Then I realized that it actually stems from a philosophical thought experiment handled by a scientist that was trying to explore semantic externalism. I have yet to figure out how that exactly translates into what HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR was going for with this album but they have confirmed that that is where they took the name from. If I had to guess, I guess it would have to be about how they're reinventing themselves musically with their new singer.
The second is that with the preview of the two songs they've given us (XYZ and good bye) I cannot figure out why the album cover looks so fruity. We have a roaring Yusuke and crunching guitars behind a skull in a baby blue sky with a friggin' rainbow. Does. Not. Compute.
The third is something I figured out just today - High and Mighty Color are once again indies. Yay or nay? That's all up to you.
01. swamp man
02. XYZ
03. good bye
04. eyes
05. fly to the other moon
06. pain
07. 7.2
o8. hate
09. living
10. you
I kid you not - most of the titles are indeed one word and none of them are in Japanese.
I was originally going to do a track-by-track analysis but I gave up at good bye. This is a drastic change in High and Mighty Color and although I was praising this hard, heavier style that I've wanted them to pursue I feel like this album is still missing that vital "ingredient" that makes me like songs.
What neuters swamp man for me is the fact that the construction of six of the ten songs are painfully simple. They may be cohesive, effective, and sound good but they aren't satisfying over the long run. They don't tug at my heart strings, they don't make me want to get up and mosh in my kitchen, they don't do anything!
At least we know their core sound hasn't changed one bit.
swamp man also comes packaged with an introduction, which is a first for High and Mighty Color. This introduction, eponymous of the album, does nothing to deter my never-ending hate of introduction tracks. In some aspects, it fuels my dislike even more. Starting off with some crackling behind an ominous sound, a piano kicks in and it continues on including so many odd and unusual sounds causing it to go from "ominous opening" to "continuous what the fuckgasm" and ends off with Halca mumbling gibberish in English. Most of the time, the strength of a few songs in the album more than make up for a bad opening but swamp man was so memorable in a negative way I can't excuse this.
hate, living, eyes, and pain are typical hard rock tracks with dual vocalists which means they are nothing special even by this bands lackluster standards. They are among the weakest on the album for one reason; they channel too much San-period Haikara and not enough swamp man Haikara. With this album they sought to return to their Anti-Nobunaga roots but they haven't been able to seperate themselves from the formulaic approach of their last albums completely (which still explains the lack of creative instrumentation - they tried to be hard for hard's sake and came up short).
Although those four tracks sound much more refined than the 80's love child that San turned out to be with great guitar solos and good vocals, what is missing is the "teamwork" between Yusuke and Halca. The passion, the dynamic, the team that Yusuke and Maki once made cannot be repeated. As a group, Yusuke and Halca haven't been able to work off each other's strengths and cover one another's weaknesses yet. Even though Yusuke has gotten better and Halca isn't as forceful as I would like her to be, these tracks feel empty and provide a mediocre amount of replay value.
On the other hand, the other tracks on this album belong in the category of "download and like" because they hint at a subtle maturity that has been festering in High and Mighty Color's pocket for the last few albums.
7.2 packs the Middle Eastern flair reminiscent of Haitoku no Jounetsu with the more evolved stylings they've touched on with stuff like Toxic and this results in something purely swamp man. The electric guitars lack that bite that a lot of the other tracks have and HALCA's vocals are great here but they still lack a bit of punch that would draw me in. It's still a standout. fly to the other moon possesses a Halca that experiments with what sounds like an uncomfortable falsetto and a Yusuke that doesn't feel like he has to scream up the track. It comes off as a wholesome effort to try to not pump out the same two types of songs repeatedly and I have to admit it's rather catchy. Channeling some hard guitars with this mentioned falsetto and well-placed electric effects produces a sound that they haven't yet played around with. Very interesting.
you is the end-of-the-album mid-tempo rocker that once again sounds completely devoid of any of the 80's influence of San. This still feels like some older High and Mighty Color ballads but somehow they were able to keep this song fresh, letting it own the position at the end of the album that it was granted. It's not a new sound from this band but it sounds purposeful and refined (even if it is a little simple). It was a wise choice for them to end the album off with this song.
This just leaves XYZ and good bye as the last two tracks I have to speak about. I left them for last because these two are the "rock" tracks here. XYZ is the harder track but it suffers from Halca's delivery and an overabundance of Yusuke. It's not too much of a bad thing but older tracks used to rely on Maki's strong vocals for impact and this sudden change is causing withdrawal symptoms from me. good bye isn't as hard but it contains more Halca, who sounds better in this atmosphere. The contrast between distorted vocals and clean vocals at the verse is genius and Halca's English is very good. Both contain heavy guitars reminiscent of Anti-Nobunaga work mixed in with some earlier High and Mighty Color. What hurts these two tracks are that they are placed right after one another and then no other track tries to channel this attitude later on. If you were hoping for an entire album full of XYZ-esque tracks, you're going to be let down. Hard.
In a nutshell, swamp man sounds like High and Mighty Color is trying to cover themselves. This record is evident of a lot of potential waiting to be tapped but musically this band stripped themselves down so much there isn't much left for them to work with. This isn't a continuation of Rock Pit so if you want to enjoy this album you're going to have to discard that idea. When it comes down to it, Haikara really did "Go Over" with this release and they sound like a completely different band.
