Femme Fatale - Gladsheim

[Zeus 7997]

Artist: Femme Fatale Album: Gladsheim -Blanche- and Gladsheim -Noir- Score: Not quite femme or fatale. Just a very rough and unpolished effort.

Femme Fatale is the newest band of the season to show up on my radar. Once Femme Fatale was announced and a release date for their first two releases was given, a lot of eyes have been on them. It's not everyday that Kaya decides to start a band and many visual kei fans kept their eye on them to see if they could deliver. I know I sure did and I'm not a fan of Kaya in the first place. The PV for Freya showed a promising start for a new band with a few obvious flaws that needed to be fixed, but I figured that both Gladsheim minis would have that sorted out and could be pretty legendary releases if they played their hand right. So after seeing how Kaya would operate in this band via the aforementioned PV, I came to see if I could create a space in my music rotation for a new, potentially promising visual kei band.

These two minis are far from legendary. In fact, this is pretty average and disappointing that this is the best Kaya could muster given the amount of time I've waited. As a relative newcomer to Kaya, I don't quite understand why so many people love him. Sure, he has great vocal control and a nice voice but for the majority of the first mini album he sang in an unflinchingly consistent baritone voice. I can tell that there's range he's refusing to use and when a band allows the vocalist to take center stage and he doesn't shine the result is confusion and disappointment. The subpar production quality does no favors either. The drums don't sound quite right, the tone of the guitar doesn't hold up when the band wants to get more aggressive, and the more melodic numbers are a gigantic snoozefest. But there are some good qualities here if a listener is willing to stick through it. I'll cover Blanche first, then Noir. The score above is the average.

Blanche reflects the "Femme" side of the band and has a majority of the slower tracks. Like it's brother, Noir, it starts off with Walhalla. It's an intro track reminiscent of Kaya's solo project. It doesn't reflect the style of the band at all but it's the second most interesting track on Blanche and that raised a few red flags for me. The other is the ending track, The Fatal Day, where the band kicks it up a notch and tries to get aggressive. The flat production betrays the guitar timbre and the tone of the drumming is annoying, but it's the one track from Blanche that I remember liking. I'll count my blessings since there are no ill harsh vocals and the attempt at trying to do something interesting makes it the best track on Blanche. Afterglow, L'oiseau Bleu, and Luftschloss all follow after Walhalla and are coated with a nice film of boredom. They sound like one long song with only two interesting parts. The first is the nice solo in L'oiseau Bleu, which shocked me out of my complacency with the feedback that starts it off. The second is the last minute of Luftschloss, when Kaya puts some power into his vocals. I don't remember anything about Afterglow other than Kaya's vocal melody during the chorus. Other than that, this was a very rocky introduction to Femme Fatale.

Thankfully, Noir doesn't follow in the same footsteps. Reflecting the "Fatale" side of the band, these four tracks eclipse anything on Blanche. Anyone looking into this band should start here first. Digitalis sounds like a second attempt at The Fatal Day and it (along with the next four tracks) shares a lot of the same issues. However, it undulates during it's runtime. The song has clearly defined parts that work together and the aggression and energy they put into the song eclipses any of the issues I had with it. Babel starts out even more aggressive with hints of black metal poking thorugh with those half-assed blast beats. Even the guitarist is moving at a faster speed and the piano in the background is a nice touch that doesn't backfire. There's an interlude here where Kaya gets to shine before the song turns up again, but it's eclipsed by the tracks that come after it. Crimson Nail and Salome is the Femme Fatale formula perfected. There's nice bass presence, nice atmospheric presence, and the aggression is turned down just enough for the melody to be viable. The Kaya freakout halfway through Crimson Nail is the definitive moment of both mini albums and is pretty awesome in that throwback 90's way. Salome has a less creepy but just as interesting opening. It features some derpy gang vocals but it's the most straightforward rock track and ends the album on a high note.

