Lycaon - Camera obscura-カメラオブスキュラ-

[blackdoll 907]

Okay, my first review and I don't think I'm good at this stuff. I mean Zess-sama is so intimidating. But, since Lycaon is like my everything, so here i go. I have to start off with this is how one does an album from Japan. It makes me forget about all other album except theirs previous of course really. With that being said, this is not their best album as the others could go toe to toe with this, I explained the bands constant rate of greatness. This Album however does bring their discography together unlike others so some wouldn't really be surprised by oh they did that, excluding some of the vocals from the first two years. The big thing that this album does is bring the other members into the spotlight especially Satoshi and Zero. Before at least for me, it was just Yuuki, and they were his back up. Now the group shares the attention. With this review I’m not going to review the old tracks, since the new songs themselves are what are important to me. btw This song shocked me the most, even more then MRC because I wasn't expecting this layout.

 

01 Camera obscura-SE-: Starts of a Nice creepy SE music box playing with evil laughing, then with a girl scream signals the electronic dubstep sound giving MRC lovers some familiarity, they comes on the violin giving it that somber sound signaling the seriousness of the album. At the end it moves faster. This does a great job of grabbing listener’s attention while signaling something different for current followers as we hear new sounds. Also for an album called CO it sets the mood. 10/10

 

02 tsuioku:  It starts off with this high pitch sound that leads into like dark chase music similar to like an orchestra to open the song, and then come yuuki singing strong and raw (what?) then the main riffage/ which had me worried with how simple it was, but it was a false alarm as the instrumental picked up with the chorus and got interesting. Then the cool down part where Yuuki's switches and scream I'll never let you down my pets. Later on we get a lead in that leads to a core/ish break down paired with violin play. It gives a nice break from the seriousness. Following the breakdown is a nice guitar solo that flow with the song not interrupting. Finally Yuuki ends it on a beautiful high. (I want more).  I give it a 10/10 for being a great opening, setting this off strong, encouraging listeners to keep going.

 

03 Dark Night: Starting of with a drum roll and kind of a electronic snare grabbing attention for the fast pace hard crunching riffage that follows which you can really head bang to. Turns out this is just leading to an awesome metalcore riffs. You my say "oh i herd them before" but the ending to the riffs sound different. Anyway Yuuki come on clean singing fast with sounds in the background this time he sounds more relaxed. Then we have the dark part which is fairly breakdownish with the opera "oooooo" in the background, and Yuuki voice echoing. Then later is the part that reminds me of the song title as Yuuki changes his voice into a higher like a night riding threw the darkness. Also there is fun solo. 10/10 for making excellent use of outside sounds and going against the norm.

 

04 Liar: obviously this the fun track of the album in which you can hop/headbang to with the psychedelic jelly chime, catchy beat, and yuuki going "ooo liaahh" all sexy on and off during the main riffs the chorus is sweet too with the flow. Yuuki for the first though later on does this whisper thing where it is up front and leading you on a sweet ride. Also great job with the  guitar solo. 10/10

 

05 anshitsu -SE-: back to creepy with like a demon whispering and someone taking a pictures 10/10

 

06 marionette: open with the giggles of a child. the instrumental comes on a with heavy bass paired with guitar singing and it goes in thumbs while yuuki singing hypnotically. I would have liked it to be longer and maybe lead somewhere but with what’s given 10/10. it's kind is like a more badass dark Kuro no dachura.

 

08 kimi wo kowasu garasu no shoudou: open with dark orchestra which come in later a few times later, followed by serious toned guitar shredding to later change into a rocking side to side beat then up and down in which Yuuki sings his heart out. Another guitar solo followed by a quick breakdown. so lovely 10/10

 

09 kuchiduke-SE-:  guitar break. 10/10

 

10 Rouge: It is like a cross over of  uro no neko and gossip and i freaking love it! Though the vocal here are really timid which creates a great effect, this is my favorite jazzy song from them. Also love the piano. 10/10

 

12 anemone: kind of like cross over between Ai wa kirameki no naka ni and Love song but piano & violin based. It is indeed full of love and very touching. In the Japanese scene winning hands down but compared to the Arabic scene not so much. Yuuki sing is too concentrated, and doesn't flow free, like where is that falsetto and high notes that drop me dead? But 10/10 for sure sing it was great just not the best and it's not like i can hold that against him.

