Shuffle Sunday [Kadenzza - War Phantasma (Suite Opus 4)]

What do you get when you mix the Castlevania soundtracks, death metal, Arjen Lucassen, progressive rock and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra together...? You get the one-man composing powerhouse that is Kadenzza.

Kadenzza is the solo project of Japanese musician and composer, You Oshima. I compare Oshima to Arjen Lucassen (the man responsible for the progressive metal project, Ayreon) because Oshima provides the entire instrumental line-up of each album he records. But, unlike Lucassen, Oshima also provides the vocals and self-produces all of his music.

Although Kadenzza holds strongly to the neoclassical genre, it is far too intellectual to be labeled by anything but its very own sub-genre. Described in the words of Oshima himself, it is “Grand Orchestral Kamikaze...sophisticated full orchestra, razor edged screaming insane vocals, astral Japanese soprano, solemn church organs, furious blast beats, hyper-speed neo-classical guitars, dancing intellectual piano with complicated rhythms.” It sounds like a hell of a lot to handle all at once, and trust me it is. I definitely wouldn’t recommend listening to this unless you are already deeply introduced to the progressive style.

“War Phantasma (Suite Opus 4)” is a 13-minute power ride of an epic. The introduction is almost like a slowed down mix of Dream Theater’s “As I Am” and “Constant Motion.” The lyrics make a hasty entrance presented with obvious inspirations from Chuck Schuldiner of Death. After a quick guitar solo and an exponential increase in tempo and intensity, the song goes into a very King Crimson style of play. The minimalistic segregation of the piano solo plays much like the first half of “Moonchild” from King Crimson’s progressive masterpiece, In the Court of the Crimson King. After a few more minutes, the song begins to incorporate aggressive stock audio until the lyrics enter back in. The vocals are lot more brutal now and rather than bringing the guitar with them, this time, the solo is provided by electric organ synth. The song then continues to rise with anger until completely dissolving away, leaving a short bit of silence before the solemn piano returns. Ocean waves in the background, the piano begins to transform into a music box song, slowly fading away over the last minute of the song.

The song definitely leaves the listener in awe, especially because it was all conceived and provided by one man. As I said, this music is incredibly intellectual and leaves room for an endless amount of interpretation. For a prog listener, this is the best part. So, if you love progressive music as much as I do, please give this song a listen and tell me your thoughts. And while you’re at it, why don’t you give the entire album a chance. “War Phantasma” is actually the last track of Kadenzza’s Into the Oriental Phantasma. You may find that listening to the rest of the album will help you in your journeys through this week’s song.

I apologize for this Sunday's review being a little shorter than most, but the song truly speaks better for itself. Here's the link to the album:

http://free.napster.com/view/album/index.html?id=12911163

Aural Vampire - Vampire Ecstasy

This week’s album is definitely not for the weak hearted. This is some of the darkest electronic synthpop you’ll ever hear. It’s industrial, raw, warped and twisted. There are sounds on this album you will have never heard anything like in your entire life. I warned you that this is some pretty intense stuff, but if you are looking for an underground experimental experience like no other, look no further than Vampire Ecstasy by Aural Vampire.

Aural Vampire is made up of two members: Exo-Chika supplying vocals and one of my favorite DJs of all time, Raveman, doing everything else. Raveman is one of the Buckethead/Daft Punk variety in that he conceals his face from public view by the use of his signature mask. I like comparing him to Buckethead not only because of his “fashion sense,” but also because of the obscure experimental musical talent. Like I said, you will hear some sounds you have never heard before. Raveman lays it all out to give you the most unique listening experience possible. These are sounds I simply cannot explain. In order to understand you need to give it a listen yourself. A great example of this obscurity is the album’s title track “Vampire Ecstasy.” Go ahead; take a listen......pretty damn nuts, huh?

As far as Exo-Chika goes, it’s almost hard to believe how well her voice goes with this genre. It fits the pop sound so well, yet still holds really dark expressions. Her voice is powerfully alluring and on top of the background music it’s almost hypnotizing. Listen to the song “Disco King” and you will know exactly what I mean; she is one talented girl.

