D - Huang di ~Yami ni umareta mukui~

[sai 868]

Since D's new mini has been released, I thought I'd review it. Their previous single was a bit more into the 7th Rose style, so I hope this is good as well. Writing this while on my second listen.

Huang di ~Yami ni umareta mukui~ - The title track is an incredibly strong track with Chinese influences here and there. It's got great guitars and drums, the bass is amazing but whatever the fuck Asagi is doing during that second pre-chorus with his voice makes me cringe a bit. it's like he's using his deep voice but misses the note. For the rest his vocals are great. They could've done a bit more with it, but I love it nonetheless. Nice track, was waiting for a track like this from D for a while! Hmm...suddenly I feel like ordering Chinese food. 9/10

Makutsuenshuuki - It starts like any other filler D track, but the guitars are a little more outstanding than usual on their fillers. It's a nice song and well done, but D definitely played it safe with this one. It fits the theme of this mini perfectly though. 8/10

Honoo no Kairou - A nice relaxing ballad from D, just what I needed. I can imagine people finding this one boring, but the Chinese instruments once again totally make the song better. The chorus is the best and most touching part of the song. 7/10

Gikyou Souden - I nearly came on this sample, so I'm eager for the full version. It most definitely doesn't disappoint, even though the instrument lines are not very original and have been done by D and many other bands before. Amazing upbeat song that can totally pump you up. DAT CHORUS. 9/10

Ryuugan no Shizuku - Weakest song of the mini. Normal br00tal start with slower upbeat chorus also known as Toki no koe. That solo is amazing though. Overall not a song I will be listening to a lot, I've heard enough of this on VAMPIRE SAGA already. 6.5/10

Sansuishi - Didn't expect that much from this song judging from the previews, but the full version with all the Chinese effects is beautiful. I will be crossing the bridge near my university when it's still dark and the bridge is lit up with this song playing. Seriously the best ballad they've put out this year. 8.5/10

Overall: 8/10

Good mini from D that I will be listening a lot for the few coming weeks. I absolutely LOVE the Chinese effects and theme of this mini. What I did notice was that this was not the 7th Rose direction I was hoping them to take, but more like Genetic World, which I don't find a problem at all. Great job D, this is why I love you guys.

[Augie1995 325]

Oh man, Got the mini last night and it was so good

Huang di ~Yami ni umareta mukui~ I really all the chinese sounds embedded into the song and it starts off right off with the chorus. After that you get the band members bashing out with their instruments it makes me headbang. The chinese sounds in the background are layered so nicely. Their guitar solos never disappoint me and man, this one was a good one. I really thought this was a strong song from them and one that I find myself playing over and over in my head, it's really good. 10/10

Makutsuenhuuki Oh man, Ruiza starts this song off with an amazing guitar riff that was ecstatic to my ears. Kind of sounds like a common "D" intro but good nonetheless. Asagi's voice shows off his abilities in vocals reaching some high notes that amaze me. The drumline is just running in the background with this great tempo. guitar solo with some tapping on some high notes down the fret board. I feel like the guitars stood out the most in this song. 9/10

Honoo no Kairou I thought it was christmas time with those bells at the beginning. A really lovely ballad from D again with some great chinese sounds in it. The guitars are more calm in this one and although i love fast guitars, these were just great to hear. After the guitar solo, The song goes into a really slow part with just Asagi and some twinkling sounds in the background. Near the end you get to hear Asagi narrate something in a deep voice. I thought that was funny. 8/10

Gikyou Souden Oof, this song starts off galloping. This one was a really enjoyable song and the guitars had their strong points. I wasn't that much of a fan of the chorus in this song but nevertheless I was able to get through the song with no hating. 8/10

Ryuugan no Shizuku Im kind of getting tired of Asagi's screams in this mini cause they all sound the same. Not much of them sticking to the chinese theme on this song but this was a great song. the litle interlude right before the guitar solo sounded so cool and the solo was amazing. But then after that I get more screams from Asagi that have gotten old by now. 8/10

Sansuishi I think this is the last one. I have the international so there are 4 more songs after this but the song fits the theme so im going to review it as well. Very big amount of chinese sounds that i've become fond of. Asagi comes in and the song keeps this calm and slow tempo. Then the guitars come blasting in but somehow find a way to mix in very well with the background chinese sounds. The bass really stands out to me the most in this song. I couldn't stop focusing on it. The song sounds pretty much the same throughout the entire thing but that wasn't a bad thing in this occasion. This was a good closing song for the mini and once it ended I realized I actually enjoyed the whole thing. 9/10

I gotta say, D really impressed me with this mini a lot. The chinese theme was a good one that I was interested to hear from them. I feel i'm going to be replaying this mini a lot more Excellent work D!! Can't wait for more stuff from you guys

[ShanethVarosa 1209]

I wrote a full review on my livejournal: ShanethVarosa.livejournal.com

but for those of you uninterested in all the words:

Loved it, overall 8.5 out of 10.

[Peace Heavy mk II 7200]

Haven't listened to it enough to give a song by song analysis yet, but I will soon. After the first listen, this mini was really un-monumental for me . It seems like D has ditched their gawfy neo-classical motif for good (although I'm a bit late to that pity party: the did that once they released Genetic World) and really only write songs in two facets now: heavy, up tempo pop rock songs with some metal influence, and by that I mean loud guitar chords and low tuned guitars to sound heavier, or light, whimsical ballads so people can faun over Asagi's ~dreamy~ vocals.

It's gotten to the point were there's less and less mishmosh between the two kinds of songs and it's a blatant heavy or not heavy song. I'm not one to complain about bands doing their thing. I mean, look at -OZ-. They're pretty much some sort of metal-core and once they started playing that genre of music, they stuck with it. Awesome, because they're good at it. But at least they try to make their fast tempoed songs sound like they're full of new ideas (with some unfortunate mishaps here and there in the ctrl+c department). But with D, it's like they're trying to forcibly find this new "normal" for them, but instead of a gradual experimentation, it was kind of abruptly decided "This is what our heavy songs are like. This is what our slow songs are like. Pick 2 numbers between 1 and 6 and that's how many of each will be on our next album." I guess that argument can be made about any band someone doesn't really like, but what bothers me here is how blatantly black and white that issue is. I mean, it wasn't even handled in some sort of post-modern, "we're doing this to occupy Warner!!!" hoopla way either: it was "we need another cd omgomgomgomgomgomgomgomgomg."

/vent

I guess my frustration stems from really being disappointed in how skewed their ratio of "stuff point out" to "stuff worth listening to more than twice" is, especially since I really started to be a fan after The 7th Rose. Overall, the mini didn't seem awful. The only song that really stood out to me was track five because it seemed very reminiscent of old kote-kei rush songs, sans the German. I really wanted to love the title track based on the pv sample, but it sounded like a mixture of that Alice song and Nocturnal with some Chinese instruments thrown in here and there. Wasn't that song supposed to be it's successor? I guess it worked then. Also, the "Desert Warrior" growls were cool, but they used them way too much here, causing everything to blend into one for me. Track by track to come, one day.

[TheBistroButcher666 228]

Nothing on there is as good as Der König der Dunkelheit

I'm a casual fan though but Der König is absolutely awesome and I'm patiently waiting for them to make something just as amazing as that song.