles evidently beyond their possibilities, the two end up building amateurish rhythmic foundations, which at best limit themselves to marking time, without any imagination and without even approaching that drive which is fundamental in this genre. Taka's performance also appears inferior to that of the debut, with tightness and intonation problems that are starting to be too impactful to ignore. Better, however, is the work of the guitars, which, although never shining in personality, at least manage to draw riffs and phrasings in line with the expectations of a band with a record contract.
From a compositional point of view, the songs remain quite basic, without peaks worthy of particular mention, with a length that often becomes excessive, without there being an internal dynamic capable of supporting them adequately.

A very disappointing return, therefore, undermined by the mistaken belief of being able to do everything alone, sacrificing every formal care on the altar of purity and attitude. An approach that would hardly have paid off in the 1980s and which today becomes truly impossible to defend. At this point, Coven Japan cannot delay any longer, the time has come for them to choose between being professional musicians – with all the load of responsibilities, problems and hassles that this entails – or remaining passionate amateurs, who just want to have fun and enjoy their favorite music without pretensions.