 

15 ILLUSION: open with be boob sound, to lead in a great one lined song as in the instrumental seems like it all come together to form one thing. Love the vocals and switches to different parts. lol there the breakdown which was kind of like a punch to you know who's face with the metalcore drops then electronic sounds/ dubstep. ha love the lasers! The way they ended it with the double bassing and picking up speed is kind like end of delusion 10/10

 

16 melancholic: Love the obscured sounds with the guitar as an opening. Later we have this funky guitar playing coupled with heavy riffs of base and the other guitar. Sound so good with the contrast. Later some great shredding and vocals. Also the great breakdown with a lead. Yuuki moaning while the guitar is getting ready, that part finishing with a inhale, he then let out a throaty scream as the break down comes on heavy. 10/10

 

17 gypsy: lol didn't see this coming, the search for something new lead to latino music though Malice mizer might have been the influence. Yuuki opens it up with his lovely voice but end on that "OMG" voice which doesn't come back which is disappointing. Anyway really lovely song with the groovy bass, clam shells and guitaring. 10/10 kind of classy too.

 

18 endroll-SE-: the ending to CO really nice. Similar to Super junior M swing's breakdown 10/10 saying good bye but I will be back.

 

After listening to it is really just, wonderful, amazing, lovely, great, and top notch! They tried new things when i thought they might have went dry and used things from the past show that they haven't forgotten how they started and moved along. Disappointments but not killers no screams, and not a lot of falsetto/highnotes. Since the instrumental doesn't scream harsh or power the scream are not needed. And I think it’s just his style/background that makes him sing that way. 

If you don't love this album ___ _ ____ 

[Original Saku 1593]

Honestly there's no way in hell that I could ever take this review seriously when you gave all 18 songs a perfect 10/10.... is anyone planning on writing up an objective review for this album?

[Sakura Seven 593]

Honestly there's no way in hell that I could ever take this review seriously when you gave all 18 songs a perfect 10/10.... is anyone planning on writing up an objective review for this album?

 

Is it to hard to believe that they really think the album is that good? 

Your attitude is disgusting.

[jduv86 224]

I will give this another listen and give a more detailed review. However, upon first listen, I can say that this is really great! This album is right behind Royal Order. While not as good to me (the songs don't sound as catchy and I'm just a catchiness whore lol), it is definitely more creative and experimental. Done really well too!

 

EDIT: since I can't seem to put myself to sleep lol

 

• 1.
  Camera obscura-SE- Creepy wubba wubba. Nice way to start into the the album. Haunting and dancey...let's see where this goes 3.5/5
•  
• 2.
•  

   

