Starting over:
This song is damn near perfect and an excellent intro to the album. It’s a great sample of the band’s style. Top-notch pop-rock with fun synths and touches of heaviness. I have really hard time coming up with criticisms for this song. I suppose the “heavy breakdown” comes a bit out of left field for some, but I think it’s cool. Plus the part directly after it is one of my favorite parts of the song. The heavy riffs continue, but Yui’s voice sounds really nice. Great chorus, just a fantastic song overall.
10/10
絶望クリエイター:
First thought, mmm liking these drums. Then “urghhhhh”, what the hell was that yell? Then satisfying heavy riffs. Interesting rhythm when the singing comes in. Then Yui loses his shit and does some serious growling! I seriously wasn’t expecting that, but I think he pulled it off quite well. Then another nice chorus and super gang vocals section, love it. Overall, this song isn’t the most creative in the composition department, but the heavy riffs are satisfying and Yui’s growls are surprisingly well-done if nothing else (except for the one at the very start of the song). But if you read their Cure interview, you’ll see that Mio has this idea that they need some heavy “live” songs. This is one of them.
8.5/10
U –s me h-
This was always one of my favorite tracks from their two singles released this summer. Yui’s voice sounds lovely, but the song starts abruptly with the chorus. The first verse is a bit disjointed going between singing, weird whispering, and then to a short segment of rap. I really don’t like the way Yui changes his voice during these parts, but what can you do? It is at least, very short. The chorus is sublime though; I love his voice. Then, a lovely little interlude part with cool drumming, nice guitars, and Yui “talking”. The synths sound a little weak in the background, so I wish they were further up in the mix. Overall, a great song with a few issues.
8/10
ユキノシタ
LiN’s first song of the album. The whole song is very “cute” as Maiku said, but not to the level where I think the band is shitting out rainbows. After the nice chorus, there is a lovely little guitar solo. Great bass throughout. LiN definitely has a different style than Mio (the main composer), but they both fit very well under the general style of UNiTE. Another great song, really.
8.5/10
提案
Love the weird riff that starts the song off. It kind of reminds me of the song “Multi” that Canzel did in that regard. The verses have a nice rhythm and the chorus is great, again. This band just has banging choruses. It then goes into a very nice melancholy guitar section, with technical riffs. I love this song overall, but it’s a bit short. My only complaint is that aside from the guitar solo-y section, the song doesn’t have really any other interesting breaks from the general song structure. But what is there, I love.
9/10
ミドルノート
Another favorite from the summer singles, so I was glad to see it on here. All of the old songs (4 total), appear to be remixed/ possibly rerecorded? Yui’s voice sounds great in this song, as usual. The “defrost me yeeaaahhh-eeee yeahhhhh” part is sweet and it leads into another lovely chorus. At first, the guitar solo has this “beachy” feeling for some reason and then it goes into some heavier riffs. Something about this version was a bit flat for some reason, recording-wise. Maybe the mixing was less dynamic (which is weird, considering they have a label now, and all their other songs have better recording). Oh well, the core song itself is still great.
8/10
walpurgis
Creepy synths, BUT generic-ass riffs. Seriously, these are the kinds of riffs every VK band has done at some point. The first verse has a cool rhythm, but some weird engrish, haha. However, as you might expect, the song does lead to a nice chorus! Yui sounds lovely. However, then we’re back to genericriffs.com unfortunately. I think a creative guitar solo would have been much better here. The final chorus is a bit extended and we get to hear more dramatic Yui goodness, and then the generic riffs again. I guess Mio would want us to enjoy this heaviness mainly at live shows?
7/10
BadRequest
What the hell is this funky intro? LiN, what have you done, and why am I loving this? Holy shit, it is so disco!!! I don’t love when Yui semi-raps that “Bad bad bad R.E.Q.U.E.S.T” part, but it’s more because once again he manipulated his voice to make it all deep. This song is super creative and though a bit random in the context of the album, very well executed. Once again, THIS CHORUS RULES ALL THE WORLD. Maybe one of my favorites off the album. Yui’s voice sounds sublime in that chorus, seriously. After another round of the mini-rapping, we head into a beautiful, lengthy guitar solo. After another chorus, we go into a very sweet bridge at 3:05-3:33, adding another level to the song structure. Seriously the only complaint is the little sections of rapping, but even those have grown on me. This is such a weird, catchy, perfect song. LiN, you are a master.
