[EzExZeRo7497]

Added Choof and Gamma's albums.

Originally Posted by choof

i'm almost certain eze has listened to this

Nope, I haven't.

@CBR: added

Anyway:
May 2nd, 2014
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Underdrawing For Three Forms Of Unhappiness At The State Of Existence by My Dead Girlfriend

My Dead Girlfriend is a shoegaze band from Japan, and Underdrawing For Three Forms of Unhappiness at the State of Existence is their third EP. The album itself feels more like a j-pop rock album with shoegaze elements, which isn't really a bad thing. I could imagine those two to fit really well, given that there aren't too many general flaws.

Have to admit that the title really misled me, this is incredibly upbeat and the vocals are incredibly twinkly. The instrumentation is pretty good and some of the moments really shine. The latter half of Nasty Mayor Daughter and 桜花 as a whole are incredibly catchy, for example. I can't speak as highly regarding the vocals however. The vocals just feel like they're overlapping the instrumentation rather than complimenting it for the most part - the title track shows this problem the most, but it's rather prominent in most of the tracks in the album.

The tracks are pretty diverse in terms of atmosphere, but inconsistent in quality. Aki no Hachiouji which is incredibly melancholic but at the same time so hopeful - which is a really beautiful juxtaposition. On the other hand, tracks like Scyscraper Kills My Ghost in Your Memories and ヴァンデミエールの頭 are forgettable because of how little they try to stand out and faze me - they just feel like fillers overall.

I think my biggest problem with this is that it just isn't ambitious enough. They just feel rather generic, for lack of a better term. There are a couple of other albums such as Mikgazer Vol. 1 which have done better, both in instrumentation and vocals, so the EP as a whole is generally forgettable.

Decent release. They have potential for sure, but I want them to be more experimental so that they could stand out more. Perhaps a thicker sound? I could imagine the vocals complimenting the instrumentation a lot more than it does now.

Album Highlights: Aki no Hachiouji
Track Average Rating: 3.17/5
Overall Rating: 6/10
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April Rain by Delain (recommended by rushyrulz)

Symphonic metal, hmm..

Symphonic metal is a subgenre that I haven't really ventured too much yet. I generally remember listening to Nightwish a lot and thinking that they were fantastic, but they haven't aged well. Albums like Wishmaster and Oceanborn feel bland, but their more ambitious/varied works like Imaginaerum still remain excellent. Because of that, I moved away from the symphonic metal genre, since I don't think there would be many symphonic metal albums that I'd enjoy.

Anyway, back to the album. Instrumentation and song-writing are good - Virtue and Vice and Go Away's instrumentations are excellent. The overall instrumentation does feel too safe and unvaried though, feels like I've already listened to this from another symphonic metal band (it even has the obligatory metal ballad). Seems to be a general problem with metal albums as a whole though, so it doesn't detract too much from my enjoyment.

But... the vocals. They're so unfitting - Charlotte's vocals specifically. You have epic (pardon the word) instrumentals and all, then you have the vocalist - the forefront of the band, not producing the same amount of energy. It doesn't translate well, weakens the overall atmosphere and detracts from my overall enjoyment. There are some moments that her vocals fit well with the general song (Start Swimming), but as a whole I think she's pulling the album down. A classically trained vocalist would be much better for an album like this. The backing vocalist is decent, nothing too special.

I'm not saying that Charlotte is a bad vocalist by any means, her tones are decent and she's generally in tune. She just doesn't fit with something as cinematic as symphonic metal. Someone like Tarja (or male vocalists in general) would make the album fantastic, but as it is I think I would be prefer an instrumental album a lot more.

Nothing spectacular, there's obviously room for improvement. I could imagine anyone who's really into symphonic metal to enjoy this though.

Album Highlights: Virtue and Vice
Track Average Rating: 2.73/5
Overall Rating: 5/10