My rating: 93/100 Best song: Reason
Composer's work is very diverse. In this album, composer chose the most difficult way - through the transfer of a large number of shades. This can afford only a high-class specialist. However, it gives impressive results. Album structure should be noted: a dramatic intro (1 track), the most powerful and pathos songs (2, 3, 5 tracks), a middle-tempo song (4 tracks), in the middle of the album there are metalcore patterns with an abundance of pinch harmonics on extended range guitar (6 tracks), again powerful songs (7, 8, 10 tracks) and at the end - something melancholic with piano (9, 11 tracks). Purely theoretically, this doesn't look very bright, but composer's talent made it possible to convey a huge amount of shades. Therefore, the picture turned out to be epic, not only on the cover art.
It should also be noted that several vocalists took part in the recording of the album. This is an interesting idea - to combine the best abilities of several vocalists. And in this album it’s hard to say something bad about vocalists, because the best sides of their talent are gathered here. However, I can say something. For the most powerful songs, the most powerful vocalists were chosen. There is nothing surprising - the amazing begins only while listening. For the middle-tempo song (4th track), in which the beauty of the song needs to be emphasized, Haruka was chosen, which has a great voice. After I heard her voice, I immediately wanted a new album of Tears Of Tragedy. Extreme techniques (6 track) - this is also a good solution in terms of diversity. By the way, such a great variety of the best vocalists for Ono-sensei (his voice can be heard in track 9) may be an occasion to ponder the question: is it really necessary for him in Galneryus?
But I continue. Now about instrumental. It's noticeable that composer paid a lot of attention to instrumental parts. And after listening to say that the result “just good” means to insult such a high talent. Guitar parts are great. Yes, these words poorly convey the magnificence of guitarist's technique. I don't have enough knowledge to describe in detail such skills. However, I can note something. For example, very interesting shades in using typical power metal patterns in most tracks. Or metalcore patterns on extended range guitar (track 6) - it was suddenly, but very interesting. The rest instruments don't look so bright against the background of guitar. However, there is also something to say about the rest. Keyboards sound interesting, but only in 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, and 11 tracks. In the rest it could be more interesting, considering that Yuhki was involved in this. Rhythm section is very powerful. The first part of the rhythm section is bass. Crazy bass parts are hard to hear in cheap headphones, but when you hear it, you'll shit bricks. The second part - drums - also sound very powerful. High intensity of drums (even at medium tempo) prevents the listener from relaxing.
It was very difficult for me to write this review. This is probably the second most difficult review I posted on this blog. But I can say one thing: sensei once again confirms that he is a world-class specialist. He confirms his ability to think outside the box where he really needs it. Yes, this is not a unique combination of skill and emotion - regular listeners of Japanese metal have heard similar music for a long time. However, this release is made by a real master of his craft. It was necessary to think a little better for keyboards in 5, 6, 7 and 10 tracks, and also it was not necessary to insert Ono-sensei into this release. This is the only thing I didn’t like about this album. Otherwise, the album is great.