So was the hype deserved? Not really. I would not think that Kaya and aggressive metal would work together better than Kaya and mid-tempo rock tracks, but Femme Fatale proved me wrong. They are a diamond in the rough for sure and need time to grow into their own. There are also some issues that need to be fixed before I can consider them a top tier band, but I do look forward to seeing what becomes of them.

[nekkichi 6043]

if you've made it through all the tracks unironically, you might want to try the original salome version that kaya released some time ago

gladsheim recording more or less sounds like his current live take on this song
 
 

 
I def. prefer the original — small details like kaya's screams sounding better than his back-up band barking, and while guitars make it different, idk if it's a real improvement

 

So was the hype deserved? Not really.

*cough-cough*

 

thanks for starting this thread, though, I'm clearly unsettled by how little stanning the best & most flawless VK summer album 2006-2014 has received so far.

[hitsuji-hime 211]

Finally, someone did a review on this xD Personally, I think it was alright, although the songs are a bit average.

 

-Blanche- (CDJapan said this one would have "beautiful ballads".........pssh, yeah right. Zess perfectly sums it up as the "Femme" side of the band)

 

Afterglow - Very melodic on Kaya's part, but sounds like your average J-rock song. The guitars just don't really shine enough.

L'oiseau Bleu - Least favorite song in Blanche. Very boring, same rhythm throughout the entire song. Nothing really stands out here either.

Luftschloss - Monotone rhythm throughout the entire damn song....until Kaya tries to amp it up a bit towards the end of the song. Other than that, yet another boring song, with the same annoying repetitive rhythm.

The Fatal Day - An uplifting track, probably the best thing to happen in Blanche. And boy, whaddya know, IT'S THE LAST TRACK. Really does make up for the blandness of the previous tracks.

 

-Noir-

 

Digitalis - Fast paced track, a good way to start showing off the "darker" side of the band. Really dig the catchy part around the chorus~

Babel - REALLY LOVE THE GUITARS AT THE BEGINNING HOLY SHIT. The piano too was also amazing. *_* A great track to headbang to xD Also love how smooth the slowed-down part was, the song was a great jam overall.

Crimson Nail - An okay song, I guess, until it approaches the chorus, which gets kinda melodic for a short moment. Kaya's breakdown in the middle of the track was a bit outrageous, especially when he starts sounding like an old lady having a total bitch fit...kinda made me cringe the first time I heard it. ;w; Kinda makes up for how blandish this track is though.

Salome - I KNEW THEY WERE GONNA REMAKE THIS. The original choir vocals are muffled out by the band, which I kinda don't like. It starts off okay, until it starts approaching the chorus....then it gets a bit cringeworthy when the "growling" vocals are heard....Kaya's vocals are still fine, yet nothing else stands out. :/ The band itself just kinda overdoes it, which makes this remake a bit atrocious. Did not like this at all, the original is totes better. Least favorite track in Noir.

 

Overall, the mini-albums were a bit...bland, I guess, except Noir at least tried to make up for it a little. Also, one thing that I'm glad they apparently learned from Freya - THEY TONED DOWN THE TRASHCAN DRUMS.    Yeah, with that out of the way, the mini-album was a bit more tolerable to listen to, but it was mostly unmemorable, just like the Freya single.

 

Final Verdict:

[ShanethVarosa 1209]

My overall opinion on these EPs are about the same as Zess's. I think the more interesting EP is Noir, but I wouldn't say Blanche was totally boring. I just thought that with better production and more consistency between band members it would've been a better release. As far as Noir, I usually don't like Kaya singing these kinds of tracks but he did a good job here. They provided me something really interesting and different to listen to. I don't really have time to do an in-depth track by track, but I will say I really did like the new Salome, L'Oiseau Bleu, and Crimson Nail.

 

I also just feel I need to say, for anyone who doesn't already know, that I'm an absolutely huge Kaya fan. He's got incredible range, his songs are lyrically brilliant, and he's just such an interesting person. But like Zess said, this doesn't really show his range. I feel like he probably just feels more at home doing electronic music and needs to readjust to singing rock.