NoGoD- 神髄 -FRONTIER-

[Augie1995 325]

Well, it's been a bit of a skepticism on their singles ever since Raise a Flag. Even though it was the single that brought me to NoGoD, it was a pretty bland single. Kamikaze's b-sides weren't as interesting as the title track itself. Stand Up was very "commercial" if I can say that but Naraku was a hell of a b-side.

 

神髄 -FRONTIER- is a change! The title track is the best I have heard since Kakusei and while the chorus is a bit on their usual style the guitar solo and riff right after that more than makes up for that. The b-sides remind me a lot of Naraku with such amazing guitar intros and just amazing mood throughout the whole song. 

 

This is definitely an amazing single and apparently the first of a series from NoGoD on the concept of "true meaning"?

 

Best single since Kakusei (Quoted)

[ShanethVarosa 1209]

For me this is their best single in ages. Even though I loved "V" as an album, it's singles did nothing at all for me. Genjitsu's Kamikaze was it's best feature, so I would have to say it's the best single since then, but even at that... I've heard better. The best era, single-wise, was Gokusaishiki.

 

In any case, this single blew me away. I haven't listened to them enough to pick a favorite (I'm on my first listen-through right now), but the songs sort of blend together metal and pop rock and make it work together in an amazing way rather than sounding TOO try-hard pseudo-metal or TOO pop/rock. I find it to be a nice blend and the songs are listenable, and not only that, repeatable. 

[nullmoon 784]

Unfortunately I have to disagree with the above review. I love the band to pieces, even songs like Utsushiyo Horrowshow and Stand Up! (which everyone seems to hate for some reason). However I found this single to be a disappointment.

As predicted for NoGoD, the guitar work is fantastic and this rings true for all three songs. However, the drumming is so repetitive. I don't know whether they increased the volume of the drums especially for this single but it got kind of annoying for me. There weren't as many interesting flourishes as found in other songs and I just found it ruining the songs. Also Karin's intricate bass lines were nonexistent which is a real shame.

Although Frontier was pretty good, the single as a whole sounds really generic and there isn't really anything other than the guitar work to render it interesting. It pains me to say it as I love the band; it's just that this new release is kind of bland to me. Maybe it will grow on me the more I listen to it but for now it's pretty generic sounding.

[Umi_Niwa 31]

Kinda late because I only got the chance to listen to it properly yesterday.
I tend to agree with Aoi. On the whole I found this single lacking imagination. I listened to it a couple of times and it failed to impress me. No complaints about the performance level but the songs are pretty boring and repetitive. I know they can do better than this.

And I was also annoyed by the drumming. Also hearing the live version made me feel like Dancho sings terribly live. It just wasn't the same voice as in the studio recording.  I know there may be various reasons for that but I hope he doesn't sing that badly all the time :<

Sorry if it wasn't much of a review.

[nullmoon 784]

 I listened to it a couple of times and it failed to impress me. No complaints about the performance level but the songs are pretty boring and repetitive. I know they can do better than this.

 

This sums the single up perfectly for me. It's really strange; I usually love NoGoD's singles, including the B-Sides. However, none of these new tracks really blew me away. Frontier has some nice ideas but it doesn't really go anywhere; I was more impressed/excited by the trailer than the actual song.

[Umi_Niwa 31]

This sums the single up perfectly for me. It's really strange; I usually love NoGoD's singles, including the B-Sides. However, none of these new tracks really blew me away. Frontier has some nice ideas but it doesn't really go anywhere; I was more impressed/excited by the trailer than the actual song.

I really wish I could judge better from actually understanding the lyrics and the concept behind each release, if there is any. Because this is what sets NoGod apart for me. 

[nullmoon 784]

I dunno, usually you can understand a song through it's tone. Obviously this isn't always the case, but as Frontier sounds badass, it's probably about being a badass doing badass things