Tracklist:
Okinotayuu (オキノタユウ)
Yukiyo Mai Chire Sochira ni Mukete (雪よ舞い散れ其方に向けて)
Valkyrie -Senotome- (Valkyrie-戦乙女-)
Kishikaisei (起死回生)
Mi・Ra・I (ミ・ラ・イ)
Strong Fate
Ukiyo heavy life (浮世heavy life)
Ryuusei (流星)
Hotarubi (蛍火)
Sora no Kiwami e (空の極みへ)
Tori no You ni (鳥のように)
Mochizuki (望月)
Watashi Shijou Shugi (ワタシ・至上主義)
CLEAN
Howling
MOON SHINE
Children Record (チルドレンレコード) (Bonus Track)
| Fad fatigue or the overstaying of a shallow, constricting musical direction? You decide.
The sophomore slump is a term I've adopted to describe the enormous amount of pressure placed on a musician or band for their second album. The first album is poised as the mountain beyond which lies the valley of greatness, but once an artist reaches the peak what they see is the second album, a mountain in the distance that's just as large. 和楽器バンド (Wagakki-Band) is merely the latest prey to this phenomenon. 四季彩-shikisai- as an album aims to deliver everything 八奏絵巻 (Yasouemaki) did and more, but at some point diminishing returns means the result doesn't scale well.
For starters, I don't think going all in helps a band with such a dense sound. Less is more. Listening fatigue is an issue. 四季彩-shikisai- clocks in a hefty 16 tracks and 68 minutes. That is too long for my limited attention span, and at points the album retraces its steps in a way that reeks more of desperation and less at a motif. On top of that, it lacks flow, sounding more like a collection of good tracks than a cohesive concept. "Strong Fate" and "Valkyrie-戦乙女-" are awesome singles, but there is no analogue to "暁ノ糸", and there is no epic track to define the album.
The music is still their niche of traditional ethnic themes fused with rock with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer to the groin. The band holds no punches with opener "起死回生", a four minute summary of their sound that's quickly forgotten as the album hustles forward. This is my primary beef with 四季彩-shikisai-. 和楽器バンド have the capability to completely change their sound from one track to another, but they are unable to differentiate similar sounding tracks. When all tracks go full force with the traditional concept, it feels like one long track with various ideas sprinkled throughout. By the end, I barely remember what I heard. I have to give a shout out to the engineers who produced this album, because it's as good as ever, and is a bright spot on what is otherwise a faceless album to me. For the record, I don't think 四季彩-shikisai- is terrible, but it's definitely too much of one thing at once. If you need a summary, consider this: I've been working on wording my thoughts since this album was released, and not only do I not have any more to add, but I'm not even compelled to return to it! Something is missing from the equation, but it is beyond my capabilities to say what.
Despite my initial misgivings, I eventually did warm up to the album. And by that I mean I've changed my opinion from "complete dog shit" to "something listenable". I appreciate them not fleecing wallets the visual kei way, but this could have easily been an eleven track album and a five track mini and both would have been better, more focused cuts for it. Risky propositions like "ワタシ・至上主義", or the infectious digital tune "蛍火" are the tracks I see myself returning to in the future, and maybe with time I'll fall in love with it. But right now, it's just not the type of album I was hoping to experience.
That project is finally finished. It was hell putting it together in Unreal Engine 4 and it's not my best work at all, but I'm happy that I managed to complete it and the outcome isn't as bad as it could've been. I'll be working on it as a personal project now in my spare time.
This was from getting ready for a photoshoot.
The finished hairstyle looked way different, but I liked this one too haha
Also my right fake lash tried to find its way towards freedom.
Delkmiroph reacted to Zeus in #98: 四季彩-shikisai- by 和楽器バンド
Delkmiroph got a reaction from catborja in Plastic Tree new maxi single "雨中遊泳 (Uchuu Yuuei)" release