Posts Tagged ‘ Visual Kei ’

Album of the Week 19-2023: lynch. – Reborn


What does a rebirth mean? If the new lynch. album ‘Reborn’ is anything to go by, it would be releasing the best album you have ever made nearly two decades into your career. The title may refer to the fact that the band basically split up for a few months and is now back, but the songs on ‘Reborn’ really find lynch. reaching heights I did not consider them capable of. While they were always one of the better nu-metally J-rock bands that popped up in the first few years of this century – most notably around the Nagoya area – the depth this album displays is a pleasant surprise.

One possible explanation for the variation on display here is the fact that all band members contributed to the songwriting. Generally, singer Hazuki dominates the songwriting, with a handful of songs by guitarist Yusuke – usually the excellent dark ballads – and maybe the occasional song by bassist Akinori. For ‘Reborn’, each member basically contributed two songs. This could be a recipe for a disjointed mess, but every lynch. member appears to be aware of both the strengths and the possibilities of the band’s sound. The result is slightly more atmospheric than usual, but that’s how lynch. sounds best anyway.

Most surprising are the contributions by drummer Asanao. None of the lynch. albums I own contains any songwriting credits for him, but both ‘The Forbidden Door’ and ‘Angel Dust’ are simply excellent songs. The former looks for all the extremes of the lynch. sound with its strong modern metal riffing, brooding pre-chorus and contrasting hypermelodic chorus, while the latter is a catchy melodic J-rocker interrupted by short bursts of crushing heaviness. Akinori’s ‘Nihil’ feels like a typical comoposition for a bassist, with his prominent vicious slapping being all over the song, but it also contains a dynamic contrast between clean, delayed lead guitar parts and heavier riffs.

It gets even better when lynch. goes in a more atmospheric direction. Sometimes that direction is still quite heavy, such as ‘Bleu’ and ‘Crime’, which both feature stomping start-stop riffing with a surprisingly laid-back vocal performance by Hazuki. ‘Pragma’ is an excellent example of the type of heavy ballads that lynch. does so well. Closer ‘Sink’ is a typical Yusuke composition full of subtle, reverberating guitar and keyboard layers which almost sounds like a collage of ballad ideas that connect up surprisingly well. Even the pleasantly melodic opener ‘Eclipse’ is actually remarkably subtle, despite its occassional bursts of aggression.

‘Reborn’ is hands down the best album that lynch. ever released. ‘XIII’ is very good, but this is just next level, because the band found what worked about their sound and enhanced a few elements without alienating anyone who liked lynch. before. They were always an above average band in their scene due to their strong songwriting and the fact that Hazuki is one of the better singers in the genre, but I did not expect them to be capable of anything this good. Anyone looking for a perfect marriage of modern metal and atmospheric alternative rock will find it here.

Recommended tracks: ‘Pragma’, ‘The Forbidden Door’, ‘Eclipse’, ‘Sink’

2023
05/14
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Album of the Week 16-2023: NoGoD – Now Testament


After their highly creative lead guitarist Kyrie left the band, I was not sure what to expect from NoGoD. Sure, they still had one of their greatests assets in the powerfully emotional vocals of Dancho – without a doubt one of the best singers in the visual kei scene – but losing such an important member could cause the songwriting to take a hit. Fortunately, this is not what happened. In fact, ‘Now Testament’ might just be the best and most focused album NoGoD released to date. ‘V’ used to be my clear favorite NoGoD album, but ‘Now Testament’ is a strong contender at the very least.

My biggest concern about Kyrie leaving was that the intricate metal riffs that popped up fairly frequently in NoGoD’s music would disappear, as he was usually the one playing them. However, ‘Now Testament’ sounds exactly like one would expect a NoGoD album to sound stylistically. Energetic rock songs with hopeful, but never overly upbeat choruses dominate the album. And they appear in various styles, from spry, punky rockers like ‘If Possible’ and ‘Tama to Kudakero’ to interestingly structured power ballads and even songs that could be classified as progressive metal – more on that later.