  追憶 (Tsuioku) -WHOA!!! Incredibly haunting! Beginning piano kind reminds me of Malice Mizer (Beast of Blood?). The singing is beautiful so sweet and the instrumental if nice and simplistic, but interesting. The guitar sounds so menacing. I love it! 4/5
•  
• 3.
  Dark Night - That dirty low guitar into the metalcore riffing (its metalcore right? I'm always fucking up genres). This song is just sick sounding. I like how they seem to use that metaclcore riff as a break in the verses and the piano is simple but beautiful! I don't like the chorus though! I feel it would have made a better impact if they had a slower chorus line. Still great! 4/5
•  
• 4.
  Liar - Sounds like a mega man x synth XD . This is just a filler to me. Not bad, but something I'd probably skip over. 3/5 
•  
• 5.
  Shadow - This single is when I new Lycaon was going to take their sound in a great direction again! Straightforward, but done really well. Very endearing chorus and just beautiful to listen to. Vocals are great! 5/5
•  
• 6.
  暗室-SE- (Anshitsu) - creepy...haunting....love it! 5/5
•  
• 7.
  marionette - Creepy child laugh in the beginning. I had so much anticipation for this song. It's like someone is stalking you through a building. This haunting song is just playing as the killer lurches towards you. Kind of repetitive though... 3.5/5
•  
• 8.
  君を壊すガラスの衝動 (Kimi o kowasu garasu no shoudou) - Beautiful all over. I have nothing really to say about this. It's just awesome! My favorite part are the vocals for the verse. I think I like the faster vocals in Lycaon. 4.5/5
•  
• 9.
  くちづけ-SE- (Kuchizuke) - yeah! smooth jazzy instrumental. I've always been a fan of Lycaon jazz except Eros. So I had high anticipation for what happened next. 4/5
•  
• 10.
  Rouge - SWEEEEET!! Dancing my ass off! At first the chorus vocals were a little weird to me, but they grew on me quickly. This is probably their most well constructed jazzy type song. So much variations going on in this song, but still held together really well. 4/5
•  
• 11.
  馬鹿ね。(Baka ne) - I don't really like this song that much, but I find myself always singing the Bake ne Bake ne Bake ne and I do enjoy the weird synth pre chorus part. Experimental, but I don't think it was as successful. A for effort. 3/5
•  
• 12.
  アネモネ (Anemone) - I put this on par with Marigold, but I don't think this has as much replay value. The singing is decent, but never felt his singing was really suited for this type of ballad. Instrumental is ok, not to rave over. 2.5/5
•  
• 13.
  売女-SE- (Baita) - I get it....ooooohhhh we're creepy! lol 3/5
•  
• 14.
  悪女の微笑 (Akujo no hohoemi) - dat' whip! XD This single made me actually give them a chance again as I was kind of done with them for awhile. Still sounds decent.  This song being fueled by the whip is what keeps me loving it. lol 3.5/5
•  
• 15.
  ILLUSION - A better Psychedelic Jelly? lol Unfortunately I don't think they pull this type of song off that well. It just sounds bland to me until the spastic breakdown into the solo. That was a nice touch. 2/5
•  
• 16.
  メランコリック (Merankorikku) - Interesting riff! I was with it, but the chorus rubs me the wrong way. I love the build up to the breakdown! It's like he is building up to an orgasm or something and then explodes at the top with a scream XD Headbang time! 3/5 
•  
• 17.
  ジプシー (jipushii - Gypsy) - I like this song a lot! A very unique ballad. Kind of reminds me of when they did Alejandro. It has that Spanish feel to it. Very beautiful and creative. The instrumentation is beautiful. The vocals are beautiful. I could replay this song just for it dancey and innovative instrumentation alone. 5/5
•  
• 18.
  endroll-SE- Kind of a part II to our opening SE. Ties things together nicely. 3/5

 

Overall: 4/5

This is by far the most exciting thing that has come from them in a long time! Not Royal Order, but this is a HUGE step in the right direction. Lots of experimentation with solid composition. I will say this is better put together than Royal Order though. Royal Order's songs were better, but were still disjointed to me. This album fits extremely well with each other. No song order changes or anything. It's perfectly placed. Minus a few minor hick-ups, this album is good and I feel each time you replay it, you'll find something new in the songs that you like. They are very detailed musically. Good job, Lycaon! You found your way again! AND GREAT AMOUNT OF NEW MATERIAL! I'm happy!

 

HIGHLIGHTS: Shadow, jipushii -Gypsy, Kimi o kowasu garasu no shoudou

MIDLIGHTS: Dark Night, Tsuioku, Akujo no hohoemi

LOWLIGHTS: ILLUSIONS, Bake Ne, Merankorikku 

 

The rest fall in between.

[Takadanobabaalien 3607]

Is it to hard to believe that they really think the album is that good? 

Your attitude is disgusting.

lmao, in what way?

even though it may be a good album, it's clearly obvious if you visit this forum a lot and see his/her's posts that she is biased. 

[Sakura Seven 593]

lmao, in what way?

even though it may be a good album, it's clearly obvious if you visit this forum a lot and see his/her's posts that she is biased. 

