Saturday, August 1, 2009

Review: Shinkou Shuukyou Gakudan NoGoD - Midori no Kaze

I got the idea to do this single because my friend is currently having problems loading said title track in his .mp3 player called Rhapsody. Not too much of a fan of that player, and that and this single share two things in common. One is that I don’t listen to it often, and the other is that I utterly detest things I’m not used to. Friends, I cannot handle poppy NoGoD. When they get heavy, they get heavier than a lot of other bands I listen to while still maintaining a sense of musicality. When they want to swing in the other direction, however, things get scary. Fast.


http://www.brand-x.jp/data/brand-x/product/801ebf01fc.jpg

01. Dou
02. Seshuuka
03. Tsubasa

Dou

There’s nothing wrong with Dou per-se, but I have nothing going for it. NoGoD has so much potential and they used to fluctuate between doing softer songs and harder songs, but Dou nerfed this single with its sugary poppiness. If it were just a tad harder, I would like this song but it isn’t so I don’t. There are a lot of things in this song that I do like. The verses have some nice rhythmical patterns with Danchou’s voice going on and K’s drum beats at the end are pretty cool. This song also ends of nicely and makes a good lead-in to the epic Seshuuka, but it’s the guitars that irk me. THEY SOUND SO FAMILIAR AND THE BEGINNING HAS A HORRID SENSE OF BALANCE! By my NoGoD standards, this pales. They know they can do so much better but they churn out this and for what? Commercial success? We don’t want to hear this -_-.

5/10

Seshuuka

The hardest thing they’ve released since anything on Mugen Kyou, and the fact that this was written by K makes this song even more fucking awesome. It’s a great song, but it’s dark and thrilling nature doesn’t fit in the soundscape of the Midori no Kaze single. It also feels like they tried to channel too much Tsumibatsu Egoist, and it’s never good for a band to go back and try to redo things. If it’s done it’s done and it should stay done, and new musical venues should be explored. Seshuuka has a taste of something new, as the solo sounds completely unlike anything they’ve done and has a hauntingly Middle Age European vibe to it. K’s drumming is also fantastic. Seshuuka’s thrown on here to placate all the fans, like me, that thought that Dou was a pile of shit and want hard NoGoD. For what it does, it does really well, but they’ve done this style better before.

8/10

Tsubasa

I despise the imbalance of the guitars in the beginning, but I do like this song better than Dou. I think the reason why I do not like this song is because it doesn’t have a NoGoD vibe. It sounds like something any other capable indies band can do, but that typical NoGoD feeling is absent here and that hurts it greatly. The solo is nice, if not a little frantic and the middle part is nothing short of epic: it gets all lion-king in that “soaring on the back of a bird” way and that would have been a great way to end the song. The song’s actual ending, where Danchou’s singing is layered over and over, blows chunks in comparison to that part and I personally find the second half of the song weaker than the first. One of those listen-and-see tracks in my opinion.

6/10

Oshare-NoGoD doesn’t always manage to reach the same level of consistency as their heavier side, and sometimes their work is just plain alienating. I like a bit of experimentation here and there but this single falls far short of my expectations for them after the epic album called Mugen Kyou. What’s worse is that Gokusaishiki took two tracks from this album and they left the only decent one here, I guess in an effort to make you want to buy this single from reviews like these telling you how good it is. I hate to say this but I’m just going to have to say “skip” this one.

Recommended:

Seshuuka

Score:

『導』
作詞:/作曲:団長【新興宗教楽団NoGoD

病める者達よ  悩める者達よ  今この歌を聴いてくれ
拙い言葉でデタラメに  描きなぐった愛すべきこの歌を

「地球は周っている」 唱えた学者の
声は誰にも届かなくて
皆口々に彼を罵っては
「空が周っている」 と言いました

でも彼は  自分を信じ続けていました
時は経ち  今日も地球は  絶え間なく周り続ける

さあ胸を張って  何も恐れず進め  もっと強く風を切って
まだ誰も知らない  自分さえ気付いてない  可能性が目を覚ます

青年は誰にも
認めて貰えなかった自分の絵を
好きだと言ってくれた女性(ヒト)の為に
生涯描き続けました

彼はきっと  幸せな人生だったでしょう
時は経ち  その作品は  世界中に飾られている

空けない夜は無い  止まない雨は無いと  ありきたりな言葉でも
もし君の心少しでも変わるなら  何時までも歌い続けよう

いつの時代もそうさ
直ぐに答えは見つからない物だよ
例え今辛くても
報われない努力なんて  この世にありはしないのだから

挫けそうな時は
大きな声で叫ぶよ

「負けるか!俺は生きている!」

全てぶち壊せ
常識も法律も
答えは胸の中にある

国の境目も
言葉も肌の色も
全てを  越えて行ける

誰も手が届かない場所へ
命ある限り

『世愁歌』
作詞:団長/作曲:K【新興宗教楽団NoGoD

此の世はまるで生き地獄
神も仏もありはしない
肉の屍が踊り出す

悪と決め付け敵を作り
我が正義と決め付ける
誰が為に血を流す

さぁ君はどっちだ?
こちらの水は蜜の味
あちらの水は・・・

母よ
どうか涙は流さずに笑って居て
貴方に何も罪は無いから
父よ
僕達が残した未来は  とても残酷だ
拾う神も無い  捨てる神すら無い
差し伸べた手は汚れている

あの世はまさに地獄絵図
どうせ僕達には明日は無い
終りすらない苦痛が

さぁ蜘蛛が垂らした
この糸掴み昇るが良い
どうせまた・・・

霞む視界の中で微笑が
確かに見えた
温もりだけは連れて行くから

母よ
この腐った時代の為に私は逝くよ
帰る場所などもうありはしない
父よ
貴方が信じていた物は何一つ救えない
守るべき物はもっと他にある
さらば愛しき者よ

『翼』
作詞:shinno/作曲:shinnoKyrie?【新興宗教楽団NoGoD】

広がる空  響き渡る声
ただ見つめながら想う
自由に飛び立てる翼  あるのならば

遠くへ  まだ見ぬ遠くへ
広がる景色はとても
限りなく透明だけど  淡い碧色で

本当は誰もが持ってる  背中の翼
唯知らないだけ
だから僕が手を引いてあげるよ
憧れてたあの場所へ

翼広げたら  君は必ず飛べるさ
決して一人じゃない
本当の色を  君と探しに行こう
果てしなく広がる  あの空へ

自分自身の弱さ  それを認めれる強さ
変わっていく景色  変わらぬ想い

翼広げたら   君は必ず飛べるさ
決して一人じゃない
本当の色を  君と探しに行こう
果てしなく広がる  未来を

あの空へ  あの雲へ  あの虹へ  遠くへ
あの海へ  あの丘へ  あの場所へ  遠くへ

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