To witness the moment of reaching the absolute peak and to be able to share that joy—it was a night that truly made me realize how wonderful that is. I am talking about ASTERISM’s Tokyo performance, "Kick Down the WWWall," held at Shibuya WWW on May 31st. In this live show, where the concert title made it blatantly obvious beforehand that it was directly linked to the worldview of their latest original album Kick Down the Wall released this past January 14th, it would be fair to say that this transcendent trio has reached their highest peak yet. Of course, I haven’t witnessed everything they’ve been through up until now, and I know I shouldn’t make such statements lightly. However, even so, there was no room for doubt that these three are stepping into "a different realm that lies beyond the path they’ve walked so far."

About five minutes past the scheduled 5:00 PM start time, the venue went dark. As the members took their positions on stage, the first song to explode into life was "Blink of Ray." This fierce and dizzying track, which serves as the opening number of Kick Down the Wall, was created with the goal of being a song that "instantly hypes up a live crowd," and it indeed possesses an extraordinary combination of immediate impact and destructive power. Furthermore, as can be inferred from its origins in a studio jam session, it is also a piece constructed while the three members were experiencing their true stature as a band in the present moment. In other words, it is a song that could only be born because they themselves understood what their past selves lacked, overcame it, and grounded themselves in their real, life-sized current reality. That is precisely why this song opened the door to new possibilities for them, instantly sending the atmosphere of the packed floor straight to its boiling point, just as originally intended.

The members were all dressed in unified, all-black outfits, and the background of the stage projected a scenery of a deep forest shrouded in thick mist. It was a visual presentation that perfectly mirrored the artwork of Kick Down the Wall, but "Blink of Ray" literally blew away that mist in the blink of an eye. "Hey Shibuya, let’s go harder!" MIYU incited the audience, his gaze looking more provocative than ever. Guided by the swelling groove of his bass, "BLACK CLOUDS," the second track on the latest album, erupted. And following this song, which felt like finding hope beyond self-exploration amidst gathering dark clouds, came "KAKUTO," an instrumental piece with an impressive, hopeful melody.

As can be imagined from the flow up to this point, the night's live performance was executed with all the songs from Kick Down the Wall being performed in the exact order of the album's tracklist. Although the concert title made it easy to anticipate that it would be a full-reproduction live performance of the album, witnessing it actually unfold made me deeply realize that they have already completely digested this work, which is filled with experimentation and an adventurous spirit. At the same time, I was reminded of just how thoroughly thought-out the album's structure itself is. While rich in diversity and ups and downs, the flow felt incredibly natural to me, remaining strictly faithful to the pleasure principle. With all 11 puzzle pieces of various shapes interlocking flawlessly without a single gap, it naturally feels fantastic. The audience that night likely consisted entirely of people who had already thoroughly savored this album, but as the songs were rolled out one after another in a well-paced rhythm, they must have experienced the pleasure of something clicking perfectly into place inside their minds. At least, that is how I felt, and it made me once again realize how groundbreaking this album has been in the process of ASTERISM's evolution.

Their technical prowess in performance and their miraculous level of synchronization go without saying at this point. In addition to that, what stood out to me was the excellent tone of each instrument and the improvement in the vocals. Naturally, while the sound is the fruit of the band’s hard work, it must also be because their intentions and the staff’s work mesh together perfectly without any gap in enthusiasm. No matter how transcendent a performance is, if the sound is weak, it lacks persuasiveness, but there are no such elements of concern in the sound they emit now. Moreover, at this point, a dramatic growth in HAL-CA's singing could be felt. The various trials she has undergone up to now are surely beginning to bear fruit here. The same goes for MIYU, who occasionally lets out ferocious growls, making me feel that he has found the voice he is meant to project. There is also no doubt that the presence of MIO's drums, watching over the two from behind, felt incredibly reassuring.

"You don't know anything about me," which should be called a prime example of how current ASTERISM approaches vocal-centric songs; the sensual resonance of "SEX JAZZ," which features acoustic guitar while the instruments intertwine with one another; and the contrast between the ethereal "HAKANA" and the aggressive "stress" were all impressive. However, the subsequent long track "METAL SUPREME," packed with a vast amount of musical information, was truly overwhelming. The fact that this song was presented not as an instrumental but accompanied by lyrics that serve as a declaration of intent in itself symbolizes the current ASTERISM.

Near the end, after performing the instrumental track "ETERNAL," there was a moment where MIO choked up while speaking about "breaking through walls," which is also the theme of the album. However, what was felt there was rather a sense of "honesty." If he had eloquently delivered a moving speech in that flow, it might have felt like rehearsed lines. From each and every word spoken, even while halting, I think the sheer scale of the conflicts they have harbored until now, as well as their current sense of fulfillment and rising motivation, came through clearly. And it made me feel that precisely because they cannot fully explain it with words, they have acquired such outstanding performance skills.

During the four-show "ASTERISM Live Tour 2026 'Untitled'" held from this past January to February, they proved that the current ASTERISM has reached a position directly above their starting point. However, what was demonstrated in this one-night-only live show was that the three are already beginning to write a new story. After the performance, the members posted powerful messages from their respective X accounts, such as, "It was the best one-man show. Thank you so much!" (MIYU), "I do music for days like today!! I am absolutely sure we are moving forward" (MIO), and "A new story begins from here! Follow me" (HAL-CA). Having put their money where their mouth is by fulfilling the mission to "kick down the wall" at this juncture, I cannot wait to see what kind of story they will show us next.

During the encore following the full reproduction of Kick Down the Wall, after leaving an impression of upgrading their origins with "BLAZE" and "Light in the Darkness"—selections from their 2018 debut album IGNITION—the very last song they performed was a new track rich in the power to draw people in, titled "What’s My Life?". Will this song become the symbol of the next episode? On June 1st, the day after the performance, a message MIO shared via X included the words, "The new melody that should be sung has already been presented." The lingering resonance of this song, which sparked a sing-along on the very day it was performed for the first time, continues to echo in my mind even now.

Yuichi Masuda