黒夢 - Ikiteita Chuzetsuji...

 

黒夢 - Ikiteita Chuzetsuji...

Release Date - 12/25/1992

Country of Origin - Japan

Number of Tracks - 6

Thanks to the success of bands like Nightmare, Dir en Grey, and the GazettE in the west, many people have now discovered the musical style of Visual kei (ヴィジュアル系 vijuaru kei literally "visual style" or "visual system"). For those who do not know what that is, visual kei is a style of Japanese music that could be compared to glam rock. A band being classified as visual kei usual partakes in varying levels of makeup, elaborate hair styles, and flamboyant costume. Visual kei is classified more as a style then a genre, as many of the bands classified as VK could be categorized in a wide variety of genres ranging from metal, industrial, punk, pop, and almost everything in between. The style was pioneered by bands such as X Japan, Buck-Tick, Color, and many others. Like most genres of music, there are different types of VK, each with their own distinct style visually and musically.

Now a days, visual kei is one of Japan's most popular exports within the music world, it usually acting as a gateway for western fans to come into Japanese music as a whole along with songs featured in anime. It's usually X Japan and the newer bands that most westerners will know of, but some such as myself will fall into the rabbit hole of the older bands from the 1990s. Some of these bands are still active today (though usually not in the kei styling such as L'Arc-en-Ciel), but most bands tend to fall through the cracks and become lost to time unless one digs quite a bit. Out of the old guard is many a bands, but one of the most known out of them that continues to gain new fans by the day is 黒夢A.K.A. Kuroyume (literally meaning black dream).

Kuroyume then and now

 Kuroyume remains very popular to this day both in Japan, and in other countries. The band was formed by the lead vocalist Kiyoharu with fellow members Hitoki, Shin, and Eiki. The band which started out as a gothic heavy metal band that later became a pop rock/punk rock band went on to have a lasting influence within the scene, as well as helping to create the sub style of Nagoya kei. Kiyoharu himself has even gone off to have a successful career outside of the band with his other band SADs as well as a single career. So it's pretty safe to say that they are one of the big guns within the style.

Now obviously I wouldn't be going on about all of this if I wasn't going to review something of theirs. So obviously it's time to begin the review. The Kuroyume album on the reviewing block today is their first EP titled Ikiteita Chuzetsuji...(meaning roughly Abortion Children Who Lived). This being one of their earlier works, it's filled with that gothic heavy metal style I mentioned earlier, making it a perfect candidate to be reviewed here. Though that is not why I picked to review it. The decision was made because upon trying to find a review of the album, I couldn't find an actual review, only little blurb reviews from people who had bought the album (as far as in English go). Because of this I decided to review it properly so that the next person curious about the band or the album would have some stone cold information about it. So without further ado, let the review begin.

Tracklisting

1. 黒夢 (Kuroyume)
2. 狂いドレイ (kurui dorei)
3. 磔 (haritsuke)
4. 楽死運命 (rakushi unmei)
5. 親愛なるDEATH MASK (Shinai naru DEATH MASK)
6. 鏡になりたい (kagami ni naritai)

The first track entitled Kuroyume begins with a simple guitar riff with Kiyoharu moaning a bit. This lasts for a few seconds before the track goes silent before the real song starts, it assaulting the listener right away with a fury of guitar bass, and drums. No doubt about it, this definitely has strong roots to heavy metal. When Kiyoharu starts singing it's more of a low sort of groaning type of voice which I could only describe as best as being similar to Ian Curtis of Joy Division as far as how it sounds. But as the song progresses, the style of swinging switches from this, to whispers, to full on screaming. This is the musical style that will be present throughout the entirety of the recording: songs that in an instant can switch from being soft to insanely heavy. Each track for the most part balances this very well. The songs do sound the same to some degree because of this and the traditional heavy metal formula, but there is enough distinction to tell each song apart.

Though don't let the heavy metal aspect of the songs fool you, the tracks here can be pretty catchy in places. The second track (kurui dorei) is a prime example of this. The guitar riff that is present the most in the song can get stuck in your head pretty easily, as can the lyrics. The song (and the subsequent tracks) provide enough heaviness to be able to bang your head to as well as beat your feet along to merrily. Hell if you listen to it enough, you'll find yourself humming and even singing the song under your breath regardless if you speak Japanese enough.

As I stated kurui dorei isn't the only song like this. The next track which is called  haritsuke is pretty darn catchy from the beginning. It starts off heavy but slows down after Kiyoharu starts to sing. The standout of this song in my opinion is the drumming. Hiro's work on the track is done very well, the rhtyhm of it working it's magic throughout, it only blasting when the guitar work picks up in speed and heaviness. The song ends with Kiyoharu kinda droning/rambling on as the music dies down, his vocals getting softer until it turns into silence.

The fourth track (rakushi unmei) is probably the least enjoyable one to me. While all of the songs are gothic in tone, this one is probably the most gothic one of the bunch. Because of this, it's a bit softer and slower then the rest. It has it's heavy moments (helped by Shin and Hiro's work), but it has your standard gothic rock sound to it. Now to be fair this isn't a bad thing, and it's not like I hate that style of rock. But with it coming after three straight heavy songs, the sudden softness is a bit of a strange thing if that makes any sense. This does show off that balance that I was speaking about earlier. So to summarize, it isn't bad, but to some it may come out of left field, especially with the track that follows it.

