Gauge Means Nothing - The Absent Trail... Repress LP

**Vinyl images are mockups and actual records may vary**

**This item is a preorder. We expect to be shipping out around Nov. 15, 2026.**

Out of print for over two decades, the debut EP from Tokyo, Japan’s Gauge Means Nothing is finally getting repressed. This visionary emotional hardcore masterpiece is more relevant now than ever. 

The repress contains an expanded track list, bringing the song “Pilgrims” to vinyl for the first time ever! All the tracks have also been remastered to bring out even more clarity. The repress will come in two vinyl variants: the “Same Sky” variant is exclusive to MeatCubeLabel in the USA, and the “Plagued Future” variant is exclusive to 3LA in Japan. The total pressing is limited to 300 copies (just like the original) so make sure to grab this piece of Japanese Screamo history before it’s gone again!

The DIY spirit and impulse of nobodies, desperately trying to become something.

"A historically significant work of 2000s Japanese screamo/skramz that directly absorbed and interpreted the atmosphere of the 90s emotional hardcore dawn, striking deep into the heart. Following remastering, a 2026 reissue has been confirmed for release.

“The Absent Trail of an Echo and My Future Plagued by Surrender”, released in September 2003, is the sole work by Japanese emotional hardcore band Gauge Means Nothing. More than 20 years after the band's breakup, and even amid the current global reappraisal of "skramz," they retain a cult presence — and this record is their origin point, a miraculous work that seems to have sealed in the raw intensity of the domestic DIY scene at the time exactly as it was.

While influenced by Switch Style, Envy, and 90s overseas hardcore acts (such as Ebullition and Bloodlink), they pursued "melody" and "clumsy emotion" over sheer heaviness. The record condenses the fervor of a transitional period shifting from metallic elements toward emotional sound. The distinctive arrangements — born from the members' differing musical roots colliding in a precarious balance — are crystallizations not of imitation, but of "their own interpretation."

The recording process was a raw, wholly DIY affair: it began with a recording retreat where they brought an MTR into a public facility in Fuchu, running 13-hour sessions a day over four days and three nights, and continued — without any real know-how — through intermittent recording sessions over the following six months. The lyrics carry sincere, urgent messages spanning from macro social issues to deeply personal loss: conflict with the great waves of violence and power, doubts about armament and war, and bewilderment at the death of a close friend.

Clumsiness, discomfort, and an explosion of feelings that can't be put into words. A groping, exploratory sound that could never be replicated in today's scene strikes the listener's heart with overwhelming originality. An essential listen that deserves to be etched into the history of 2000s Japanese indie/hardcore." - Mizutani-san from 3LA

Side A Tracklist:

1. pilgrims
2. my glasses reflect an untrue view on my eyes
3. boku wa bikaiin [i'm idealize commissioner]

Side B Tracklist:

1. (surely) dyes black
2. right hand

Note: We only have a very small amount of the "plagued future" variant for US customers. If it's sold out, you might still be able to preorder from 3LA in Japan.