グリーヴァ(Grieva) new album "終焉(shuuen)" release

[hyura 465]

Just like most people here I think the previews sounded really nice.

However... way too many melodic sounding songs at once. So now I hope that the album is really full of screaming and madness and they just didn't use those parts for the samples.

[Yukami 5086]

As always, splendid

[seikun 317]

Most samples sound nice, however some of them seem even unnecesary...

 

.黒ノ呪縛 for example, sounds very unispired and songs like this one is what every Visual Kei band should avoid composing. That pop sound is really annoying in my opinion.

 

I loved the more Visual Kei sounding songs but I didn't like the popish ones.

[Ikna 1225]

 

I loved the more Visual Kei sounding songs but I didn't like the popish ones.

 

I think they still sound pretty much like Visual kei... just a bit more melodic. But it's very close to the poppier VK stuff of the 90s.

 

And is it me or does the new album have a slight Matina touch? At least so far most previews sound rather like the medium mixed pop/edgy bands of that label rather than Deg. I like my VK chaotic, mad and weird too, but getting a more melodic album wouldn't be so bad since their first was almost entirely just screaming and heavy rock. The only problem I could see is that the songs may be too similar. No preview has really stuck in my head yet, but maybe the full songs will differ more from each other.

 

One thing I noticed: the bass. I love how you can hear it. There are still VK bands today who cherish this instrument, but quite a lot of groups don't see it as important anymore or it just get's swallowed during production. But Grieva integrate it very well into their compositions and it really adds much to the music, such as thickness, depht and of course that old school feeling.

They also seemed to have become better playing their instruments, I think. The guitar parts sound more polished to me.

 

But let's just wait. 30 sec are really too short, at least for me, to give a full opinion on this album.

[Jigsaw9 6783]

Samples of the album (without the SE tracks) can now be listened to on

 

iTunes [thx for the heads-up, Bunny!]

https://itunes.apple.com/jp/album/id824654375

 

Amazon

http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E7%B5%82%E7%84%89-%E3%82%B0%E3%83%AA%E3%83%BC%E3%83%B4%E3%82%A1/dp/B00IJJ5T2I/ref=sr_1_5?s=dmusic&ie=UTF8&qid=1393404080&sr=1-5

 

(not listening, don't wanna spoil it any further XD)

[seikun 317]

I think they still sound pretty much like Visual kei... just a bit more melodic. But it's very close to the poppier VK stuff of the 90s.

 

Yes, they do. It is just that those songs with a pop sound sound a bit uninspired.

 

In my very personal opinion, I think all GRIEVA members a very talented, I especially love the bass. I can hear the bass in most songs and love the way he plays. I feel they need to push their talent a little further because they have what all it takes to be a leading band in the Visual Kei field, but those rather poppish songs do little justice to their musical potential.

 

I don't want to sound so judgemental and would like to point out that it seems to be they won't sound so Dir en grey this time compared to their previews releases and I am glad about it.

 

I love the guitar in Tsumi when the sample is about to end, it sounds crazy and I love insane melodies.

[Ikna 1225]

To me it seems as if you are equating pop and pop influences with being mediorce, or not true enough. I might be wrong, but that's the impression I get.

I am not a big fan of extremely melodic and soft music either, but pop is such a wide stretched term that it doesn't always need to refer to this type of music. Most Soft VK wasn't that bad, despite being rather poppy, it's just not everyone's taste and it kind of refutes Kote kei enthusiasts' opinion that true Visual kei has to be punky, dark and edgy. I guess what you are probably meaning is the kind of mainstream pop song structures that many VK bands are using and make them seem uninspired, bland and boring. If that's the case I'd agree with you, but so far we can't really tell how much Grieva's new album went this route (or not). Some song previews kind of hint of having wild and crazy parts, they just seem not to be part of the choruses (if even most of the previews were showcasing the choruses).

If I am honest though: I am glad that they try something new. As I said before their first album was consisting mainly of wild and heavy songs. It would be equally boring if they'd continue to do only this kind of music for ever. It would be the best if they can find a good midpoint between melodic VK and heavy fast tempo VK and even better if they'd throw some influences outside of Dir en grey era worshipping into the music (those don't even need to be VK).

Edit: btw, I am basing my opinion on the website previews. I have a graphic design lesson atm and will listen to the amazon previews later.

[Peace Heavy mk II 7200]

I hope this gets put on the US iTunes as well.

[Seimeisen 4406]

I hope this gets put on the US iTunes as well.

That's very unlikely, but would be cool!

 

You know what else would be cool? If the version on iTunes JP wasn't missing three tracks.

https://itunes.apple.com/jp/album/zhong-yan/id824654375?l=en

[Jigsaw9 6783]

^ It's only missing the interlude/SE tracks, so not much lost I guess.

 

Anyway, I'll share a rip of my CD when it arrives (if nobody shares it till then).

[seikun 317]

To me it seems as if you are equating pop and pop influences with being mediorce, or not true enough. I might be wrong, but that's the impression I get.

 

Most likely.

 

It is not that I don't appreciate a more pop sounding song as long as it sounds good and inspired to me. Fuyu Tokyo is a good example of a more pop sounding song, I think. I don't know if it could be considered pop excatly, but certainly it doesn't sound like a typical Visual Kei song.