The following documentary explores the surprisingly abundant evidence that nuclear weapons are a hoax.
https://www.nytimes.com/1945/11/03/archives/seversky-limits-atom-bomb-power-likens-hiroshima-blow-to-one-by-200.html
This man actually analysed the city of Hiroshima after the act and testified the following:
"In Hiroshima I was prepared for radically different sights. But, to my surprise, Hiroshima looked exactly like all the other burned-out cities in Japan. There was a familiar pink blot, about two miles in diameter. It was dotted with charred trees and telephone poles. Only one of the cities twenty bridges was down. Hiroshima’s clusters of modern buildings in the downtown section stood upright.
It was obvious that the blast could not have been so powerful as we had been led to believe. It was extensive blast rather than intensive.
I had heard of buildings instantly consumed by unprecedented heat. Yet here I saw the buildings structurally intact, and what is more, topped by undamaged flag poles, lightning rods, painted railings, air raid precaution signs and other comparatively fragile objects.
At the T-bridge, the aiming point for the atomic bomb, I looked for the “bald spot” where everything presumably had been vaporized in the twinkling of an eye. It wasn’t there or anywhere else. I could find no traces of unusual phenomena.
What I did see was in substance a replica of Yokohama or Osaka, or the Tokyo suburbs – the familiar residue of an area of wood and brick houses razed by uncontrollable fire. Everywhere I saw the trunks of charred and leafless trees, burned and unburned chunks of wood. The fire had been intense enough to bend and twist steel girders and to melt glass until it ran like lava – just as in other Japanese cities.
The concrete buildings nearest to the centre of explosion, some only a few blocks from the heart of the atom blast, showed no structural damage. Even cornices, canopies and delicate exterior decorations were intact. Window glass was shattered, of course, but single-panel frames held firm; only window frames of two or more panels were bent and buckled. The blast impact therefore could not have been unusual."
Additionally:
https://www.nytimes.com/1990/08/01/us/hiroshima-study-finds-no-genetic-damage.html
This study was never published for some reason.
I’ve been to both Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The whole thing is propaganda. There isn’t a trace of residual radiation anywhere in either city. I checked using a Geiger counter purchased after the “Fukushima” nuclear hoax, which at the time I thought was real.
The few bits of footage of the nukes exploding is laughable. It’s Hollywood effects, matte screens and identical mushroom clouds composited for different angles. Totally fake.
There is a reason these magical super weapons have never been used for an act of “terrorism” or in any war zone since and it has nothing to do with mutually assured destruction, unless you take that to mean the global unravelling of the lie itself.
It’s because nukes don’t exist, have never existed and cannot be made to work. They are a myth.
While looking for info on how "feasible" an all out thermonuclear war scenario was, because I already figured that nuclear weapons are a joke and a remnant way of thought from the Cold War era of thinking, I stumbled upon this massive article about the supposed Nuclear Weapons hoax.
Some highlights of it, after skimming through it last night include:

• Nuclear weapons are a result of a collusion between USA/USSR (With Stalin keeping the East of Europe to remain a "threat" to the west) and Japan with many other countries joining later.
• Explaining the impossibility of making an Atomic bomb work in the first place, and why it cannot possibly produce radiation that can cause harm to any biological matter, including humans.
• The Hiroshima and Nagasaki "atomic bombs" were most likely faked: No nuclear bombs were detonated, Napalm carpet bombings were used instead, and nobody died from radiation. It also explains how could a lie like that be kept in Japan for 60+ years and shows plenty of photos from ground zero.
• "(...)Nuclear radiation is harmless. It is just easy to detect by Geiger meters, etc, but cannot harm anything. Only uranium and plutonium metal dusts are poisonous."
• Clearing misconceptions related to the Fukushima 2011 incident
• Explaining why the B61 nuclear bombs are a fraud.
• A timeline showcasing the USA-North Korea talks from 2017 and 2018 and explaining why they were only done to put on a show, because, it is very likely that North Korea, does not have any in the first place.

And many other stuff.
Here it is, divided in 9 parts.
The people and organizations creating the lies: https://heiwaco.com/bomb.htm
The atomic bomb killed nobody in Japan: https://heiwaco.com/bombpart2.htm
How does an atomic bomb work? It doesn't! https://heiwaco.com/bombpart3.htm
Plenty O' manipulations: https://heiwaco.com/bombpart4.htm
Explosive fission is a scam: https://heiwaco.com/bombpart5.htm
All about real fission: https://heiwaco.com/bombpart6.htm
The fake B-61 atomic bombs: https://heiwaco.com/bombpart7.htm
All about no radiation at Fukushima: https://heiwaco.com/bombpart8.htm
About radiation itself: https://heiwaco.com/bombpart9.htm
The destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki appear not to be the result of one large explosion, but rather the result of a fire-bombing campaign comparable in pictures to Tokyo's fire-bombed remains. Hiroshima and Nagasaki also never experienced anything like the hundreds or thousands of years of radiation predicted by nuclear scientists, in fact, vegetation began growing within a month after the bombing, and the Japanese people began rebuilding almost immediately!
Some nuclear physicists even claim nuclear weaponry fraudulent based solely on the technical impossibilities of fission material not to be incinerated before triggering the necessary nuclear chain reaction.
Tesla even famously tried to split the atom him self and came to the conclusion it didn't release energy:
"Let me say that has nothing to do with releasing so-called atomic energy. There is no such energy in the sense usually meant. With my currents, using pressures as high as 15,000,000 volts, the highest ever used, I have split atoms — but no energy was released. I confess that before I made this experiment I was in some fear. I said to my assistants, ‘I do not know what will happen. If the conclusions of certain scientists are right, the release of energy from the splitting of an atom may mean an explosion which would wreck our apparatus and perhaps kill someone. Is that understood?’
My assistants urged me to perform the experiment and I did so. I shattered atoms again and again. But no appreciable energy was released."
This was from an interview he did with time magazine back in 1931 so it made me wonder if these anti nuke guys were on to something. The government has a lot of reasons to create a weapon of mass destruction psyop it spreads fear porn thats one thing and convinces people they can cause nuclear armageddon at the flick of a button. Einstein as some people know tried to steal Tesla's spotlight putting him into obscurity but his technology and experiments were very peculiar and show us there's a lot of high strangeness about this reality that's still not well understood.
Also In 1986, Galen Winsor a Nuclear physicist Exposed the Nuclear fear scam by licking a pile of highly radioactive uranium off the palm of his hand and ignite a chunk of plutonium into a shower of flaming dust to show how safe these materials were. The guy also drank reactor cooling pool water for fun and liked to go swimming in the pool to relax.

The following documentary explores the surprisingly abundant evidence that nuclear weapons are a hoax.
https://www.nytimes.com/1945/11/03/archives/seversky-limits-atom-bomb-power-likens-hiroshima-blow-to-one-by-200.html
This man actually analysed the city of Hiroshima after the act and testified the following:
"In Hiroshima I was prepared for radically different sights. But, to my surprise, Hiroshima looked exactly like all the other burned-out cities in Japan. There was a familiar pink blot, about two miles in diameter. It was dotted with charred trees and telephone poles. Only one of the cities twenty bridges was down. Hiroshima’s clusters of modern buildings in the downtown section stood upright.
It was obvious that the blast could not have been so powerful as we had been led to believe. It was extensive blast rather than intensive.
I had heard of buildings instantly consumed by unprecedented heat. Yet here I saw the buildings structurally intact, and what is more, topped by undamaged flag poles, lightning rods, painted railings, air raid precaution signs and other comparatively fragile objects.
At the T-bridge, the aiming point for the atomic bomb, I looked for the “bald spot” where everything presumably had been vaporized in the twinkling of an eye. It wasn’t there or anywhere else. I could find no traces of unusual phenomena.
What I did see was in substance a replica of Yokohama or Osaka, or the Tokyo suburbs – the familiar residue of an area of wood and brick houses razed by uncontrollable fire. Everywhere I saw the trunks of charred and leafless trees, burned and unburned chunks of wood. The fire had been intense enough to bend and twist steel girders and to melt glass until it ran like lava – just as in other Japanese cities.
The concrete buildings nearest to the centre of explosion, some only a few blocks from the heart of the atom blast, showed no structural damage. Even cornices, canopies and delicate exterior decorations were intact. Window glass was shattered, of course, but single-panel frames held firm; only window frames of two or more panels were bent and buckled. The blast impact therefore could not have been unusual."
Additionally:
https://www.nytimes.com/1990/08/01/us/hiroshima-study-finds-no-genetic-damage.html
This study was never published for some reason.
I’ve been to both Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The whole thing is propaganda. There isn’t a trace of residual radiation anywhere in either city. I checked using a Geiger counter purchased after the “Fukushima” nuclear hoax, which at the time I thought was real.
The few bits of footage of the nukes exploding is laughable. It’s Hollywood effects, matte screens and identical mushroom clouds composited for different angles. Totally fake.
There is a reason these magical super weapons have never been used for an act of “terrorism” or in any war zone since and it has nothing to do with mutually assured destruction, unless you take that to mean the global unravelling of the lie itself.
It’s because nukes don’t exist, have never existed and cannot be made to work. They are a myth.
While looking for info on how "feasible" an all out thermonuclear war scenario was, because I already figured that nuclear weapons are a joke and a remnant way of thought from the Cold War era of thinking, I stumbled upon this massive article about the supposed Nuclear Weapons hoax.
Some highlights of it, after skimming through it last night include:

