The singularity with which guitarist and screamer Haino Keiji has pursued his vision of bleak darkness for more than 30 years is both his talent and his handicap. He is so relentless in pursuing an aesthetic of despair, pain and mortal suffering that collaborators who don't follow along can be left behind. And in a sense he sometimes leaves himself behind as well. There is often a sameness to his work that can eclipse his efforts as an artist interested in evolving and refining his aesthetic.

Happily, stars and moon line up in two new recordings with a new trio and a new, or somewhat new, strategy. Recorded during the same sessions in July and August, 2010, the two releases introduce the band Seijaku with bassist Nasuno Mitsuru and drummer Ichiraku Yoshimitsu, and the first of them (at least by catalog number) draws a line backwards to Haino's primary band through the 80s.

But Mail from FUSHITSUSHA isn't just an updating of an old band. The past 10 years may have been the most varied in Haino's career and the new compositions capitalize on his recent work improvising with electronics and loops and putting the razor-like repetition into a group setting. On "Forced to Think You Love" a shard of a guitar line is repeated with such precision that it may well be a loop, although it varies and drops a half-step near the end. Meanwhile, the electric bass and kit drum work in tight patterns, together or in opposition, but with the idea (if not the technology) of repeating samples.

"Forced to Think You Love" does something else interesting in the Haino trajectory. The guitar line is played in a back-and-forth with his throat-torn vocals. It's not done in perfect symmetry, but it still makes for something very close to a classic call-and-response song. Elsewhere on the album, he plays lap steel guitar. And even if he uses the slide to a cartoonish degree, it is still some of the most overt blues-formula utilizations heard from a man who has made great use of the content of the blues and little of the form.

The fact that Haino, who turns 60 in 2011, is continuing to challenge himself shows that his persona is more than skin-deep. The arrival of an intriguing new band suggests there are still more tricks up his sleeve. The mail, maybe, was a reminder not to forget where they came from.