01. Proof of the Blood
02. Kiba
| Proof of the Blood | It’s the first A-side exist trace ever put to CD, and their greenness shows here. I get the feeling the ladies didn’t exactly know how they wanted to start this song so it just goes and it doesn’t feel right. The ending is thankfully artfully done. Some guitar also spills over into the other ear which makes for a disorienting experience and if they were planning to go for that then they succeeded. If that was an indie programmer mistake then that is bad, but since I can’t tell I won’t deduct points. Mari really needs to lay off the cymbals here because it’s continuous and incessant, but some of her rhythms here and there are pretty cool. The bass is sunk all the way to the bottom and isn’t audible at points because the twin guitars take charge of the melody. Naoto still manages to shine through here and there so that’s pleasant. The twin guitars don’t actually have a solo, but each of them get to show off for a little. Overall though, their notes are really sludgy and discerning what goes on here and there is nigh impossible. You just get a general feeling for the melody. As for Jyou, her singing in the verses are set pretty low and with everything going on she doesn’t stand out as much as a frontman in a band should. The pre-chorus is all Jyou growling, but if you haven’t heard exist trace this far back you’re going to regard this entire portion as pretty fucking bad. Her singing is better by far, but no Vanguard – of the muses – standard. The emphasis here is more on the feeling and the emphasis of what she says and how they play than on any musical aspects, but it’s all enjoyable. | 8/10 |
| Kiba | The lighter riff is an immediate contrast (HAVE to stop using this word) to the dramatic end of this last track. It’s obvious this track is much more controlled than the last one but the beginning minute is too light to fit with the lyrics. The song really switches up at the chorus, when things darken and the song becomes progressively better from there. I think this attitude fits more than the one the song started off with, and the fact it took a minute to get there takes off a few points. If Naoto’s bass was more balanced it would be prominent in this song but all I hear are Miko and Omi along with prominent cymbal abuse. At one point, they all slow down to let Jyou sing almost a cappella before they burst into another, darker chorus and then some additional singing before Kiba winds down. The last few seconds are pretty surprising because I was just expecting the song to fade out on a riff and what it does is slow down and play some notes on the left ear before it ends properly. Kiba isn’t their best, but it isn’t that bad. It floats somewhere in the middle | 7/10 |
Ambivalence definitely is not the place for a newcomer to this band to start, and there are two reasons why. One is that I doubt they’ll ever return to this spectrum of heavy again if VANGUARD is any sign as of what’s to come and the second is that the quality of this release is so indies it takes a certain amount of appreciation for the band to fully enjoy. This is like going back to MUCC’s demo tapes and trying to listen to those without knowing what Kyuutai sounds like. It’s very different and unless you’ve become a big fan of the band you’re not going to like what you hear.
Recommended:
No, not for the new listener, but fans of exist trace might already have this one.
Score: 75%
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