‘Now Testament’ does not need long to take my worries about NoGoD’s metal riffing away, because intro track ‘Renatus’ and the goosebumps-inducing proper opener ‘What Do You Say’ are full of them. That does not mean NoGoD is a full-on metal band now; Dancho’s strong, heartfelt voice thrives in melodic rock arrangements that give him ample space and therefore, the choruses are more open almost without exception. ‘Never Fade Away’ is another great example of this: the song is full of borderline speed metal riffs, but the song slows down considerably for a huge, almost arena rock-worthy vocal melody in its chorus.

Two of the highlights are more surprising compositionally. ‘Shikabane wo Koeteike’ is technically a semi-ballad, but does not start out as such. The first riff is the fastest piece of metal on the album, yet it is remarkably dramatic, and even the verses make a more rhythmic impression, not in the last place due to the hypermelodic bass lines courtesy of metal bass master hibiki, who debuts with NoGoD on ‘Now Testament’. ‘Mind’s Eye’ is a progressive metal masterpiece that while remaining mid-tempo throughout manages to be incredibly dynamic by moving back and forth between a surprisingly large number of climaxes. Closer ‘Genyaku Seisho’ is melodic hardrock and metal mastery like only NoGoD can do it.

NoGoD themselves consistently refer to ‘Now Testament’ as the start of a new era – calling the opening track ‘Renatus’ is a bit of a hint as well. If that era consists of releases as amazing as this one, I would absolutely welcome it. Losing two key members has done nothing to diminish the power of NoGoD’s fresh, melodic sound. If anything, it appears to have strengthened the resolve of the remaining members. ‘Now Testament’ is the biggest, most pleasant musical surprise of 2023 for me so far. Anyone into catchy, melodic rockers with the occasional metal influence should get as much of a kick out of this as myself.

Recommended tracks: ‘What Do You Say’, ‘Mind’s Eye’, ‘Shikabane wo Koeteike’, ‘Genyaku Seisho’

2023
04/23
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Album of the Week 12-2023: Kinniku Shōjo Tai – Gekkō Chū


Kinniku Shōjo Tai has a fairly sizeable discography of crazy, eclectic music. Because of that, it is difficult to pick a favorite or one to recommend to someone curious to begin with. If I was forced to pick one, however, it would be ‘Gekkō Chū’, the third release with what is now considered their classic line-up, including guitarists Fumihiko Kitsutaka and Toshiaki Honjō. It hops genres slightly less than the average Kinniku Shōjo Tai album, being primarily an early nineties alternative hardrock album with a thick, metallic bottom end. But it is still strange enough to be characteristic for the band.

Descriptions cannot really do Kinniku Shōjo Tai’s sound justice. Their earliest influences are punk, progressive rock and the first wave of Japanese electronic rock bands. Line-up changes were relevant to the band’s sound, however. Honjō brought a funky alternative rock sound to the band – think early Red Hot Chili Peppers at a time when few Japanese people had even heard of them – and Kitsutaka’s background is in neoclassical hardrock, power metal and Queen-like bombast. For some reason, throwing all those elements together in a seemingly random, yet surprisingly well thought-out fashion has worked wonders for Kinniku Shōjo Tai.

The songwriting on ‘Gekkō Chū’ is dominated by singer Kenji Ōtsuki, him being listed as the main songwriter for the first six of the album’s ten songs. Since every songwriter in Kinniku Shōjo Tai brings something different to the table, that sounds like it might be too much of the same thing. However, this is Ōtsuki finest hour as a songwriter. From the metallic crunch of opening track ‘Kazagurumua Otoko Ruriwo’ to the eerie, largely acoustic semi-ballad ‘Decoy to Crater’ and from the theatrical ‘Yoru Aruku Planetarium Ningen’ – featuring fantastic guest vocals bij the late Aki Kubota – to the simple, but brutally effective hardrock of ‘Shōnen, Guriguri Megane wo Hirou’: it all works surpringly well.

