Tracklist
1. Lizard
2. BRILLIANT [PV]
3. REDEEMER [PV]
4. 琥珀 (Kohaku)
5. KAMIKAZE [PV]
6. Lost in re:birth
7. R.E.M-冬の幻聴- (R.E.M-Fuyu no genchou-)
8. HORIZON [PV]
9. MASQUERADE
In comparison to the beautiful [coll:set] and the energetic MIRROR, Redeemer blows monkey nuts. It's certainly not their strongest albums and if anything this is a bipolar offering of what D'espairsRay has to offer us as they're struggling through their style change. I'm not averse to change - I'm averse to it done badly but no matter how much I stomp my feet and whine up the internet the boys are going to play whatever it is they want to play so I guess I have to swallow the metaphorical rock cock and enjoy what I'm given.
Even though I make it sound like it's horrible this album has some redeeming qualities that save it from being a complete fail.
Lizard, the starting track, would be one of those good points. It is nothing more than a generic metal track meant to please fans like me who don't react well to change. By no means is it outstanding but the dark D'espairsRay purists will soon find themselves clinging to any shred of darkness that they can find on this album, especially when you look at what the second track is. D'espa wasted no time busting out BRILLIANT and the sheer upbeatness and raging energy of this track swathes Lizard's darker riffs and howls in light. BRILLIANT sounds like a track that was too light for MIRROR because a ton of stylistic elements were borrowed from that era for this song and it shows (especially in that little growl before the solo). Despite the polar opposites of these two tracks the flow is nice but I suppose this has to do with the fact that Lizard isn't the darkest thing we've ever heard from these boys. So even though they lighten up their darker songs (especially in the chorus which features some singing) their lighter songs aren't complete pop-rock pieces of crap. Yet.
REDEEMER, the third track, would fool you and make you think that this band was out to fuck with your mind. The mood is dark and tense as slick riffs and pounding drums race through verses and a chorus. When this PV came out every purist was in awe because the three B-sides they gave us were complete mindfucks and made us think we were getting some lame L'arc-en-ciel cover album shit. Without the PV, the energy of the track definitely suffers but if you need a quick fix of angsty HIZUMI this track could do the trick. Then again, there is another track coming up a bit later that could fill this void a lot better.
Kouhaku is pretty lame considering that it's a ballad lacking any direction. This saddens me since I love most of Tsukasa's work but this ballad falters because it doesn't dynamically expand into anything meaningful. The industrial opening and the guitar lines sound great, and the drum work lends itself nicely to the melancholic mood but the track doesn't bring it, leaving it to sit in the pool if it's own mediocrity to be emo and slice itself. KAMIKAZE doesn't bring it back since the opening charges you with energy but the chorus is a kick in the dick. It's generic pop-rock formula rubs me as a listener the wrong way and whatever uniqueness the track had going for it was lost in it's ambivalence to be both original and shitty at the same time.
Lost in re:birth is the one track that made me look at this album twice. Not one track sans Brilliant has given me any sort of indication that the tracks were thought through 100% - they sounded fine but they weren't inspired and D'espa didn't sound like they were completely convinced that they liked what they were playing. The vibe reminds me of Closer to ideal but overall the band lets loose here like they don't anywhere else on this album. I actually think the inclusion of this song hurts the album more than most people realize. It's so good at convincing you that D'espa still carries it's gothic junk in the trunk that the rest of the album comes off as a "what the fuck" amalgamation of unconvincing crap. Four minutes of complete rage, frantic drums and racing guitar lines makes me a happy purist.
R.E.M.~Fuyu no Genchou~ is the second ballad and it's not as dreadfully "chop my balls off" boring as Kouhaku was. Even though I personally feel it's too early for a second ballad slight additions to the track help it to build in a way that Kouhaku didn't, allowing the track not to fall flat at any point. Piano and violins help accompany the power metal chords and Hizumi's voice in a way that I haven't heard yet. Even though this is completely uncharacteristic of D'espairsRay, I like the experimentation and direction they decided to take with this track. Good stuff.
Ugh...and then we come to Horizon, the one track that I want to be raped with a rubber duckie of doom. This track deserves in no way to come after R.E.M. and everything about this track is cringe-worthy. Hizumi's rapping is atrocious, his screams are lame, the woah-oh-ohhhh's are creepy and the song is more pop-rock then Kamikaze's chorus. It retains none of the gothiness that at least allowed me to accept Kamikaze for what it was so I just listen to this track cringing with fear until the admittedly cool solo creeps up and turns even the heads of the most resentful of us purists. There's actually nothing too bad with this track and if you blinded someone and told them to listen to these two tracks they probably wouldn't be able to tell that it's the same band. It's just the fact that it's D'espairsRay that gave us this track, and not some generic oshare fuck like SuG that prevents me from accepting this track. I never actually WILL accept this track so it can rot in the back of the fucking fridge in hell sans the solo for the rest of eternity.
