Featured Review #12: ニア・イコール by アルルカン

[Zeus 7997]

Artist: アルルカン Album: ニア・イコール Score: It's called near equal because all the songs are just as good as one another.

In life, the first impression is everything. This applies even to music, doubly so for visual kei bands. The first visual kei band in a long time able to combine metalcore with dubstep in a way that didn't make me want to smash my head against a wall, アルルカン's single 墓穴 left a good impression on me. With all their ducks in a row, the announcement of their first full album piqued my interest. I was curious to see what direction this nascent band's first full-length would go in, how many risks they would be willing to take, and how far they bend their approach to music before something gives.

 

However, the second impression is just as important. アルルカン play it safe with near equal, opting to neither amaze nor disappoint. Previously released singles 墓穴 and Eclipse hover a cut above the rest, but there's not a gulf of difference between the old tracks and the new tracks. If anything, they all sound interchangeable. This is both a good and a bad thing.

This is a good thing because it shows that the first few releases weren't a fluke. Their overall sound remains the same, borrowing elements from their peers while also excelling at what they play. 暁-aki- has nice growls with a penchant for catchy hooks and the guitarists have an ear for good riffs. Many of the songs give off the same vibe and toy with the same ideas in a different way. I understand that they are a new band still finding their way, but their bag of tricks is small. They've already recycled such ideas like the dubstep sample over a breakdown, or the overused aggressive verse/uplifting chorus dynamic. As always, the melodic parts kick ass, but it wouldn't hurt to let in a few more influences take over during those moments. The melodic bits are 90% of why this band sounds as good as it does.

We can break up the songs on near equal into three categories. The first is the energetic metalcore numbers that form the backbone of their sound, such as opener 暁 and single 墓穴. There are some more electro rock oriented tunes such as Alive and あの窓に教わった事. Then there is アルルカン's softer side with ending track clepsydra and カレイドスコープ, where one can catch some power chords and piano on display. One look at the track list and it's clear that similar sounding tracks are close to one another. Thus, this album flows in phases instead of hopping between all the different approaches. Whether this is intentional or not I do not know, but it wouldn't be wrong of me to say they had three ideas going into this album and they made those three ideas work as best as they could.

This also leaves me with little else to say about any song in particular, as all points of praise or criticisms noted apply to most of the songs equally.

Does アルルカン miss the mark? While I would have been pleased if they had exceeded my expectations a second time, they delivered at the level I expected them to. It's an enjoyable, but forgettable album. That's not to say that near equal is bad. It's all rising action and no climax, and the abundance of familiar tracks don't help any. There are also moments in individual tracks where the transition between two phases of the music aren't as clean as they could be. There's an undeniable feeling of dissatisfaction at the end of the album, as if the blistering pace and raw energy teased at with prior singles doesn't translate well into a full album. Next time around - and there better be a second album - these rough edges should be polished up.

This is a contender for one of the top visual kei albums of the year - although that's not saying much - and アルルカン has set the bar for visual kei at a comfortable height. If this band continues activities at their current rate and find some way to make their sound more memorable, I can see them gigging at Budokan in a few years.

Three cheers to no tragedies and more music from visual kei's new poster boys.

[ricchubunny 2013]

I'd rather say its called 'equal' cause almost all the songs are the same haha.

[Peace Heavy mk II 7200]

This album was good. I feel the music was good and I liked it. They have funny voices and cool beeps and boops and I liked that. This was good so please download!!

[Peace Heavy mk II 7200]

For realz tho: this album was more or less as Zess described it. I liked the songs on it, but nothing really jumped out at me as being remarkably good nor bad. The strongest songs on there were actually from their singles, with "Hakaana" still being one of the top songs of the year for me, but the newer material didn't pack that punch I really wanted to hear from them.

 

I don't really care if they sound "same-y," since I feel like that's an easy-out to say you don't like something, but the formula that's been working for them thus far seemed to fall a bit short here. With that being said, a lot of their new songs are beautifully composed in a much more mature fashion than I would have expected from such a new band. Take the first track, as an example: "暁." Whenever it comes up on iTunes when I'm not paying attention, I'm always surprised to hear that it's Arlequin. This particular song, as well as a few other songs throughout their discog (such as "Blind Bud," for example), show that these guys have the chops, it's just that sometimes they struggle in the execution.