Other band members contributed to the second half of the album. With Kitsutaka being one of my favorite guitarists ever, I fully admit to being biased, but his speed metal monster ‘Iwan no Baka’ is one of the greatest songs Kinniku Shōjo Tai ever recorded. From the neoclassical brilliance in the intro to the fantastic borderline thrash metal riff of the verses and a particularly wild solo section, everything just works. His other contribution is the classy ballad ‘Shōjo no Ōkoku’, which wears Kitsutaka’s Brian May influences on its sleeve. And you can always count on bassist Yūichirō Uchida to come up with something dark and weird, as evidenced by the lengthy instrumental outro ‘Shōjo Ōkoku no Hōkai’.

While Kinniku Shōjo Tai has albums with higher peaks – with the notable exception of ‘Iwan no Baka’ being a top three song for the band, as far as I’m concerned – ‘Gekkō Chū’ is the most consistent listening experience in the band’s discography. Especially for a western audience that may not be accustomed to their genre-hopping, which is fairly wild even by J-rock standards. There is literally not a single song I would skip. And while I think it would have benefited from having at least one Honjō composition, it may be my favorite Kinniku Shōjo Tai album to date.

Recommended tracks: ‘Iwan no Baka’, ‘Yoru Aruku Planetarium Ningen’, ‘Decoy to Crater’

2023
03/26
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Album of the Week 07-2023: Gargoyle – Kuromitten


Looking back now, ‘Kuromitten’ turned out to be a bit of a turning point in Gargoyle’s career. It came off the back of a string of albums that – with the notable exception of ‘Kemonomichi’ – sounded as close to Gargoyle going through the motions as the band would ever be. None of those albums were less than enjoyable, but they lacked the urgency of the band’s best work. ‘Kuromitten’ shows Gargoyle renewing its focus and laying out the blueprint for a new carreer peak in the second decade of the twenty-first century, with a style slightly more streamlined, but no less unconventional.

From ‘Kuromitten’ onward, Gargoyle’s style would pretty much consistently be fifty percent rabid thrash metal, forty percent power metal and ten percent punk-ish rock. Funky tracks were a thing of the past at this point, but there would still always be enough stylistic detours to keep Gargoyle albums from being an exercise in pummeling your skull, even with Kiba’s lead vocals being all bark and bite more or less throughout the album’s playtime. The renewed focus means that ‘Kuromitten’ is easily the most consistent Gargoyle album since ‘Tsuki no Toge’ fifteen years prior, with scorching thrash riffs and triumphant power metal melodies galore.

One thing all of Gargoyle’s best albums have in common is an incredible opener and ‘Shi ni Itaru Kizu’ is one of their best to date. It reprises a handful of themes also present in ‘Gokuraku Full Throttle’ from the preceding ‘Yaiba’ album, but manages to completely overshadow that track with its blazing melodic themes and pulsating palm-muted riffing. Its chorus feels particularly cathartic as well. From then on, listeners are treated to intense violent thrashers like ‘Memento Mori’, ‘Enigma’ and the rhythmically particularly effective ‘Bucchigiri Crash!’, as well as tracks that focus on the somewhat more melodic side of the band.

Ultimately, that is what makes ‘Kuromitten’ such a joy to listen to all the way through. An album full of annihilating thrashers would get tiresome quickly, but Gargoyle knows how to break those up with rockier tracks like the borderline swinging hardrocker ‘Zero Blood’ or the downright fun ‘Magma Kid’. ‘Sora e to Tsuzuku Saka’ is one of the band’s better slower stompers, building from Eastern mysticism to a monumentally huge main riff, after which I love how the song opens up for the chorus and Kentaro’s incredible guitar solo. Hell, even ‘Garapon’, the upbeat rocker that closes the album, is great.

Sometimes, a band that kind of lost its way just needs an album to put them back on track. While Gargoyle did not seem to be getting too lost on the surface, in hindsight it became clear that ‘Kuromitten’ did just that for the quartet from Osaka. I truly believe this album needed to be made in order for Gargoyle to be able to churn out latter-day masterpieces ‘Geshiki’ and ‘Taburakashi’. That does not mean that ‘Kuromitten’ can only be appreciated for what it later achieved, however. Some of the album’s songs are among the band’s greatest work, with ‘Shi ni Itaru Kizu’ rightfully becoming a live staple. More people should hear this.

