Review: Nega - ЯeBirtH Under the Chaos

Grave of the Sacrifice is coming out in a few days and there a crapton of tracks that are included on other Nega releases that made it onto the album. Since they're all being re-recorded, it would be wise to try and get to as many as I can before the album hits shelves. Prepare to see a ton of Nega in the next few days folks.

01. Under the Chaos
02. Dirty Faith
03. Soul Cry
04. Tamashii Namida wa Akai Chi ni
05. DIS.
06. Shutora (Type B only)

WARNING: This album is extremely loud, heavy, amelodic, and full of piercing screams you may not be used to. Unless you are a frequenter of Nega or a fan of harsh and unusual vocalists I advise you to turn the volume down. Now, on to the review...

Under the Chaos	I don’t know what to think of this song. It’s got lyrics which means I can’t throw it aside as a shitty S.E. but as a song it’s dull, repetitive and boring. Under either category Under the Chaos fails. Its uninspired two minute runtime drags on longer than it needs to and fails at establishing a mood for the album.	3/10
Dirty Faith	Straight from out of the gate there’s Jin’s unique yells, heavy guitars and pounding drums, which definitely wakes you up after Under the Chaos. In true Nega style, there’s a slowdown where Jin’s vocals take center stage backed by some strong bass courtesy of Ray. After the chorus, there’s a section where everything slows down and a haunting melody is played by a piano. Just when all appears lost and that the fury at the beginning was just a lure the song breaks out into hell spawn once again. Sadly, those harder parts don’t mix with the softer majority of the song well and Dirty Faith comes off a confused beast.	6/10
Soul Cry	Jin’s vocals start this song out strong. The heavy riff at the beginning does a good job at catching your attention before it slows down into a piano based verse. Soul Cry juxtaposes portions rather than sections and the transitions are coherent. Softer verses are punctuated by wild guitar sections, and Jin’s voice is the glue that holds everything together. There’s mumbling and whispering along with singing and crooning (although sometimes it feels overwhelming), and the section where hard and soft mix together beautifully make Soul Cry a standout, right up to the soft ending. Looking forward to the re-recording on Grave of the Sacrifice.	8/10
Tamashii Namida wa Akai Chi ni	Long name in Japanese plus long runtime equals a ballad. To be quite honest there’s an obvious motif of piano running throughout these tracks but it’s most noticeable here where it takes front and center. The first part of the track is Jin and piano for the most part. Three minutes in it changes pace and explodes into a flurry of dueling guitars while a haunting piano weaves between the guitars underneath. A dark but fitting solo follows before the chorus returns (and the addition of a bad electronic effect) and ends off with just the piano and some twinkling in the background fading away. About as epic of a ballad as we’re getting.	9/10
DIS.	They switch out the piano for the organ this time. The first few notes of the band sound ominous before it completely switches direction into rock that’s loud, amelodic, fast paced, and full of riffs and unusual sounds. Those guitars are distorted to the max all over the place and the bass is thick underneath it all. The quick rhythmic drum patterns injected with blast beats every so often add to the sense of urgency all over the place. Jin’s vocals are also quite spastic and range from his piercing scream at the end to distorted chanting just about everywhere to the whispered grunts and squeals in the vocals. It runs a little too long but the dynamically changing face of this song saves it some points.	8/10
Shutora	It starts out with some rising guitar followed by some disturbing, distorted voice. It’s got an arrhythmic, galloping pace until it moves back into a softer, more haunting piece. This entire piece is eccentric but with that touch of Nega that makes everything seem purposeful. Jin’s vocals do just about everything here, and add to the overall weirdness of the track. Shutora ends with that disturbing voice deepening thicker and thicker into distortion and ends what could possibly be one of the more successful bonus tracks I’ve heard. I also think it’s placement at track 13 was intentional o_o.	8/10

Unlike a lot of their newer work, ЯeBirtH Under the Chaos is Nega at it's core - experimental. It's loud, heavy, distorted and full of screams with the melodies inserted underneath all the noise. This is definitely an album you can't pick up and "get" on the first listen because it experiments with so many polarizing sounds you may just throw it aside as garbage and go to listen to something more melodic. It takes multiple listens to find the beauty in the songs, because each of them were constructed with such complexity you can't possibly hear everything at once. Ironically, the one thing that sets Nega apart and puts them on the map is the one thing that also holds them back. Jin's voice is pretty rough on this release in parts and I personally feel that if Nega wants to extend their fanbase he's going to have to work on his vocals and variate his screams. Fans of Nega may be fond of this release but newcomers need to start at their recent stuff and work their way back.

Recommended:

Soul Cry
Tamashii Namida wa Akai Chi ni

Rating: 84% (A-TYPE)
Rating: 69% (B-TYPE)