• Nuclear weapons are a result of a collusion between USA/USSR (With Stalin keeping the East of Europe to remain a "threat" to the west) and Japan with many other countries joining later.
• Explaining the impossibility of making an Atomic bomb work in the first place, and why it cannot possibly produce radiation that can cause harm to any biological matter, including humans.
• The Hiroshima and Nagasaki "atomic bombs" were most likely faked: No nuclear bombs were detonated, Napalm carpet bombings were used instead, and nobody died from radiation. It also explains how could a lie like that be kept in Japan for 60+ years and shows plenty of photos from ground zero.
• "(...)Nuclear radiation is harmless. It is just easy to detect by Geiger meters, etc, but cannot harm anything. Only uranium and plutonium metal dusts are poisonous."
• Clearing misconceptions related to the Fukushima 2011 incident
• Explaining why the B61 nuclear bombs are a fraud.
• A timeline showcasing the USA-North Korea talks from 2017 and 2018 and explaining why they were only done to put on a show, because, it is very likely that North Korea, does not have any in the first place.

And many other stuff.
Here it is, divided in 9 parts.
The people and organizations creating the lies: https://heiwaco.com/bomb.htm
The atomic bomb killed nobody in Japan: https://heiwaco.com/bombpart2.htm
How does an atomic bomb work? It doesn't! https://heiwaco.com/bombpart3.htm
Plenty O' manipulations: https://heiwaco.com/bombpart4.htm
Explosive fission is a scam: https://heiwaco.com/bombpart5.htm
All about real fission: https://heiwaco.com/bombpart6.htm
The fake B-61 atomic bombs: https://heiwaco.com/bombpart7.htm
All about no radiation at Fukushima: https://heiwaco.com/bombpart8.htm
About radiation itself: https://heiwaco.com/bombpart9.htm
The destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki appear not to be the result of one large explosion, but rather the result of a fire-bombing campaign comparable in pictures to Tokyo's fire-bombed remains. Hiroshima and Nagasaki also never experienced anything like the hundreds or thousands of years of radiation predicted by nuclear scientists, in fact, vegetation began growing within a month after the bombing, and the Japanese people began rebuilding almost immediately!
Some nuclear physicists even claim nuclear weaponry fraudulent based solely on the technical impossibilities of fission material not to be incinerated before triggering the necessary nuclear chain reaction.
Tesla even famously tried to split the atom him self and came to the conclusion it didn't release energy:
"Let me say that has nothing to do with releasing so-called atomic energy. There is no such energy in the sense usually meant. With my currents, using pressures as high as 15,000,000 volts, the highest ever used, I have split atoms — but no energy was released. I confess that before I made this experiment I was in some fear. I said to my assistants, ‘I do not know what will happen. If the conclusions of certain scientists are right, the release of energy from the splitting of an atom may mean an explosion which would wreck our apparatus and perhaps kill someone. Is that understood?’
My assistants urged me to perform the experiment and I did so. I shattered atoms again and again. But no appreciable energy was released."
This was from an interview he did with time magazine back in 1931 so it made me wonder if these anti nuke guys were on to something. The government has a lot of reasons to create a weapon of mass destruction psyop it spreads fear porn thats one thing and convinces people they can cause nuclear armageddon at the flick of a button. Einstein as some people know tried to steal Tesla's spotlight putting him into obscurity but his technology and experiments were very peculiar and show us there's a lot of high strangeness about this reality that's still not well understood.
Also In 1986, Galen Winsor a Nuclear physicist Exposed the Nuclear fear scam by licking a pile of highly radioactive uranium off the palm of his hand and ignite a chunk of plutonium into a shower of flaming dust to show how safe these materials were. The guy also drank reactor cooling pool water for fun and liked to go swimming in the pool to relax.

The following documentary explores the surprisingly abundant evidence that nuclear weapons are a hoax.
https://www.nytimes.com/1945/11/03/archives/seversky-limits-atom-bomb-power-likens-hiroshima-blow-to-one-by-200.html
This man actually analysed the city of Hiroshima after the act and testified the following:
"In Hiroshima I was prepared for radically different sights. But, to my surprise, Hiroshima looked exactly like all the other burned-out cities in Japan. There was a familiar pink blot, about two miles in diameter. It was dotted with charred trees and telephone poles. Only one of the cities twenty bridges was down. Hiroshima’s clusters of modern buildings in the downtown section stood upright.
It was obvious that the blast could not have been so powerful as we had been led to believe. It was extensive blast rather than intensive.
I had heard of buildings instantly consumed by unprecedented heat. Yet here I saw the buildings structurally intact, and what is more, topped by undamaged flag poles, lightning rods, painted railings, air raid precaution signs and other comparatively fragile objects.
At the T-bridge, the aiming point for the atomic bomb, I looked for the “bald spot” where everything presumably had been vaporized in the twinkling of an eye. It wasn’t there or anywhere else. I could find no traces of unusual phenomena.
What I did see was in substance a replica of Yokohama or Osaka, or the Tokyo suburbs – the familiar residue of an area of wood and brick houses razed by uncontrollable fire. Everywhere I saw the trunks of charred and leafless trees, burned and unburned chunks of wood. The fire had been intense enough to bend and twist steel girders and to melt glass until it ran like lava – just as in other Japanese cities.
The concrete buildings nearest to the centre of explosion, some only a few blocks from the heart of the atom blast, showed no structural damage. Even cornices, canopies and delicate exterior decorations were intact. Window glass was shattered, of course, but single-panel frames held firm; only window frames of two or more panels were bent and buckled. The blast impact therefore could not have been unusual."
Additionally:
https://www.nytimes.com/1990/08/01/us/hiroshima-study-finds-no-genetic-damage.html
This study was never published for some reason.
I’ve been to both Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The whole thing is propaganda. There isn’t a trace of residual radiation anywhere in either city. I checked using a Geiger counter purchased after the “Fukushima” nuclear hoax, which at the time I thought was real.
The few bits of footage of the nukes exploding is laughable. It’s Hollywood effects, matte screens and identical mushroom clouds composited for different angles. Totally fake.
There is a reason these magical super weapons have never been used for an act of “terrorism” or in any war zone since and it has nothing to do with mutually assured destruction, unless you take that to mean the global unravelling of the lie itself.
It’s because nukes don’t exist, have never existed and cannot be made to work. They are a myth.
While looking for info on how "feasible" an all out thermonuclear war scenario was, because I already figured that nuclear weapons are a joke and a remnant way of thought from the Cold War era of thinking, I stumbled upon this massive article about the supposed Nuclear Weapons hoax.
Some highlights of it, after skimming through it last night include:

• Nuclear weapons are a result of a collusion between USA/USSR (With Stalin keeping the East of Europe to remain a "threat" to the west) and Japan with many other countries joining later.
• Explaining the impossibility of making an Atomic bomb work in the first place, and why it cannot possibly produce radiation that can cause harm to any biological matter, including humans.
• The Hiroshima and Nagasaki "atomic bombs" were most likely faked: No nuclear bombs were detonated, Napalm carpet bombings were used instead, and nobody died from radiation. It also explains how could a lie like that be kept in Japan for 60+ years and shows plenty of photos from ground zero.
• "(...)Nuclear radiation is harmless. It is just easy to detect by Geiger meters, etc, but cannot harm anything. Only uranium and plutonium metal dusts are poisonous."
• Clearing misconceptions related to the Fukushima 2011 incident
• Explaining why the B61 nuclear bombs are a fraud.
• A timeline showcasing the USA-North Korea talks from 2017 and 2018 and explaining why they were only done to put on a show, because, it is very likely that North Korea, does not have any in the first place.