Recommended tracks: ‘Shi ni Itaru Kizu’, ‘Bucchigiri Crash!’, ‘Sora e to Tsuzuku Saka’

2023
02/19
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Interview: visual kei newcomer Angels’ Temptation

Angels‘ Temptation might just be the most interesting newcomer in the visual kei scene. The band from Tokyo debuted in late 2021 with the excellent ‘Anthem Of The Angels‘. While its combination of symphonic metal and J-rock melodies feels familiar, the band also manages to surprise. A great reason to get acquainted with singer Mirai and bassist Rio.

The members of Angels’ Temptation aren’t complete newcomers. Mirai and Rio used to be members of the visual kei band Secilia Luna, while guitarist Yuri once played in Ancient Myth. “I played in various bands and often lost myself trying to reach specific results.“, Mirai explains. “When we started Angels’ Temptation, I set myself a rule to be able to always be myself and try as many things as possible. I am quite specific about my own compositions, arrangements and lyrics.

Whatever I have in mind, I try to capture to the best of my capacity during the demo phase. But my expectations are always surpassed when the other band members contribute and everything becomes a cohesive whole. That’s the kick of playing in a band. Thinking about it now, I’d say that about 70 percent of the songs is defined during the demo phase. But the end result is 120 percent. Rio eventually takes care of everything.“

Attracted

It is clear that the contributions of all band members are valuable. The line-up of Angels’ Temptation appears to be the result of many years of experince. “I saw Yuri play with a different band and I immediately felt attracted to his playing“, Mirai recalls. “That’s why I decided to approach him.”

“Hideki (guitarist) once saw me play somewhere“, Rio continues. “We had a mutual friend who introduced us to each other. And Syu (session drummer) was part of the same agency as I was. We toured through Japan together. I knew he is a drummer with a lot of passion who would try to do whatever is best for our music.“

However, Syu is a drummer with an exceptionally busy schedule. This appaears to be the most important reason why Angels’ Temptation doesn’t have a full-time drummer yet. “I have always wanted to welcome a drummer into the band“, Mirai admits. “Since I am of the opinion that the band gets stronger from having full-time members. At the moment, this is still in development, but I would like to find a full-time member soon.“

Growth

Visual kei bands are often supported and put into motion by a record label or managemen. However, one look at the credits of ‘Anthem Of The Angels’ betrays that Angels’ Temptation does almost everything themselves. Lyrics, music, arrangements and production are all done by the band. “Doing as many things as possible yourself will make you grow“, Mirai states. “Self-reflection is the shortest way to personal growth. Besides, it allows you to take responsibility for your own work. But it’s not like I never rely on others. The more people you interact with, the easier it becomes to create something that surpasses your expectations and becomes even bigger. It could be a disadvantage to need that, but it also means I have friends to talk to when I don’t know what to do. All in all, there are more benefits than disadvantages to it.“

Interesting is the fact that the angels in the band’s lyrics seem to symbolize this. “Angels are by your side when you’re happy or sad, when you’re in pain or when you smile“, Mirai explains. “They are always by your side and guide you. They are a presence that will be noticed. You don’t even necessarily have to believe in angels for that. If you are not sure what you believe in, people still tend to rely on something to live. We would like to be that something. That might even be the theme of life itself, regardless of my musical life.“

Rock and classical music

While the music of Angels’ Temptation has a lot in common with other symphonic visual kei bands, their approach differs somewhat. The keyboards are more prominent and the overall atmosphere is different. “I listen to a lot of different types of music“, Mirai states. “But when I get influenced too much by what I listen to, the results end up sounding too similar. That is why I always wonder what an original approach is and I don’t try to attach myself to specific artists too much.“

“Originally, I listened to a lot of wind orchestras“, Rio explains. “I played that a lot because of my older sister. Everyone in my family loved music, so I grew up with the music that was played at home. And since everyone liked a different genre, I was exposed to various types of music from a young age. I played the trumpet, but got into a bit of a slump with that, which caused me to wonder: what would it be like to combine rock and classical music? That’s when I started composing. I am very happy to be able to create that myself.“

The original Dutch version of this interview is available at The Sushi Times.