 

Everyone is biased - blackdoll just has the sense to be open about it. This is the Monochrome Heaven review forum. Not fucking Pitchfork. If you actually READ the review you'd see that they took time in describing every song in detail. This isn't just fan babble.

 

Try again. 

[Tetora 625]

lmao, in what way?

even though it may be a good album, it's clearly obvious if you visit this forum a lot and see his/her's posts that she is biased.

Don't want to fight in the thread, and technically this is on topic as it regards the review itself, so:

I disagree that someone liking something, or liking something ALOT makes them 'biased' in a way that invalidates them. Does a review or just a view of something have to look for flaws or have some negativity to be valid? BD obviously put time into writing this, and I enjoy reading it even though I don't listen to Lycaon much, as I come here to share my love of VK and other Japanese music.

If people want to write their own reviews and say their piece nothing is stopping them, so I don't see why we should attack the poster.

We got the perspective of a big fan, and we see the album didn't let them down. Now other people can chip in.

Also a review technically does not have to even be a critique, though the terms aren't distinguished as much in journalism.

Hopefully you can see my point of view.

[Takadanobabaalien 3607]

Of course it doesn't invalidates their opinion, however there are probably people who wants to read a review by someone who doesn't solely base this album as 10/10 by them being Lycaon and nothing else. Obviously, people who are biased are allowed to say what they think, and even more so publish it on a forum. So if they do that they should also be prepared for peoples reactions, everyone may not agree with you. I personally do not care, as I do not care for Lycaon whatsoever. What I reacted on was "Sakura Seven"'s reply to Original saku. To be honest, nobody has even been bashing the OP lol. 

[Pretsy 1343]

Making this brief and simple:

 

I actually hoped that these boys would go down the "retro" route (think of Baka ne's Akina Nakamori-ish chorus or even Tsuioku) but eh, too many out-of-place fillers for a decent, consistent record :/

 

Hope they will revise this someday and realize that e.g. just whacking cheap Yamaha synth tracks on inaudible guitar lines (Liar, Illusion)  or infusing earlier songs (Dark Night) won't help you express "experimentation" - another case of "EROS syndrome" (long-time MHsters might get the gist) is haunting them again?

 

MRC had plainer, more delightful ideas (sans failed club kei banger "Psychedelic Jelly" and whatnot) and demonstrated more consistent nature of Lycaon's music.

 

Highlights: Shadow, Baka ne, Tsuioku, Gypsy

"Midlights" (lol): Kimi no Kowasu.., Rouge (MRC leftovers?)

Lowlights: Liar, Illusion, Dark Night, Anemone

 

No rating.

[diva-rin 202]

I love "gypsy" the most, I love how they used typical gypsy elements (yes, flamenco is music by the spanish roma) which I love very very much. Never expected it, but really love it!

Overall, best album I listened to in a long time!

[Zeus 7997]

Okay, my first review and I don't think I'm good at this stuff. I mean Zess-sama is so intimidating.

Nonsense. Like anything else you only get better at writing the more you practice. Everybody says this. Even the OR's said it when they first started out and look how fast they've developed in just a few months. As long as you write once in a while and you're confident in your opinion you will get better. If you ever take the time to go back and read my old reviews, you will see what I mean. And even back then people were saying the same thing you said now.

 

Honestly there's no way in hell that I could ever take this review seriously when you gave all 18 songs a perfect 10/10.... is anyone planning on writing up an objective review for this album?

a. It's blackdoll talking about Lycaon. I expected everything to be a 100/10 tbh.

b. One or more of the official reviewers may review this release soon.

[ricchubunny 2013]

Not really going to write a review of it but i'd also give a 10/10 to this album. I'm so satisfied with this release, i couldn't even imagine i'd like it like im doing now.

 

I used to love Lycaon until Royal Order, then my love for them came back after Red Masochist Circus...What an EP! LOL After that they never disappointed me and this flawless album just proves that. I love every song of it but my favorites are : Liar, marionette, Rouge, ILLUSION and Gipsy.

