While Les Rallizes Dénudés’ YaneUra Oct. ‘80 was being prepared for release, a mysterious tape was unearthed. Within the pile of various archived recordings from the same era was an undated cassette, which contained the unmistakeable guitar sounds of frontman Takashi Mizutani and that of Fujio Yamaguchi, the former Murahachibu guitarist whose time with the Rallizes ushered in a new era for the band. It’s a known fact that there are many unofficial Rallizes releases out there, most of them being recordings of their live shows. But this, for certain, was something no one had ever heard before. The exact date of this recording is unknown. But according to Kiyohiro Takada (aka Doronco), who was the band’s bass player at the time, “there’s no mistaking that this is from Mars Studio in Kunitachi, from summer 1980, soon after we started recording there.”

Mars Studio ~ The First Session ~ is the first ever release of this rare studio recording by Les Rallizes Dénudés. It begins with “Flame of Ice” which picks up the tempo and heats up as the song reaches the middle point. Then, coming down like an avalanche are wilder than usual versions of “Reapers of the Night” and “The Night, Assassin’s Night,” followed by “The Last One.” The relaxed yet unrelentingly clashing interplay between the four musicians is far removed from the performance heard on YaneUra Oct. ‘80, which occured just a few months later. It might be fair to say that this is the most punkish iteration of the Rallizes in the band’s long history. This raw and intense sound goes beyond just being outré for the band, and becomes something that is simply thrilling to hear.

Mars Studio ~ The First Session ~ captures a flashpoint in the band’s Fujio-era lineup, which ultimately lasted only half a year or so. At the same time, it is bursting with the bottomeless potential that the 1980s Les Rallizes Dénudés possessed deep within.