Thanks a ton to my friend Stephany at Arlequin Magazine for her indispensible help setting up and translating the interview.

2023
01/18
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Album of the Week 28-2022: Onmyo-za – Hoyoku Rindo


Occasionally it happens that a band with a somewhat lengthy career has one album in their discography of which it keeps surprising me how good it is. An album that is not necessarily one of their highlights, but every time I put it on, there is a realization that there is a surprising amount of excellent songs on it. Onmyo-za’s fourth full-length ‘Hoyoku Rindo’ is probably the most obvious example of this. It is somewhat lighter in approach than its predecessors, which is probably why I tend to play it less, but there is simply too much good material on ‘Hoyoku Rindo’ to dismiss it.

To some extent, ‘Hoyoku Rindo’ has some similarities with Onmyo-za’s 2009 release ‘Kongo Kyubi’. The production on the album is a bit brighter than usual and because the compositions aren’t quite as dense, it comes across as a bit softer than what is common for the band. Yet, when you zoom in on the individual songs, there is an incredible amount of excellent traditional heavy metal and hardrock to be found here. Overall, ‘Hoyoku Rindo’ is a bit more accessible than its direct predecessor ‘Kojin Rasetsu’ – not to mention the folk elements being less pronounced – but it is an Onmyo-za album through and through.

Consistency rules the day on ‘Hoyoku Rindo’, but if there is anything it excels at, it would be its simple rockers. It does not surprise me one bit that the vaguely Maiden-ish opener ‘Hoyoku-Tensho’ would become a live staple for the band, as it is catchy, well-structured and vocally, Kuroneko is simply a fish in the water on the track. Or a phoenix in the sky, if we’re splitting hairs about the title. ‘Sogenbi’ is another strong uptempo, but not too fast hardrocker in a similar vein, while the speed metal monster ‘Kirin’ proves that ‘Hoyoku Rindo’ may not be as lightweight as it initially comes across.

However, Onmyo-za has not completely forgotten how to write an epic, mildly proggy song. The ten-minute ‘Nue’ is reminiscent of ‘Ayako’ in that it starts almost unequivocally as a ballad – one with a chord progression similar to the one in The Cranberries’ ‘Zombie’ this time – but has a cool middle section that successfully portrays insanity. The interaction between Maneki’s bright, clean rhythm guitars and Karukan’s dancing lead guitar melody on ‘Yoka Ninpocho’ is fairly unique and very engaging. And if you want pure Iron Maiden worship enhanced by the voices of Kuroneko and her husband, band leader Matatabi, look no further than ‘Omokage’.

Sure, ‘Hoyoku Rindo’ ends a bit predictably, with the beautifully sparse ballad ‘Hoshi No Yadori’ and ‘Mai Agaru’, which is probably my least favorite of the lightweight rockers that usually close their albums. But until it gets there, ‘Hoyoku Rindo’ has something fresh it has not lost after all those years of listening to it. I’m not quite sure where it sits in the general perception of Onmyo-za albums, but I have a tendency to underrate it horribly. Please don’t make the same mistake as I did. While I would recommend other albums to start with if you’re not familiar with Onmyo-za, ‘Hoyoku Rindo’ is simply excellent.

Recommended tracks: ‘Omokage’, ‘Kirin’, ‘Hoyoku-Tensho’, ‘Nue’

2022
07/17
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Album of the Week 26-2022: The Gazette – Division


‘Division’ has been poorly represented on The Gazette’s live sets for nearly every tour after its tour cycle ended. Personally, I don’t really understand why. When it was released, it was their best release by a significant margin. And though it has since been surpassed – and then some – by ‘Dogma’, ‘Division’ still contains some of the best songs the visual kei giants have released to date. There is a slightly bigger emphasis on melodies than on every album since they discovered nu-metal, allowing their biggest asset – the warm, clear baritone of Ruki – more space than before in an abundance of excellent melodies.