I'm really hoping that they'll release a live DVD of this tour

 

PS : SAKURA SEVEN & TETORA MARRY ME 

[blackdoll 907]

Honestly there's no way in hell that I could ever take this review seriously when you gave all 18 songs a perfect 10/10.... is anyone planning on writing up an objective review for this album?

well actual it was 14. anyway it's cool because "Honestly there's no way in hell that I could ever take" what you are saying about One Piece seriously.

 

Of course it doesn't invalidates their opinion, however there are probably people who wants to read a review by someone who doesn't solely base this album as 10/10 by them being Lycaon and nothing else. Obviously, people who are biased are allowed to say what they think, and even more so publish it on a forum. So if they do that they should also be prepared for peoples reactions, everyone may not agree with you. I personally do not care, as I do not care for Lycaon whatsoever. What I reacted on was "Sakura Seven"'s reply to Original saku. To be honest, nobody has even been bashing the OP lol. 

Well if you'd have followed my words or looked into me you would have known that i was scared this album was going to suck and kill the band for me. It's not "oh it's Lycaon, so the new album is going 10/10 and the best." Yes it's known how much i love this band but the 10/10 is because of the work this blessed album had. The praise, love, and respect i give them is only because they earned it. also if i was so foolish i wouldn't have dissed Yuuki like that.

 

disclaimer: i might have let the other slaves here get to me and say that it was going to be the best, but i didn't  really think and was in the moment

 

Nonsense. Like anything else you only get better at writing the more you practice. Everybody says this. Even the OR's said it when they first started out and look how fast they've developed in just a few months. As long as you write once in a while and you're confident in your opinion you will get better. If you ever take the time to go back and read my old reviews, you will see what I mean. And even back then people were saying the same thing you said now.

Thank you for you words. I'm confident in my opinion but not in my writing, i find it difficult to get my thought into words and the word choice too is tricky.

[Aferni 2381]

Personally, I feel there's no need to bash blackdoll on his/her opinion because that's basically what drives reviews to be written. Sure blackdoll rated everything 10/10 but that's because he/she is a fan of their overall sound, and reviewed it well. Atleast blackdoll didn't rate everything 10/10 without explaining anything at all. It wasn't misguided babble on how the band's sound is the best thing in the world and they are superior to every group in existence or some shit. Imo Lycaon did a fine ass job with this one, there's no reason to be like that because of someone's opinion contrasting with your's. :/

[Original Saku 1593]

well actual it was 14. anyway it's cool because "Honestly there's no way in hell that I could ever take" what you are saying about One Piece seriously.

 

touche touche XD

 

anyways I don't know why what I said was taking as bashing, I was just wanting to know if someone was gonna write up a more unbiased review so I could accurately evaluate whether or not I should waste my time listening to this album...

[nekkichi 6043]

it's a flawless album but like wtf, all mid-album SE's are absolutely atrocious??? opening and closing ones are ok

[hiroki 5521]

touche touche XD

anyways I don't know why what I said was taking as bashing, I was just wanting to know if someone was gonna write up a more unbiased review so I could accurately evaluate whether or not I should waste my time listening to this album...

and what would an "unbiased review" look like? one that mechanically intersperses every line praising the album with another that points out some defect in it? or one that's written in passive voice and as academically expressed as possible? the first is a stylistic preference and the second is just an annoying attempt to make an opinion look like The Truth; neither of which is any more or less biased than blackdoll's review.

also if you're already adamant that it'll be a waste of your time to listen to this album even before you've listened to it, then i don't think you should. not sure what else is there to "accurately evaluate" lol. sakura seven alr said that everyone has their biases... well that's yours. #just-saying

[Original Saku 1593]

No review is gonna be totally bias free, but I assure you blackdoll's review is about as far away as you can get from being unbiased. I don't believe I ever said that I think it'll be a waste of time, if that was the case why would I even want an accurate review in the first place? I would just not bother at all... but alas I'm sorely out of touch with VK and I was thinking of trying Lycaon's new album since they seem to be rather popular around here, but when I go to check out a review everything is written with what I could best describes as a biased tinged filter. (I'm not bashing Blackdoll here, he/she has the right to write what they want and how they want it) I then ask if anybody is gonna write a unbiased review, but apparently the word "unbiased" is taboo around here since I got snapped on by a few members over it.

