But if the stereotypical and ill-fitting image of a sad, introverted freak cutting his wrists in the bathtub spring to mind or the no less stereotypical but still hilarious kid with a combover, too much hairgel, and black clothing waft to mind when you hear "gothic rock music", then I suggest you avert your pale little eyes to something more digestable for your frail lower intestine and non-functioning colon.
May I suggest Nega instead?
01. Fascism
02. Carnival
03. ero:de
04. Zetsubou Romance
05. Murder Freaks
Sixth TERROR
(I am not sure if that's the real cover or not but at this point I could care less. If you want a cover for this song so badly take the Ura Mania Theatre one to the right (it's the red one). However I'm not reviewing Valentine here. I'll do that when I get around to Sexual Beast.)
01. "MONOKURO" ni natta saigo no hi
There really is no difference in what you get with the covers for Terrors. One is just the first press and the other is the second press and both are a right bitch to find ^^. Having that said I'll start with Terrors first.
In descending order starting with the most "gothic" tracks we start out with Zetsubou Romance and Carnival. Carnival is the most boring track on this release. With the exception of the distorted drums and some parts of the riff at the beginning of the song the rest of it fades into obscurity because it's overshadowed by the other songs on this release. The fact that this also comes after Fascism doesn't help it stand out any more. Fascism is that song that uses German to cement D'espa's street cred whilst being the beginning of the EP headbanger. Hitler's little speech draws you in like no other track on Terrors can. I'm also going to mention that I can't follow along with the damn lyrics that I see online. Hizumi's vocals stand out here more and his "heil" barks are pretty damn vicious but everything else about the song is a little lacking - it all feels streamlined and repetitive. The way the band fades out as the "Sieg Heil" chants come in is done pretty well but the chants cut off abruptly and go into Carnival, which as I said doesn't grab my attention as much as I want to.
Zetsubou Romance does the exact opposite even though it sounds very similar to Carnival (scratch that: everything sans Murder Freaks can be easily interchanged on this EP). What sets it apart are the eerie sounds that dot the song's soundscape, peaking in brilliance as it rises throughout the chorus. It adds a feeling of awesome and tension but it's broken by the rough transition into another verse. Hizumi overlaying himself because he's too lazy to fix the rhythm on his lyrics is a turn-off. Tihs slip-up is balanced by the insertion of the bass section overlayed with Hizumi's singing before it breaks into the rising chorus again. Some interesting portions are happening in this song but there are slip-ups which balances out all the cool sections. No. This needs to be re-recorded and reworked.
I call for a compilation album. Nao.
All three tracks sound very muddy and indies. The band comes together well but nothing in particular stands out. Zero's bass doesn't assert itself and could be easily omitted due to the omnipresence of Karyu's guitar, Tsukasa's playing on a marshmallow kit and Hizumi's barks sound washed out.
ero:de and Murder Freaks are a cut above but when I say a cut I'm talking a miniscule sliver of space that in the long run doesn't really mean a damn but they both come with extra bells and whistles that make them the best tracks here. Murder Freaks starts out with some rain and a haunting piano and Hizumi speaking to either someone else or himself alone in a mansion before the song kicks in. The re-recording on Born doesn't have the beginning (well it does, but it's attached to the end of the previous track and it goes on for three whole minutes. Seriously Hizumi, shut the fuck up.) However, the Terrors version is just the right length and it works out better in practice than I'm making it out to be. Other than that, the Born version is better mastered and has a better balance of instruments. Eh, we're talking about the Terrors version so I'll stick with that. Other than the fact that Karyu's guitar and Tsukasa's drumming owns everyone else in this track since it's the only audible thing next to Hizumi, the effects that play with your ears aren't irritating (glares at MUCC) and are done well and not every five damn seconds. As a matter of fact, they're so subliminal they fit in with the song the first few times and you might not even notice it because it adds to the song without drawing attention to itself. The ending was lame though and could have went into the stratosphere instead of....doing that. Boo.
