Review: Shinko Syukyo Gakudan NoGoD - Kuro Fukyou

Today I randomly came across +Medical Lolita's+ journal, and of course the first message you'll see there is "this site is closed". Why is it closed? She "fell out of love with Visual Kei". I can find that completely understandable, since half of the music that these bands put out nowadays are atrocious. She maintained it for three years, and I give her props for that, but when it comes to Visual Kei, being positive about reviews from most bands are a very very taxing thing to do. So that's why most of my reviews are from things that were released a few years back, like this one. Of course, I did Ifukyou yesterday so I have to keep them together, but you'll eventually start to see me include just more than Japanese Rock music here because...well...most of these bands suck.

01. Monokuro
02. Gekiretsu Kyoukan Ranchiki Kyou

Why this one has been tossed to the wayside and Gu Ren the one that gets the spot on the Kanna Fukyou record I will never know. Monokuro is by far the superior song out of the two, and even all these years later I still listen to it at least once a week. When compared to many other NoGoD songs, it falls into the least used category of "epic power ballad". It's not completely soft and drawn out like Yakusoku no Chi, it isn't a Rinne Tenshou, and even though it has hard parts they aren't poppy and upbeat. Even said hard parts are restrained accordingly and everything works together to create the sad atmosphere that weaves within every note of this song. Said atmosphere starts off violent and dips to it's ultimate calmness at the solo where there's just one guitar playing some notes until the song explodes into your face. The entire time, there's a tense feeling going on throughout the song, as if you're waiting for something unexpected or horrible to happen (even though the entire feeling is unwarranted; the entire song is effective but simple in construction). Danchou's singing is mostly falsetto in this song and creeps the hell out of me because he sounds utterly distraught and forlorn. Yes, Monokuro is not a happy sounding song, and because of that it is so different from many other NoGoD songs just to start out with. The only flaw to this song is the way it ends. It's supposed to flow with the next song so when you listen to it all alone it's going to cut off and ruin the entire flow of the track. When you listen to it with the next track, it flows seamlessly.

Gekiretsu Kyoukan Ranchiki Kyou is the type of track that's all over the place in sound, and it establishes itself immediately as the polar opposite of the last track you heard. The song is upbeat and violent, if you can even imagine that. It's got clapping, choked scurgles, beaver chirping, very nasty screams from Danchou, dark backvocals and a very 80's three-note riff. And that's even before Danchou kicks in with an uncharacteristically deep voice before he winds it up at the chorus! Even though I hate poppy choruses, this song is so all over the place it's one of the few songs I'll ever accept it in. Proof of this schizophrenia is the "portion" right before the solo right before it launches into the solo which in itself is badass but is accentuated even more by the complete moments of "what the bloody fuck" before it. Gekiretsu Kyoukan Ranchiki Kyou is a love-it-or-hate-it track straight up from the beginning to the end.

In what is possibly one of the most forgotten and underrated NoGoD singles, coming back to Kuro Fukyou is starting to remind me of what NoGoD is capable of when they decide to put careful thought into creating new, experimental pieces of music. Neither one of these songs sound like "any other NoGoD song" and that's why every time I come back to this single there's a magic about it that hooks me onto NoGoD (Monokuro was the reason why I got into NoGoD in the first place, even though Tsumibatsu Egoist was the first song I ever heard by them). That's the reason why most of the entries this month have been nothing but NoGoD. So, to wrap this up...

Recommended:

Kuro Fukyou

Score: 93%

Review: Shinko Syukyo Gakudan NoGoD - Mr.HEAVEN

Trivia bit number one out of two for you: This is the second song title they've ever had in English.

So now you're wondering: FOOL DIDN'T YOU JUST DO THIS YESTERDAY? I will respond: yes, yes I did. Except today I have all five of the tracks and I can actually write a half-decent, level-headed review. As you can see, I have jokingly changed the title of the last one to "fangasm" meaning it points out all of the positives in the song and remains decidedly one-sided. This review will be more balanced.

