Hello, hello again. Yes, it’s already time for another review. From what I’ve heard back, many of you disagreed with my last DELUHI review. I’m glad that people expressed their own opinions in the comments! Please continue to do so.
Today’s review is the debut single from XodiacK, aptly titled ～終わりの始まり～ (~owari no hajimari~/~The Beginning Of The End~).
2009.01.01 – Download Only Single – Unknown Catalog Number – ￥428
XodiacK has interested me since I learned they were distributing their first song for free online. Not to mention the mystery around the members themselves. I also like that the band has elemental themes, for some reason. Anyway, on to the review!
Track 1. 黒い太陽
(kuroi taiyou/Black Sun)
Right off the bat, the band launches into some heavy riffing. Initially I was extremely unimpressed because it sounded like I had already heard this song from about 20 different bands. Eros growls throughout the verses, before singing clean in the chorus. The chorus is where he really shows his wonderful range and it’s also the point at which I became hooked. Whenever he sings clean, it’s simply beautiful. I’ll say it now: Eros is now up there with 団長 (danchou/NoGoD) in terms of being one of my favorite visual singers. The rest of the song isn’t extremely remarkable, but it holds up for being the first song this band has ever released.
Track 2. 君に降る絶望の雨
(kimi ni furu zetsubou no ame/The Rain Of Despair That Falls On You)
I don’t even know where to begin with this one. It starts off with a chugging bass line accompanied by pick slides and some chords from 緋月 (hizuki) and アギト (AGITO). By the time Eros comes in we’re back to some basic punk palm muting and then metalish riffing. Pieces of the song gradually fall in place, and finally the prechorus hits. It sets up the chorus which is a heart wrenching performance by Eros which includes some falsetto. After the first chorus 八尋 (yahiro) gives us the pleasure of a bass solo, which is then followed up by a pleasant guitar solo. Eros’ angel like voice returns and sets up one final chorus before the boys all bring the song to a close. This is definitely my favorite song from this band. It’s really amazing.
Track 3. 君悲ノ鳴声
(kimi NO koe/Your Voice)
Starting off slow with some soft vocals, it suddenly takes a turn and becomes dark, heavy, and slow. As one of the guitarists riffs, the other plays a somewhat haunting distorted melody. It really sets the atmosphere between the verses. The song slowly evolves and builds up to the first chorus, where Eros builds his vocals up amidst the riffing. He finally hits a bout of falsetto before the song heads in a harder direction. All the instruments build up while Eros begins screaming before the guitar solo launches. While not extremely technical, it definitely fits the song. The song returns to it’s beginning before hitting us with a final chorus and vanishing just as fast as it came.
Overall Rating: 9.5/10
Summary: XodiacK is a band to keep your eye on. For presenting us with such quality songs with their debut single, we can only hope they’ll continue this trend. Pick up this single, it’s worth it!
That one went nicely! You can pick up this single exclusively from HearJapan by clicking here. The single comes with a bunch of high quality pictures as well. Totally worth it. Per usual, feedback and suggestions on future reviews are welcome! Post in the comments or email to kyourei[AT]gmail.com if you’d like!
they are crap, boring and generic. is better listen UnsraW or early Dir en grey
@Lapada – While we respect that you are entitled to your own opinion, we ask that you refrain from making rude statements as there are readers who are fans of the band. When you can musically create something which the general population prefers over this band’s music, you can be a rude.
You nailed it! And so did they. This is a amazing debut and a wonderful way to start the year.
Thank you for the review.
I really love this band and can’t wait to hear more from them.
I keep saying this and I’ll say it again. I LOVE THEM. You took the words about Eros’ beautiful voice right outta my mouth. <3
I totally missed the whole XodiacK-has-names-now announcement. So I was reading this and going… Eros? Who’s Eros?
Either way, I like his voice. He reminds me of another singer I know, it’s lovely~
While I agree with you that Danchou is definitely one of the best VK vocalists out there, I wouldn’t put Eros in the same category. His voice just doesn’t live up to Danchou’s in my opinion and I’m not a big fan of NoGoD. He’s got that same … throaty thing that seems added like just about every Nagoya band has. When he’s not singing low, it’s pretty good, but it feels like he’s singing below his normal range half of the time.
I also don’t think the single is very well mixed. The drums and guitars sound way too muted … well, pretty much everything sounds way too muted. It needs to be more crisp in my opinion. The guitar solo in 君に降る絶望の雨 was really nice, though. They’re quite promising, but they haven’t really impressed me very much.
Their whole “image” kind of turns me off too. They’re trying a bit too hard to be visual with the whole “rebirth” and eternal being from space thing. It makes me laugh.
Hopefully that wasn’t too negative. They have potential, but I just haven’t been wowed by them yet.
Honestly, their concept kinda bothered me too. But I got over it. xD
Ok so Lapada is perhaps one of the few I’ve heard of that dislike this band…and well your loss then. This band is amazing, I’ve kept up with them since they had their demo recordings and I was instnatly in love…and when I 黒い太陽 was released as a free download on Hear Japan I quickly got it and played it 100 times that day xD
When I saw that Hear Japan had this up I bought it and was blown away by their talent. A VK vocalist that can sing and scream. We are at a loss for those in the vk scene now a days in my opinion.
Anyways if you haven’t gotten a copy of the digital release I suggest you do so…BECAUSE THIS BAND IS FREAKING AMAZING. Can’t wait to hear more and hopefully get some har copies soon. :p