The electronic duo is actually relatively new to the music world, debuting in 2004 on an independent label. Vampire Ecstasy was Aural Vampire’s first album and still remains to be their only full length LP. The band puts a lot more work into being a live band than releasing an extensive amount of albums. This may change however, since the band has recently signed with Avex Trax, planning a summer release date for their newest album.

The album itself pulls you in further and further with each track. It has you from its strong industrial tracks like “Terror Vixen” and “Banboro Koubou,” to the electronic mayhem of “S.O.B.” and “Murealism.” But don’t let me convince you that this album is solely about oddities, because it also has its fill of mellow pop and house techno. “Freeeeze!!” will definitely have you raving the instant you throw it on the speakers, but throw on “Hana no Sakigake” and you’ll almost be in tears. On top of all this there are also many musical surprises planted by Raveman throughout the album. “Crimson Tyrant” and the latter of “PNFPN” will creep you out like no other. You just never know what you will get from Raveman.

If you are into electronica music in any way, I recommend you check this album out. It’s an almost undiscovered gem in the darkwave/synthpop world and deserves to be heard. Also, if you like some of Daft Punks less mainstream recordings, you might be inclined to give this album a listen as well.

The whole album can be found on this guys YouTube channel, here:

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=ahotaku&view=videos&query=aural+vampire

Shuffle Sunday [Bonnie Pink - Last Kiss]

The 90s opened up many doors to the pop genre, bringing us many new and talented faces. Britney Spears came out from the shadows and has become one of the most powerful pop stars to date. Christina Aguilera shot her debut out late in the decade, but she proved herself as being one of the best singers in history. These were also the days of iconic pop groups such as, Destiny’s Child, TLC, and the boy band that redefined the genre, The Backstreet Boys. As all these groups were emerging and taking the world by storm, not many solo pop artists were able to compete and intervene. However, a 22-year-old Kyoto girl, Kaori Asada, showed that even though she mostly stayed within Japanese borders, she was still able to capture the masses with great success.

Kaori Asada debuted as the pop singer, Bonnie Pink in 1995, with her single “Orenji.” The song was an instant hit, but it was unlike anything the pop genre had seen before. It was jazzy, but at the same time, incorporated the blues. It came through with that definitive pop vocalizations, but at times broke through with a strong rock tone. No one describes it better than Bonnie Pink herself. In the booklet from her debut album Blue Jam, she describes the sound she was going for as a “mixture of bitter honey, blues music, momentary silence, irresistible madness, teardrops, sourgrapes, hopeful bombs, big big love, and a few green apples.” At first this seems like a strange conception, but it truly is beautifully stated and well presented.

Bonnie Pink went on to release three incredibly successful albums in the 90s, but after these releases, she slowly started to lose popularity, until 2007 when her ninth studio album, Thinking Out Loud was released. Its single “A Perfect Sky” (released in 2006) brought her back into the spot light, and she has been staying at the top ever since. Unfortunately, she released some pretty damn good material in the early 2000s, that wasn’t picked up on by the charts. It wasn’t until her greatest hits album, Every Single Day, was released in 2006 that people began to revisit her older material. One of the songs featured on this greatest hits album is the song “Last Kiss.”

“Last Kiss” was the second single off of Bonnie Pink’s seventh studio album, Even So. There are so many reasons why I absolutely love this song and I’ll try my hardest to list them all for you. The song uses a heavy amount of string instruments which, when used in pop songs, can almost come off as being a crutch for the singer; letting the strings lead their singing for them. Fortunately, the string section on “Last Kiss” does nothing but give a perfect tone and environment for the song. The way the violins swell and release to give a perfect intense silence before each refrain is enough to give you the chills.

But, what makes it even better is the way Bonnie Pink solely delivers the refrain entrance. This girl needs no help driving her vocals. She is by far one of the greatest female vocalists to come out of that decade. It’s almost as if she isn’t capable of screwing up. Every dip, every sway, any inflection in her vocal patterns at all, comes off as perfectly executed.

