Review: √eight - illational

I have no idea when I became an √eight fan. I picked up this album a while back and listened through it once or twice. All the reviews I heard about this album were positive, calling it "epic" and "one of the best VK indies albums of this year". I'd like to disagree on two things with the last statement. One is that I don't consider √eight to be VK, just hard rock mixed with some metal. Second, it's not one of the best of that year. It's one of the best ever.

01. Illational of the People
02. Usagi no Suupu
03. Kai !! Dolce
04. Sunadoke no Omomi
05. Sola ni Muketa Koe Kun ni Muketa Kara no Oto
07. Freak
08. Inochi Hi
09. Ai no Uta
10. Kichin Mugai
11. Namonaki Kami no Koushin
12. Yuganda Seishun

Illational of the People	Bass-laden and heavy right from the start, I can’t imagine a better start to illational. Its chorus doesn’t come out of the land of “WTF WHAT IS THIS I DON’T EVEN-” and the voice in the verses are full of attitude and Zilch influence. Hell, the transitions from verse to chorus are almost seamless and my personal favorite part besides the bone-crushing riffs in the beginning and end is when the bass gets to show off before the drums change the pace. Kyoutarou also delivers the vocals differently from moment to moment, creating something enjoyable to listen to. The unusual abrupt ending to this song also works. Go. Find. This.	10/10
Usagi no Suupu	The beginning section doesn’t fit with everything that’s comes after it but √eight manages to shuffle through a few sounds before it settles on something it wants. The entire beginning is deceptive as the chorus is softer and more emotional than everything that preceded it, and that’s followed by a chorus that’s a little short of pure epic win. It’s all over the place, but it delivers nonetheless.	9/10
Kai!! Dolce	A redone version of the B-side on Musou Ranbu, and this is pretty damn sweet. I swear √eight’s epic choruses can get tiring after a while since I can’t listen to so much win one after the other but once again this song packs a chorus that transitions smoothly from the rough verses and manages to be awesome at the same time. Also, both choruses are filled with different lyrics, so it’s almost like listening to a different section of the song rather than having a chorus to return to. Another part worth mentioning is the half-grunt half-vomit on microphone that Kyotarou does somewhere near the 2/3 mark. The way it vibrates off of everything and makes you think the song is over before the band picks up once more is done really well. One of my favorites on the CD.	10/10
Sunadoke no Omomi	The matenai’s and the electronic effects get really annoying after a while but that’s my only problem with this song. The verses are filled with a few words broken up here and there and the guitars sound creepy. Far and away, the chorus is the best part of the song, which is followed by a nice bass solo before the guitar bit, both of which are pretty short. Electronic effects don’t really fit Kyoutarou’s voice too well. √eight doesn’t totally succeed at what they were going for, but the song is still good, still listenable, and still recommended.	8/10
8mm no Naka Aizou ni Michita Kimi	This song cycles through my emotions properly. The beginning riff starts this song off at a million miles an hour and the first verse keeps the energy up. The beginning verses also sound unusual, somewhere between half-sung and half-rapped. It’s awkward. About halfway in, it slows to a ballad-like crawl and the entire song stops amidst heart-wrenching vocals before the guitar riff comes back in with some harmonica. This is the variation that I want to hear. 8mm doesn’t revisit the chorus one more time than it has to and Kyoutarou knows how to get his feelings across. Brilliant.	9/10
Sola ni Muketa Koe Kun ni Muketa Kara no Oto	Once again we have an electronic-laden introduction but this time it fits in with the song a bit better. As a package it sounds a little underwhelming for an √eight song this late in (sounds too similar to the last track), and personally I find the whole chant part a little creepy and awkwardly inserted in the weirdest of places. That’s gonna have you remember it more often, because other than that the rest of the song isn’t as memorable as it should be.	7/10
