Review: SCREW - X-RAYS

With the announcement that Yuuto decided to leave the band today, I figured that it'd be only right that I finally take a look at X-RAYS and see what his final work with SCREW was like. I'm not going to beat around the bush and banter on and on just to have a set structure: X-RAYS was pretty average in some spots and downright terrible in others. A few issues plague this album through and through and there are plenty of other bands that do this genre and do it better but for an album X-RAYS really isn't all that bad. It just isn't all that good either.

Byou, the vocalist of this band, cannot scream. His singing voice is great, as illustrated in songs like DYSPNEA and Yurikago, but he cannot scream. X-RAYS has a notorious amount of distortion on the screams and instead of filling out Byou's weak spots it just makes the song sound funny and the screams sound stupid. There is such a ridiculous amount of distortion that I don't blame anyone if they stop listening at track five. This little glitch wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the fact that ScReW considers themselves to be a heavy band so we have tracks like dust box and DRASTIC SLAVER which are ridden with nothing but screams and growls muffled by tons of distortion.

The album starts off with answer, which I treat as more of an album opener than a track on it's own. It's under three minutes but it's full of screaming, whispering, tinny drumming, distorted vocals out the window and a respectable guitar line that keeps this song from sinking. It leads into one song that I must point out for review purposes: VII Cardinal Sins. This song is the epitome of "born syndrome": deep heavy verses contrasted with a sung chorus that doesn't fit together well. Throw in some unintelligible growled Engrish and distortion of course and you have a track that's just loud but not clever.

Thankfully this album is miles above the crap Racial Mixture EP they released before this and I do have to say that since they recorded all new songs for this album it's good in that respect. Some noteworthy songs for listening that I need to point out are Ruin and Dread, Dyspnea, Black Monster and Yurikago. These are among the best songs on the album because they showcase Byou's strengths while leaving the massive amounts of technical aid behind. Ruin and Dread combines their crushing sound with the grace of a piano while Dyspnea throws in a nice little acoustic solo over Byou's great singing voice, both of which add more to a song than "scream, scream, scream, layer this shit with distortion, scream some more". Yurikago has a nice tempo change midway through the song that keeps the listener from falling into a sleep from listening so long and Black Monster is that token "we're diversified" track that doesn't fit in on the album. Normally I crucify these but in the context of this album I'd take anything that doesn't outright suck.

EDIT: Due to the comment of an anonymous visitor, it came to my attention that I somehow missed the incredibly good Firefly. Don't ask why I didn't notice it wasn't here the first time but if you're going to pick up X-RAYS you need to invest serious time in this track. I didn't and I missed it the first time around D=. (Perhaps then I would have given X-RAYS a second look)

And then we have tracks that outright suck....what a shame since the songs above highlight that Screw knows what it is they're doing but they just make very poor musical decisions. As stated before, VII Cardinal Sins is a page ripped right out of "born's tips and tricks to making dysfunctional music" guide while dust box is a roaring wall of noise that ought to be destroyed next to it's cousin HEEL (from Racial Mixture). answer and Drastic Slaver both have somewhat cool guitar lines racing throughout but Byou's vocals kill it and Genei no Kusari has a cringeworthy chorus that neuters a somewhat good song.

At the end of the day, Screw is where they are at because they produce what it is they want: music that's great to listen to one minute and just "what the fuck" the next. Byou is nothing more than a poor man's Mao when it comes down to it (and Mao doesn't need digitalization on his vocals to make them "harsh") and ScReW can't keep a leash on their wild side as tightly as Sadie (the band that most jumps to mind when you figure what it is they try to imitate). X-RAYS is very hit and miss as an album but there are a few tracks in here worth putting your attention towards.

If ScReW wants to improve, they'll need to get a vocalist that knows how to scream/growl and compose songs that aren't needlessly heavy and without direction like "dust box". The EQ levels also need some adjustment. Would I ever want to see some songs re-recorded for a future compilation? Sure, but just the good ones.

Recommended:

DYSPNEA
RUIN AND DREAD
Yurikago

Listen: Maybe