Another aspect of the song that I really love is the way she intertwines the vibraphone. Wherever there seems to be a good place for movement in the bass, with the exception of the intro, the vibraphone does the work. This can be very subtle at times, but I see it as absolutely essential. If the bass were to come forth and play a moving part, it would break the line and become too intense for the environment set by the strings section. By using the vibraphone, you still get that less treble filled tone but with just a hair more reverb, which fits the song perfectly.

If you feel like listening to something a bit more relaxing than the past couple genres I’ve talked about this month, than Bonnie Pink is right for you. She’s got those beautiful compositions and vocals with just a hint of unique twist. So if you are looking for something a little different from your everyday American pop, be sure to give Bonnie Pink a try.

Here's the "Last Kiss" music video on YouTube:

Also, here's a cool duet version of Bonnie Pink's first single "Orenji," along with with an awesome live performance of "Last Kiss." Enjoy!

The Pillows - Happy Bivouac

When I first looked into modern foreign music I instantly thought of Japan first. Watching many Anime shows as a child I knew that Japan was capable of producing some pretty awesome music for their television programs. The soundtracks never seemed to fail; from Cowboy Bebop to Lupin the Third, the music always sucked me in. The first band I found in my musical journey happened to have composed one of the soundtracks to a popular anime show in the 90s.

FLCL was the name of the Anime and it was insane; full of action and suspense, amazing, fluid animations through every scene, and a story that gave you the smallest possible amount of information directly regarding the plot, keeping you conjuring ideas non-stop. The best part about this anime was how well the music fit the story. However, when I found out that almost all the music was recorded before the Anime was ever even conceived, I began to wonder how they found one band that had such an array of musical ingenuity to integrate their recordings so well into every scene. To this day I still haven’t found a band (in or out of Japan) that is as ingenious as the band they chose for this soundtrack. That band is The Pillows.

The Pillows are a Japanese alternative rock band that debuted in 1989. Having recorded sixteen studio albums alone to date, all of which that have been reasonably successful, the band has become one of the most successful in Japan, alongside others such as B’z. Their stellar studio album success comes from their diverse selection of songs on each record they produce. However, what makes The Pillows diversity different from that of Dir en Grey or B’z, is that The Pillows maintain a diverse selection of music while still retaining the alternative rock genre in every recording. This is an incredibly difficult concept to take in, but I can personally say that out of the over 150 songs the band has written over the years, each one has its own style and clarity. Some of the differences small, but they are never subtle. Each song speaks a different story, and it shows.

Happy Bivouac is not an exception to this concept. Although many of the songs off this album are written in similar fashions, the way they are presented through the difference in slurring of Sawao Yamanaka voice, or the varying intensities of the guitar and bass, make for a new experience on every track. Along with changing each band member’s style from track to track, the diversity of the songs on the album also comes from the slight changes within each song itself.

Songs like “Carnival” and “Beautiful Morning With You” both contain the same sort of growth in the recording as a whole, but the product results in a completely different reaction to each song. “Rush” and “Back Seat Dog” contain very similar strong structures, but “Rush” leaves me feeling determination in Yamanaka’s voice after every refrain, where “Back Seat Dog” comes off as a very bubbly love song. The vocals in “Funny Bunny” seem almost like they were copy/pasted right out of “Our Love and Peace,” but with the instrumental styles differing so greatly, you can’t help but feel a completely different emotion coming out of each vocal presentation.

I guess in the end this was more of a review of The Pillows themselves, but the reason I wanted to show you Happy Bivouac is because of the great deal of internal connections between the tracks on the album. Happy Bivouac is, in my opinion, the best way to introduce anyone to this band. It contains some of the best recordings from the band’s entire career and at the same time, it paints an amazing picture of the band’s shining success through diversity within the genre. I don’t care what kind of music you like to listen to; The Pillows are a band for you. They will have you singing along with every song even if you don’t speak or know Japanese. Check these guys out. You’d be a sucker if you didn’t.

Once again I couldn't find this album anywhere on the internet, which is a real bummer. If you go to the following YouTube link, this user has the entire album in their posted videos. They are all located in the bottom two rows of the first page, with the exception of the title track "Happy Bivouac," which is on the top of page two. Please check it out, I promise it's worth the work.

