Hebi Katana – Imperfection

by Mark 'Yeti' Richard · August 27, 2025

Hebi Katana is a stoner/ doom rock/ metal band from Tokyo, Japan. They formed in 2020 and released their Self Titled album by the end of that year. They also have 2022’s Impermanence, 2023’s III, and their latest, 2025’s Imperfection. The current lineup consists of Nobu on guitar and vocals, Laven on bass and vocals, and Goblin on drums. Imperfection was released on July 28th 2025 on Ripple Music and contains seven tracks at thirty five minutes.

Hebi Katana has a very cool and interesting sound. “Bon Nou” cranks out a hyper-rock tone that has a punk and hardcore vibe going on. It’s pounding rock at its core and it sounds great. They have a distinct Sabbath aura to their brand of heavy doom metal. The second track, “Dead Horse Requiem” explores the heavy vintage rock/ proto-metal sounds perfectly and its a great song. Hebi Katana wears many musical hats because I hear old school metal, progressive, and psychedelic elements, all morphed into their sound. The third track in particular, called “Praise The Shadows” has an almost poppy and glam glimpse happening in the hooky rock rhythms. The vocals are melodic and I love the diversity that this band is establishing with these seven tracks.

“Doomed Echoes From The Old Tree” is another great song drenched in fuzzy doom and heavy riffage. It’s a power house song that has a grunge rock tone to it. “Blood Spirit Rising” is a riotous hard driven rocker that destroys! It’s a mid pace surging song with pauses and raunchy riffing and excellent drum fills too. It breaks mid-way through with clean guitars and then this fantastic guitar solo. The leads are harmonious and progy too. The song sludges back into the fuzz and cranks into the heavy metal madness. Imperfection is a great record all the way through and offers good variety in their brand of stoner rock. “Yu Gen” is a mellow song from the start but it does pack a mean punch riff at the mid point. “Yume Wa Kareno” is the final song on the album. It has a lush and psychedelic introduction that turns into a righteous Sabbath worship riff. The vocals have a unique tone about them that really adds originality to their sound.

Overall, for this being my first time listening to Hebi Katana, I am very happy to what I’m hearing. One last observation about Imperfection, the album starts and ends with the same mellow clean guitar riff played out. I really enjoy this record and think that Hebi Katana is an excellent band.