After sporadic live shows throughout the late 70s and early 80s, Les Rallizes Dénudés took a hiatus, not returning to the stage until 1993. Fast foreword another 30 years and the band’s former bassist Makoto Kubota, working with the blessing of the Mizutani estate and Temporal Drift, have done an astounding job cleaning up and releasing CITTA’ ’93, a near mythological performance taking place four days after their “comeback” gig. Sourced from a magnetic ADAT tape (supposedly Mizutani didn’t even know the show was being recording at the time) it’s an amazing document not only for its high fidelity – this might be the clearest the band have ever sounded – but for some truly inspired playing, morphing now decades old tunes into new forms.

Supposedly LRD blew three speakers at the venue, and one audience had to be taken to the hospital due to the raging volume and sonic assault, while others broke through the doors trying to escape the noise. I can certainly believe it based on how CITTA’ ’93 kicks off, with a killer take on “The Night, Assassin’s Night”. But instead of that nostalgic bass line we get an opening drumbeat, and then squalls of unintentional feedback: apparently there was a loose or unplugged cable causing havoc for Mizutani, and as the band segues into the opening figure it’s almost obliterated by the distortion. Rather than start over, Mizutani leans into it, finally wrangling everything together and launching from chaos to an incendiary solo before the sonics calm down and the song settle into in place, a bouncier, more upbeat version than the ‘77 Live version.

The fire of the opener is cooled for the lovely, gentle ballad “Memory Is Far Away” and it’s Mizutani’s voice that’s the highlight here. He sounds fantastic, and the entire band is so locked in every phrase becomes hypnotic. For the show, which took place February 17, 1993 at Club Citta, he’s backed by Katsuhiko Ishii on second guitar, Yokai Takahashi on bass and Kodo Noma on drums. “Deeper Than The Night” moves away from the nighttime Lynchian vibes, instead picking up an almost surf swagger in its chords until Mizutani’s guitar raises a storm during his solo.

The 13 minutes of “Eternally Now” starts with a level of distortion I can only imagine band like Boris heard and instantly wept with the joy of discovering their own aural secrets. “Birds Call In The Dusk” at only four and a half minutes is another calm before the storm, and for all the frenzy around Mizutani’s guitar pyrotechnics and the sheer volumes that would go on to inform (I’m guessing) bands like Sonic Youth, Boris, and even to an extent something like My Bloody Valentine (thanks The Quietus) I think just as important is the level of restraint LRD can bring to bear on their work.

That leaves three revelations for CITTA’ ’93: a stunning version of “White Awakening” here called “White Awakening_1993” that uses Dylan’s “All Along The Watchtower” as its foundation before spiraling into the far reaches of the sonic universe during it’s second half. Then there’s the 24-minute bliss of “Darkness Returns 2” that opens with a painful squeal of feedback before only somewhat subsiding to allow some of Mizutani’s most vicious riffing to come through – I’ll note here that Noma’s drums are essential, both framing and propelling the guitars forward while Takahashi keeps the bass steady and ready.

It’s nearly a half hour of uninterrupted cool, and it’s still not the biggest track on the album. That belongs to their usual closer, “The Last One_1993” and at nearly 40 minutes it might be the longest, loudest version of the song yet. Just when you think there’s nowhere left to go, Les Rallizes Dénudés is more than happy to prove you wrong. CIITA’ ’93 is an essential release for any fan of the band (all their releases are essential) but it’s also a template for what so many other noise bands would strive for as well.