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# Review: Vandal - 地​獄​変 / Jigokuhen
- URL: https://blackmetalzine.com/vandal-jigokuhen-review/
- Published: 2023-03-03T08:57:44.000Z
- Updated: 2025-11-10T12:00:21.000Z
- Description: Japan: not the first place I think of for Black Metal, but they spawn great bands & Vandal is the latest among them.
- Author: Roberto
- Tags: Reviews, #rating-8

#### Introduction

Japan, land of the rising sun, it's not the first country that comes to mind when you talk about Black Metal, but they do have a pretty decent black metal scene with some outstanding bands, for example, [No Point in Living](https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/No%5FPoint%5Fin%5FLiving/3540429275?ref=blackmetalzine.com). And there is a new star on the horizon, Vandal just released their first EP, and it's titled 地​獄​変 / Jigokuhen. It's available on [Bandcamp](https://van-dal.bandcamp.com/album/jigokuhen?ref=blackmetalzine.com) in digital format.  

#### Album Overview

![](https://blackmetalzine.com/content/images/2025/11/vandal_bandmembers-1-4.jpg)

As said, the album is only available in a digital format on Bandcamp (so FLAC, MP3, WAV...) and their debut album contains 6 tracks with a total run time of 28 minutes. Those 28 minutes fly by when you listen to the music, so that's a plus in my book. The tracks are titled as following:

1. 現実になった悪夢 / A Nightmare Come True
2. 後悔した魂 / Regretted Soul
3. 大罪 / Deadly Sins
4. 業火の紅蓮 / Crimson Lotus of Hellfire
5. 等活地獄 / Sañjīva - Reviving Hell
6. 最後の審判 / The Last Judgment

All the lyrics are in Japanese, but I've used DeepL translator to get a feeling what the songs are about. And in general, it's about human anguish, but I could interpret it wrong of course, but that's the feeling I get from the lyrics.

##### Favourite tracks

My favourite tracks on the album are tracks 2 and 4, Ill start with track 2, titled **"後悔した魂 / Regretted Soul"**. The track starts off with a rumbling in the distant, which could be hooves or an army. The fact that they sing in Japanese is a plus for me, it just adds a vibe to the songs that I appreciate. Around the 1-minute mark, the song starts to pickup, and you can hear a synth - like layer over the drums, a discord member noticed it first, but after checking it again you tend to hear it straight away. This continues through the rest of the track. The lyrics (which I translated) are to my liking as well.

> He who passes me, enters the fortress of affliction.  
> He who passes me will suffer eternal torment.  
> He who passes me, is aligned with perished souls  
> He who passes me, falls into hell.

My second favourite track is **"業火の紅蓮 / Crimson Lotus of Hellfire"**. The song starts off with a sound I describe as being sucked into a void. Then the song picks off some great drumming. To me, it sounds like a human drumming and not a drum machine, but I'm not trained very well to hear that. The Metal Archive page does not list any members for Vandal. I like drums or I don't. The vocals are spot on and the entire song has a nice vibe throughout its length. The synth - like sound is also noticeable on this track, and it reminds me a bit of the computer sounds for the Amiga.

> Life is fleeting  
> Light heralds darkness.  
> You see nothing.  
> The sky fills with black smoke.

#### Conclusion

Vandal delivered a very nice EP, and I can't wait to what they bring to the table if they're ever going to release a full album. The start is great, and I can recommend this album to everyone who likes to listen to Atmospheric Black Metal, you won't be disappointed. If you want to give the album a spin, you can do so via the YouTube video at the end of this page, but as always, if you like the album, buy it and support the artists!

BMZ Score: 8 / 10

![](https://blackmetalzine.com/content/images/2025/11/8-out-of-10-334.gif)