/ Scattered Purgatory: / Post Purgatory

"In January 2021, unassuming clubbers looking for a Saturday night out at Taipei's FINAL might've been surprised to encounter Taiwanese drone-doom duo 破地獄 / Scattered Purgatory flooding the room with noise, in what was billed as their last performance. Yet the duo had already been toying with the boundary between the city's rock and electronic scenes; guitarist Lu Jiachi, who cut his teeth in the stoner rock band Sleaze, dabbled in deconstructed club music throughout the late 2010s,"

"In their early work, Scattered Purgatory let distorted guitar tones simmer and dissolve into infrasound, occasionally spritzing traditional Chinese woodblock and cymbals on top. Inspired by the same ritualistic mysticism that powers Taiwanese compatriots Mong Tong and Island Futurism, the band would hone its sound in Thian-gi Lok-ian, an improv collective that mined the depths of local musical traditions. At the same time, their songs would get shorter and shorter as they began to incorporate kosmische synths and sequencers:"

"波地獄 / Post Purgatory is a bold change in direction for a band that made its name on slow-building jams that reached upwards of 20 minutes; the longest tracks here run less than six. "Wunai" is a wink at their turn toward a poppier style, using a phrase meaning "helplessness" commonly used in '90s C-pop ballads. Yet their sound is as dark as ever, welding hallucinogenic percussion to spoken-word delivery inspired by the 口白 (kháu-pe̍h in Hokkien) of Cold War-era songs by Wen H"

Scattered Purgatory emerged from Taipei's underground, blending drone-doom with experiments in club and electronic music. Guitarist Lu Jiachi transitioned from stoner rock into deconstructed club tracks released on local labels. Early work emphasized distorted guitars, infrasound, traditional Chinese woodblock and cymbals, and ritualistic mysticism developed through the Thian-gi Lok-ian improv collective. Songs gradually shortened as kosmische synths and sequencers entered their sound, with 2017's Sua-Hiam-Zun offering ambient textures, suona airs, and distant guitar swells. Post Purgatory marks a stylistic shift to shorter forms under six minutes, adding trip-hop, jazz, and synth-pop elements while retaining dark, hallucinatory percussion and spoken-word delivery.

Read at Pitchfork