Black Rain - Gekka Bijin (Review)

I often pay attention to projects that have recently begun their creative activity. I like to analyze the results of their creative work and monitor their professional growth. Today I decided to write a review of the first single of the new band Black Rain - apparently this is a reference to the song of the same name by Mari Hamada.

My Rating: 60/100

Source: tunecore.co.jp

Be that as it may, I still click on “Play” button and started listening. There is only one track, but there is something to tell about. Here you can hear patterns characteristic of heavy metal and power metal with a female voice. It's noticeable that the guys lack imagination, creativity. This is noticeable by the project name, by the release name, by the general concept, by the lyrics.

There is such a stereotype that the vocalist is somewhat opposite from the rest band members. Unfortunately, this project is a confirmation of this regularity. It seems that the vocalist, lyricist and creative director is one person, and the composer is another. I don't want to say that this is bad, but it significantly affects the shades in the methods of solving artistic tasks. For example, this is noticeable in the fact that the voice is too pronounced in the mix, that is, the volume of the instruments is too low.

Let's talk about the vocalist. I can say that the vocalist is good. Here you can hear interesting tricks in the spirit of Steven Slate. However, her vocal style is somewhat peculiar: some problems with the articulating apparatus are noticeable. More precisely, the vocalist’s sound “S” sounds very crooked, - I guess this is a problem with orthognathy. And also the performance of vocal parts seemed too cautious to me - perhaps the vocalist knows about own flaws. And you can also notice that the track with the voice has minimal processing. I respect such honesty: significant processing saves many musicians with weak singing abilities (for example, Rino Nikaido, ex-Aldious). But overall, the vocalist did an excellent job.

I consider the high volume of a voice track is unfortunate decision. Because the instrumental parts sound much more interesting. Perhaps the general structure of instrumental parts is their main strength. This is noticeable by the tempo change and key change. This is noticeable in each member of the rhythm group. Guitar parts are very diverse. This is not just a combination of power chords, it's quite a serious job. But the melodies seemed too familiar to me, somewhere I had heard them before (I can’t remember exactly where). However, the rhythm section also does not lag behind - there is also a great variety. It's noticeable that the drummer did not just learn several loops, he really understands what he is doing (although the timings might be more interesting). I would also like to note additional instruments. But, after listening to the song again, I realized that they were not there. What a pity. With such a concept, a Hammond organ or strings would look good. But the composer decided that it would be better without them.

The first work is not always good: it's a given that must be accepted and continued to be created. With regards to this project, it was no exception. But it’s worth noting that there is definitely potential here. This release made it clear that this guys went on stage to create and daze. But the lack of creativity, as well as some of the vocalist flaws, somewhat influenced the final result. Well, this is only the beginning and I hope for growth in the future.