And many other stuff.
Here it is, divided in 9 parts.
The people and organizations creating the lies: https://heiwaco.com/bomb.htm
The atomic bomb killed nobody in Japan: https://heiwaco.com/bombpart2.htm
How does an atomic bomb work? It doesn't! https://heiwaco.com/bombpart3.htm
Plenty O' manipulations: https://heiwaco.com/bombpart4.htm
Explosive fission is a scam: https://heiwaco.com/bombpart5.htm
All about real fission: https://heiwaco.com/bombpart6.htm
The fake B-61 atomic bombs: https://heiwaco.com/bombpart7.htm
All about no radiation at Fukushima: https://heiwaco.com/bombpart8.htm
About radiation itself: https://heiwaco.com/bombpart9.htm
The destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki appear not to be the result of one large explosion, but rather the result of a fire-bombing campaign comparable in pictures to Tokyo's fire-bombed remains. Hiroshima and Nagasaki also never experienced anything like the hundreds or thousands of years of radiation predicted by nuclear scientists, in fact, vegetation began growing within a month after the bombing, and the Japanese people began rebuilding almost immediately!
Some nuclear physicists even claim nuclear weaponry fraudulent based solely on the technical impossibilities of fission material not to be incinerated before triggering the necessary nuclear chain reaction.
Tesla even famously tried to split the atom him self and came to the conclusion it didn't release energy:
"Let me say that has nothing to do with releasing so-called atomic energy. There is no such energy in the sense usually meant. With my currents, using pressures as high as 15,000,000 volts, the highest ever used, I have split atoms — but no energy was released. I confess that before I made this experiment I was in some fear. I said to my assistants, ‘I do not know what will happen. If the conclusions of certain scientists are right, the release of energy from the splitting of an atom may mean an explosion which would wreck our apparatus and perhaps kill someone. Is that understood?’
My assistants urged me to perform the experiment and I did so. I shattered atoms again and again. But no appreciable energy was released."
This was from an interview he did with time magazine back in 1931 so it made me wonder if these anti nuke guys were on to something. The government has a lot of reasons to create a weapon of mass destruction psyop it spreads fear porn thats one thing and convinces people they can cause nuclear armageddon at the flick of a button. Einstein as some people know tried to steal Tesla's spotlight putting him into obscurity but his technology and experiments were very peculiar and show us there's a lot of high strangeness about this reality that's still not well understood.
Also In 1986, Galen Winsor a Nuclear physicist Exposed the Nuclear fear scam by licking a pile of highly radioactive uranium off the palm of his hand and ignite a chunk of plutonium into a shower of flaming dust to show how safe these materials were. The guy also drank reactor cooling pool water for fun and liked to go swimming in the pool to relax.

Introduction

Kensuke Kita performing live, 2017

^(\This article is an updated version of my "Sound Like" article from 2021. I have reposted this article due to difficulties editing the original version*, and have included additional information and recommendations based on the increased popularity of amp simulator pedals*)*

Hello fellow musicians and Ajikan fans!
I have been a fan of ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION for roughly 16 years and as a guitarist was greatly inspired by the band's alt rock sound.
After a few years of research I have written a series of "sound like" articles for ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION. The purpose of these articles is to provide context on how the band create their signature sound, and to support beginning musicians or tribute acts who may wish to replicate it.
At the end of each article I have drafted a Budget Rig, which you could use for both at home and in a live environment. I have also provided some general amp settings to tweak and try, which are based on the band's live sound and be can used to help replicate their tones.
This is a 3-part series and if you enjoy this article I would recommend checking out the other articles:
Sound Like ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION Pt.1: Masafumi Gotoh (2024 version) : AsianKungFuGeneration (reddit.com)
ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION Sound Like Part 3: Yamada : AsianKungFuGeneration (reddit.com)

To help you recognise the individual guitar tones, Gotch's guitar parts are normally panned to the left earphone and Kita's are panned to the right earphone on the band's albums. (On 2016's Sol-Fa, Hometown and some of the Planet Folks singles the panning was swapped, with Gotch instead in the right ear and Kita on the left)

Kensuke Kita

Kita during the Hometown UK/FR tour 2019
In this article we are focusing on lead guitarist and backing vocalist Kensuke Kita. Responsible for many of the band's iconic melodies and riffs, Kita's rig setup is a classic rock setup: A Gibson Les Paul into a Marshall-esque amp.
Inspired by 90's alt rock and Brit Pop groups such as Supergrass, Blur, Manic Street Preachers and Radiohead, Kita has constantly evolved as a musician and became more involved with the song writing process from Fanclub onwards. (Kita has writing credits on Blue Train)
This evolution can be seen clearly when you compare the punk rock style of Houkai Amplifier with the more experimental, pop inspired Planet Folks. While the earlier records reflected a focus on riffs and octave chord melodies, Kita now prefers playing major and minor third chords, triad chords and arpeggios, reflecting his "melody-maker" role in the band.

^{A triad chord is a chord made of 3 separate notes. They are commonly played on the higher strings and Kita uses them a lot, in tracks such as Aru Machi no Gunjou, Sayonara Lost Generation and Gekkou. Major and Minor third chords are sometimes referred to as Dyads.}

During live performances Kita will experiment with ambient tones, but remains the lead guitar sound, with Gotch acting as a anchor for the overall band.

GUITARS

Kita's primary guitar is a Gibson Les Paul. You want to capture the power and sustain of the humbucker pickups, so single coils will generally not work. Furthermore, I would not recommend active pickups, such as EMG pickups, and to avoid anything that creates too much gain. Remember, Kita sound is rooted in a traditional rock setup.
His most recognisable and iconic guitar is his Historic Collection 1959 Les Paul Standard Reissue. Kita bought the 59's reissue in 2004 and has been a mainstay ever since, using it on every Ajikan album from Fanclub onwards.
Kita's Historic Collection 1959 Les Paul Standard Reissue
Kita's backup guitar is a Historic Collection 1958 Les Paul Standard Reissue, which is also used for Eb/D# standard tuning for songs such as After Dark, Yoru No Call and Empathy. Kita's other standout guitar is his Gibson ES-335, which is used occasionally for songs with a capo.
A good example of this would be the live performance of Natsu no Hi, Zanzou from the 10th Anniversary shows and live performances of Juuni Shinhou no Yuukei and Maigo Inu to Ame no Beat.
Kita has also experimented with Fender Telecasters, Jazzmasters and Stratocasters on the band's albums, although neither have been seen on stage so far. In a interview with Guitar Magazine, Kita confirmed that he used a Fender Jazzmaster on Empathy.
Kita with his Gibson ES-335, during the Quarter Century Tour
If you are looking to capture Kita's guitar sound, a Les Paul style guitar with vintage sounding pickups would be the best place to start.