 

Could this be a fault of their producer? Or could it be that their lack of a strong producer prevents them from really honing in on what they could truly excel at.

 

The only song I didn't really care for, that stuck out, was "Missing." It is one of their heavier numbers and it was undoubtably a Lynch. worship entry (considering they took a part of "Adore," I believe) and used -THE SAME- dub-step break down that like everyone else has done already. Call me crazy for reaching this far, but the rhythm of the said breakdown also sounds like a monophonic rendition of the main riff in Sleigh Bell's "Infinity Guitars?" Still patiently awaiting the advent of lo-fi pep rally-kei.

 

All in all, I'm hoping Near Equal will be a grower for me. There's nothing particularly bad here, but I just wish the stand out tracks weren't ones I already heard. This will not be a contender for "album of the year" for me as of right now, but it could win "Most Satisfactory?" for me? 

[Shaolan974 6185]

Not a chance. They suck.

 

Their first demo was good.

 

Then...they became generic. This first album isn't really good. In fact, all the songsound the same.

 

But, I think they will become an influent band with new neophytes (like MEHIBRAY, Royz and bands like that who are famous but not good).

[Karma’s Hat 3107]

My relationship with this band started out great. Their music was an over the top circus music spectacle with fun chugging and breakdown dubbing, great contemporary visual kei vocal stylings with fantastic generic choruses, and all of it was brought together with a big dumb production job. Even at their most subdued I still found shit pretty catchy and good for an intoxicated listen. 

 

Now the short romance is brought to an end and the band did exactly what I was afraid would happen as per usual with visual kei of this sort. The new songs on this album really sucked out all the fun I had with the singles tracks, and it's all just drab now. This might still be purely coincidental however, and they'd return to the form I prefer with whatever comes out next and that would have all the dumb breakdowns I'd desire, but I don't think I care anymore. I was really holding out hope that this band would do what no VK band has done so far, and that would essentially be the post-modern visual kei Suicide Silence with the fun of both generic metalcore and generic visual kei. Now it's pretty clear that this is not happening and I was just hoping for something that there was never really any indication for, and my enjoyment of this band was at least half optimism for what the future would hold.

 

Now in these new tracks their true nature is revealed; they're drab, dumb and most importantly of all, not fun. It speaks volumes when the visual kei interpretation of metalcore is so dire that the generic dogshit riff DAD AROMA lifted from somewhere got people excited. Gawd.

[togz 2004]

I finally took a listen to this last night. While I had pretty high hopes for this album, I have to say i was a little disappointed. Their releases have been solid up to this point. I agree with Zess that the album wasn't a bomb but it wasn't amazing either. The songs i enjoyed most were the songs already released on singles, the rest felt like some sort of elongated filler. The songs were tolerable to be fair, but not memorable. Hopefully with a second listen I may change my mind. I will let the expectations and views on what i expected the album to be to die down and listen again with a clear mind.

[kurenaishineek 646]

Kinda of a let down, they shared the same fate as all VK bands from good and interesting to mediocre and even boring, kinda like what happened with NOCTURNAL BLOODLUST, altough NB was not a VK band from the start. Kinda miss the good old NB from the time of the demo recordings when they still where a 7 piece awesome Deathcore band. Arlequin ended up similar, from great Melodic Death Metal/Melodic Metalcore band they turned to be another Alternative Metal/Metalcore VK crap. Whats wrong with this world, are the VK artists so obsessed of getting the 1st place in top 100 mainstream band that they gonna do everything possible to make it happen? Overall the album is one big fail and ive had a hard time to listen to it, not to mention find at least one song that got me hooked in. And after finishing my first listen i was almost in tears, not from joy, rather from sadness that ive wasted so much time on something like this, very similar to what happened to me after listening to Gangsta. My rating 3/10, for fans of New VK, both metal fans, and oldschool VK fans will not like this at all.