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=magonzamusic&view=videos

Shuffle Sunday [Tak Matsumoto - One for the Road]

There are many notable American guitar players that have made their marks throughout history, becoming largely recognizable musical figures. Just mention the names Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan or B.B. King and someone is guaranteed to label them as monuments in the world of music. Unfortunately, as far as foreign guitar players go, we as American’s really only recognize guitarists as far as the European nations (with the exception of Angus Young from Australia). Whenever I am asked who my favorite guitar players are, I always include the name Takahiro Matsumoto in my list and to this day, no one recognizes the name.

Tak Matsumoto is a Japanese guitarist best known for his use of a unique blend of genres, ranging between blues, jazz, classical, metal, soul and ska elements. He began in Japan as a solo artist, gaining popularity quickly with his song “99.” As he continued to produce solo projects, Matsumoto wanted to form a band, but needed to find a singer fit for his ideas. While fishing through random unknown singer demo tapes, he stumbled upon a boy by the name of Koshi Inaba. Matsumoto fell in love with Inaba’s singing abilities instantly and they went on to create the band B’z (pronounced Bizu) in 1988. The duo went on to becoming one of the most successful bands in the history of Japanese music.

Over the years of Matsumoto’s career he has been very good at adapting to almost any genre of music. As far as B’z is concerned, Matsumoto’s favorite genres differ greatly from Inaba’s, but mixing the two clumps of genres together makes for an amazing product. Matsumoto will find himself playing guitar to anything from intense pop rock to interesting combinations of ska and metal. This week’s Shuffle Sunday piece however is a composition framed with one of Matsumoto’s most well performed genres, blues.

“One for the Road” is definitely one of Matsumoto’s tamer recordings, strongly incorporating elements of jazz, blues and soul. The song has very simple instrumentation and structure almost coming off as a smooth jazz jam session. The song begins with the main riff of the refrain and continues with a solos on both guitar and synth separated by the refrain in a very A-B-A-B pattern. The refrain itself is put together almost as a quiet call and response between the two instruments. Matsumoto uses a very small amount of reverb in his presentation which extends the length of the notes just long enough to make them appear slurred together, giving a very soulful sound. This soulful sound makes the guitar refrain very memorable and heartwarming. The use of an electric drum kit in this recording also helps intensify that bluesy soul feel, giving the whole song a very clean sound. This clean sound also helps bring out the almost sliding bass line behind the synth and guitar.

If I had to categorize the song I would more than likely say it falls under the smooth jazz genre, but with the addition of strings and piano in some portions, it almost presents itself as its own sub-genre somewhere between slow rock and modern blues. But rather than get technical with it, “One for the Road” is a great guitar piece that really defines the amount of soul (no pun intended) that Tak Matsumoto puts into his guitar playing. If you are looking for some great guitar playing outside the U.S. and Europe, I strongly urge you to check Takahiro out; he will not let you down.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find the original recording of the song online anywhere, but I did find one of his more recent albums, "Hana," on Napster. It's not the same style exactly, but if you are looking to see if you like Tak Matsumoto's work, I'd check it out. Here's the link...

http://free.napster.com/view/album/index.html?id=12089875

X Japan - Jealousy

Album two of Japanese Artist Month goes under the category of metal. Whether it's progressive, symphonic, heavy, melodic, power, speed, or glam, X Japan has it all. Starting as a power metal band, influenced by American and British glam metal of the 80s, X Japan evolved into more of a progressive sound through the band’s career by incorporating many different styles of metal into their compositions. Aside from the great amount of metal inspiration, the band is responsible for composing some of the best and most emotional ballads in the genre. With historical songs such as “Orgasm;” an adrenaline rushing, three minute speed/power metal piece, and “Art of Life;” a thirty minute progressive, high octane, experimental ballad, simply put, X Japan has gone down in history as being one of the most diverse and influential metal bands in the world.