^{Between 2002-2007, Kita armed his Les Pauls with Gibson Burstbucker 2 in the bridge position and the Burstbucker 1 in the neck position. Since 2007, Kita has used Custombuckers in both positions. Like Gotch, Kita uses Tortex Flex picks and are most likely .73mm or .88mm variants}

AMPLIFIERS

In the band's early years of success, Kita used a Marshall JCM 900-4100 head with a Marshall 1960A cabinet. In late 2005, Kita replaced the Marshall amp with the Bogner Ecstasy 101b and Bogner 4x12 Cabinet, which he has used ever since as his main live amplifier.
Kita's JCM900 amp, used during the early 2000's and Sol-Fa 2004 tour
The Bogner has 3 channel settings, with the "green" channel based on traditional Vox amp, the "blue" channel based on a Marshall JCM800 & Marshall Plexi and the "Red" channel as a higher drive channel. The Bogner also has a boost feature that Kita uses for solos.
Both the JCM900 and Ecstasy amps are based on vintage Marshall sounds, whereas the modern Marshall amps have a darker, more compressed sound.
Between 2000-2011 Kita would only use the Marshall or Bogner stack for live performances and simply switch between the amp channels. In 2012, Kita introduced the Shinos Luck 6V combo to his live setup.
The Shinos amps were set up by a former VOX Chief engineer and in general has a blend of Fender and Vox amps sound wise. They have also been compared to Matchless amps, which Kita has used occasionally on international tours.
Kita's Bogner Ecstasy 101b and Shinos Luck V6
Kita has experimented with more amplifiers in the studio and has been known to use JCM800's, VOX and Matchless amps on albums, but for the purpose of this article we will keep the focus on matching his vintage Marshall & Bogner tone.
Kita's clean sound can be heard on Angou No Waltz, Mustang and Yuugure no Aka, while his distorted sound can be heard on Standard, Re:Re: and Kouya wo Aruke.

^{Kita used 4x12 Greenback speakers in his Marshall cabinet (this was 2004 sound} & since 2005 he has likely use Celestion Vintage 30 speakers. The Shino is likely set up with a Celestion Classic Lead 80 speaker.)

PEDALS

Alongside the amp pairing, Kita uses a wide variety of pedals that has only grown in recent years. Previously, Kita stuck to a small collection of pedals which included a delay pedal and a preamp pedal.
Kita's 2004 pedalboard, used during the Sol-Fa tour
This collection has since rapidly grown, but has generally included a compressor, phaser, wah and a delay.
During the Eizo Sakushin Shu Vol. 6 performance, where he used a Boss DD-20 Giga Delay, an MXR M-132 Super Comp, Boss PH-2 Super Phaser, a Guyatone WR3 Wah Rocker and VoxV847 Wah pedal. Kita also used a BOSS TR-2 Tremolo at this time.
Kita's 2009 Pedalboard, which was used during the Eizo Sakushin Shu Vol. 6 performance
The Super Comp is used as a boost for lead melodies and solos, and the Super Phaser can be heard in performances of Mustang and Shinkokyuu. The Giga Delay can be heard in tracks such as Night Diving, Re:Re: and Mugen Glider, as well as the band's ambient jams. The Wah Rocker can be heard in Kugenuma Surf & Enoshima Escar
Since 2010 Kita's pedal board has gradually evolved to include more delay & modulation effects. (Such as the Boss Harmonist and BOSS MD-200 Modulation) He has also used fuzz and distortion pedals from time to time. For example, he has added the BOSS Tone Bender and Earthquaker Transmisser for ambient noises between tracks.
In recent years, Kita has also used octave pedals for lead parts (which recreates what the guitarist plays but at a higher or lower pitch), such as Blood Circulator, Boys & Girls and Clock Work. The Electro Harmonix POG2, which can be seen on his current rig below, is used for the intro of Kakato de Ai o Uchinarase.
Kita's current 2022 Pedalboard: (1) FREE THE TONE/JB-41S (Junction Box) (2) Jim Dunlop/535Q Crybaby Multi-Wah (Wow Pedal) (3) Custom Audio Japan/RS 616 (Programmable Switcher) (4)MXSuper Comp (Compressor) (5) Electro-Harmonix/POG2 (Octave) (6) BOSS/TB-2W (Fuzz) (7)EarthQuaker Devices/Transmisser (Modulation/Reverb) (8) strymon/ZELZAH (multi-phaser) (9) BOSS/MD-200 (multi-modulation) (10)(11) BOSS/DD-20 (multi-delay) (12) BOSS/FRV-1 (reverb) (13) Electro-Harmonix/FREEZE (sustainer)(14) BOSS/FS-5U (foot switch) (15) BOSS/TU-2s (tuner) (16) RJM/Amp Gizmo (amplifier channel switcher) (17) FIREGLOW/PPS-05 (power supply) (18) Vital Audio/VA-08 Mk-II (Power Supply)
To help manage his massive pedalboard on stage, Kita has been using a Custom Audio Switcher to control his pedals, which also allows him to create "loops" of saved settings for each song. I've included a list of his pedals from the current board on the picture below.
The guitar runs into the Junction box (top right) and wah pedal before going into the switcher. Kita can control the Comp and reverb from the switcher, along with the amp settings.
The guitar line then runs from the Dyna Comp through the rest of the pedals, which are controlled in separate loops by the switcher, before running into an amp switcher for the Bogner and Shinos. You can see these loops below:

^{Loop 1: Dyna Comp Loop 2: Dyna Comp, POG 2, Tone Bender, Transmisser Loop 3: Dyna Comp, Zelzah Loop 4: Dyna Comp, BOSS MD-200 (using the tremolo effect}) ^{Loop 5: Dyna Comp, 2x BOSS DD-20s Loop 6: Dyna Comp, 63' Fender Reverb}

Kita has a few additional pedals on the board, such as the Electro Harmonix Freeze, which can hold a note for a sustained amount of time and a separate BOSS footswitch to tap in a count for his delay sound.
While this may seem complicated (and it is!) bear in mind that many of the pedals are to recreate certain sounds from the band's 10 albums, or to allow Kita to experiment during live performances.
You do not need to build a pedalboard this big to sound like Kita.
Instead, I would focus on Kita's main pedals, which include the MXR Super Comp, his two Boss DD-20 Giga Delay pedals, the Dunlop535Q Crybaby Multi-Wah, the Strymon ZELZAH (phase) and BOSS MD-200. (phase/auto-wah/tremolo)

Sound Like Kita ...On a Budget

Kita, Quarter Century tour, 2022
To buy Kita's current rig would cost thousands of pounds (the 59' Les Paul alone could be worth £5,000) so much like the Gotch's post we have a few more affordable options that could get you close. The idea is to create a rig that can be used at home or in small venues to perform live.
Also bear in mind that information provided are based on Kita's Live setup, which is aimed at finding a medium between all of the sounds formed on the albums. Please also note that these are personal suggestions as a fan and if you find that works better for you, then great!
The main areas to consider are:

• A 50's inspired Les Paul
• A Boutique Marshall style amp
• A compressor pedal
• A Delay pedal and Multi-effect pedals