The Gazette’s status in Japan is comparable to that of a boyband, except their music is a blend of modern metal, J-rock and alternative rock. Their early work never really appealed to me, but they suddenly turned into a surprisingly adventurous modern hardrock band with ‘Dim’ (2009). On follow-up ‘Toxic’ (2011), the band started experimenting with electronics, but often it felt like the heavy riffs and the electronics were trying to push each other off the album. ‘Division’ creates a much better balance between the two extremes, feeling like the songs were conceived as rock songs first, only to have other elements added later if necessary.

What really pulled me into ‘Division’ was its opening track ‘Gabriel On The Gallows’ – if you have JPU’s international version, at least. While the downtuned riffs on that song aren’t necessarily anything special, their off-kilter rhythmic placement is really cool and the open chorus is fantastic. Opening the original Japanese release is another highlight in the shape of ‘Ibitsu’. The track appears to translate the lighter J-rock melodies of the band’s earlier work to the thicker, heavier modern production style of their later releases. A similar approach can be heard on ‘Hedoro’, of which the rhythms and the teasing guitar line bring Buck-Tick to mind.

One area in which The Gazette always outshines their peers is their ballads. Having an incredible singer like Ruki helps, but where many Japanese rock ballads quickly devolve into schmaltzy territory, The Gazette often manages to combine their dark melancholy with a slighty different take on structuring them. The particularly dark ‘Yoin’ paints an oppressive atmosphere brilliantly, whereas ‘Kagefumi’ has the vibe of a ballad, though not necessarily the sonic approach. The same can be said about the fantastic ‘Dripping Insanity’, which has some fairly heavy guitar riffs, but also the melancholic grandeur that characterizes most of The Gazette’s ballads. Also, its chorus is incredible.

How The Gazette did it is beyond me, but they managed to combine elements which are usually turn-offs for me into an irresistible cocktail here. They often go overboard with modern elements themselves, but everything is in near-perfect balance on ‘Division’. Even a song that would otherwise be too noisy for me like ‘Attitude’ is made listenable by their keen ear for melodies. ‘Dogma’ will always be my favorite The Gazette album due to its strong gothic vibe, but if you want to get acquainted with the band through the best representation of themselves possible, you really cannot go wrong with ‘Division’.

Recommended tracks: ‘Gabriel On The Gallows’, ‘Dripping Insanity’, ‘Ibitsu’, ‘Yoin’

2022
07/03
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Album of the Week 24-2022: Dir En Grey – Phalaris


Usually, a Dir En Grey album is something to look forward to. However, with ‘The Insulated World’ being a borderline unlistenable barrage of noise that completely forsakes the band’s trademark dynamic songwriting, particularly during its first half, I was a bit apprehensive about ‘Phalaris’. Fortunately, ‘Phalaris’ puts Dir En Grey back on the right track. It has turned out to be an album that puts thick, meaty modern metal riffs and melancholic melodies with that typical Japanese flavor in excellent balance again. Fairly streamlined by contemporary Dir En Grey standards, but not without its crushing moments; exactly as dynamic as it needs to be.

Stylistically, ‘Phalaris’ sounds like the album that should have been released between ‘Dum Spiro Spero’ (2011) and ‘Arche’ (2014). It isn’t quite as extreme and dense as the former, but there are plenty of the extreme progressive metal riffs that characterized the album to be heard here. Especially the excellent lengthy opener ‘Schadenfreude’ and the brief ‘Mouai Ni Shosu’ would not have sounded out of place on ‘Dum Spiro Spero’. ‘Phalaris’ also isn’t quite as open and accessible as ‘Arche’, but it has a similar approach to memorable songwriting that gives every track its own instantly recognizable character.