Freak	It starts out slow and ambient with pounding drums and a repeating scream that erupts into a hard rock piece at the right time with a riff that sounds like it came out of a haunted mansion. Everything in this song is over the top: the way the verses are delivered sound mental in nature, and there are bits where Kyoutarou speaks really fast over himself while he projects his voice. The chorus isn’t as epic because, well face it, the entire package is epic, but it’s placed well and works. The end is deceptive as well, because it abruptly stops and Kyoutarou growls with some effects placed over it, and then it continues as if it never happened and ends properly. Freak sounds primitive and when √eight really dives into their rock they still make some great music.	10/10
Inochi Hi	I think this is √eight’s attempt at a ballad and for all intents and purposes it’s well done. It takes a bit of a standard approach with the delayed forceful opening and uncharacteristically quiet passages for √eight but you can’t shake up the formula too much. Michi’s bass has been almost omnipresent all over the album, but it really shows here. He supports Kyoutarou alongside the drums very well in their absence. The slowdown around the solo section where Kyoutarou yells behind a musical box-esque song doesn’t sound quite right, but the woodwind backing instruments in the back fit into the atmosphere well. This little bit is made even more evident as Kyoutarou’s harsh vocals come back in later on and sound more fitting. Also note that this song is the first song on this album that fades out.	9/10
Ai no Uta	Right from the title I could tell this was going to be a mellower piece. The title reads “love song” but it’s really intended to mean “sorrowful chant”. Right after Inochi hi, this is the perfect track to bridge the gap between soft √eight and hard √eight, with forceful guitars that are subdued enough to fit in. Kyoutarou’s vocals are mostly clean throughout, but there are sections here and there that sound demented. Ai no Uta also has a sudden slowdown much like its predecessor, but it’s nothing too serious. The tinkling effect at the beginning of the song sets the pace for what I should call a mid-rocker, although I think it’s a bit unneeded in some parts.	9/10
Kichin Mugai	Good old hard rock √eight with some twists. It feels a tad like Mae e from MUCC’s Houmura Uta album in that it has a hard beat that’s layered with soft, uncharacteristically upbeat guitars. It’s also got a short, psychedelic passage much like NoGoD’s Yuiitsu Ka. Verse and chorus are seamless here, as usual and the whole song has a slow disintegration that ends it off on the right foot. Although I’m not particularly fond of either one of these tracks, they both have a quality that I keep returning to over and over again and I have no idea what draws me here.	8/10
Namonaki Kami no Koushin	Harder √eight in a short, sweet package. Starts off a little heavier than Kichin Mugai but it slowly descends into madness. After a light verse, √eight starts a buildup that explodes before it hits the chorus, and then after the chorus unexpectedly explodes again. Right after that, it slows down again for a breather before all hell breaks loose again. The last moments of the song tries to become epic, but I guess they realized it didn’t work out as planned so they go back to the heaviness. It all works out satisfactorily but I think it could have been a little better.	8/10
Yuganda Seishun	Sounds very similar to Psyche in the chorus, which is what it happens to start off with just like Psyche. Boo √eight for unoriginality. The subdued verse, loud chorus portion at the beginning is smooth, but moves a little too fast for my taste. After the second or third time, √eight moves into a solo portion over what sounds like violins and that’s when the song gets really good. Still one of my favorites, even with all this against it.	9/10
Bonus Track	Hidden all the way on track 88, this is possibly the only way to end this album in style. If you thought Yuganda Seishun ended too quickly, you were on to something. Bonus Track comes in softly with a crooning Kyoutarou who belts out extremely depressing lyrics before it ends, backed by piano the whole time. It’s short but it’s beautiful.	10/10

I hope somehow I've given one reader a reason to pick this up and actually listen to it. If you don't already own this epic piece of work I suggest you get to it before everyone starts laughing at why you don't know what √eight is all about. I didn't know what √eight was like until I sat down and listened to this repeatedly until I got it. And when I got it, I understood. And now, I will try to make the reader understand. They're that good.

Recommended:

The whole goddamn thing

Score: 89%