GUITAR
In terms of guitar options there are plenty of Les Paul copies, but for look and sound Epiphone is a no-brainer. The Epiphone 1959 Les Paul Standard is the newer, more expensive option but is based on the 59' Les Paul model, much like Kita's main guitar. You can buy one for around £749.
Epiphone 1959 Les Paul Standard
The more affordable option is the Epiphone Les Paul Standard '50s, which is also a solid pick and goes for around £500.
AMPLIFIER
In terms of affordable amps, Bogner have recently released the Ecstasy Mini 30W Head which costs around £349. You would need a speaker to plug the head into, this solid-state amp would get you close to Kita's sound and could be used for gigging with a big enough speaker.
Bogner Ecstasy Mini 30W Head
You could also try out the Marshall MG50 and Marshall Origin amps as affordable Marshall amps with a classic sound, closer to the JCM900/Bogner style.
Another approach you could take would be to use the Bogner Ecstasy pedals, which are pedals designed to emulate the Bogner Ecstasy amps. (Please bear in mind that you would need to tweak the settings more to work with the amp you use)
The BOSS Katana series and Blackstar amps (which have a dial to set a more British sound) have Marshall-esque settings and could also work, but would require more tweaking.
PEDALS
There are a wide variety of pedals to choose from, but to keep the pedal suggestions simple but versatile. Because of its importance to Kita's sound, I would recommend the MXR Super Comp.
MXR Super Comp
A great example of how this would sound can be on tako wasa YouTube channel, who demonstrated the pedal on this live stream. (tako also has a solid pedal board that is worth taking inspiration from!) An alternative approach would be to buy a Booster pedal to create the same effect, such as the Xotic EP-3 Boost
A delay pedal is also must for a sound like rig (Especially those keen to play the Re:Re: 2016 intro) and so the recommendation would be a Boss DD Delay pedals. The DD-6 or DD-8 are more affordable options that can definitely do the job, while the DD-200 gives you a more versatile option and the ability to save pre-sets for different tracks.
Boss DD-8
Cheaper alternatives that you could also consider are the Tone City Tape Machine and the TC Electronic Flashback 2 Mini, which are both good options for the price.
Another pedal for Kita's sound to consider would be a Wah pedal. As the Dunlop535Q Crybaby is quite a steep price for casual players, so I would recommend the Vox 845 Wah Wah Pedal. At £69 its considerably cheaper than the Dunlop535Q and should get close to Kita's original Wah sound.
Finally, we are going to focus on the modulation sounds for Kita, and ultimately this is down to preference and what songs you would like to emulate.
BOSS MD-200
If you wanted to have a mix of sounds, the BOSS MD-200, which Kita uses, covers many of the sounds he uses, including the phaser, auto-Wah and tremolo sounds.
For more specific roles, the BOSS PH-3 Phase Shifter will get you close to his original phase sound (try to avoid the Phase 90 style pedals for Kita's sound), while the BOSS Harmonist or a different Octave pedal would help capture some of his lead tones for the current era.
You could also consider a reverb pedal if you want to capture some of the ambient sounds Kita creates live or if the amp you choose doesn't include reverb.
AMP SIMULATOR PEDAL OPTIONS?
The final option to consider would be a Amp Simulator pedal. This type of pedal has become increasingly popular in the last few years and would be used in place of a traditional amp and effect pedals. You would then use the Amp Simulator with a IR Cabinet (a powered cabinet speaker) or with a Power Amp in between the Amp Simulator and a traditional cabinet.
They can be fairly expensive to buy and I would only advise buying one if you do intend to move on from your traditional amp/pedal setup, however the Quad Cortex DSP & Headrush Pedalboard would be good starting points. They are both aimed at capturing more traditionally hi gain amps such as the Bogner and Marshall amps, so should be able to do a good job at capturing Kita's sound.

Recommended Amp Settings

The following amp settings were based on photos from live performances and you should bear in mind that the volume may be quite loud for home use, so I would suggest bringing it down. Also bear in mind that every musician and amp will slightly differ so you may need to tweak with your settings to find the right blend.
My personal advice is to keep the gain around the middle and to use the volume to crunch up the sound. Kita does use a cabinet, so you may need to add more low end for a combo amp, and again bear in mind that the volume may need to be lower for home use.
Shino Luck V6:
Vol: 5, Treble: 5, Middle: 5, Bass: 3.5, Master: 3.5, Boost: 7, Level: 4
Bogner Green Setting:
Presence A: 8.5, Presence B: 8, Vol. 1: 5, Treble: 4:5, Mid: 4, Gain 1: 5.5
Bogner Blue Setting:
Vol. 2: 5.5, Vol. 3: 5.5, Treble: 5, Middle: 5/5.5, Bass: 5, Gain 2: 4.5, Gain 3: 5.5

Conclusion

Thank you again for reading this and I hope it's been insightful for you. Feel free to leave feedback below and any of your own tips

So the first picture is the regular cover. The next 2 is the lenticular cover showing both angles of it.

