Review: Lycaon - Ambrozia

I've really been beating around the bush with this one, so Lycaon is going to be the first artist I actually get around to finishing. I like Ambrozia the most out of all of Lycaon's work, and if I had to be stuck with just one album to listen to from them this would most likely be it. It's got enough going on to be diverse but it all sounds like them. This is the best thing they've ever put out. EVAR.

1.愚を喰らふ。
2.suckin' on a lollipop
3.camelliA
4.alejandro
5.結晶華
6.The end of [Delusion]

愚を喰らふ。	LAME ASS INTRO YEA! I don’t know the translation of this song but it’s not like I really care. It’s some weird, distorted introduction that’s isn’t dull (into the dark) or completely fucking random (Grow). It also moves into suckin’ on a lollipop seamlessly. Other than that, I don’t care for this song and I don’t care about this song. That’s why I didn’t bother to translate.	4/10
suckin' on a lollipop	SUCK MY DICK YEA! suckin on a lollipop isn’t my favorite track on here. Everything in the song is fine right up until they get to the chorus, and then Yuuki’s vocals rise faster than an airplane. He starts up on a falsetto and gets higher and higher until his voice can’t take it and then he drops down and goes back up again and again and again. It’s very irritating, and then the song plummets into some heaviness and the band tries to get all hardcore. Sorry, but your street cred was ruined with the glaring lack of German and the chorus I was just subjected to.	7/10
CamelliA	TYPICAL VK TITLE YEA! I think Lycaon was trying to go for an emotionally epic mid-rocker with the riff that we start out with. It doesn’t tank as bad as the last rendition of the chorus in suckin’ on a lollipop, but it doesn’t quite get there. There are also parts where the band attempted to try and get all ethereal on us, such as the slowdown halfway in, but Yuuki’s vocals can’t handle going that high. The last song just showed us that in the chorus, and this one makes up for it in that “I don’t completely suck” sort of way. It’s simple, catchy riff structure is enough to get your foot tapping, and that’s all I really need to enjoy some music.	8/10
Alejandro	FUCKING FUCK YOU FUCK! I swear I thought I changed bands when I heard this song. Alejandro is one of the best songs they’ve crafted. Ever. The whole Hispanic-tinged acoustic vibe they have before they launch into a two guitar assault with a third twanging in the back before we go into a bass-backed chorus. There’s enough two-guitar action going on here to please any fan of intermediately-complex parts and there are slight use of electronic effects here and there which are almost inaudible. Yuuki’s Engrish is horrible but its inclusion is hilarious and actually makes the song better. If you can wrap your head around that insane concept, it’s about as amazing as Lycaon managing to write a chorus that a) fits, b) doesn’t suck, c) doesn’t rely on falsettos Yuuki can’t reach and d) isn’t sandwiched inbetween two polar opposite riffs. If I could make a prediction, I would bet that this would become one of the signature “Lycaon” songs.	10/10
Kesshou Hana	FUCKING EPIC VK BALLAD Yuuki’s falsetto is used a lot here. He sounds like he’s forcing it at parts but in others it works and that risk pays off. Most of the time, he should just stick with his regular voice because it’s uniquely his and it’s high enough to suffice for whatever it is he wants to do. Unlike most VK piano introductions, its inclusion isn’t solitary and doesn’t pause to get into the track. It also comes with a twin guitar solo which takes the song off of the “ballad” path long enough for the listener to take a breather and listen through the rest. This about as far as I usually listen because of the length of the song. At about seven and a half minutes, it’s requires a nice chunk of your attention but the payoff is well worth it. It doesn’t feel too stretched out and the actual music is less than the seven and a half minutes it implies. That’s because it comes with about a minute of un-needed silence at the end. Kesshou Hana isn’t epic enough for me to need a minute of silence in order to prepare for The end of [Delusion]. How pretentious of all five of you! Bah!	9/10
The end of [Delusion]	MOAR ENGLISH [DESTRUCTION] YEA! Exactly what I need to wake up after the last track. Yuuki growls and squeals like a circumcised pig and the one part where he sings other than the ill-fitting chorus sounds nice but it could have used work fitting back into the growls and screams. Sometimes The end of [Delusion] doesn’t know if wants to be a ‘dick to the brick’ hardcore piece or something brash but restrained, like Alejandro. Since it doesn’t work out its inner turmoil about what it wants to do in life, it doesn’t have as much of a piercing effect as it should. It still ends off this EP with a bang.	8/10

So where does that leave Ambrozia? The most "focused" and "mature" effort this band has put forth yet? If you like using such trite and stereotypical words, then I guess I'll level with you and say yes. I regard it as the only Lycaon CD worth buying because you get so much for your purchase and it comes with so many good Lycaon songs I can't justify buying anything else over this. Screw the first two tracks, everything after CamelliA is what Lycaon needs to keep creating. Well not exactly sample from, but continue with the same quality and sophistication.

Recommended:

Alejandro
Kesshou Hana

Score: 77%