MAX OVERHEAT
Tokyo rockin' hardcore punk with a metallic edge, back from a 14-year void with a nastier lineup.
About
MAX OVERHEAT is a Tokyo-based hardcore punk band that deals in a hot-wired blend of punk urgency, hard rock swagger, and metallic crunch. Originally active in the mid-2000s and based out of Chiba, the band released material before going silent for over a decade. Their 2006 output marked the last anyone heard from them until 2020, when they resurfaced with a new self-titled 6-track mini album on Captured Records (CAP28). The comeback wasn't a nostalgia play. The lineup was rebuilt, pulling in Nori â formerly of 4SPIKES and currently in BULLETS â and the heavy-hitting drummer IRON FIST Tatsushima, a fixture of Tokyo's underground who has played with an absurd number of bands across the hardcore and metal spectrum. According to the Disk Union listing, the addition of Tatsushima made their already drive-filled, rock-rooted sound even more powerful. The six tracks on the self-titled CD â Trouble, Struggle To Live, Eyes Of On Eyes, Butterfly, Survive, and Deadheat2000 â capture a band that sounds hungry rather than nostalgic. They operate in the space where Japanese hardcore meets hard rock riffing, recalling the energy of bands on the rougher end of the Tokyo punk spectrum.