MASQUERADE is that lame attempt at D'espa trying to tell us they still are dark and emotional, screaming about pain and shit. Boys, when the last song says "CAN JOO FEEL DAH NEW WURLD?" I don't expect you to have the next track full of anger and rage at the world. Hizumi's trademark screams come off less raw and more refined, which would lead me to like it less since he sounds like he's holding back some and just roaring because it's been a few minutes since they've asserted how hardkoar they are (because we all know rapping is definitely kvlt). Hizumi's Engrish is also horrid and the next time the little ass uses a verb with out in it I will kick him in the dick. Break out, flake out? WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT SHIT? MASQUERADE is definitely the worst hard number on here since it's just the mandatory rough track with no passion whatsoever. Skip this no matter what side of the D'espa color wheel your allegiance lies.
The track Yozora is a complete what the fuck trip that compels me to whip out a shotgun and blow my fucking brains out if it weren't for the fact that I'd go to shoot whoever blasted this oshare-kei candy crap in my ears. The track is titled Night Sky in Japanese but they might as well have named this track fucking RAINBOW ROAD because it's too fucking upbeat to think about anything dark and angsty. If you disliked Horizon you'll want to claw your eyes out with this because it sounds like Takeru went crazy on some nyappy juice and fucked with the octave dial on Karyu's guitars. The little "happy synths" that remind me of Yoshi's Island also need to die a horrible, bloody death and Karyu's solo can't turn my head no matter how many pinch harmonics he wants to throw into it. This is 4:18 minutes of torture I wouldn't suggest ANY fan of MIRROR-era and previous subject themselves to unless they're feeling a little BDSM'y.
If you were expecting another sub-par emo bitchfest from the group in PARADOX 5 you would be sorely disappointed. PARADOX 5 is another in the vein of "holy what the motherfucking hell" that D'espairsRay throws at us but instead of sounding like the grandparents of alice nine. these guys manage to create an ambient wonder so odd it's entrancing. It's like Screen but better, mixing electronic effects with ethnic elements and female vocals to give it a sense of groove I haven't heard much this album. D'espa need to rent themselves out to the GazettE so they can get them into "female vocal rehab" because these guys know how to use it to make a track better without having the entire song sound like an R&B chopped and screwed remix of upchuckable shit. Perhaps what makes this track feel so weird are the exclusion of guitars - which I'm thinking might be a good idea since these guys have overdosed on the pop juice far too much on this album.
Had the album ended there it would have been a complete smack in the face but it would have been the good kind where they leave the best for last to keep you on your toes up until the end. But no, D'espa wouldn't have it that way and somehow feels the compulsive need to let us know that they've done away with their adolescent rage by placing a pop-rock song every other track. HEAVEN'S COLOR would be that obligatory upbeat ending track. I would have called this HORIZON 2.0 but D'espairsRay somehow remembered that they had to pretend to be upset to please hardasses like me so this track comes off more melancholic than that aborted monstrosity called Yozora. I have a mental block against this track since I despise pop-rock tracks coming out of this band when they aren't done excellently and HEAVEN'S COLOR just refuses to click with me so I'll leave the listener to formulate their own opinions about this one. At this point, I've given up on Redeemer and maybe that's for the best since it's the end of the album and if I want to try again I have the generic Lizard to beef up my neural senses before I lunge back into this album again.
This album is anything but cohesive, jumping from dark and angry to light and happy with the change of a track. The only track that somehow manages to blend the two would be the last one and every other track inbetween is either needlessly happy, needlessly heavy or just plain unexpected. Some rearranging as well as substitution of better tracks could have done REDEEMER some good but as the package is on it's own there should be something here for anyone to like. Older purists like me should find tracks like Lizard, REDEEMER and Lost in re:birth to be adequate enough to assure us that D'espairsRay still remembers that we're expecting them to roar our socks off. Those looking for slower numbers can rest in the ambience of tracks like PARADOX 5, Kouhaku and R.E.M. and those without musical taste or those that need something upbeat and lighter in nature can enjoy "gems" like Horizon and Yozora. Everything else is in the middle and is more of a see-as-you-move-along sort of deal. There's definitely not that one standout track that blows me away on this album but there are plenty of moments that alone are "good enough" but together can keep me satisfied until D'espairsRay can manage to pull together something like REDEEMER, R.E.M., Lost in re:birth or BRILLIANT again and then improve on it enough to bring me back to the fanbase.