9.5/10
world wide wish
Another rerecorded/remastered song and the intro was changed a bit, which I like. I enjoy the heavy riffs of this track. They are mixed with lots of little technical bits throughout. On this song, there is the longest stretch of rapping on the album (only about 14 seconds), but I don’t hate it. Yui doesn’t make his voice all deep and I think that might be key for me. Then we go into a great chorus (I’m sorry, just assume every chorus is great). Yui hits a lot of falsetto notes in this song, which I personally quite enjoy. Then super awesome dueling guitar solo. THEN, greatest interlude ever; Yui’s voice are love and the guitars create a great atmosphere. This is what I’m talking about with the creative compositions; this is what walpurgis needed. Then, some pretty out-of-left-field growling, haha. But I enjoy them. An extended wonderful chorus and then heavy riffs lead us out of the song.
9/10
答え無いコトバ
The drummer Yukimi wrote this song. He has only written super-heavy tracks before, so this song was a very welcome change. Lovely synths and keyboard action all throughout. I’m sorry to be repetitive, but Yui sounds lovely as usual (and yes, just assume the chorus is bangtacular). This atmosphere is very sweet and I can tell it’s probably a sappy love tune, but I don’t care. A pleasing interlude in the middle of the song, with a beautiful little solo. There is a bridge after the final chorus and then it ends with sad synths. Honestly, major kudos to Yukimi for this lovely tune. I can’t find any faults in this track.
10/10
Eniver
I thought this might be a French word when I first saw it, haha. Another rerecorded track. The piano quickly leads to some very interesting new-wavey guitar riffs. When we hit the first verse, this song seems very much like a Canzel song, which is totally fine. This was UNiTE’s first song, so they were still transitioning from Canzel’s sound. The chorus is great, you know. Then we hit those cool new-wave riffs again and THEN, we get a beautiful tribute to Canzel, with a solo, which is the lead riff from Canzel’s song “Allegro”. I love it. Then, a nice bridge and twinkling little synths in the background and then an extended chorus. Lovely.
9.5/10
epilogue
The intro is a bit startling and that “whisper rapping” is… weird? Then, the song explodes with the main piano/synth riffs and it’s beauty-town. This is delightful, Mio. The synthy soundscape he created is superb on this track. As per usual, Yui sounds just great and the chorus is very nice. There is an interesting acoustic guitar solo. I must admit, in such a synth-oriented song, I really expected Yui to have some extreme autotune action going on, but I’m glad he doesn’t. This is overall, a lovely low-temp track. I would not have expected to like this track, but Mio really won me over. I actually like this better than Canzel’s mega-ballad, “heart.” Blasphemy, I know.
9.5/10
Kud’
Mio actually released a midi demo of this song right after Canzel disbanded and I knew I’d like it in the full version. Actually, I love it! Starts off with some Canzel-like super melodic riffs and it’s already bliss. Lots of little technical riffs throughout and beautiful synthy pop-rock all around. Great solo, then we go to an… autotune interlude? HOWEVER, I actually found this to be very tastefully done. That is something I never thought I would say, but the synths and the autotune actually go together well during that part. Plus it’s kept short, so it never felt gratuitous (a la shitty autotunecore bands). Random sidenote, I thought Yui actually sounded like Kaya during that part, haha. Then the song ends with an extended chorus and the awesome riffs again. Once again, can’t really find any faults in this song. A facking great end to a facking excellent album.
10/10
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Final thoughts:
UNiTE is in some ways still a continuation of what I loved in Canzel (songs like Eniver, Kud’, etc) and in other ways, something I NEVER thought they would do (絶望クリエイター, BadRequest, epilogue). They have such a lovely style of extremely high quality synthy pop-rock with touches of heaviness here and there. Not to mention, they have some of the best choruses ever. You can always count on them! Yui is sounding better than ever. I absolutely could NOT get into ALiBi, but he is singing his heart out now that he is in UNiTE. All other band members are totally solid as well. I wish the bass were a bit higher in the mix, but where Haku is prominently featured, he shines. Mio and LiN get the job done and they have some great melodic solo bits. Yukimi’s drums sound much better than in Canzel. As I mentioned, overall, the compositions for this band are very well-done. Partly technical, very catchy, great synths/arrangements, sexcellent choruses. My only criticisms are that Mio’s so-called “live songs” might be too heavy-oriented and not have the same level of substance as their other tracks. Cut out the repetitive heavy riffs (walpurgis) and have something more creative. Also, the rapping wasn’t too much of an issue on this album, but I can see if they use it any more than they do, I might not be too happy. Anyway, I’m so looking forward to future releases and seeing their style continue to grow (I just hope Maiku never has to develop “da Unite code,” haha). I’m so proud of my babies. Such a solid debut album. Definitely one of the best releases of this year imo and this band is solidified as a VK favorite.
9/10
