Versailles Philharmonic Quintet – ASCENDEAD MASTER

I have only listened to the regular version. Released last Wednesday. The tracks included are:

1. ASCENDEAD MASTER
2.Gekkakou
3.DESCENDANTS OF THE ROSE (Soundtrack)

The first track has a 5.51 time. You get to hear synthetizers and great guitar playing throughout the song. For the religious, I don’t think you will like the lyrics. Somehow, the feel is similar to another one of their songs, Aristocrat’s Symphony.

Gekkakou was written and composed by Hizaki. It is a song with a rather nocturnal feel for the music. The drum beating makes it feel like it’s dark. The screamings are in Latin. This song is unique but a little too short. I was hoping for it to be longer as it is a great track.

The final track is just music. It’s not very bad. I thought with a nice title like that, it’ll be a song but I guess you can’t always expect something to be your way. it’s only about less than 2 minutes, I think.

Conclusion: This being Versailles’ major debut single is really quite nice for a start. Symphonic metal is their genre. A mix of classical and metal rock. Really great. I hope to hear more of this from them. If you don’t like noisy music or fast pace ones, or if you are really religious, I suggest you do not purchase this single but if you want to try out some new bands or whatever, buy it!

Abingdon Boys School – JAP

Let’s rock!

ABS’ latest single was out the other day and I was bloody psyche.

Two tracks:
1. JAP
2. Valkyrie

JAP is the opening theme for the one and only Sengoku BASARA anime. The song has a mix of English and Japanese parts in the lyrics. It is somewhat more hype-powered than BLADE CHORD. The drums have a bit more emphasis in this song. It’s great to listen but Nishikawa-san needs to put a little more effort on his English pronounciation.

Valkyrie’s feel is similar to their song Nephilim. The lyrics are nice. Rather than just rock, there are some techno elements in the song which makes it one of their unique tracks. Nishikawa-san’s voice is much clearer for the English compared the one in JAP.

Conclusion: If you want to get hyper, I suggest you listen to JAP. Find ABS repetitive? Best not to bother even though Valkyrie has some new music elements from the band.

Welcome to the -Majestical Parade-

Today, I’ll review Nightmare’s latest album, Majestical Parade. The album cover can be found on the previous post. This album contains 12 songs:

01. Parade
02. Can you do it
03. Mr. trash music
04. NAKED LOVE
05. MASQUERADE
06. Melody (original ver.)
07. Cynical Re actor
08. Gianism Kyuu
09. Nothing you lose
10. Lost in Blue
11. Simple Life
12. Chronic

The first track, Parade starts off with the drums of a marching band during a parade. The style is similar to a military song. Hahahaha, like it is the day when the army (or parade) marches to the field.

Can you do it is a rather common Nightmare type of song. If you have listened to most of their songs, you will know what I mean.

Mr. trach music is a very short track. Quite a lot of heavy drum and electric guitar playing here.

NAKED LOVE… hehe, I like this song. It has this cool, blurry background throughout the whole song except for the chorus. You get to hear Sakito talk too…

MASQUERADE is one of my favourite tracks in this album. It features the ’70s genre, which makes it a rather unique song. It is somewhat similar to T.M. Revolution’s Mohaya -Can’t begin without you-.

Melody (original ver.)… I really, really like this song. It somehow brings up something in my memory. Read the translation. It is very sad. Anyway, the song starts out with a very gentle tune and advances to the rest of the instruments. It is also a little similar to one of their songs, Jibun no Hana.

Cynical Re actor is another rock song. It starts off with drum beats and then the electric guitar comes into play. There’s a lady talking in the song too. “I’m sick of your indecisive ways…” Hehe…

Gianism Kyuu (it’s number 9 already) is another rock track. Not your usual screaming track as the vocals are more exciting in a way.

Nothing you lose is a great track that features a rather dark  and sad theme, much like Saiyuki and Alumina.

Lost in Blue is the kind of song that reminds you of everyday when you wake up in the morning. This is probably because of the music. At some point, it does remind me of the beach and palm trees… I hate the beach…

Simple life is basically about the simple life. Not luxurious or glamorous. Just living for the day, for the moment. It sounds kind of sad in a way but I kind of like the song.

The final track, Chronic is a nice finale to the album. It’s not a noisy rock track but again, a very nice one. The music for the beginning sounds a bit like Nazuki. The guitar is played nicely in the back with the combination of the rough bass sound.

Conclusion: I don’t know about you but I am satisfied with all the tracks in this album. The band has done a great job writing the lyrics and making wonderful music. I hope to hear more of this in the future and from other artists too.

07-Ghost vs. Sengoku BASARA

Achtung! This spring, these two anime will contend for my attention(hehe…). And the result is…

1st place: Sengoku BASARA (Please, please never ditch the Sengoku when you want to find the anime or game, Malaysians and Singaporeans or whoever.The title is NOT Basara)

masamune & oyuki(:P)

The drawing may not be that great but you will have the complete bento! There’s super cool action scenes(definitely not your same old lame ones like in 07-Ghost) that are sure to blow you away. The comedy is seriously hilarious and well, if you only watch for the good-looking guys, there’s some in it too.

This anime is actually based on Capcom’s Sengoku BASARA series which is very popular in Japan and also one of my favourite games. The characters were designed by Makoto Tsuchibayashi who also designed for Devil May Cry, Shinobi and Kunoichi (Nightshade).