REDEEMER is slightly above average, resting at a solid 7 out of 10. It could have been better, but I was expecting a lot worse.
Even though I make it sound like it's horrible this album has some redeeming qualities that save it from being a complete fail.
Lizard, the starting track, would be one of those good points. It is nothing more than a generic metal track meant to please fans like me who don't react well to change. By no means is it outstanding but the dark D'espairsRay purists will soon find themselves clinging to any shred of darkness that they can find on this album, especially when you look at what the second track is. D'espa wasted no time busting out BRILLIANT and the sheer upbeatness and raging energy of this track swathes Lizard's darker riffs and howls in light. BRILLIANT sounds like a track that was too light for MIRROR because a ton of stylistic elements were borrowed from that era for this song and it shows (especially in that little growl before the solo). Despite the polar opposites of these two tracks the flow is nice but I suppose this has to do with the fact that Lizard isn't the darkest thing we've ever heard from these boys. So even though they lighten up their darker songs (especially in the chorus which features some singing) their lighter songs aren't complete pop-rock pieces of crap. Yet.
REDEEMER, the third track, would fool you and make you think that this band was out to fuck with your mind. The mood is dark and tense as slick riffs and pounding drums race through verses and a chorus. When this PV came out every purist was in awe because the three B-sides they gave us were complete mindfucks and made us think we were getting some lame L'arc-en-ciel cover album shit. Without the PV, the energy of the track definitely suffers but if you need a quick fix of angsty HIZUMI this track could do the trick. Then again, there is another track coming up a bit later that could fill this void a lot better.
Kouhaku is pretty lame considering that it's a ballad lacking any direction. This saddens me since I love most of Tsukasa's work but this ballad falters because it doesn't dynamically expand into anything meaningful. The industrial opening and the guitar lines sound great, and the drum work lends itself nicely to the melancholic mood but the track doesn't bring it, leaving it to sit in the pool if it's own mediocrity to be emo and slice itself. KAMIKAZE doesn't bring it back since the opening charges you with energy but the chorus is a kick in the dick. It's generic pop-rock formula rubs me as a listener the wrong way and whatever uniqueness the track had going for it was lost in it's ambivalence to be both original and shitty at the same time.
Lost in re:birth is the one track that made me look at this album twice. Not one track sans Brilliant has given me any sort of indication that the tracks were thought through 100% - they sounded fine but they weren't inspired and D'espa didn't sound like they were completely convinced that they liked what they were playing. The vibe reminds me of Closer to ideal but overall the band lets loose here like they don't anywhere else on this album. I actually think the inclusion of this song hurts the album more than most people realize. It's so good at convincing you that D'espa still carries it's gothic junk in the trunk that the rest of the album comes off as a "what the fuck" amalgamation of unconvincing crap. Four minutes of complete rage, frantic drums and racing guitar lines makes me a happy purist.
R.E.M.~Fuyu no Genchou~ is the second ballad and it's not as dreadfully "chop my balls off" boring as Kouhaku was. Even though I personally feel it's too early for a second ballad slight additions to the track help it to build in a way that Kouhaku didn't, allowing the track not to fall flat at any point. Piano and violins help accompany the power metal chords and Hizumi's voice in a way that I haven't heard yet. Even though this is completely uncharacteristic of D'espairsRay, I like the experimentation and direction they decided to take with this track. Good stuff.
Ugh...and then we come to Horizon, the one track that I want to be raped with a rubber duckie of doom. This track deserves in no way to come after R.E.M. and everything about this track is cringe-worthy. Hizumi's rapping is atrocious, his screams are lame, the woah-oh-ohhhh's are creepy and the song is more pop-rock then Kamikaze's chorus. It retains none of the gothiness that at least allowed me to accept Kamikaze for what it was so I just listen to this track cringing with fear until the admittedly cool solo creeps up and turns even the heads of the most resentful of us purists. There's actually nothing too bad with this track and if you blinded someone and told them to listen to these two tracks they probably wouldn't be able to tell that it's the same band. It's just the fact that it's D'espairsRay that gave us this track, and not some generic oshare fuck like SuG that prevents me from accepting this track. I never actually WILL accept this track so it can rot in the back of the fucking fridge in hell sans the solo for the rest of eternity.
