doombox

Artist: DIV Album: SECRET Score: It's not a secret if everyone knows the good part! I've been a strong supporter of DIV from their debut, as I was a fan of xTRiPx before that and wanted to see the departed members do well in their new project. The three year old band has made impressive strides debuting with Danger Crew Records, and releasing fairly strong singles every step of the way. DIV have a reputation for consistency, if anything. SECRET has an overall darker mood that contrasts the previous album, ZERO ONE. The songs on ZERO ONE had an underlying bright feeling, maintaining a palpable optimism throughout them. Keeping true to its namesake, SECRET comes off restrained with an air of mystery. I don't find the turn to more metal derivative riffs and increase of harsh vocals do a good job of showcasing the band's strengths this time around, however. Chisa's monotone growls have always felt weak to me, especially within a scene that is increasingly incorporating influences from heavier genres. The instrumentation for the aggressive parts of SECRET's songs also feel a bit one dimensional and lackluster compared to the likes of "ASTERIOS" and "Teddy" from the previous album, which in and of itself is a major letdown. Though I can't deny the album has a strong start with the stunning "アイノウタ" (Ai no Uta) and the new classic "SECRET NIGHT", which is right up there with DIV's fun and atmospheric early work, it's not enough. Another problem with this release is that DIV relied far too much on previously released singles to carry the album. It's hard to get excited about an album full of songs you've already heard, doubly so when they're the best on the entire release! Spanning the gamut from fist-pumping head-bangers to sparkling ballads, songs "BUTTERFLY DREAMER", "JUSTICE", "漂流彼女" (Hyouryuu Kanojo), and "TASTE OF LIFE" remain as memorable and beautiful as when they were first released. Regardless of being new or old, all are indicative of the sound that DIV has made their staple, and what they still do better than most other visual bands at the moment. So it's no SECRET by this point that it's the new, filler tracks which drag this album down. I had to listen four or five times to actually form an opinion on the three songs sandwiched between "TASTE OF LIFE" and "Point of view". They weren't bad, but they weren't memorable either, which is saying something when DIV have proven to be outstanding at emotional delivery up to this point. And not just Chisa's smooth, velvety vocal work, but also the layering of strings and piano all over their songs add an extra layer of harmony and atmosphere to solid drum lines and melody driven guitar work that pull at the heartstrings. "WING to HEAVEN", "「Dearest」" and "STARS" are painstakingly safe at a point where the album really needed a kick in the rear to keep the listener awake. Ironically, every b-side from every single was more interesting than this string of songs and would have been better placed here, and vice versa. By the end, I'm almost disappointed. Almost. The album has no songs that are painful to listen to, or drag on for too long in one way or another. But there are many new songs that don't make much of an impact. DIV have hit the infamous 'sophomore slump' and are verging on same-y territory with SECRET. It's not an uncommon place for a band their age to be, but such a strong showing on the last album left me with higher expectations. And I certainly thought there'd be more new material. If half of the singles made their debut on this album I would have ranked it much higher, but it's a real shame so much of this album felt so familiar in the end.

We pluggin today?

Ah sounds like plenty of time to heal up from that surgery. It's not very major at all. He should be back to 100% in no time.

New Mini Album『Beginning』 2015.3.25 Release! 6 songs　1,620円　TBRD-0325 Tracklist： 1. Ray 2. Place of Fire【NISSAN X-TRAIL TVCMソング】 3. Memory 4. Escargot 5. Hello Monster 6. Hey, You

Ba. HIROMITSU (RADIOTS, HЁYT) will join AIR SWELL officially as of 2015.03.06. Since being a support member from November of last year. 3/25 Release!! 『MY CYLINDERs』 INNO-2007 ¥1.900(without tax) 1. MINES 2. spit it back out 3. Broke as shit 4. Your true side 5. In the noise 6. デイドリーマーズバラッド 7. Young hearts 8. My Cylinder

I agree with the hype. xD But I feel like they are already exploding. Not sure I'd still call them a dark horse anymore. But the hype is so real. So. Real. Also, they aren't indie anymore. They've been signed to Avex for over a year (to my knowledge), so getting an anime theme at this point felt pretty natural to me. But I'm with you on trying to reserve some judgement until we get a mini or full album. But my instincts tell me it's going to be more of the same, which is great in my book. High hopes! I enjoyed the single a lot and I think it was perfect to show they're really strong song writers but they aren't giving everything they have away in one go. Hopefully some is reserved for the next big release. Nice review, as always. ^^

I feel like we've done 2 weeks of themes, a free for all would be really nice, imo.

Still sounds like CICADA is worth a listen then. I'll add them to my list. lol. It was a show stopper for me, I'd love if indigo la End went in that direction more often too. Charm's solo work is miles ahead of what he was doing with Hemenway, if you ask me. I can only hope it gets half as popular. Glad to hear people are diggin' it!

Considering she's a founding member and her brother is the guitarist, good luck with that. lol.

Another baby?! Aww congrats to her and her family. Hopefully she'll be back within a year.

Always love their releases. I'm sure I'll dig this one too.

Don't disband I already preordered the album!!shift1!!!one

EARGASMS

1. The Path (of the righteous man) 2. Homecoming and Rough Landing 3. We Stand Alone 2015.03.14 RELEASE / ¥500 (Tax in) / EOR-002

Original, Dark Chocolate, Pieces, and ice cream!!! Reese's is my childhood. Back when I could eat stuff like that and not gain weight. TAT I miss it now.