Kyo seems to have toned down his vocals ever so slightly as well. His vocal extremities will always be a defining feature of Dir En Grey, but his approach is more musical this time around. Most of ‘Phalaris’ features his clean mid-range, his head voice or his hardcore-ish bark. There are some deep growls and shrieks here and there, but where he would have crammed the heavier songs full of them ten years ago, he actually goes for a fairly unpredictable approach on the likes of ‘The Perfume Of Sins’, making the songs so much more satisfying in the process.

After my first spin, the bookends of ‘Phalaris’ were clear standouts. ‘Schadenfreude’ is a ten-minute prog metal monster with fantastic riffs, ‘Kamuy’ a nine-minute brooding semi-ballad with interesting use of synthesizers. The idiosyncratic start-stop riffing, cool tom-heavy rhythms and surprisingly subdued atmosphere make ‘Utsusu, Bouga Wo Kurau’ a favorite as well, while ’13’ and ‘Oboro’ are the best examples of the types of “heavy ballads” that only Dir En Grey knows how to do. As usual, the actual ballads – ‘Hibiki’ and the almost alternative rock-sounding ‘Otogi’ – are excellent as well. Due to the dynamic nature of ‘Phalaris’, even the blunt, heavy tracks like ‘Ochita Koto No Aru Sora’ and the somewhat punky ‘Eddie’ manage to impress.

In a strange way, following up the worst album they have ever released with something this good is typical for Dir En Grey. While there are some characteristics you will always get, the overall sound of their albums tends to be a surprise until you hear them. ‘Phalaris’ is the sound of Dir En Grey clawing their way back to to the unique contemporary progressive metal sound that put them on the map worldwide around the time ‘Uroboros’ (2008) was released. ‘Phalaris’ isn’t quite that good, but it is as close as it gets. It is also somewhat more accessible, which might make it a good album for newcomers to get acquainted with the band. Keep in mind that “accessible” is always relative with Dir En Grey though.

Recommended tracks: ‘Schadenfreude’, ‘Utsusu, Bouga Wo Kurau’, ’13’

2022
06/19
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Album of the Week 15-2022: Merry – Strip


What would Merry sound like without their founding guitarist Kenichi, who quit the band about two years ago? As it turns out, not all that different. Given the fact that he wrote increasingly fewer songs on the Tokyo band’s recent albums, that should not be all that much of a surprise, but the fact that his and Yuu’s guitars played completely different parts was an important part of Merry’s sound. And yet, ‘Strip’, the band’s first album as a four-piece, sounds exactly like one would Merry expect to sound. It plays to almost all of the band’s strengths.

‘Strip’ has, however, notably been arranged around the idea that these songs can be played live without feeling like they are lacking something. Yuu approached the guitar arrangements less as lead and rhythm guitars. Despite some extra parts, there is usually one dominant guitar part that will likely be the one tackled on stage. As a result, bassist Tetsu gets a little more room to play around with slightly more melodic bass lines. This is always good news, as Tetsu is in my opinion one of the most criminally underrated bass players in J-rock. You won’t hear him play any virtuosic leads, but his parts always enhance the songs.

Merry sounds best when their sound is nostalgic and retro-focused. They have gone back to that on recent albums after attempting an increased amount of aggression for a while and thankfully, ‘Strip’ continues that stylistic direction. Describing the style is a nightmare, but imagine a somewhat punky alternative rock band having to tone down their sound a bit to fit jazz cafés and blues clubs. In fact, that’s exactly how I would describe the subdued darkness of ‘Tooi Mukashi No Ren’ai Song’. I love Tetsu’s simple, yet extremely soulful bass line on that particular song. ‘Tabako’ features drummer Nero hitting slightly harder, but it fits the description just as well.

With ‘Strip’ being only just shy of 37 minutes, I tend to listen to it in its entirity, which usually makes picking highlights difficult. Still, ‘Rat-A-Tat-Tat’ is a stand-out moment due to the teasing, vaguely Middle-Eastern sounding melody that runs through the song and the interesting changes in Nero’s rhythmic approach. The atmosphere of ‘Ai Nanten Shosen Gunso De Tsugo No Ii Mono Nanoni’ is incredible as well. Gara isn’t necessarily a great singer, but exactly knows how to wring every last bit of nocturnal eerieness out of all his notes. Opener ‘Psychedelic Division’ and closer ‘Mechanical Words’ are Merry’s trademark sound simply executed really well.