Art by Bob Nicholls
Nowadays, when we envision the words “prey,” among modern mammalian fauna, few taxa come to mind as quickly as the hoofed mammals, better known as the ungulates. Indeed, for the better part of their entire evolutionary history, the ungulates have become entirely indistinguishable from the term “prey.” Across their two major modern branches, the artiodactyls (the “even-toed ungulates,” such as bovids, pigs, deer, hippos and giraffes) and the perissodactyls (the “odd-toed ungulates,” including horses, rhinos and tapir), the ungulates too have created an empire spanning nearly every continent, establishing themselves as the the dominant herbivores throughout their entire range. However, as a price for such success, their lot as herbivores have forced them into an unenviable position: being the food for the predators. Indeed, throughout the diets of most modern predators, ungulates make up the majority, if not the entirety, of their diet, becoming their counterparts in this evolutionary dance of theirs. They have become the lamb to their wolf, the zebra to their lion, the stag to their tiger. If there is a predator in need of lunch, chances are that there is an ungulate there to provide it. Of course, such a dynamic is not necessarily a recent innovation. For the last 15-20 million years, across much of the world, both new and old, the ungulates have served as prey for these predators through it all. Over the course of whole epochs, these two groups have played into these roles for millions of years, coevolving with each other in an eons-long game of cat-and-mouse. The shoes they fill are not new, but have existed for ages, and within their niches they have cultivated their roles to perfection. Indeed, with such a tenured history, it seems hardly surprising the ungulates are wholly inseparable from the terms “prey,” itself.
However, while this is the case now, as it has been for the last 15-20 million years, go back far enough, and we see that this dynamic is not as set in stone as we would think. Indeed, back during the Eocene and Oligocene, during the very earliest days of age of mammals, things were very different for the ungulates. While today they are considered little more than food for modern predators, during these olden days, the ungulates weren’t quite so benign. In fact, far from being fodder for top predators, the ungulates had turned the tables, instead becoming top predators themselves. Indeed, though nearly unheard of today, throughout much of the Eocene and Oligocene, carnivorous ungulates thrived in abundance, developing specializations for catching large prey and establishing themselves as top predators that competed alongside the more traditional carnivores, and even dominating them in some instances. Given such success, it’s no wonder that multiple such clades had arisen during this time. Such predators included the arctocyonids, a lineage of (ironically) hoof-less ungulates with large jaws and sharp teeth for capturing large prey. There were also the mesonychians, a lineage of dog-like ungulates with massive skulls and jaws that allowed them to reign as the top predator across much of the Eocene.
However, among these various lineages, one stands stands out among the rest, by far. Arising during the Eocene, this lineage, though superficially resembling modern pigs, hailed from one an ancient lineage of artiodactyls far removed from swine or most other ungulates in general, with few close relatives alive today. Through perhaps not the most predatory of the bunch, it was among the most formidable, as their superficially pig-like appearance came with giant predatory jaws and teeth unlike anything from the modern era. And of course, as if all of that wasn’t enough, this lineage also went on to earn arguably one of the most badass nicknames of any lineage of mammals, period. These predators, of course, were the entelodonts, a.k.a the “hell-pigs.” More so than any other predatory ungulate lineage, these formidable ungulates were the ones to turn the current paradigm upside down, becoming some of the largest and most dominant carnivores in their landscape, even with (and often in spite of) the presence of more traditional predators. Through impressive size, fearsome teeth and sheer tenacity, these animals became the top dogs of their time, ruling as behemoth-kings of their Paleogene kingdoms, domineering all comers, and throughout the ranks, one entelodont in particular demonstrated such dominance the best. Though not the largest or most powerful of their kind, it is one of the most iconic, being among the most well-known members of its lineage to date. Moreover, this enteledont also has some of the most complete life histories ever seen out of this clade, with its brutality and predatory prowess being displayed in the fossil record in a way seen in no other member of its kind. More than anything else, however, it was this predator that best turned the notion of “ungulates being prey” on its head, living in an environment that bore some of the largest carnivoran hypercarnivores to date and still reigning as the undisputed top predator of its domain. This fearsome beast was none other than Archaeotherium, icon of the entelodonts, terror of the Oligocene American west and undisputed king of the White River badlands.
The rise of Archaeotherium (and of entelodonts in general) is closely tied to the ascendancy of carnivorous ungulates as a whole, one of the earliest evolutionary success stories of the entire Cenozoic. Having become their own derived clade since the late Cretaceous, the ungulates were remarkably successful during the early Paleogene, as they were among the first mammalian clades to reach large sizes during those early days after the non-avian dinosaurs had gone extinct. As such, it was with incredible swiftness that, as the Paleogene progressed, the ungulates swooped upon the various niches left empty by the K-Pg mass extinction that killed the dinosaurs. This of course included the herbivorous niches we would know them for today, but this also included other, much more carnivore roles. Indeed, early on during the Paleogene, it was the ungulates that first seized the roles of large mammalian predators, becoming some the earliest large mammalian carnivores to ever live, well before even the carnivorans. Such predators included the arctocyonids, a lineage of vaguely dog-like, hoof-less ungulates with robust jaws and sharpened teeth that acted as some of earliest large carnivores of the Paleocene, with genera such as Arctocyon mumak getting up to the size of big cats. Even more prolific were the mesonychids. More so than what pretty much any other lineage of predator, it was the mesonychids that would stand out as the earliest dominant predators of the early Cenozoic. Growing up to the size of bears and with enormous, bone-crushing jaws, the mesonychids were among the most powerful and successful predators on the market at that time, with a near-global range and being capable of subjugating just about any other predator in their environments. Indeed, they, along with other carnivorous ungulates (as well as ungulates in general), were experiencing a golden age during this time, easily being the most prolific predators of the age. Given such prevalence, it should be no surprise that there would be yet another lineage of predatory ungulates would throw their hat into the ring, and by early Eocene, that contender would none other than the entelodonts.
The very first entelodonts had arisen from artiodactyl ancestors during the Eocene epoch, at a time when artiodactyls were far more diverse and bizarre than they are now. Through today known from their modern herbivorous representatives such as bovines, deer, and antelope, during the Paleocene and Eocene, the artiodacyls, as with most ungulates of that time, were stronger and far more predaceous, particularly when it came to one such clade of artiodactyls, the cetacodontamorphs. Only known today from hippos and another group of artiodactyls (one which will become relevant later), the cetacodantomorphs emerged out of Asia around 55 million years ago, at around the same time that artiodactyls themselves had made their debut. These animals included the first truly predatory artiodactyls, with many of them possessing large skulls with powerful jaws and sharp, predatory teeth. Among their ranks included animals as puny as Indohyus, a piscivorous artiodactyl the size of a cat, to as formidable as Andrewsarchus, a giant, bison-sized predator often touted as one of the largest predatory mammals to ever live. Given such a predatory disposition, it wouldn’t be long until this clade produced a lineage of truly diverse, truly successful predators, and by around 40 million years ago, that is exactly what they did, as it was at that time that the entelodonts themselves first emerged. From their Asian homeland, the entelodonts spread across the world, spreading through not only most of Eurasia but also colonizing North America as well, with genera such as Brachyhyops being found across both continents. Here, in this North American frontier, the entelodonts began to diversify further, turning into their most successful and formidable forms yet, and it was around the late Eocene and early Oligocene that Archaeotherium itself had entered the scene.
Just from a passing glance at Archaeotherium, it is clear how exactly it (as well as the other entelodonts) earned the nickname of “hell-pigs.” It was a bruiser for starters; its body bore a robust, pig-like physique, with prominent neural spines and their associated musculature forming a hump around the shoulder region, similar to the hump of a bison. With such a bulky physique came with it impressive size; the average A. mortoni had a head-body length of roughly 1.6-2.0 m (5.3-6.6 ft), a shoulder height of 1.2 m (4 ft) and a body mass of around 180 kg (396 lb) in weight (Boardman & Secord, 2013; Joeckel, 1990). At such sizes, an adult Archaeotherium the size of a large male black bear. However, they had the potential to get even bigger. While most Archaeotherium specimens were around the size described above, a select few specimens, labeled under the synonymous genus “Megachoerus,” are found to be much larger, with skulls getting up to 66% longer than average A. mortoni specimens (Foss, 2001; Joeckel, 1990). At such sizes and using isometric scaling, such massive Archaeotherium specimens would attained body lengths over 2.5 m (8.2 ft) and would have reached weighs well over 500 kg (1100 lb), or as big as a mature male polar bear. Indeed, at such sizes, it is already abundantly evident that Archaeotherium is a force to be recorded with.
However, there was more to these formidable animals than sheer size alone. Behind all that bulk was an astoundingly swift and graceful predator, especially in terms of locomotion. Indeed, the hoofed feet of Archaeotherium, along with other entelodonts, sported several adaptations that gave it incredible locomotive efficiency, essentially turning it into a speed demon of the badlands. Such adaptations include longer distal leg elements (e.g. the radius and tibia) than their proximal counterparts (e.g. the humerus and femur), fusion of the radius and ulna for increased running efficiency, the loss of the clavicle (collar-bone) to allow for greater leg length, the loss of the acromion to enhance leg movement along the fore-and-aft plane, the loss of digits to reduce the mass of the forelimb, the fusion of the ectocuneiform and the mesocuneiform wrist-bones, among many other such traits (Theodore, 1996) . Perhaps most significant of these adaptations is the evolution of the “double-pulley astragalus (ankle-bone),” a specialized modification of the ankle that, while restricting rotation and side-to-side movement at the ankle-joint, allows for greater rotation in the fore-and-aft direction, thus allowing for more more powerful propulsion from the limbs, faster extension and retraction of the limbs and overall greater locomotive efficiency (Foss, 2001). Of course, such a trait was not only found in entelodonts but in artiodactyls as a whole, likely being a response to predatory pressures from incumbent predatory clades arising at the same time as the artiodactyls (Foss, 2001). However, in the case of the entelodonts, such adaptations were not used for merely escaping predators. Rather, they were used to for another, much more lethal effect…
Such notions are further reinforced by the entelodonts most formidable aspect, none either than their fearsome jaws, and in this respect, Archaeotherium excelled. Both for its size and in general, the head of Archaeotherium was massive, measuring 40-50 cm (1.3-1.6 ft) in length among average A. mortoni specimens, to up to 78 cm (~2.6 ft) in the larger “Megachoerus” specimens (Joeckel, 1990). Such massive skulls were supported and supplemented by equally massive neck muscles and ligaments, which attached to massive neural spines on the anterior thoracic vertebrae akin to a bisons hump as well as to the sternum, allowing Archaeotherium to keep its head aloft despite the skulls massive size (Effinger, 1998). Of course, with such a massive skull, it should come as no surprise that such skulls housed exceptionally formidable jaws as well, and indeed, the bite of Archaeotherium was an especially deadly one. Its zygomatic arches (cheek-bones) and its temporal fossa were enlarged and expanded, indicative of massive temporalis muscles that afforded Archaeotherium astoundingly powerful bites (Joeckel, 1990). This is further augmented by Archaeotherium’s massive jugal flanges (bony projections of the cheek), which supported powerful masseter muscles which enhanced chewing and mastication, as well as an enlarged postorbital bar that reinforced the skull against torsional stresses (Foss, 2001). Last but not least, powerful jaws are supplemented by an enlarged gape, facilitated by a low coronoid process and enlarged posterior mandibular tubercles (bony projections originating from the lower jaw), which provided an insertion site for sternum-to-mandible jaw abduction muscles, allowing for a more forceful opening of the jaw (Foss, 2001). All together, such traits suggest a massive and incredibly fearsome bite, perhaps the most formidable of any animal in its environment.
Of course, none of such traits are especially indicative of a predatory lifestyle. Indeed, many modern non-predatory ungulates, like hippos, pigs and peccaries, also possess large, formidable skulls and jaws. However, in peeling back the layers, it is found there was more to the skull of Archaeotherium that lies in store. Indeed, when inspecting the animal closely, a unique mosaic of features is revealed; traits that make it out to be much more lethal than the average artiodactyl. On one hand, Archaeotherium possessed many traits similar to those of herbivores animals, as is expected of ungulates. For instance, its jaw musculature that allowed the lower jaw of Archaeotherium a full side-to-side chewing motion as in herbivores (whereas most carnivores can only move their lower jaw up and down)(Effinger, 1998). On the other hand, Archaeotherium wielded many other traits far more lethal in their morphology, less akin to a herbivore and far more akin to a bonafide predator. For instance, the aforementioned enlarged gape of Archaeotherium is a bizarre trait on a supposed herbivore, as such animals do not need large gapes to eat vegetation and thus have smaller, more restricted gapes. Conversely, many predatory lineages have comparatively large gapes, as larger gapes allow for the the jaws to grab on to more effectively larger objects, namely large prey animals (Joeckel, 1990).