X Japan’s 1991 studio album Jealousy, is an amazing composition of songs that encompasses every element of the band, beautifully in one package. This being the first album I ever heard of the group’s, I can personally say that it pulled me in instantly. Between its deep innovativeness and experimental uses of the genres, Jealousy is a hard album to put away.

The album starts off with a beautiful piano piece entitled “Piano String En Es Dur.” The song is an emotional journey through minor chords lifting into a more major tonality, but about one and a half minutes through, the calming song is abruptly interrupted by a slew of disgustingly hammered piano blurbs. This is a great way of saying “don’t take this album at face value.” The numbers of hidden aspects underneath each composition are immense.

The album then progresses with “Silent Jealousy;” a seven minute symphonic metal piece consisting of a heart rendering piano introduction, piercing guitar lines, and beautiful classical interludes. This song is a great definition of the band itself. This song feeds into the more late 80s heavy metal influenced “Miscast.” The heavily chugged guitar riffs and powerfully presented vocalizations play against each other really well, creating a great metal experience. The next track, “Desperate Angel,” is as 80s glam as you can get, but damn is it good. Between its well constructed vocal harmonies, driving snare/bass kicks, and fast but muddy guitar solos, this song is 80s metal at its finest.

The album takes a complete U-turn, catching the listener off guard with a one minute acoustic interlude, “White Wind from Mr. Martin,” introducing the album’s first ballad, “Voiceless Screaming.” This track is very interesting in that it is completely acoustic, composed of only piano, acoustic guitar and violin. This makes for a very peaceful calm to a powerfully driven first half of the album.

The album switches back into the pure metal type of sound with the song “Stab Me in the Back.” Influenced more by heavy metal, this song also brings a hint of black metal to the mix, by letting the guitars rule the show and incorporating true metal drumming behind them. The following track, “Love Replica,” is definitely the most experimental on the album with its carnival-esque, ballad type sound. With the piano absent in this song, the guitar act more like they have keys, giving a more defining sound in front of the ambient voices in the background. The band hits the listener with one more glam metal track called “Joker.” This song always sounds like Poison to me, with its travelling vocals and brass section like guitar hits. Whether this song should have been placed this close to the end of the album is debatable in my opinion, because it just feels a bit out of place, but it’s a great chart nonetheless.

Jealousy closes with, in my opinion, the best song on the album, behind “Silent Jealousy,” “Say Anything.” This powerful, nine minute, symphonic ballad is full of many passionate guitar solos and piano lines that can really touch the listener. The strings in the song are always lifting and it builds even when you don’t think the song could build any more. The amount of heart put into this song really makes for a great close to the whole album.

It was tough for me to review this album mainly because X Japan is one of those bands you need to take in all at once. To pick and choose pieces of each album that stick out is really tough, because you really need to hear it all to truly appreciate it. If you are looking to find out more about this band then I encourage you to begin with this album, but please don’t stop here. Over the years, X Japan has become one of my favorite bands of all time, and there are so many good reasons for this. Do yourself a favor and check these guys out.

Here is a link to a free stream of the album on Napster:

http://free.napster.com/view/album/index.html?id=12939538

[If you are into progressive metal, then listen to this album and then listen to their thirty minute “Art of Life” - true appreciation for the art that X Japan produces, starts with this song.]

Shuffle Sunday [Guitar Wolf - Loverock]

To prepare for this week’s Shuffle Sunday, I put my entire collection of Japanese artists and put them into a playlist.  What we have randomly pulled out of this one is most definitely a gem.  Think of the loudest song you have ever heard in your entire life and imagine it being played at full blast into your ears through your best pair of headphones.  Now multiply that by fifty and you still won’t reach the volume intensity of this week’s Shuffle Sunday band, Guitar Wolf.

Guitar Wolf is a Japanese punk rock band that formed in 1987 and is still rocking strong today, playing live shows that are as extreme as ever.  The band is very influenced by garage and noise punk, using the typical instruments in a punk band (guitar, bass and drums) but expanding their musical input by incorporating heavy distortion, feedback and dissonance.  Their goal is always to release the loudest most amped up record they can.  When they released their fourth studio album “Jet Generation,” it went down in history as the world’s loudest punk rock album, so I’d say they’re doing pretty good for themselves.