[Zeus 7997]

Kinda of a let down, they shared the same fate as all VK bands from good and interesting to mediocre and even boring, kinda like what happened with NOCTURNAL BLOODLUST, altough NB was not a VK band from the start. Kinda miss the good old NB from the time of the demo recordings when they still where a 7 piece awesome Deathcore band. Arlequin ended up similar, from great Melodic Death Metal/Melodic Metalcore band they turned to be another Alternative Metal/Metalcore VK crap. Whats wrong with this world, are the VK artists so obsessed of getting the 1st place in top 100 mainstream band that they gonna do everything possible to make it happen? Overall the album is one big fail and ive had a hard time to listen to it, not to mention find at least one song that got me hooked in. And after finishing my first listen i was almost in tears, not from joy, rather from sadness that ive wasted so much time on something like this, very similar to what happened to me after listening to Gangsta. My rating 3/10, for fans of New VK, both metal fans, and oldschool VK fans will not like this at all.

See, I don't think that's what's going on here.

70% of the issue here is that Arlequin have confined themselves to a very narrow box in which they can perform well. Their sound simply isn't diverse or engaging enough to sustain anyone's attention for longer than thirty minutes. They suffer from the same problem -OZ- did. Everybody thought -OZ- was a powerhouse that could not be stopped until they switched over from releasing mostly singles to releasing mostly albums. Once that happened, they lost their "spark" because it's boring to hear the same song reinterpreted thirteen slightly different ways. Same thing here. Arlequin have released nothing but singles and when it's just one song it's cool. But when it's nine or ten very similar songs, it's not as cool.

30% of the issue that the new songs they've composed for near equal are forgettable. It's been a week since I wrote the review and I can't remember any of them. I remember none of the tracks being bad, but they weren't all that great either - hence my rating of 3/5.

Watch the next single come out and everyone say "they're back!". They're not back. They didn't go anywhere. That's just their style. They either have to break out of this box or become defined by it and doomed to the same fate -OZ- and DEATHGAZE were. The ball is in their court.

[kurenaishineek 646]

Well Zess we will see , i was never swayed by the single-album release stuff you said about .

BTW there are some VK bands that still can do it good , like NoGod , Mejibray , SID , Matenrou Opera , D , they all can release albums that are quite good . Im still missing D'espairs Ray . Thats why i was do dissapointed in this album , cause i know there are VK bands that can nail it good with a full album , example would be the new Duel Jewel album that ive reviewed for a webzine in my country and i gave it a 9/10 score .

[Incogneeto 23]

BTW there are some VK bands that still can do it good , like NoGod , Mejibray , SID , Matenrou Opera , D , they all can release albums that are quite good .

 

>Mejibray

>Can do it good

 

Okay.

 

Does SID even count as a VK band?

[kurenaishineek 646]

>Mejibray

>Can do it good

 

Okay.

 

Does SID even count as a VK band?

As Oshare Kei probalbly , but whe are getting off topic here .

[togz 2004]

30% of the issue that the new songs they've composed for near equal are forgettable. It's been a week since I wrote the review and I can't remember any of them. I remember none of the tracks being bad, but they weren't all that great either - hence my rating of 3/5.

Watch the next single come out and everyone say "they're back!". They're not back. They didn't go anywhere. That's just their style. They either have to break out of this box or become defined by it and doomed to the same fate -OZ- and DEATHGAZE were. The ball is in their court.

This is a relevent comparison, for example -OZ- and DEATHGAZE were both pretty popular bands at one point, but they stuck to the same routine. To continue to grow people need change and they need to take risks, and I think the problem with this album is that not enough risks were taken, and you can only do the same thing so many times before all the tracks start to blend together and don't have anything special because if we haven't heard it before, we've certainly heard something with the same energy and direction from whatever artist is at hand. So I agree with Zess.

 

Well Zess we will see , i was never swayed by the single-album release stuff you said about .

BTW there are some VK bands that still can do it good , like NoGod , Mejibray , SID , Matenrou Opera , D , they all can release albums that are quite good . Im still missing D'espairs Ray . Thats why i was do dissapointed in this album , cause i know there are VK bands that can nail it good with a full album , example would be the new Duel Jewel album that ive reviewed for a webzine in my country and i gave it a 9/10 score .

This isn't meant to be offensive, but while all of those bands have/are currently successful, personally speaking Their recent releases don't phase me either since they tend to keep the same pattern. SID has had a strong following for a long time, so that's just that. Mejibray is popular for more reasons than their music, to be fair. As for NoGod, Matenrou Opera, and D... I'm amazed that they're still around. I don't mean that in a "wow they suck" way, but their releases HAVE indeed become repetitive and don't really offer anything new. 

