When I heard that Kawabata Makoto of psych/noise rock legends Acid Mother’s Temple (and so much more) was joining Dope Purple for a set, I was unsurprised and excited. The young Taiwanese band very much makes the kind of highly improvised, high volume experimental rock that Makoto was instrumental in creating 30 years ago. Dope Purple is also known for their ongoing streak of incendiary live albums, usually featuring a collaborator. That’s central to the ethos of the band and it’s the only kind of record they’ve released since their 2017 debut.

The week of the show I asked around to confirm that this performance was going to be recorded before getting too excited about the prospect of hearing it. There was even a part of me looking at flights to Taiwan and Zoom recorders. Of course it was already set to be recorded for official release. A year later and LIVE EVIL is available to listen and purchase thanks to blog favorite label WV Sorcerer. As expected this is old fashioned psychedelic rock pushed to the extreme.

Across three noisy, adrenaline soaked songs Dope Purple and the Speed Guru deliver an insanely detailed and modernized take on classic 90s psychedelic noise rock. As much as LIVE EVIL possessed the punk edge and basic formula of early groups like High Rise and Makotos own project Mainliner, this is a new trip entirely. The bigger band, even faster speed and inhuman tightness here recalls peak, polished modern psych groups like Osees, Kannan, Papangu, King Gizzard or GNOD. 

LIVE EVIL is also fantastically mixed and mastered, and not just by comparison to the lo-fi sound of the aforementioned 90s groups. This extremely high volume, distorted live recording has a plainly better mix and master than almost any recent release by any of their modern contemporaries- live or studio.

Anyone looking for serious talent with a serious tone will be blown away by this record. It’s heavy, it’s fast, it’s technical without being uptight (no shade to Up-Tight.) Dope Purple continues to quietly raise the bar for heavy psych/noise rock with LIVE EVIL and fans of live, loud rock need to hear this.