1．Mr.HEAVEN
2．Mr.HEAVEN (団長仲間外れVersion)
3．Mr.HEAVEN (Kyrie＆Shinno愛の逃避行Version)
4．Mr.HEAVEN (華凛お花摘みVersion)
5．Mr.HEAVEN (K引き籠りVersion)

Even though I am glad to see NoGoD returning to the heavier side of music, I can't help but think that Mr.HEAVEN is nothing more than a mixture of all of their successful harder tracks placed into one 3:46 serving of greatness. The beginning is reminiscent of Tsumibatsu Egoist and Seshuuka and the verses are delivered just like Saikou no Sekai (so much so that it's scary). The chorus has some traces of Shukufuku no Uta, Kijin Fukanshou, and Zesshoku and whilst the solo is nice, it's so distinctively Kyrie that it does little to distinguish itself from many of the solos that were mentioned in every single song above sans Seshuuka and Shukufuku no Uta. Mr.HEAVEN loses a few points for not being original.

Another thing that I noticed thanks to the last four tracks is the bass. The basslines are set low in the mix and are very pentatonic, leaving the guitars and the drums to do all the melodic work. The basslines are borderline inconsequential, as track four on this CD sounds almost exactly like the first two. Of course, the edginess the bass brings is missing, but when the bass does nothing more than play four series of the same notes and then change up just like the guitars it's not that creative. He could have done some slapping, some pinch harmonics, or created a riff all his own, or something. Why is it that Kanna Fukyou-era Kurohai has a more-present bassline than this? Mr.HEAVEN loses a few points for relying too much on Shinno and Kyrie to carry the melody.

The drums is where things start to turn around. There's not much you can do in the way of melody with the drums, but K is really the one that holds the entire song together (since Karin's bass lines support him more than they do the guitarists). It's most evident in track five, when the very annoying metronome is ticking in the background as everyone else is playing. It feels very empty without him and that would be the track to make you realize how valuable his playing is to the entire NoGoD sound. He ups the track a few points.

The guitars are strong and hard like they are in most NoGoD songs, but a comparison to older works is inevitable, especially since it borrows so many elements from said songs. One of the most obvious things they've borrowed is the over-reliance on the guitars to push the melody forward and for all intents and purposes Mr.HEAVEN did not fail in that respect. There's even some guitar overlaying at the beginning (think Seshuuka at the chorus), and some pinch harmonics during the solo, making it feel less like a straightforward mosher and more refined and thought out. That is always welcome.

And last but not least we come to Danchou. He handles the demanding vocal department exceedingly well and doesn't overstep his boundaries or fail at trying something experimental. As for something experimental, the one-second pause at 0:52 works better in practice than it would seem on paper and the way his vocals cut out have you leaning out wanting more. He also bumps up the track a few points.

Keep in mind the next four tracks are meant for you to pick up an instrument and play along to it ^^. They all suck listening-wise.

So now we come to track two, which doesn't feature Danchou. Or rather, features a substantially less amount of Danchou. This should have just been a straight instrumental, as the backup Danchou vocals leaves a need better fulfilled by the first track. If it's going to be Danchouless, mute him out totally. It's good if you want to sing along, but no one outside of Japan HAS the lyrics.

Track three does not feature any guitars, and here it becomes quite obvious how much NoGoD relies on their guitars. It's good if you like to appreciate the drums and bass but as I said the bass lines are very simple in many parts and just having some drums and Danchou singing aren't very entertaining. This version especially lags during the solo part (for obvious reasons).

Track four is without the bass, and even though it's quite obvious Karin is missing his absence doesn't actually break this track. The guitars and drums carry enough of the melody to keep the track going without him there. It's not as good as the first track (none of these are, by the way) but it's the closest sounding to it.

Track five is missing K, and the annoying metronome in the back doesn't help any. If you're listening you will sorely miss his presence in the dynamics of the track but if you are playing along, I'm sure you'll appreciate the metronome moving along in the background because it will help you keep time.

