Fate Gear - Headless Goddess (Review)

New or old? This question will torment the listener throughout the album.

My rating: 86/100     Best Song: Hakai No Bara

fategear.jp

It all starts with the feeling of déjà vu, the feeling that you have heard it before. And after looking at the tracklist, you begin to understand where this feeling comes from. This album consists of Destrose songs (except the last). The structure of album: at the beginning - clean intro, then a powerful track, then two tracks in the style of 80s, then a melodic, then two very powerful songs. This idea is standard, but it holds the listener well.

Composer work is good. A lot of work is noticeable, despite the fact that this is not a new songs. Composer again chooses methods for solving artistic tasks that involve the transfer of a large number of shades.

The first, where the influence of such an idea is noticeable is vocalists. There are several vocalists in this album who have different ranges and performing shades. There is even extreme technique (2 track). Unusual to hear extreme technique, along with standard E guitar tuning. Also too careful performance of vocals in track 2. In the rest of the songs the performance is flawless. However, a high level of skill manifests itself in quite interesting points. For example, in all songs minimal voice processing is noticeable - this indicates confidence in their abilities.

Instrumental parts - everything is predictable here. Standard E guitar tuning does not have to much variety. However, some composer's ideas make instrumental parts very interesting at the level of shades. Now specifically about each member. The first is guitarist. Guitar riffs are pretty predictable for power metal, but that sounds good. But there is one uncomfortable point: I don't like volume of guitar in the mix. This is especially noticeable at the beginning of track 2, at the moment with a dive bomb. This technique should be very sharply smash into the composition. Here it's not noticeable. Also, the insufficient volume of guitar is noticeable in the general construction of 6 track. Also noticeably a very large number of keyboards. After an indistinct synthesizer's solo in song "7 Years Ago", keyboardist is already playing without any show-off's. However, keyboards perfectly complements the composition. Bassist has some interesting segments. Slap in two tracks - 6 and forgot which one else - that's all that the bassist could offer. However, another part of the rhythm section - drummer - sounds better. Drum patterns don't sound too diverse, but quite powerful. For example, 4 tracks is almost entirely one continuous blast beat.

Until the last moment, I refused to believe that Fate Gear is new Destrose. Yes, this is not so simple. However, in this release, the Captain presents us with old compositions in a new form. I don't like this idea - no need to remember the old when you move forward. But Captain still noticeably improved the compositions, making them more saturated, more alive. If this album was in the style of Destrose, I would rate 74/100. But now you can hear the new sound. I don't know how many releases such an idea will be enough, but specifically this work is good.