El Planeta Death by Avengers In SciFi: A Cosmic Rock Odyssey You Didn’t Know You Needed
So, you’re scrolling through your music library (or maybe Bandcamp, let’s be real) and stumble upon El Planeta Death, an album that sounds like it was birthed in a neon-lit spaceship powered by coffee and existential dread. Released in 2011 by Japan’s own BALLERINA NUDE label, this gem blends indie rock with electronic bleeps and bloops so experimental you might think the band got lost on their way to a sci-fi convention. Spoiler alert: they didn’t—they just made one of the quirkiest albums of the decade.
The masterminds behind this chaos? Meet 稲見喜彦 (Inami Yoshihiko), who handles bass, vocals, AND synths like some kind of musical Swiss Army knife, and 長谷川正法 (Hasegawa Masanori), who drums and adds percussion while somehow also finding time to sing backup. Oh, and shoutout to guitarist/songwriter/lyricist 木幡太郎 (Kohata Taro), because if anyone deserves credit for keeping this cosmic train from derailing, it’s him. Hats off to 星野誠 (Hoshino Makoto) too, who mixed and mastered this beast into something listenable.
Now, onto the tracks. I’m not gonna lie—the whole thing is wild, but two songs really stuck out to me: “El Planeta” and “Death.” Yeah, yeah, creative titles, I know, but hear me out.
“El Planeta” kicks things off like you’ve just crash-landed on a planet where David Bowie jammed with Daft Punk. The synths are crunchy yet dreamy, like eating cotton candy made of static electricity. And those guitar riffs? They hit harder than your ex texting you at 2 AM asking how you’ve been. It’s catchy as hell without trying too hard, which makes it even better. By the end, you’ll feel like you’ve survived an intergalactic battle—even though all you did was sit there nodding along awkwardly.
Then there’s “Death,” which flips the vibe entirely. If “El Planeta” is the chaotic liftoff, “Death” is the slow descent back to Earth—or whatever version of Earth exists in Avengers In SciFi’s brain. This track leans heavier into the indie rock side, with haunting vocals and percussion that feels like raindrops hitting metal. There’s a moment halfway through where everything drops out except for this eerie synth drone, and honestly, it gave me goosebumps. Like, legit chills. Whoever thought combining melancholy and robots would work deserves a medal or something.
What’s wild about this album is how unapologetically weird it is. These guys clearly didn’t care about fitting into any box; they built their own damn spaceship instead. Sure, it’s messy in parts, but isn’t that what makes space exploration fun? Sometimes you gotta drift off course to find the coolest stuff.
Final thoughts? Listening to El Planeta Death feels like binge-watching a low-budget sci-fi series from the '80s—cheesy, confusing, but oddly addictive. And hey, if nothing else, it’s proof that sometimes the best art comes from people willing to throw spaghetti at the wall and see what sticks. Just don’t ask me why they named themselves after superheroes fighting aliens... unless they actually have secret powers. In which case, call me, Avengers In SciFi. We need to talk.
