In 1997, Keiji Haino took his ultimate power trio to Canada for the Festival de Musique Actuelle in Victoriaville, where this incredible performance was recorded. Longtime drummer Jun Kosugi was replaced by Ikuro Takahashi, formerly of High Rise, Ché-SHIZU, Kousokuya and many other groups. He lights a fire under Haino and bassist Yasushi Ozawa as they play ferociously loud versions of old songs (“Hazama,” “Pathetique”) and new ones, building up to the set’s climax, a 17-minute “Vertigo.” Haino’s doomy riffs and extended solos, filled with long sustained notes and thunderstorm-like waves of distortion, recall Neil Young and Crazy Horse at their most unfettered, but his vocals, whether whispered or shrieked, are suffused with a deep spiritual anguish.