I'm not grading the last four tracks because they would drag the score down unnecessarily. So what do I think of Mr.HEAVEN now? I will say exactly what I said before

"It's almost like a mixture of all their hard songs into one."

It's a nice track, and it's solid on it's own, but compared to what they've put out before this single lags far behind some heavy NoGoD classics such as Saikou no Sekai, Strawberry Night, Tsumibatsu Egoist and Zesshoku.

Here's hoping that the mini-album they're releasing September 16th carries some more surprises. And here's trivia bit number two: The name of said mini-album is going to be 羅針盤(Rashinban). It means Compass. Perhaps they'll actually find some direction in making hard and soft songs that don't sound like the rest of their output glued together.

Recommended:

Mr.HEAVEN

Score: 75/100

Review: Shinko Syukyo Gakudan NoGoD - Ao no Daichi

I'm doing this review solely because you can't do Midori no Kaze without doing Ao no Daichi right after it. Since that is settled and I have four sentences to go, I have to make something up. Thankfully, I actually do have a topic that I feel I should discuss that is loosely related to both this single and NoGoD in general. Now we all know they have the Gokusaishiki album (which I'm half-tempted to revisit) but sometime between then and now there was also a song released also called Gokusaishiki. How original. I'm guessing it's a live only release, but I know it's out there because I found the lyrics and no song in any of NoGoD's other releases starts out with the word "Ao".

So, you figure: Why don't you search for it?

This is the huge problem: you can't just plug in the kanji and have it pop up, since it shares the same name as the album and most websites that host the album host both the kanji and the romanized name. The second biggest problem is that it's a collector's item, and it was distributed solely in Japan, so all the lucky fans that got it aren't going to up it online and share with the rest of the world. Unlike Mr.HEAVEN, which is going to be on the mini next month (and I would share it but I'm under contract by two friends not to), I have no idea when and if Gokusaishiki the Song ever will surface.

See, with the exception of NoGoD's two albums, the rest of their work is printed in limited quanitities. Once those CD's are sold, there are no more being made. There are no more being sold. If a fan doesn't have the CD, he has to rely on other generous fans to up the music online and share with the rest of the world. If no fan that has the CD is willing to, then none of us can hear these songs. That is bad.

This is the fate of Gokusaishiki the Song.

Ao no Daichi is no exception to this rule. There were only 5000 of these pressed if I remember correctly (same applies to Midori no Kaze) and they're most likely long gone and into the hands of fans the islands over. Unlike Gokusaishiki the Song, you can actually locate this single online if you search for long enough (it really shouldn't take you that long if you know how though). So, a mighty thanks to all the fans out there that uploaded this to the internet to share, and into the review we dive.

Wow, instead of a few sentences, I did a few paragraphs. At least it was interesting....

01. Yakusoku no Chi
02. Kijin Fukanshou
03. Haten Daishishi

Yakusoku no Chi is the title track here and can also be found on the album Gokusaishiki. Translating to "The Promised Land", it takes as long for this song to get started as it took for the Moses and the Hebrew Crew to actually get into Canaan. With a runtime of about six minutes, this is a very long and slow-moving piece that unravels over time. If you're into music instantly gratifying you with immediate vocals or sick riffs or whatever pleases you, Yakusoku no Chi is going to bore the shit out of you. It's going to come off as "all pretty sounding and shit but it never gets started". And I will agree with you there, but for a different reason. It works on creating more of an atmosphere than on any technical portion of the song so if you're not into atmospheric pieces you won't "get" this song. Personally, it's one of my favorite ballads just because of the atmosphere and the images it makes in my head. I'm going to translate this one day.

