UNDIVIDE- MATERIALS LEFT ASIDE review

[Augie1995 325]

FAIR WARNING: I absolutely love this mini to death and I've only heard it once. You will see nothing but unwavering affection.

 

Verge:

Epic. Starts with what we can consider a mild UNDIVIDE tempo. Awesome riffs, great vocals by Kihiro, loving the chorus. Love how the song stops for the solo with a bass drum and the guitar riff leading us into it. Leda steps it up here with the guitar solo, he's not just massively doing some scales and repeated notes. Pretty relaxed ending that transitions into Fading Materials in such a manner that leaves me with one thought: "Leda can compose like no other"

 

Fading Materials:

Starts off with Verge's ending, pretty fast pace throughout the song, guitar solo that we hear in the previews comes in. Really starting to fall in love with Kihiro's voice. Guitar cuts off with a slide up the fret, nice melody comes in (Kihiro whispering), echoing guitar tapping with an background guitar melody...I f***ing love Leda so much. 

 

Something to Fight For:

I don't have much to say for this song, it's a damn good song but it's what we can safely call the UNDIVIDE typical song.

 

Until the Day: What? There's a bass in UNDIVIDE? I thought Leda just named himself the bassist for memorabilia of GALNERYUS times xD Very jazzy verses spread out through the song, love the guitar "wah" pedal that Leda uses on those more quiet verses. I was kind of hoping the guitar solo would end the song seeing as how I haven't heard Leda do that since The Farthest back with DELUHI.

 

White Hole: Gives GALEYD's Op;9 a run for it's money as my favorite guitar instrumental out there.

 

Sucks that UNDIVIDE is ceasing activities, hopefully this brings about maybe finally an actual band from Leda out of this solo project. Hopefully this isn't their last release, but, if it is, I am damn impressed and pleased. 100/10

 

[minre 13]

I'll just say this, do something about the drum sound and I'll actually go back to it.

 

Otherwise, there are clearly parts to enjoy, but that's not enough for me to go back.

[Zeus 7997]

Score: | Despite the fact that Materials Left Aside sounds like a leftover collection, it's got some redeeming qualities.

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Materials Left Aside doesn't do anything I haven't heard before. But during a time where originality is associated with good music and following the standard is associated with running out of steam, UNDIVIDE shows that you can play by the book and still come up with something listenable.

UNDIVIDE is composed of drummer Sujk and guitar wizard Leda, both members of the visual kei band DELUHI. Forging an unlikely partnership with vocalist Kirito, the three set out to create metalcore that could rival almost anything I'd hear an American band produce. The difference between UNDIVIDE and your run-of-the-mill metalcore band is that Leda has skill. Not content with simply chugging over Kirito's vocals and Sujk's double bass for four minutes at a time, Leda plays at the level you would expect an ex-GALNERYUS member to be at. At times, you wonder if this is the product of what a band would sound like if DragonForce and Atreyu had a baby.

This band seems to focus a lot on English lyrics, which Kirito sings acceptably. I can understand most of what he sing-screams which I could see being a plus to people who want to understand the lyrics to the songs. What also happens to be another strong point of this band is varied song structure. The guitars are consistently switching it up, providing an incentive to go back and listen to some songs more than once. I should also mention the electronic effects that were used tastefully. Part of the problem with drummer Sujk's solo release Arkhelism was the lack of balance in the mix. UNDIVIDE hits the balance that was missed on plenty of releases before it. They aren't immediately apparent on every song, but the songs would sound that much more hollow if they were missing.

Materials Left Aside does have some shortcomings, shortcomings which reflect both in the band as a whole and in this mini. Firstly, with as good as Kirito's pronunciation of English is he has a very small vocal range. This means that UNDIVIDE can only do so many things before Kirito is out of his element, which makes every song sound cut from the same cloth. Until the Day is a good example of this phenomenon - when the song moves into a different direction and starts getting a little funky, Kirito can't adapt. The song has no choice but to delve back into the heaviness before you realize how much Kirito's vocals don't fit, which leaves me with a bitter taste in my mouth over the missed opportunity.

Secondly, Leda's bass duties automatically show that the skills he picked up during his time with Galneryus haven't gone to waste. However, the fact that he's still the only guitarist and the only bassist in the band tells me he still can't manage to assemble a band where people can play on his level. Kirito is prevalent on almost every song but doesn't stand out in any way. Sujk drums in the background, consistently good and switching it up, but the only thing that my ears seem to want to hear is five layers of Leda's guitar causing sonic destruction over everything his fingers touch. The fantastic ending instrumental White Hole is a good example of what I mean.

Following off of my Sujk comment, the drums on this release sound awful due to the crummy production. This is an example of "nothing else but Leda matters" syndrome, which held DELUHI back and is doing the same thing with UNDIVIDE. He's a tad too low in the mix whilst having only one type of loud thwack thwack thwack associated with his drumming and bass kicks. His cymbals have a sort of St. Anger tinge to them and are indistinguishable from the small electronic touches in most of the songs. This is ultimately disappointing, considering Sujk displays on this release how far he has come from his one-speed drumming antics from previous bands.

But at the end of it all, Materials Left Aside sounds no different than any other metalcore release I've heard, which is its biggest failing. Verses, choruses and solos all blend together into one another, much like all the songs do. Once I'm done, I can remember the individual elements that made it good but not what any song in particular sounds like. If it's not memorable, that says a lot.

Considering this is the end of the run for UNDIVIDE, Leda should start his next band by recruiting Meku from GALEYD.

[Augie1995 325]

UNDIVIDE is composed of drummer Sujk and guitar wizard Leda, both members of the visual kei band DELUHI. Forging an unlikely partnership with vocalist Kirito, the three set out to create metalcore that could rival almost anything I'd hear an American band produce. The difference between UNDIVIDE and your run-of-the-mill metalcore band is that Leda has skill. Not content with simply chugging over Kirito's vocals and Sujk's double bass for four minutes at a time, Leda plays at the level you would expect an ex-GALNERYUS member to be at. At times, you wonder if this is the product of what a band would sound like if DragonForce and Atreyu had a baby.

Materials Left Aside does have some shortcomings, shortcomings which reflect both in the band as a whole and in this mini. Firstly, with as good as Kirito's pronunciation of English is he has a very small vocal range. This means that UNDIVIDE can only do so many things before Kirito is out of his element, which makes every song sound cut from the same cloth. Until the Day is a good example of this phenomenon - when the song moves into a different direction and starts getting a little funky, Kirito can't adapt. The song has no choice but to delve back into the heaviness before you realize how much Kirito's vocals don't fit, which leaves me with a bitter taste in my mouth over the missed opportunity.

Secondly, Leda's bass duties automatically show that the skills he picked up during his time with Galneryus haven't gone to waste. However, the fact that he's still the only guitarist and the only bassist in the band tells me he still can't manage to assemble a band where people can play on his level. Kirito is prevalent on almost every song but doesn't stand out in any way. Sujk drums in the background, consistently good and switching it up, but the only thing that my ears seem to want to hear is five layers of Leda's guitar causing sonic destruction over everything his fingers touch. The fantastic ending instrumental White Hole is a good example of what I mean.

Considering this is the end of the run for UNDIVIDE, Leda should start his next band by recruiting Meku from GALEYD.

I have to agree with this as well!

 

Oh, man. A band with Leda and Meku together would be absolutely unparalleled.