All I can say is that... by being a musician, and to be a successful one you HAVE to take risks. Yes you'll lose fans if you try something new, but you'll attract much more by presenting something that wasn't offered before. I hope that Arlequin is able to grow and try new things with their music with out losing their own individual sound. That's why they sparked attention in their past releases, because they sounded like their own. While their sound does mirror certain genres, they were still their own and there was something that set them apart and made them stand out. If they want to stay right where they are at, sure keep releasing the same formula over and over again but even then people will get bored and put them on the back burner. If they want to grow, they need to go head on and take a few leaps every now and then. 

 

Off-topic: SID mentioned going pop a long long time ago. I think they somehow fit that, however they do seem to keep some VK tendencies. I wouldn't consider them Oshare kei either.

Edited November 22, 2014 by sweetholm

[doombox 4421]

Now that I've listened to the album I feel I can join this discussion...

 

Well Zess we will see , i was never swayed by the single-album release stuff you said about .
BTW there are some VK bands that still can do it good , like NoGod , Mejibray , SID , Matenrou Opera , D , they all can release albums that are quite good . Im still missing D'espairs Ray . Thats why i was do dissapointed in this album , cause i know there are VK bands that can nail it good with a full album , example would be the new Duel Jewel album that ive reviewed for a webzine in my country and i gave it a 9/10 score .

I actually agree with this. I don't feel every band needs to break the mold all the time. Sometimes they simply need to remain the best at their chosen genre/style and understand how to build a dynamic album. Like that DuelJewel album. It wasn't really revolutionary for the band, but it certainly showed why the are still around doing what they do and if you happen to like what the band does... you don't necessarily need that to change. It just needs to be done with passion behind it, imo.

 

And that's what I feel is the problem with a lot of the songs on Near Equal that feel a bit flat. They don't seem to have the same passion behind them. I feel like the band found a formula and started writing based on it to fill the space. The songs aren't half band, really. They just feel like the band could have put more effort into them. Near Equal lacks dynamics overall and it gives that "same-y" feel which basically magnifies this problem. I agree with Zeus' point that the singles will always have more zest since the listener gets a change to miss what Arlequin does. There isn't the song-to-song comparison going on. 

[togz 2004]

Correct in a way but with passion comes the interest on expanding. Drawing for example, if I was passionate about drawing why would I draw a picture and trace over it again and again. I'm not saying they need to stray away from their genre.

[doombox 4421]

It would depend on what you mean by "expanding" then.  What kind of risks you're talking about.

Just because you draw in one style doesn't mean you trace the same picture. In fact, tracing the picture (following a formula) is exactly what the problem is with Arlequin's album. But I would not say the same about DuelJewel or NoGoD's albums, as I feel they're among the stronger vk releases this year and I wouldn't say either took any big risks. It has nothing to do with venturing outside of their genres since they really didn't, it's just about finding new ways to keep their songs dynamic and genuine. I don't find how long a band has been playing a specific style having anything to do with if it gets boring or not. Arlequin are proof that even a young band can do that.

[togz 2004]

Just because you draw in one style doesn't mean you trace the same picture. In fact, tracing the picture (following a formula) is exactly what the problem is with Arlequin's album.

that's all I'm saying

[hiroki 5521]

All I can say is that... by being a musician, and to be a successful one you HAVE to take risks. Yes you'll lose fans if you try something new, but you'll attract much more by presenting something that wasn't offered before. I hope that Arlequin is able to grow and try new things with their music with out losing their own individual sound. That's why they sparked attention in their past releases, because they sounded like their own. While their sound does mirror certain genres, they were still their own and there was something that set them apart and made them stand out. If they want to stay right where they are at, sure keep releasing the same formula over and over again but even then people will get bored and put them on the back burner. If they want to grow, they need to go head on and take a few leaps every now and then.

I've only listened to the album once very casually and i don't think i'm in the position to comment on the quality of the album, much less give a proper review. But my own view is that there's no value inherent in taking risks just for the sake of doing it. I mean, if i'm in a band that has found a unique niche sound and accrued a solid following, why would i not want to keep to my sound? Moran's songs sound "samey" too, and enough people buy their sound, so I don't believe being a successful musician is all about changing sounds every few releases and trading a group of fans for another as the band becomes more "mature". To be honest that would be ridiculous. Instead it's about being able to stand your ground in what's alr a very challenging scene, consolidate some sort of identity for yourself/your band, and then explore how to vary elements of your music meaningfully. I feel it's important that the variation comes in at the last step (and note the emphasis), otherwise the result will be the polymorphous disaster that's Sadie's last album ._.