The theme songs are great, especially the opening theme JAP by Abingdon Boys School.

The loser is…
07-Ghost

Nice artwork but don't expect too much on the action...

Well, this anime is based on a gothic novel in Japan. This anime IS popular but there are flaws. As much as I love gothic stories, presentation and storyline is very very important.
Okay, start your engines…

I watched the first episode the other day. I LOVE the clothes, seriously! But the fighting scenes are just flower throws. A few slashes, main guy launches a bouquet(I don’t mean literally) and boof, done, next scene.

The story pace is a little unstable, too. For a moment, everything went so fast then back to a normal pace. You’ll have to watch it yourself to know what I mean.

Like I said earlier on, the design is nice. If you like good-looking guys or only watch anime for that reason, then you might like 07-Ghost.

Another thing I don’t like is the scene where they had this exam and had to fight this big guy in the 1st episode. The rest of the students went screaming (lame, they are going to be MEN for goodness sake) except for Teito (the protagonist) and his friend. It was a totally predictable battle (obviously, Teito and friend talk, help each other out and Teito attacks and wins). I’m afraid as the story progresses, I’m not going to like what I see.

Conclusion: Watch Sengoku BASARA. It’s more worth it. I don’t think I’m going to continue watching 07-Ghost (I like the villain but I’m not going to watch for a stupid reason like bishonen. I’ll just collect pics for the clothes)

STRENGTH – Abingdon Boys School

Today, I will comment on Abingdon Boys School’s latest single. This single contains two tracks:

01. STRENGTH
02. Freedom

STRENGTH is the latest ending theme for the anime,  Soul Eater. This song has a rather encouraging effect in the melody. If you don’t like rock songs, you might want to reconsider. However, this is not a metal song or whatsoever. It has a meaning behind it and you’d have to read the translation to know. The electric guitar has the main emphasis here other than Takenori’s voice. In this song, you will also hear the addition of the pianofrom the synthesizer. I want a professional keyboard/synthesizer too…

Freedom is the English track of this single. Takenori-san needs to do more work on his pronounciation but grammatically, the lyrics are okay. This song is basically about freedom (as in literally freeing yourself to the outdoors).

Conclusion: Overall, great music. However, if you find T.M.Revolution’s and ABS’s songs repetitive,  this is not for you.

Shinshoku Dolce – Wakeshima Kanon

Kanon Wakeshima’s 1st album, Shinshoku Dolce was out yesterday, once again produced by Mana-sama. The songs in this CD are:

01. sweet ticket
02. Shinku no Fatalism
03. Kagami
04. still doll (album ver.)
05. Maboroshi
06. Ennui Kibun!
07. Suna no Oshiro
08. Monochrome frame
09. L’espoir ~mahou no akai ito~
10. Kuroi torikago
11. skip turn step ♪
12. Shiroi kokoro
13. sweet dreams

Now to the main topic…

sweet ticket is the first track of the album. No singing, just cello music. It’s about more than 1 minute. It’s kind of like an overture. It would be nice if it’s a song. The music makes a very nice intro.

Shinku no Fatalism is a bit of a fast paced song, similar to Kuroi Torikago and Maboroshi. But, these two songs are the only ones in the album with that sort of beat.

Kagami has a very nice chorus, it’s quite like a song where a girl asks the mirror questions. Which explains the title, meaning mirror.

The album version of still doll is different because the fourth verse (the one where she sang “Mou atashi kotoba o tsumugu…”) is added as the intro to the song, then the song continues as usual.

Maboroshi gives a somewhat empty and cold atmosphere. The string instrument arragement is as usual, very nice. It has a softer tone than Kuroi Torikago and Shinku no Fatalism.

Ennui kibun is very much like a pop song. A bit on the typical gyaru pop songs, but the music is nice. Not my favourite. You get to hear Kanon-san talk at the beginning before the song starts.

Monochrome frame has rather unique lyrics as there is no first person reference of the writer (no watashi). It’s a bit of a slow tempo but makes a great sentimental piece.

L’espoir ~mahou no akai ito~ is not a bad song. After the intro, she starts singing in French.

Shiroi kokoro is also not a fast paced song, similar to Monochrome frame. It features more use of the synthesizer, but not as much as Ennui kibun.

sweet dreams denotes the end of the album. It is like music from a music box.

Conclusion: Most of the songs in the album are short, even at most, the duration is about less than 5 minutes. If you like the songs longer, you may find this album not to your satisfaction. Music arrangement is great but still, it might be a little frustrating if you really enjoy a song and wish it could be longer.

Music to my ears

Kanon Wakeshima’s latest single was out two days ago. I just got to hear the songs today. Once again, Mana-sama has done a brilliant job composing the music for the songs. I have to say that Kanon-san has maintained the wonderfulness of the songs through her interesting lyrics and great cello playing. Brilliant, truly brilliant. The sound of the string instruments are unforgettable and heart-gripping.

The first track Suna no Oshiro has a bit of a dismal beginning but it turns out to be an irony through the whole song. It’s really unique and beautiful, too.

The second track is my absolute favourite. skip turn step gives the listeners a reminder of Malice Mizer, especially some of their songs that consists of a string ensemble like Premier Amour. It brings back sweet memories and moves my heart a lot. I’m glad that this song is not as short as another one of my favourite, Kuroi Torikago, from her first single.

Well, that’s it from me about this single.