The press release for this band’s 2025 single described its sound with two words borrowed from a ramen shop: barikata and tonkotsu. Extra-firm noodles, pork-bone broth. It is a very Fukuoka thing for a hardcore band to say about itself.
The Band
universe last a ward formed on 23 November 2013. It comes from Yukuhashi, a small city in Fukuoka Prefecture, and is based in Fukuoka.
It plays what Japanese fans call jojo-kei new school hardcore: metallic hardcore with an emotional, melodic streak, sung in Japanese. Its early material was close to the American band Taken and the Japanese band naiad. Later it took on more from European edge metal, bands such as Reprisal and Sentence.
Over the years it has shared stages with a long list of touring bands and played Bloodaxe Festival, the country’s largest hardcore festival.
Two Albums
The first full-length, N.9.S., came out on 28 September 2019.
The second took six years. Ride with Us was released on 22 October 2025. Its description stresses a metallic hardcore base, athletic riffs and heavy beatdowns.
The guest list says a lot about where the band stands. There is ZERRY, a rapper from the band’s own home town, on the lead track “COMING RAID.” There is Young Dio, the vocalist of the Osaka band ReVERSE BOYZ. And there is Kaito of Paledusk, one of the best-known voices in Fukuoka heavy music.
The album’s title is an invitation, and the guests are the people who accepted it.
The Ramen Line
Back to the noodles. Barikata is how you order your noodles in Fukuoka if you want them very firm. Tonkotsu is the rich pork broth the city is famous for. Calling a song a “barikata tonkotsu sound” is a joke, and it is also a flag. It says this music comes from a particular place and is not trying to pass for Tokyo.
Why It Matters
Six years between albums would finish many bands. This one came back with guests from across the scene on the record.
Start with “COMING RAID,” then Ride with Us.