Kijin Fukanshou isn't as strong as the last track atmospherically, and it fails my tests when it comes to picking apart the song technically. They were both written by the same band member as well (Kyrie), so that's not an excuse either. The main problem with the track is the poppy and juxtaposed chorus, which doesn't belong in this song. It completely changes gears and it sounds very unpolished. The whole verse leading into the chorus itself would have worked better as the chorus. To make up for it, there's two solos in the song (a bass one followed by a guitar one shortly after) and that end....thing....(don't know what to call it but it ends the song off right) but even with that together the poppy chorus hurts it more than it can recover. Boo bad chorus.

Haten Daishishi is another monster altogether. It took me about three hours to find out what this title meant, just to realize that I still don't know what it means. Whilst the last one meant "Frigid Sexuality" I think this one means "Unprecedented Lion". Weird names for these titles. Well, Haten Daishishi is another one of those poppy NoGoD tracks in the vein of Dou, with some inspirational message of "going against the tide". I consider this one of the best poppy tracks they put out, mainly because I don't enjoy any other tracks of this style. The drum beats by K at around 1:58 are pretty cool and keeps the song interesting right up until it ends, but it's an average, enjoyable track all around. It's certainly nothing I would revisit on multiple occasions, but if you need a track to put you in a better mood this would be it.

And now we come to the end of the review, and you may be wondering why I switched formats once again. The reason is is that anything over five is very broad and not specific, and the specific percentage doesn't work well. SO....what I'm going to use now is a combination of the two. Ao no Daichi is right down there with Midori no Kaze for most inconsistent single, because it has one good track and two mediocre ones.

Recommended:

Gokusaishiki

Score: 62/100

『約束の地』
　　　　作詞：/作曲：Kyrie【新興宗教楽団NoGoD】


遥か先に見える
あの地平線まで続く
この広い大地の中にいた僕は
自分がとても小さく見えた

在り方を悩む日々の中
君が見せてくれた碧(アオ)

その色の輝く　　場所がある筈だから
いつか君に見て欲しい　「その思いは」
拙い言葉では　　伝えられぬ物だから
君の手を取り　　歩く道を　　僕は選ぶよ

二人初めて出逢った(※君の背中を押した※)時から
その碧を見つめるのがとても嬉しくて

僕が君に出来ること考えては
その可能性に秘かに胸躍らせていた
今この身体とこの声とこの思いを君の夢に
捧ぐからどうか迷わずにいて

吹き荒ぶ風を支える大地の様に
君が空へ飛び立つのを見守る
それだけでいい･･･

(※遥かな大地はやまない風を支える
君は風の様に僕を動かしている
だから僕は･･･※)

その色の輝く場所を探し続けて
辿り着いたその大地は　「永遠に」
失われる事ない　　強い心を宿した
約束の地と　　呼ばれる人の　　夢の軌跡


『奇人不感症』
　　　　作詞：団長/作曲：Kyrie【新興宗教楽団NoGoD】


気持ち悪い電飾
耳障りなアラーム

全ての事が記号で記されて
意味が薄れて行く
神を恐れぬ愚かな文明を
脱ぎ捨てて
さぁ今ここで

愛してるって　　その口で言ってくれ　　声が枯れるまで
必要だって　　その腕で抱きしめて　　骨が折れるまで

世界が静かに周る
壊れたオルゴールの様に
貴女は静かに笑う
壊れた僕を見ながら

歪む心臓の音を聞いてくれ
愛を欲しがる愚かな獣達
安い体が中(チュウ)を飛び交って
また嫌な匂い髪に染み付いた
誰も私を見ようとしないから
両手に杭を打ち付け(※刺して※)
白いドレスを着させてあげました
ほらすぐに汚れてしまうでしょ

愛してるって　　その口で言ってくれ　　声が枯れるまで
必要だって　　その腕で抱きしめて　　骨が折れるまで
君だけだって　　その耳で聞いてくれ　　左脳が割れるまで
僕だけだって　　その瞳焼き付けて　　光無くすまで