I am going to be honest with you all - I struggled writing this review because this album causes me to draw so many blanks. This sound is new and I was expecting it but at the same time I was not. I'll also admit that I had my hopes up too high for this album and I was let down a little bit. Some sketchy choices concerning production mixed with inexperience with this new sound lessens swamp man's impact but overall I think there is something in this album that hasn't clicked yet. Due to that, I will withhold judgment until it's "proper release", when I will revisit this album and try again.
I was originally going to do a track-by-track analysis but I gave up at good bye. This is a drastic change in High and Mighty Color and although I was praising this hard, heavier style that I've wanted them to pursue I feel like this album is still missing that vital "ingredient" that makes me like songs.
What neuters swamp man for me is the fact that the construction of six of the ten songs are painfully simple. They may be cohesive, effective, and sound good but they aren't satisfying over the long run. They don't tug at my heart strings, they don't make me want to get up and mosh in my kitchen, they don't do anything!
At least we know their core sound hasn't changed one bit.
swamp man also comes packaged with an introduction, which is a first for High and Mighty Color. This introduction, eponymous of the album, does nothing to deter my never-ending hate of introduction tracks. In some aspects, it fuels my dislike even more. Starting off with some crackling behind an ominous sound, a piano kicks in and it continues on including so many odd and unusual sounds causing it to go from "ominous opening" to "continuous what the fuckgasm" and ends off with Halca mumbling gibberish in English. Most of the time, the strength of a few songs in the album more than make up for a bad opening but swamp man was so memorable in a negative way I can't excuse this.
hate, living, eyes, and pain are typical hard rock tracks with dual vocalists which means they are nothing special even by this bands lackluster standards. They are among the weakest on the album for one reason; they channel too much San-period Haikara and not enough swamp man Haikara. With this album they sought to return to their Anti-Nobunaga roots but they haven't been able to seperate themselves from the formulaic approach of their last albums completely (which still explains the lack of creative instrumentation - they tried to be hard for hard's sake and came up short).
Although those four tracks sound much more refined than the 80's love child that San turned out to be with great guitar solos and good vocals, what is missing is the "teamwork" between Yusuke and Halca. The passion, the dynamic, the team that Yusuke and Maki once made cannot be repeated. As a group, Yusuke and Halca haven't been able to work off each other's strengths and cover one another's weaknesses yet. Even though Yusuke has gotten better and Halca isn't as forceful as I would like her to be, these tracks feel empty and provide a mediocre amount of replay value.
On the other hand, the other tracks on this album belong in the category of "download and like" because they hint at a subtle maturity that has been festering in High and Mighty Color's pocket for the last few albums.
7.2 packs the Middle Eastern flair reminiscent of Haitoku no Jounetsu with the more evolved stylings they've touched on with stuff like Toxic and this results in something purely swamp man. The electric guitars lack that bite that a lot of the other tracks have and HALCA's vocals are great here but they still lack a bit of punch that would draw me in. It's still a standout. fly to the other moon possesses a Halca that experiments with what sounds like an uncomfortable falsetto and a Yusuke that doesn't feel like he has to scream up the track. It comes off as a wholesome effort to try to not pump out the same two types of songs repeatedly and I have to admit it's rather catchy. Channeling some hard guitars with this mentioned falsetto and well-placed electric effects produces a sound that they haven't yet played around with. Very interesting.
you is the end-of-the-album mid-tempo rocker that once again sounds completely devoid of any of the 80's influence of San. This still feels like some older High and Mighty Color ballads but somehow they were able to keep this song fresh, letting it own the position at the end of the album that it was granted. It's not a new sound from this band but it sounds purposeful and refined (even if it is a little simple). It was a wise choice for them to end the album off with this song.
This just leaves XYZ and good bye as the last two tracks I have to speak about. I left them for last because these two are the "rock" tracks here. XYZ is the harder track but it suffers from Halca's delivery and an overabundance of Yusuke. It's not too much of a bad thing but older tracks used to rely on Maki's strong vocals for impact and this sudden change is causing withdrawal symptoms from me. good bye isn't as hard but it contains more Halca, who sounds better in this atmosphere. The contrast between distorted vocals and clean vocals at the verse is genius and Halca's English is very good. Both contain heavy guitars reminiscent of Anti-Nobunaga work mixed in with some earlier High and Mighty Color. What hurts these two tracks are that they are placed right after one another and then no other track tries to channel this attitude later on. If you were hoping for an entire album full of XYZ-esque tracks, you're going to be let down. Hard.
In a nutshell, swamp man sounds like High and Mighty Color is trying to cover themselves. This record is evident of a lot of potential waiting to be tapped but musically this band stripped themselves down so much there isn't much left for them to work with. This isn't a continuation of Rock Pit so if you want to enjoy this album you're going to have to discard that idea. When it comes down to it, Haikara really did "Go Over" with this release and they sound like a completely different band.
I am going to be honest with you all - I struggled writing this review because this album causes me to draw so many blanks. This sound is new and I was expecting it but at the same time I was not. I'll also admit that I had my hopes up too high for this album and I was let down a little bit. Some sketchy choices concerning production mixed with inexperience with this new sound lessens swamp man's impact but overall I think there is something in this album that hasn't clicked yet. Due to that, I will withhold judgment until it's "proper release", when I will revisit this album and try again.
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