My previous complaints still stand.
ero:de does some awesome reverb shit before jumping into the distorted "shinjitsu" and going off at a million miles an hour. I can actually HEAR Zero in this track (somewhat) and there isn't one part of the song that comes off annoying as hell to kill the track. The insane mumbling in this track does get old especially since almost every track has it but ero:de is early on enough for you to not get sick of it. This track's transitions are smooth and the high frequency effects they put in there work well (I do think that portion around 2:30 is a bit WTF though) so I'd have to give this song a recommendation. Wow...it's the only song here I actually recommended.
And now for the one track on Sixth TERROR, Monokuro ni Natta Saigo no Hi was also released on that Ura Mania Theatre demo tape (not like that's any easier to find) but I'll do it now. It's fucking brilliant. The way he sings it, the pain he describes everytime through his lyrics, the pure gothic creepiness mixing with the clean acoustics and distorted guitars, this song alone trumps everything that was on Terrors and shows a great deal of musical improvement in such a short period of time. It's darker and moves at a more plodding pace than anything else here but it's a work of genius. I recommend this.
And so that wraps up these two oldies. I strayed far away from the old cliche for two reasons. One is that it's a cliche and the other is that most of Terrors isn't really "goodies". They're all decent tracks but they fuck up somewhere in their runtime and lowers my expectations. They've got some other releases worth checking out so I wouldn't come running to Terrors first.
Sixth TERROR is another story...I actually have the lyrics for it so here you go.
Monokuro ni Natta Saigo no Hi - The Last Day When Everything Went Monochrome
When did I start to forget the pain and let my heart degenerate into ugliness and wither completely.
I was always afraid it would break thinking that if I touched it, it'd fall to pieces
I learned what hurt and pain meant when I met you.
burn my body with feelings that spring without end
trust me, the one who wanted only you
these resolute feelings haven't changed
they're locked in my heart where they quietly sleep
your warmth, a room without you...
this blank in time that feels so very long
silence my voice, a sigh escapes
softly becoming tangled up
I believed that the time we warmed each other would go on forever.
the memories that stain the body long for you
put upon by the urging of my lust
this body can't forget you it hurts so it's breaking
dare to...wrap your hands around my throat
until this feeling right before me... goes white
because i'll always live on...
in the season the powder snow falls
and the memory
Recommended:
Monokuro ni Natta Saigo no Hi
ero:de
Score:
Terrors: 61%
SIXTH Terror: 81%
In descending order starting with the most "gothic" tracks we start out with Zetsubou Romance and Carnival. Carnival is the most boring track on this release. With the exception of the distorted drums and some parts of the riff at the beginning of the song the rest of it fades into obscurity because it's overshadowed by the other songs on this release. The fact that this also comes after Fascism doesn't help it stand out any more. Fascism is that song that uses German to cement D'espa's street cred whilst being the beginning of the EP headbanger. Hitler's little speech draws you in like no other track on Terrors can. I'm also going to mention that I can't follow along with the damn lyrics that I see online. Hizumi's vocals stand out here more and his "heil" barks are pretty damn vicious but everything else about the song is a little lacking - it all feels streamlined and repetitive. The way the band fades out as the "Sieg Heil" chants come in is done pretty well but the chants cut off abruptly and go into Carnival, which as I said doesn't grab my attention as much as I want to.
Zetsubou Romance does the exact opposite even though it sounds very similar to Carnival (scratch that: everything sans Murder Freaks can be easily interchanged on this EP). What sets it apart are the eerie sounds that dot the song's soundscape, peaking in brilliance as it rises throughout the chorus. It adds a feeling of awesome and tension but it's broken by the rough transition into another verse. Hizumi overlaying himself because he's too lazy to fix the rhythm on his lyrics is a turn-off. Tihs slip-up is balanced by the insertion of the bass section overlayed with Hizumi's singing before it breaks into the rising chorus again. Some interesting portions are happening in this song but there are slip-ups which balances out all the cool sections. No. This needs to be re-recorded and reworked.