For me arlequin has managed to find their own sound (already impressive given how young and relatively inexperienced they are), and i'm more than happy to give them time to take the last step. Simply because it will take time.

[togz 2004]

Okay let me reword this. As a musician you may want to try new things out of your comfort zone not because you have to but because you want to. The new ideas you may have you might feel are "too risky" but trying something new in music is always risky. This doesn't mean stepping out of your genre or losing your sound, it just means taking your outline and doing it differently. A good example is the novembers. They have released things that have consistently sounded like the NOVEMBERS it's still them, but can you say all there songs sound similar and have the same formula? No I wouldn't say so. But they still sound like them. I like fourth wall but if all of their releases had the same feeling and direction as fourth wall of be pretty disappointed, not because it sounds bad, but if I wanted to I could just listen to the fourth wall on repeat all the time. Same is for arlequin, their past releases all fall with in the same genre, but they are all unique in their own way, but with the album it just feels like the new songs have the same phrasing and formula/feeling so it's hard for it to stand out.

I'm not saying and haven't said for them or any band to take risks in the direction of another genre, but maybe try to convey a different feeling or direction in a song.

It's like a riff you enjoy playing so much that you try to incooperate it in to each song you play. No matter how much you spice up that riff or change the note placements, it becomes too repetitive.

Or like candy. Or food. If you eat the same kind of candy over and over again, you lose your taste for it. Candy is still candy, so you can try different flavors.

Let's put it this way....

Candy is music, and the different types of candy are genres. (Lollipops, chocolate, gummies etc etc.)

Let's say arlequin is lollipops.

Instead of having only watermelon lollipops, you can have cherry, blueberry, bubblegum, etc etc instead of watermelon all the time. They'd still be a lollipop.

Idk if that makes any sense at all.

[doombox 4421]

that's all I'm saying

I'm sorry if I misunderstood. I thought you were referencing the other bands you mentioned as well. I was just making a point that playing with passion and interest in expanding aren't mutually exclusive.

[togz 2004]

So to sum it up, Arlequin simply played it SAFE with this album. The end.

[kurenaishineek 646]

I cant really say it was that SAFE here , they played something entirely else from what they did on the first 2 singles and for the album they did a 360 degree turn for a different sound . So i cant really say it was safe , they just started to be a band , released some singles and instead sticking to what they did on them they do something else on the album , imagin Crossfaith release two singles in their Electronicore style like on Apocalyze , and than release an album that has songs like Nickelback . Some ppl might not have any problem with that , but to me this band as you said is young they just started and with that regard i cant say i like much the idea of them changing so fast , cause to me it just means , that either they dont really know what they want to play and got to music industry with only money in mind , or they had no inspiration for a full album and filled the gaps with what ALL THE OTHER VK BANDS would do . This is the thing that pains me most on this album the filling with what ALL THE OTHER VK BANDS would do .

[togz 2004]

That's a really interesting theory, professor.

[acbpn 434]

I took a little time listening to this, then I vote for "they suck".

 

I was a fan of DgR in the past, then caught by Aki's voice, and imagine if he could do some unclean vocals, then Arlequin give him the chance, I feel excited about their 1st demo.

ahh, just others said, they become more and more generic after this beginning......

I'm just such a fan of metal, don't like too much electronics and pop melodies, but I still like hard songs with beautiful clean vocals. this album covered Aki's advantage totally I think, they need some time to think about how to let Aki's voice sound more interesting and making a difference, standing out of the circle of pop rock......

the score: 5/10

 

(I'm a fan of -core music as you know, but I don't think it's a good idea that Arlequin make some breakdowns......)

 

 

I've got to go back to work for a while listening to God Macabre's The Winterlong and sleep......bye again.

[kurenaishineek 646]

Voted for Maybe , Maybe not , just looking at other popular VK bands is the best way to say why , a lot of those popular VK bands are also generic , even sometimes boring , yet they are popular , cause VK is not bout music but how they look on scene and PV . So we will have to see how the VK community will view them .