Shinai naru DEATH MASK is the fifth track of the album, and it is arguably the heaviest one of the bunch. Instrumentally the thing is just oozing with great heavy music. All three instruments work their magic tremendously well as does Kiyoharu's voice. Like the other heavy tracks, he switches from soft and depressing to screaming madman very easily, he even going into a growl style a bit at some points in the song. The highlight is without a doubt Shin's guitar solo. My lord is this solo beautiful. The song was later rerecorded for the band's first studio album (which was also their next album after this) called Nakigara O.... The song was even the band's first promotional video ever made and is quite the site to behold.

The final track of the album entitled kagami ni naritai is the second really gothic song of the EP, and is a really fitting final track. While rakushi unmei was soft but slightly heavy, kagami ni naritai is the softest song of the entire EP. It's very melodic in it's tone in both instrumentation and vocals. The track mostly relies on the bass and guitar in the instrumental department. The guitar is the prominent of the two, with Hitoki only plucking along in a few parts. Now while the song as I said it's the softest of the album, there are a few minutes of heaviness, mostly due to how Shin transitions into a few chords. Kiyoharu's voice is really lovely here, and is probably his best performance on the EP. It like the instruments gets a little heavy at times with some occasional screams, but for the most part it says soft. As I said, it's a really beautiful track, and is my pick for the best song of the album. It has a bit of a lullaby touch to it in some ways in how melodic and soothing be, even if it does so pretty hauntingly.

Poe's Favorites

狂いドレイ
親愛なるDEATH MASK
鏡になりたい

When looking at the music overall on Ikiteita Chuzetsuji... it becomes apparent at just how great the old style of visual kei was (and how much better it was in my opinion). Since I have already gone over the tracks and described how I believe them to be good or bad, I shall now speak of the overall music of the EP. Before that though, let me just say that every track flows very well into each other. Like any album there is of course a pause in between them, but that is natural. In this case though, the pausing is only brief with each track picking up almost immediately right after each other. It helps the album move alone nicely, giving it almost a story like feel. With that out of the way, let us move onto the music.

Beginning with the instrumentation, all I can really say is that it's near perfect. Every instrument delivers on every single track, regardless if the track is one I like a whole lot. Each instrument is audible throughout the entirety of the album when featured. You can pick out the drums, the bass, and the guitar pretty easy with it only getting easier upon a second or third listen (or at least for me it was).

Shin's guitar work is next to Kiyoharu's voice the standout of the EP. Each song sounds different, with no two tracks sounding exactly the same. At times some of the riffs can sound similar, but that is all up to personal opinion in my opinion as everybody has different ears. His riffing is great, his plucking at chords is great, and his solos are just breathtakingly amazing. The cliff note version of this being that Shin does a fantastic job with the guitar work, thus meaning that the guitar portions of the album are great.

Hitoki's bass playing is good as well. It chugs along through all of the songs and for a heavy metal album is pretty damn audible. While it may be audible, it's your standard sort of playing in terms of style. Hitoki keeps up with the beat and rhythm of the drums as well as the guitar. I really don't have much else to say about other then it's good. So let us move on.

The drumming of Hiro is good as well. Like the bass, it kind of falls into your typical heavy metal sound, but that's really common in the realm of metal. His playing fits the songs that drumming is featured on very well. It's heavy and pounds along as Shin tears away at the guitar, Hitoki following behind always. Like the bass, I really don't have much else to say on the drumming outside of saying it's good, which it is.

I've said it quite a bit in this review, but the vocals here are like the guitar work is fantastic. Kiyoharu hits it out of the ballpark on the EP. His singing style here might actually shock people who have only heard his work from For Dear onwards. It isn't as clean in sound, it coming off more grungy. Kiyoharu has become known for his almost feministic voice, and this definitely is not a showcase of that. From the grunge like voice to his screams and occasional growls, this isn't feminine one single bit. I don't really have a preference to what style he uses. I find him amazing all around as a vocalist. I will say that the songs here aren't his best overall performances when looking at his career. For this era of the band though, they're definitely up there, but still not the best. In the grand scheme of things (and Kuroyume's catalog) Kiyoharu is good but not as good as he is on later recordings. But for the album in itself, he nails it.

For those who want to hear the album, it's pretty easily available. It's on Ebay at the moment, and can be found on Amazon Japan and Japan Discoveries easily. If you don't want to buy it in fear of it being to hard to find, rest easy my friends. The entire album is on Youtube, though in parts. To find the tracks, simply search Kuroyume in Japanese (黒夢) followed by the song title (it can be in Japanese characters or romanji) and the song will pop up. But for those who don't want to do that, I'll provide a link at the bottom to the channel with the album uploaded. For those of you who want to own the album but not pay for it, check out the blog Evil en Lucifer. It's filled with a ton of old school visual kei albums and even videos. Simply go to the Kuroyume section and you'll find the album.

My Copy of the Album

Ikiteita Chuzetsuji.. is an amazingly fantastic album. Out of all of the older gothic metal VK albums I've heard, it's quite honestly the best. Now that's not to say it is Kuroyume's best album though, because it quite honestly isn't in my opinion.  But it's definitely up there, way up there. I quite frankly can't think of a single con against the album. All of the songs are great, the music is amazingly good and Kiyoharu's vocals as always kick major ass. The only thing I could even nitpick would be that because it's so old that the quality isn't the best, but even the quality is pretty top notch for the time considering this is an indy record from 1992. So honestly, I don't have a single problem with the album.

To wrap everything up, the album is damn awesome, and in my eyes (or ears) is perfect. If you're a fan of Japanese rock get this album. If you're a fan of visual kei get this album. Simply get this album! It's that damn good.

A +

To listen to the album, go to the following

*Images courtesy of myself and Google. Video courtesy of drummania2009*