Although ‘Strip’ is not quite as good as its predecessors ‘M-Ology’ and ‘Nonsense Market’, it manages to deal with the departure of a founding member remarkably well. Really, the only downside about the album is the overly electronic ‘Blue Moon’. The pre-chorus of the song is quite good, but I would have preferred guitars to bleeps and bloops without question. Everything else is simply doing Merry what they do best, just as a quartet. “Retrock” as they call it and that is exactly the way I like to hear them. I was not too hopeful about their future when Kenichi left, but I sure as hell am now.

Recommended tracks: ‘Rat-A-Tat-Tat’, ‘Tooi Mukashi No Ren’ai Song’, ‘Ai Nanten Shosen Gunso De Tsugo No Ii Mono Nanoni’

2022
04/17
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Album of the Week 13-2022: D’Erlanger – Lazzaro


On the surface, D’Erlanger is a fairly typical early visual kei band. The goth-inspired presentation, the gratuitous and frequently incorrect use of the French language and the overtly, sometimes laughably sexual lyrics point in that direction. However, apart from their earliest days as a speed metal band, D’Erlanger always leaned far more towards a British post-punk sound. Kyo’s vocal approach is clearly Japanese in nature, but the fact that the band doesn’t genre-hop as much sets them apart from their peers. Also fairly atypical for a visual kei band is the consistency of D’Erlanger’s output. Their first post-reunion album ‘Lazzaro’ is easily my favorite of theirs.

Despite a seventeen year break between sophomore D’Erlanger album ‘Basilisk’ and ‘Lazzaro’, most of which they were inactive, it is surprising how little the band’s sound changed in the meantime. Some of their peers changed radically, trying to chase different trends or simply maturing musically. The most notable difference is the brighter, harder-edged guitar sound of chief songwriter Cipher, though that might as well just be a result of technological developments. ‘Lazzaro’ sounds slightly more riffy and has a bit of a hardrock vibe because of that, but this is clearly the same band that recorded ‘La Vie En Rose’ and ‘Basilisk’.

What makes ‘Lazzaro’ better than any other D’Erlanger album is that it does not have a dropoff point about halfway through. In fact, the latter half of the album contains a few of the best songs, such as the catchy J-Rocker ‘Maria’, the intense ‘Alone’ and the surprisingly dark, biting diptych of ‘Noir – C’est La Vie’ and ‘Noir – D’Amour’. There isn’t a single song on ‘Lazzaro’ that I would skip and it would not surprise me if multiple track orders were tested before the band landed on this one, because the actual music – not counting the throwaway intro and outro – flows very pleasantly for just over forty minutes.

Other highlights include ‘XXX For You’, which probably contains Tetsu’s best drumming on the album. His rhythms are nothing too fancy, but his dynamic snare work really elevates the song to a higher level. The chorus is simply a slab of fantastic songwriting as well. ‘Beauty & Beast’ has some playful chord work courtesy of Cipher interacting fantastically with a haunting synth line, as well as an admirable use of dynamics within less than three minutes of playing time. ‘Divina Commedia’ clearly shows where a band like Merry gets its inspiration from and showcases what a creative bass player Seela is. His bass lines feel like a jazz player with the attitude of a punk bassist.

It is not often that I would recommend a post-reunion album to someone wanting to get acquainted with a classic visual kei band, but in case of D’Erlanger, ‘Lazzaro’ truly is the best entry point. There are no prolonged sequences of ballads or overly upbeat songs breaking the flow, the last couple of songs are every bit as good as the first few, while the overall sound is powerful and memorable. D’Erlanger is still making good albums these days, but they have never sounded as good as on ‘Lazzaro’ before or since. Highly recommended if post-punk and poppy hardrock are your thing.

Recommended tracks: ‘XXX For You’, ‘Maria’, ‘Alone’, ‘Beauty & Beast’

2022
04/03
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