Whenever people ask me why I like punk rock music so much, I always answer “it’s because of the passion and fun put into it.”  With Guitar Wolf, this is no exception.  In every song that the band has recorded, they have always used every ounce of their soul and energy to make it the most in-your-face recording imaginable.  You’ll never see these guys slacking on the job.  Even when they play live shows, there is virtually no time in between songs, and they have been known to occasionally play non-stop sets.  Below is a one of the bands live sets in Seattle, which just so happens to start with this week’s Shuffle Sunday song, “Loverock.” (It also so happens to feature them chugging beers and getting the crowd riled up for the first 3 to 4 minutes, but it just shows how hyped they get for their performances, even to the point of getting up close and personal with the fans at times.)

The song “Loverock” is the title track of their seventh studio album released in 2004 called, obviously, Loverock.  “Loverock” starts off with a patented feedback supported “1, 2, 3, 4!!” by guitarist and vocalist, Seiji.  This beautifully executed introduction prepares the listener for three minutes of pure noise punk.  The garage punk elements are very recognizable, considering all three members are so slightly off beat from one another.  The average music enthusiast would probably find that this would take away from the songs charm, but this is not the case.  The song only pulls you in more with the mayhem presented by the members.

The songs instrumental elements are few, but grand.  With feedback coming heavily from the guitar almost non-stop throughout the song, and a shredding whammy infested guitar solo dropping you into one final instrumental squealing verse, this song is a true definition of the band.  Seiji’s soulfully screamed vocals are also an absolutely imperative element that makes this song as awesome as it is.  With the simple driving refrain “Love, love, love!  Loverock Baby! / Love, Love! Loverock!” bursting at the top of his lungs, one can’t help but feel like they’ve been switched to overload.

If you’ve always had a secret love for punk rock music and you’ve never heard of Guitar Wolf, I really encourage you to check them out.  If you like it loud, heavy and in your face, there is no better band to turn to.  I can certainly say that Guitar Wolf is one of my favorite hidden treasures from the land of the rising sun.

I couldn't find an mp3 version of this song anywhere for free, but I did find a video on YouTube of studio version of the song, put to scenes from the Japanese film, Riki-Oh: The Story of Riki.  It can be found here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22lETjHTfbM

Dir en Grey - Uroboros

To start Japanese Artist Month off, I turn your attention to the band Dir en Grey.  Dir en Grey is almost impossible to categorize under a genre because over the years they have changed their musical styles numerous times.  The band began as a sort of alternative rock with some pop influences but slowly started to adopt some heavier rock tones.  Their third and fourth studio albums became almost entirely a style of nu metal but during the years after these recordings they began becoming more experimental with their presentation.  Their fifth and sixth studio albums are very inventive compositions that were heavily influenced by American nu metal bands like KoRn and Deftones (who they also toured with during the releases of these two albums).

This now brings us to their seventh and most recent, studio album which will also be the one I’ll be reviewing for you today.  Uroboros is nothing less than a masterpiece recording.  It’s as if Dir en Grey combined the best qualities of all their previous styles and molded them together with progressive metal, resulting in an album that I consider one of favorites of all time.  My favorite description of the album is by a Japanese writer, You Masuda, who stated “If you put it in a strange way, it's close to something like, 'What happens if Thom Yorke does metal?'”

Before I begin to describe the album itself, let me discuss Dir en Grey’s lead singer, Kyo.  Kyo’s vocal abilities are a pivotal part of the bands presentation.  When I tell people to listen to Japanese music, the first retaliation I normally get is along the lines that you can’t understand the lyrics.  This is only partly correct when it comes to Dir en Grey.  Sure, you can’t understand the actual words, but when it comes to the emotions portrayed through Kyo’s voice, you don’t need words to know what is coming from his soul.  On top of the immense amount of emotion Kyo puts into his singing, his voice practically acts as another instrument in the band.  In a review for their sixth studio album “Marrow of a Bone,” they listed his versatility as being able to “howl, croon, emote cleanly, scream, shriek, growl, bellow, and make nearly inhuman sounds.”  With one of the most extensive ranges of any vocalist in the world, Kyo’s talents are simply breathtaking.