Such a juxtaposition, however, is most evident when discussing the real killing instruments of Archaeotherium — the teeth. More so than any facet of this animal, the teeth of Archaeotherium are the real stars of the show, showing both how alike it was compared to its herbivores counterparts and more importantly, how it couldn’t be more different. For instance, the molars of Archaeotherium were quite similar to modern herbivores ungulates, in that they were robust, bunodont, and were designed for crushing and grinding, similar in form and function to modern ungulates like peccaries (Joeckel, 1990). However, while the molars give the impression that Archaeotherium was a herbivore, the other teeth tell a very different story. The incisors, for example, were enlarged, sharpened, and fully interlocked (as opposed to the flat-topped incisors seen in herbivores ungulates), creating an incisor array that was seemingly ill-suited for cropping vegetation and much more adept at for gripping, puncturing and cutting (Joeckel, 1990). Even more formidable were the canines. Like the modern pigs from which entelodonts derived their nicknames, the canines of Archaeotherium were sharp and enlarged to form prominent tusk-like teeth, but unlike pigs, they were rounded in cross-section (similar to modern carnivores like big cats, indicating more durable canines that can absorb and resist torsional forces, such as those from struggling prey) and were serrated to form a distinct cutting edge (Effinger, 1998; Joeckel, 1990; Ruff & Van Valkenburgh, 1987). These canines, along with the incisors, interlock to stabilize the jaws while biting and dismantling in a carnivore-like fashion. More strikingly, the canines also seem to act as “occlusal guides,” wherein the canines help align the movement and position of the rear teeth as they come together, allowing for a more efficient shearing action by the rear teeth. This function is seen most prevalently modern carnivorous mammals, and is evidenced by the canine tooth-wear, which is also analogous to modern predators like bears and canids (Joeckel, 1990). Indeed, going off such teeth alone, it is clear that Archaeotherium is far more predatory than expected of an ungulate. However, the real stars of the show, the teeth that truly betray the predatory nature of these ungulates, are the premolars. Perhaps the most carnivore-like teeth in the entelodont’s entire tooth row, the premolars of Archaeotherium, particularly the anterior premolars, are laterally compressed, somewhat conical in shape, and are weakly serrated to bear a cutting edge, giving them a somewhat carnivorous form and function of shearing and slicing (Effinger, 1998). Most strikingly of all, the premolars of Archaeotherium bear unique features similar not to modern herbivores, but to durophagous carnivores like hyenas, particularly apical wear patterns, highly thickened enamel, “zigzag-shaped” enamel prism layers (Hunter-Schraeger bands) on the premolars which is also seen in osteophagous animals like hyenas, and an interlocking premolar interface wherein linear objects (such as bones) inserted into jaws from the side would be pinned between the premolars and crushed (Foss, 2001). Taken together, these features do not suggest a diet of grass or vegetation like other ungulates. Rather, they suggest a far more violent diet, one including flesh as well as hard, durable foods, particularly bone. All in all, the evidence is clear. Archaeotherium and other entelodonts, unlike the rest of their artiodactyl kin, were not the passive herbivores as we envision ungulates today. Rather, they were willing, unrepentant meat-eaters that had a taste for flesh as well as foliage.
Of course, even with such lines of evidence, its hard to conclude that Archaeotherium was a true predator. After all, its wide gape and durophagous teeth could have just as easily been used for scavenging or even to eat tough plant matter such as seeds or nuts, as in peccaries and pigs, which themselves share many of the same adaptations as Archaeotherium, include the more carnivorous ones (e.g. the wide gape, using the canines as an occlusal guide, etc.). How exactly do we know that these things were veritable predators and not pretenders to the title. To this end, there is yet one last piece of evidence, one that puts on full display the predatory prowess of Archaeotherium —evidence of a kill itself. Found within oligocene-aged sediment in what is now Wyoming, a collection of various fossil remains was found, each belonging to the ancient sheep-sized camel Poebrotherium, with many of the skeletal remains being disarticulated and even missing whole hindlimbs or even entire rear halves of their body. Tellingly, many of the remains bear extensive bite marks and puncture wounds across their surface. Upon close examination, the spacing and size of the punctures leave only one culprit: Archaeotherium. Of course, such an event could still have been scavenging; the entelodonts were consuming the remains of already dead, decomposed camels, explaining the bite marks. What was far more telling, however, was where the bite marks were found. In addition bite marks being found on the torso and lumbar regions of the camels, various puncture wounds were found on the skull and neck, which were otherwise uneaten. Scavengers rarely feast on the head to begin with; there is very little worthwhile meat on it besides the brain, cheek-muscles and eyes, and even if they did feed on the skull and neck, they would still eat it wholesale, not merely bite it and then leave it otherwise untouched. Indeed, it was clear that this was no mere scavenging event. Rather than merely consuming these camels, Archaeotherium was actively preying upon and killing them, dispatching them via a crushing bite to the skull or neck before dismembering and even bisecting the hapless camels with their powerful jaws to preferentially feast on their hindquarters (likely by swallowing the hindquarters whole, as the pelvis of Poebrotherium was coincidentally the perfect width for Archaeotherium to devour whole), eventually discarding the leftovers in meat caches for later consumption (Sundell, 1999). With this finding, such a feat of brutality leaves no doubt in ones mind as to what the true nature of Archaeotherium was. This was no herbivore, nor was it a simple scavenger. This was an active, rapacious predator, the most powerful in its entire ecosystem.
Indeed, with such brutal evidence of predation frozen in time, combined with various dental, cranial, and post cranial adaptations of this formidable animal, it’s possible to paint a picture of how this formidable creature lived. Though an omnivore by trade, willing and able to feast on plant matter such as grass, roots and tubers, Archaeotherium was also a wanton predator that took just about any prey it wanted. Upon detecting its prey, it approached its vicim from ambush before launching itself at blazing speed. From there, its cursorial, hoofed legs, used by other ungulates for escape predation, were here employed to capture prey, carrying it at great speeds as it caught up to its quarry. Having closed the distance with its target, it was then that the entelodont brought its jaws to bear, grabbing hold of the victim with powerful jaws and gripping teeth to bring it to a screeching halt. If the victim is lucky, Archaeotherium will then kill it quickly with a crushing bite to the skull or neck, puncturing the brain or spinal cord and killing its target instantly. If not, the victim is eaten alive, torn apart while it’s still kicking, as modern boars will do today. In any case, incapacitated prey are subsequently dismantled, with the entelodont using its entire head and heavily-muscled necks to bite into and pull apart its victim in devastating “puncture-and pull’ bites (Foss, 2001). Prey would then finally be consumed starting at the hindquarters, with not even the bones of its prey being spared. Such brutality, though far from clean, drove home a singular truth: that during this time, ungulates were not just prey, that they were not the mere “predator-fodder” we know them as today. rather, they themselves were the predators themselves, dominating as superb hunters within their domain and even suppressing clades we know as predators today, least of all the carnivorans. Indeed, during this point in time, the age of the carnivorous ungulates had hit their stride, and more specifically, the age of entelodonts had begun.
Of course, more so than any other entelodont, Archaeotherium took to this new age with gusto. Archaeotherium lived from 35-28 million years ago during the late Eocene and early Oligocene in a locality known today as the White River Badlands, a fossil locality nestled along the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains. Though a chalky, barren landscape today, during the time of Archaeotherium, the White River Badlands was a swamp-like floodplain crisscrossed with rivers and interspersed with by a mosaic of forests concentrated around waterways, open woodlands and open plains. As with most ecosystems with such a lush disposition, this locale teemed with life, with ancient hornless rhinos, small horse-like hyracodonts and early camels roaming the open habitats while giant brontotheres, small early horses and strange, sheep-like ungulates called merycoidodonts (also known as “oreodonts”) dwelled within the dense forests. Within this locale, Archaeotherium stalked the open woodlands and riparian forests of its domain. Here, it acted as a dominant predator and scavenger across is territory, filling a niche similar to modern grizzly bears but far more predatory. Among its preferred food items would be plant matter such as roots, foliage and nuts, but also meat in the form of carrion or freshly caught prey. In this respect, smaller ungulates such as the fleet-footed camel Poebrotherium, a known prey item of Archaeotherium, would have made a for choice prey, as its small size would make it easy for Archaeotherium to dispatch with its powerful jaws, while the entelodonts swift legs gave it the speed necessary to keep pace with its agile prey.
However, the entelodont didn’t have such a feast all to itself. Just as the badlands teemed with herbivores, so too did it teem with rival predators. Among their ranks included fearsome predators such as Hyaenodon, a powerful, vaguely dog-like predator up to the size of wolves (as in H. horridus) or even lions (as in the Eocene-aged H. megaloides, which was replaced by H. horridus during the Oligocene). Armed with a massive head, fierce jaws and a set of knife-like teeth that could cut down even large prey in seconds, these were some of the most formidable predators on the landscape. There were also the nimravids, cat-like carnivorans that bore saber-teeth to kill large prey in seconds, and included the likes of the lynx-sized Dinictis, the leopard-sized Hoplophoneus and even the jaguar-sized Eusmilus. Furthermore, there were amphicyonids, better known as the bear-dogs. Though known from much larger forms later on in their existence, during the late Eocene and Oligocene, they were much smaller and acted as the “canid-analogues” of the ecosystem, filling a role similar to wolves or coyotes. Last but not least, there were the bathornithid birds, huge cariamiform birds related to modern seriemas but much larger, which filled a niche similar to modern seriemas or secretary birds, albeit on a much larger scale. Given such competition, it would seem that Archaeotherium would have its hands full. However, things are not as they appear. For starters, habitat differences would mitigate high amounts of competition, as both Hyaenodon and the various nimravids occupy more specialized ecological roles (being a plains-specialist and forest-specialist, respectively) than did Archaeotherium, providing a buffer to stave off competition: More importantly, however, none of the aforementioned predators were simply big enough to take Archaeotherium on. During the roughly 7 million years existence of Archaeotherium, the only carnivore that matched it in size was H. megaloides, and even that would have an only applied to average A. mortoni individuals, not to the much larger, bison-sized “Megachoerus” individuals. The next largest predator at that point would be the jaguars-sized Eusmilus (specifically E. adelos) which would have only been a bit more than half the size of even an average A. mortoni. Besides that, virtually every other predator on the landscape was simply outclassed by the much larger entelodont in terms of size and brute strength. As such, within its domain, Archaeotherium had total, unquestioned authority, dominating the other predators in the landscape and likely stealing their kills as well. In fact, just about the only threat Archaeotherium had was other Archaeotherium, as fossil bite marks suggest that this animal regularly and fraglantly engaged in intraspecific combat, usually through face-biting and possibly even jaw-wrestling (Effinger, 1998; Tanke & Currie, 1998). Nevertheless, it was clear that Archaeotherium was the undisputed king of the badlands; in a landscape of hyaenodonts and carnivorans galore, it was a hoofed ungulate that reigned supreme.
However, such a reign would not last. As the Eocene transitioned into the Eocene, the planet underwent an abrupt cooling and drying phase known as Eocene-Oligocene Transition or more simply the Grande Coupure. This change in climate would eliminate the sprawling wetlands and river systems that Archaeotherium had been depending on, gradually replacing it with drier and more open habitats. To its credit, Archaeotherium did manage to hang on, persisting well after the Grand-Coupure had taken place, but in the end the damage had been done; Archaeotherium was a dead-man-walking. Eventually, by around 28 million years ago, Archaeotherium would go extinct, perishing due to this change in global climate (Gillham, 2019). Entelodonts as a whole would persist into the Miocene, producing some of their largest forms ever known in the form of the bison-sized Daeodon (which was itself even more carnivorous than Archaeotherium), however they too would meet the same fate as their earlier cousins. By around 15-20 million years ago, entelodonts as a whole would go extinct. However, while the entelodonts may have perished, this was not the end of carnivorous ungulates as a whole. Recall that the cetacodontamorphs, the lineage of artiodactyls that produced the entelodonts, left behind two living descendants. The first among them were the hippos, themselves fairly frequent herbivores. The second of such lineage, however, was a different story. Emerging out of South Asia, this lineage of piscivorous cetacodontamorphs, in a an attempt to further specialize for the fish-hunting lifestyle, began to delve further and further into the water, becoming more and more aquatic and the millennia passed by. At a certain point, these carnivorous artiodactlys had become something completely unrecognizable from their original hoofed forms. Their skin became hairless and their bodies became streamlined for life in water. Their hoofed limbs grew into giant flippers for steering in the water and their previously tiny tails became massive and sported giant tail flukes for aquatic propulsion. Their noses even moved to the tip of their head, becoming a blowhole that would be signature to this clade as a whole. Indeed, this clade was none other than the modern whales, themselves derived, carnivorous ungulates that had specialized for a life in the water, and in doing so, became the some of the most dominant aquatic predators across the globe for millions of years. Indeed, though long gone, the legacy of the entelodonts and of predatory ungulates as a whole, a legacy Archaeotherium itself had helped foster, lives on in these paragons of predatory prowess, showing that the ungulates are more than just the mere “prey” that they are often made out to be. Moreover, given the success that carnivorous ungulates had enjoyed in the past and given how modern omnivorous ungulates like boar dabble in predation themselves, perhaps, in the distant future, this planet may see the rise of carnivorous ungulates once again, following in the footsteps left behind by Archaeotherium and the other predatory ungulates all those millions of years ago.