MASQUERADE is that lame attempt at D'espa trying to tell us they still are dark and emotional, screaming about pain and shit. Boys, when the last song says "CAN JOO FEEL DAH NEW WURLD?" I don't expect you to have the next track full of anger and rage at the world. Hizumi's trademark screams come off less raw and more refined, which would lead me to like it less since he sounds like he's holding back some and just roaring because it's been a few minutes since they've asserted how hardkoar they are (because we all know rapping is definitely kvlt). Hizumi's Engrish is also horrid and the next time the little ass uses a verb with out in it I will kick him in the dick. Break out, flake out? WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT SHIT? MASQUERADE is definitely the worst hard number on here since it's just the mandatory rough track with no passion whatsoever. Skip this no matter what side of the D'espa color wheel your allegiance lies.
The track Yozora is a complete what the fuck trip that compels me to whip out a shotgun and blow my fucking brains out if it weren't for the fact that I'd go to shoot whoever blasted this oshare-kei candy crap in my ears. The track is titled Night Sky in Japanese but they might as well have named this track fucking RAINBOW ROAD because it's too fucking upbeat to think about anything dark and angsty. If you disliked Horizon you'll want to claw your eyes out with this because it sounds like Takeru went crazy on some nyappy juice and fucked with the octave dial on Karyu's guitars. The little "happy synths" that remind me of Yoshi's Island also need to die a horrible, bloody death and Karyu's solo can't turn my head no matter how many pinch harmonics he wants to throw into it. This is 4:18 minutes of torture I wouldn't suggest ANY fan of MIRROR-era and previous subject themselves to unless they're feeling a little BDSM'y.
If you were expecting another sub-par emo bitchfest from the group in PARADOX 5 you would be sorely disappointed. PARADOX 5 is another in the vein of "holy what the motherfucking hell" that D'espairsRay throws at us but instead of sounding like the grandparents of alice nine. these guys manage to create an ambient wonder so odd it's entrancing. It's like Screen but better, mixing electronic effects with ethnic elements and female vocals to give it a sense of groove I haven't heard much this album. D'espa need to rent themselves out to the GazettE so they can get them into "female vocal rehab" because these guys know how to use it to make a track better without having the entire song sound like an R&B chopped and screwed remix of upchuckable shit. Perhaps what makes this track feel so weird are the exclusion of guitars - which I'm thinking might be a good idea since these guys have overdosed on the pop juice far too much on this album.
Had the album ended there it would have been a complete smack in the face but it would have been the good kind where they leave the best for last to keep you on your toes up until the end. But no, D'espa wouldn't have it that way and somehow feels the compulsive need to let us know that they've done away with their adolescent rage by placing a pop-rock song every other track. HEAVEN'S COLOR would be that obligatory upbeat ending track. I would have called this HORIZON 2.0 but D'espairsRay somehow remembered that they had to pretend to be upset to please hardasses like me so this track comes off more melancholic than that aborted monstrosity called Yozora. I have a mental block against this track since I despise pop-rock tracks coming out of this band when they aren't done excellently and HEAVEN'S COLOR just refuses to click with me so I'll leave the listener to formulate their own opinions about this one. At this point, I've given up on Redeemer and maybe that's for the best since it's the end of the album and if I want to try again I have the generic Lizard to beef up my neural senses before I lunge back into this album again.
This album is anything but cohesive, jumping from dark and angry to light and happy with the change of a track. The only track that somehow manages to blend the two would be the last one and every other track inbetween is either needlessly happy, needlessly heavy or just plain unexpected. Some rearranging as well as substitution of better tracks could have done REDEEMER some good but as the package is on it's own there should be something here for anyone to like. Older purists like me should find tracks like Lizard, REDEEMER and Lost in re:birth to be adequate enough to assure us that D'espairsRay still remembers that we're expecting them to roar our socks off. Those looking for slower numbers can rest in the ambience of tracks like PARADOX 5, Kouhaku and R.E.M. and those without musical taste or those that need something upbeat and lighter in nature can enjoy "gems" like Horizon and Yozora. Everything else is in the middle and is more of a see-as-you-move-along sort of deal. There's definitely not that one standout track that blows me away on this album but there are plenty of moments that alone are "good enough" but together can keep me satisfied until D'espairsRay can manage to pull together something like REDEEMER, R.E.M., Lost in re:birth or BRILLIANT again and then improve on it enough to bring me back to the fanbase.
REDEEMER is slightly above average, resting at a solid 7 out of 10. It could have been better, but I was expecting a lot worse.
You have in me a disciple. I am in sheer awe of your writing capabilities. It's so raw and passionate. But most of all, it sounds credible. Good job. No, superb job!
ReplyDeleteRegarding this review of Redeemer: it really makes me wonder what you think of LOVE IS DEAD. any thougths on it?
LOVE IS DEAD is tolerable but not a runaway song. I really need to stop being lazy and update more often :p
ReplyDelete