『破天乃獅子』
　　　　作詞：団長/作曲：Kyrie【新興宗教楽団NoGoD】


また眠れないよ
こんな夜はいつだってそう
高鳴る胸

まだ眠れないよ
不安が胸を締め付ける
暗い夜

どれだけ
旅を重ねても
また足を止めてしまう
だから伝えたい

目を覚ませ
全ての生命よ眠れる獅子よ
その手は栄光の為に
我儘で破天荒な物語
構わないさ
主人公は君の中にある(※だけだから※)

辿り着く先が例えどんな結末でも
前を向いて
大切な物は既にこの手の中にある
離さないで

変わらぬ時代に背を向けて
掲げたその旗
振り翳せ高く太陽に

目を覚ませ
全ての生命よ眠れる獅子よ
その手は栄光の為に
我儘で破天荒な物語
構わないさ
輝く日々よ
そう主人公は君の中にある(※だけだから※)

mata nemurenai yo
still sleeping

kon na yoru wa itsunatesou
this evening when

daka naru mune
my chest roars in volumes



mata nemurenai yo
still sleeping

fuan ga mune wo shime tsukeru
a strangling uneasiness is affixed to my chest

kurai yoru
this gloomy evening



doredake
to what extent

tabi wo kasanete mo
must we continue this journey

mata ashi wo tome te
until we stop going

dakara tsutae tai
along with tradition



me wo samase
my sight clears up

subete no seimei yo nemureru shishi yo
is all of life a sleeping lion?

sono te ha eikou no tame ni
this hand of glory is to your advantage

wagamama de hatenkou na monogatari
in this unprecedented legend of egoism

kamawanai sa
it is no problem

shujinkou ha kimi no naka ni aru (※dake dakara※)
your hero within is certain (just so)



tadoritsuku saki ga tatoe don na ketsumatsu demo
as an example even if you barely manage to reach your destination

mae wo muite
face ahead

taisetsu na mono ha sudeni kono te no naku ni aru
it is too late to live inside that which you hold important

hanasanaide
part with it



kawaranu jidai ni sewomukete
turn your back on the unchanging epochs

kakageta sono hata
float this flag

buri kazase takaku taiyou ni
aloft high toward the sun


me wo samase
my sight clears up

subete no seimei yo nemureru shishi yo
is all of life a sleeping lion?

sono te ha eikou no tame ni
the hand of glory is to your advantage

wagamama de hatenkou na monogatari
in this unprecedented legend of selfishness

kamawanai sa
it is no problem

kagayaku hibi yo
every day glitters

sou shujinkou ha kimi no naka ni aru (※dake dakara※)
it appears your hero within is sure (just so)

Fangasm: Shinko Syukyo Gakudan NoGoD - Mr.HEAVEN

If NoGoD has done nothing else for me in my entire life, it has made me appreciate one person more than anything in the entire world. Well, two people actually because it took the person to buy the CD in the first place and then send it to my dear friend who was kind enough to send it to me. This review wouldn't be possible without them. So now, as I polish the MP3 that I now have playing over and over again in my iTunes while my dead MP3 player sits next to me, I have to admit: this song is pretty damn good.

1．Mr.HEAVEN
2．Mr.HEAVEN (団長仲間外れVersion)
3．Mr.HEAVEN (Kyrie＆Shinno愛の逃避行Version)
4．Mr.HEAVEN (華凛お花摘みVersion)
5．Mr.HEAVEN (K引き籠りVersion)

I think she punked me...

LOOK AT THE COVER FOR CRYING THE FUDGE OUT LOUD! Is that supposed to be God, or Mr.HEAVEN with the Lion King mane and the pimp cane? And the clouds in the background with the bright sun and the feather down surrounding the cover? Are you kidding me? This song definitely has to be oshare-kei.

*readies himself to hear Dou. Again.*

But fear not, because it isn't. Despite the lame name that this song comes with, it's about as heavy as Zesshoku from the Gokusaishiki album. Or, even earlier on than that, Seshuuka from the Midori no Kaze single. Or if you want to find a song more commercially accessible, think Tsumibatsu Egoist from the Mugen Kyou album.