Was going through some old paperwork from the mid 2000s and found some correspondence with him from when I was a lot more naïve and bought 3 skyline front clips and he only delivered 1 of them... He wound up scamming dozens of people, importing skylines that weren't legal, not delivering, etc etc. Was a big deal on the 240sx forums and nicoclub forums. Remember forums?
That led me down a bit of a rabbit hole and looks like sometime around 2010 he transitioned to "Cammie McKenzie" and started scamming people on hydroponics lights.
Did he ever wind up in jail? Anyone else want to join me on this trip down memory lane?
Also in this timewarp I found some pics of my "build" from 2003. I remember being proud of this crap... Disgraceful. Have a laugh below...
https://preview.redd.it/mvzmm4ojze0d1.jpg?width=1024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1ef16a9748602592799890b8ee90b83084445072
https://preview.redd.it/ki56lwkqze0d1.jpg?width=1024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=aceb31b9035cfb3bc4d1f6266a9d7299e5ffa02e
https://preview.redd.it/372z8buuze0d1.jpg?width=1024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=84d55ccc34a687de28be65f622d5007af1af16b3
I have a distinct memory of taking these pictures with a digital camera that I borrowed from a friend. I thought my electronics were so cool. I wish I could remember what stupid function those switches and LED lights served.

• Could my hair look good with bangs despite the frizz and damage? Mostly inspired by shag cuts. (I’m worried about the misplaced sections of short hair almost at the very front, as shown in the last picture. It’s like that on both sides of my face)
• How much of the lengths do I need to chop? I’ll be going to a hairdresser and getting layers but I’m interested to hear your thoughts.
Some brief history is that I’ve always had dry hair naturally but I’ve been taking good care of it, up until I moved to a place with hard water ~1 year ago. I subconsciously itched my scalp which led to friction damage and breakage. I stopped as soon as I noticed (in December) but the damage had gotten quite severe already. I’ve found products and a washing routine that work; my hair seems to be doing better, but the questions about my upcoming haircut remain :)