Now onto the album itself...

Uroboros starts off with an eerie, slightly oriental introduction, entitled “Sa Bir.”  Backed by distant shrieks from Kyo, this song really puts the listener into a state of suspense, not knowing what to expect.  The following track “Vinushka” is the staple track of the entire album.  Running at almost ten minutes, this song takes the listener through many styles, time signatures, tempo changes and emotions.  Kyo’s vocal range is stretched throughout the entire song, from subtle and quietly emotional, to brutal, heavy and in your face.  On top of that, the instrumentals provide excellent backing behind the vocals all the way.

The next track “Red Soil” sways back and forth between a slight industrial pop style to a brutal driving rock sound.  The song’s bridge houses an excellent example of some Kyo’s “inhuman” sounds.  “Doukoku To Sarinu” contains brutally belted verses in between ever intensifying soulful refrains.  Each refrain adds more harmonies and backing vocals to give the listener a sense of build.  “Toguro” holds some of the same elements as “Doukoku To Sarinu,” but instead uses a more experimental minor pop feel making for a great composition.

The album begins to quiet down with the industrial rock ballad “Glass Skin.”  The vocals are delivered with great ecstasy during the entire song as the monstrous bass and driving drums build Kyo’s voice indefinitely.  The next two songs, “Stuck Man” and “Reiketsu Nariseba” really play well against each other.  “Stuck Man” is a no holds bar garbage/funk fandango with intense vocal instrumentation by Kyo, and “Reiketsu Nariseba” is a continuation of the same elements, incorporating brutal/thrash metal with a reverb heavy acoustic break.  Both songs contain strong progressive aspects over incredibly difficult styles, yet it is executed brilliantly.

The second ballad on the album “Ware, Yami Tote...” is by far the most beautiful composition on the entire album.  Kyo puts his entire soul into this seven minute acoustic ballad, stretching his falsetto range to the max.  If this song doesn’t make you want to break into tears or at least give you goose bumps, then you probably don’t have a pulse.

The album continues with “Bugaboo” and “Gaika, Chinmoku ga Nemuru Koro.”  These two songs take the cake for scariest presentation on the album.  Kyo reaches deep into his bag of tricks to pull out some of the craziest vocalizations that will leave your heart pounding.  “Gaika, Chinmoku ga Nemuru Koro” is a well composed, intensified revamp of “Doukoku To Sarinu,” and if you thought it couldn’t get more intense than that, then you were sorely mistaken.

After these two fearful songs, “Dozing Green” throws many ruthless instrumental riffs and callous verses at the listener letting them know that the end is near.  This finally brings us to the albums closing track “Inconvenient Ideal.”  This song is the third ballad on the album and it does nothing but build from start to finish.  The only drop in intensity within the song is the bridge which only brings the listener more suspense until the final refrain, where the band doesn’t hold back.  Rising to the top of Kyo’s vocal range, the band hits its peak and fades into nothingness.

There is so much more to this album that I couldn’t possibly put it all into this review.  In this description I only took a look at the exoskeleton of Uroboros.  Beyond this frame of a description, the lyrics to all the songs contain amazingly powerful messages; messages that to this day I am still soaking in and analyzing.  The way all the songs piece together so well; how the first two ballads act as eyes to the storm of the surrounding songs, and the way the closing ballad acts as the aftermath.  I could seriously go on about this album forever.

Like I said, Dir en Grey recorded a masterpiece that I encourage all of you to listen to.  If you aren’t into the progressive scene, than you could get away with leaving this alone, but if you in any way enjoy a good prog album, give this one a try.  If you like what you hear, than I guarantee you will find joy in listening to Dir en Grey’s pre-Uroboros work as well.  Their earlier works aren’t heavy in the progressive department, but they hold some amazing talent that can’t be passed up.

Here is a link to the album on Napster:

http://free.napster.com/view/album/index.html?id=12993505