I say "commercially accessible" because finding this song is next to impossible unless you have some good friends willing to share that have the physical CD. And no, I am not distributing MP3 copies of this song, so do not ask me. I don't even have the entire copy, just the one track that matters.

So once you have one of those songs at your fingertips? Good, because that's as close as you're going to get until NoGoD releases their mini-album in September, which this song is going to be on. So yes, don't ask me to share. I won't.

Back to the song (and when I find the name of the girl that bought this single, I will give her a virtual cookie), it's full of the heaviness that I didn't find on Gokusaishiki. Sure, I liked the album and I still do, but it missed that one definitive track that makes it stick out long after you've finished listening to it over and over. Hell, Mugen Kyou had three in my humble opinion, but after I was done with Gokusaishiki I started to feel like the only hard track there was Zesshoku.

Now I realize that they did it in two parts and that Gokusaishiki was likely meant to be the lighter, more melodic portion of this double release.

I gave you those three songs beforehand because I can give you a general audio description of Mr. HEAVEN using those three tracks. Tsumibatsu Egoist and Seshuuka gets the mention because the song starts out very similarly to the both of them and K has some double-pedal action going on all throughout. K does some cymbal action before the song launches off in one ear before the other two come in and start on a sick, heavy riff. The delivery of the verses can best be summarized in the song Saikou no Sekai (Mugen Kyou and I didn't even notice this the first time around. One of my friends pointed this out to me) whilst the build-up to the chorus and even the chorus itself remind me a lot of how it was styled in Zesshoku. In the verses, there are obviously two guitars going on but excluding the bass there's another guitar doing some random riffage here and there reminiscent of the solo that would come up a half-a-minute later. Speaking of the solo, it is also pretty damn great, having some groove in the Shinno's guitars while some crazy, ridiculous solo played by Kyrie is played on top, and I'll bet a good chunk of cash it's being played on the neck. Supported by some drums and a rapid bass section thanks to Karin (epic trap) and you have one hell of an instrumental section backing Danchou. There's no way he can fail with a song this strong.

Don't get me wrong, this song doesn't sound a lot like any of the songs that I put above. In fact, it sounds very distant from a lot of the heavier pieces they've put out recently. It sounds like a mix between Kanna Fukyou period and Mugen Kyou with better mastering, an ever-present bass weaving in and out, and a little bit of oshare sprinkled in over the chorus. I say a little because the chorus is definitely lighter compared to the rest of the song, but the lead-in that the band does before it launches bridges the gap between rough and hard. Think of how the chorus in Kurohai compares to the rest of the song, and you have a good understanding of what I mean.

I've mentioned everyone but Danchou so he gets a mention in the paragraph below.

His singing hasn't gone any worse, like tons of other vocalists. He didn't get much better, but he was freaking excellent to start with so him "getting progressively better" isn't that much of an issue to me. What gets me about the way this song rocked my iTunes is how he sings his verses. There's attitude here and that sudden one-second pause around 0:52 works so subtly what would turn me off in any other song has me leaning closer to my computer begging for more to come out. He brings back the "woah-oh-oh's" from Shukufuku no Uta, but they're artfully weaved in and part of the sare-mo and the kachi-wo and not their one sing-along section for all us Japanese fans not in Japan.

It's just him this time too; he didn't rent a whole choir to sing along in the background.

So I can't rate the single because I don't have the last four tracks (which is why it's not in it's usual format), but I would bet that it wouldn't sound the same with one of the instruments missing. As for the instrumental, I think it would be epic but not as good in some parts because Danchou isn't there to fill out those lagging parts (like the chorus; it isn't good enough to hang without Danchou. The racing verses are another story though). So what do I think of Mr.HEAVEN? I say it's one of the best songs they've put out. Ever. It's a shame that I can't actually buy it but that untitled as-of-yet mini-album that's going to come out in September has my money already set aside for it.

I. Want. This.