I call for a compilation album. Nao.
All three tracks sound very muddy and indies. The band comes together well but nothing in particular stands out. Zero's bass doesn't assert itself and could be easily omitted due to the omnipresence of Karyu's guitar, Tsukasa's playing on a marshmallow kit and Hizumi's barks sound washed out.
ero:de and Murder Freaks are a cut above but when I say a cut I'm talking a miniscule sliver of space that in the long run doesn't really mean a damn but they both come with extra bells and whistles that make them the best tracks here. Murder Freaks starts out with some rain and a haunting piano and Hizumi speaking to either someone else or himself alone in a mansion before the song kicks in. The re-recording on Born doesn't have the beginning (well it does, but it's attached to the end of the previous track and it goes on for three whole minutes. Seriously Hizumi, shut the fuck up.) However, the Terrors version is just the right length and it works out better in practice than I'm making it out to be. Other than that, the Born version is better mastered and has a better balance of instruments. Eh, we're talking about the Terrors version so I'll stick with that. Other than the fact that Karyu's guitar and Tsukasa's drumming owns everyone else in this track since it's the only audible thing next to Hizumi, the effects that play with your ears aren't irritating (glares at MUCC) and are done well and not every five damn seconds. As a matter of fact, they're so subliminal they fit in with the song the first few times and you might not even notice it because it adds to the song without drawing attention to itself. The ending was lame though and could have went into the stratosphere instead of....doing that. Boo.
My previous complaints still stand.
ero:de does some awesome reverb shit before jumping into the distorted "shinjitsu" and going off at a million miles an hour. I can actually HEAR Zero in this track (somewhat) and there isn't one part of the song that comes off annoying as hell to kill the track. The insane mumbling in this track does get old especially since almost every track has it but ero:de is early on enough for you to not get sick of it. This track's transitions are smooth and the high frequency effects they put in there work well (I do think that portion around 2:30 is a bit WTF though) so I'd have to give this song a recommendation. Wow...it's the only song here I actually recommended.
And now for the one track on Sixth TERROR, Monokuro ni Natta Saigo no Hi was also released on that Ura Mania Theatre demo tape (not like that's any easier to find) but I'll do it now. It's fucking brilliant. The way he sings it, the pain he describes everytime through his lyrics, the pure gothic creepiness mixing with the clean acoustics and distorted guitars, this song alone trumps everything that was on Terrors and shows a great deal of musical improvement in such a short period of time. It's darker and moves at a more plodding pace than anything else here but it's a work of genius. I recommend this.
And so that wraps up these two oldies. I strayed far away from the old cliche for two reasons. One is that it's a cliche and the other is that most of Terrors isn't really "goodies". They're all decent tracks but they fuck up somewhere in their runtime and lowers my expectations. They've got some other releases worth checking out so I wouldn't come running to Terrors first.
Sixth TERROR is another story...I actually have the lyrics for it so here you go.
Monokuro ni Natta Saigo no Hi - The Last Day When Everything Went Monochrome
When did I start to forget the pain and let my heart degenerate into ugliness and wither completely.
I was always afraid it would break thinking that if I touched it, it'd fall to pieces
I learned what hurt and pain meant when I met you.
burn my body with feelings that spring without end
trust me, the one who wanted only you
these resolute feelings haven't changed
they're locked in my heart where they quietly sleep
your warmth, a room without you...
this blank in time that feels so very long
silence my voice, a sigh escapes
softly becoming tangled up
I believed that the time we warmed each other would go on forever.
the memories that stain the body long for you
put upon by the urging of my lust
this body can't forget you it hurts so it's breaking
dare to...wrap your hands around my throat
until this feeling right before me... goes white
because i'll always live on...
in the season the powder snow falls
and the memory
Recommended:
Monokuro ni Natta Saigo no Hi
ero:de
Score:
Terrors: 61%
SIXTH Terror: 81%
No comments:
Post a Comment