 

It sucks when I can't type one sentence on here without some kind of backlash.

 

Edit: but yes nekkichi is correct, let's get back on topic pls people

[nekkichi 6043]

..............can we get back on topic???? 

[kyoselflove 2680]

Just wanted to say that this album is pretty amazing, actually perfect. xD But then again I think that way about pretty much all their stuff...

[Furik 832]

Here we go. Lycaon's new album. I've been following them since 'Ambrozia'. I've always considered them the GazettE's sister. Yuuki is like a whinier Ruki (if that was even possible). Their music, while nothing groundbreaking, is still fun and energetic. I remember when 'Royal Order' came out it was all I listened to for weeks on in heading to work and university classes. It's such a solid release and still, til this day, their magnum opus - mainly due to it collecting a lot of their solid singles. 

 

Then 'Jouyoku no Akume' came out. Lycaon was in the early stages of bringing out their "erotic era" which didn't get them anywhere. Sure, Jesus was a good track but everything was lackluster. This led to their release of their "erotic album" (long Japanese name can't remember). It was a little more solid thanks to Jesus and the re-recordings of past songs but nothing to the point where i'd want to sit back and listen to again.

 

I was afraid Lycaon lost it. They were quiet for a while until 2013 when they finally released a new mini album. Another long Japanese name but we'll just call it 'Masochist Red Circus'. What was included was a bunch of half-assed dubstep (I mean, it wasn't even GazettE cringe dubstep worthy) and cringe-worthy tracks that aren't even worth listening to again. The album as a whole was a mess. I could only listen to it once. 

 

I gave up on ever getting anything remotely decent. Hoping for another 'Royal Order' was not even a distant memory anymore. When Lycaon announced 'Camera obscura' I wasn't hopeful. I figured it would just be another MRS (please god no). I was pretty much wrong. The intro track sets up the whole album pretty well. Once the laughing starts, I was kind of nervous. Then the "dubstep" starts up.. Oh god... another MRS... Then 'tsuioku' starts blaring in my ear. What the hell is this? Some cheesey Malice Mizer piano? I'm in love. Yuuki is actually not slutty-singing. Everyone does their part to set up a decent song. 

 

Then 'Dark Night' comes in. The guitars start kicking - reminiscent of an older Lycaon from long ago. Along with cheesey string. So far, this album is doing well. When I first heard' shadow', I was crying. Lycaon's GazettE-ish ways are back. Yuuki's screams are back. Hands down my favorite track. Good chorus and fun verses. 'marionette' is an interesting song. I don't believe Lycaon has ever made a song like this. Kind of reminds me of 'This is Halloween'. I'm okay with this.

 

I could go on and on about the other tracks but I want to wrap this up because I am tired of typing. It's not a great album. Granted it has a lot of diversity - you get the jazz (Rouge), the GazettE (shadow), the Lycaon (ILLUSION), the Alejandro of the album (Gypsy), the heavy (melancholic). I really just wanted this to be a return to 'Royal Order'. However that dream is definitely long gone. This will do. I just know now that their erotic era is done and over with - and that's a sigh of relief. 

 

All in all, Lycaon really did step up their game with the album. It shows a sign of maturity. They left their faux-jazzy-slutfest behind and went back to doing rock again. I am pretty excited about what they could come up with next if they continue with this route. 

 

6.5/10

[blackdoll 907]

Here we go. Lycaon's new album. I've been following them since 'Ambrozia'. I've always considered them the GazettE's sister. Yuuki is like a whinier Ruki (if that was even possible). Their music, while nothing groundbreaking, is still fun and energetic. I remember when 'Royal Order' came out it was all I listened to for weeks on in heading to work and university classes. It's such a solid release and still, til this day, their magnum opus - mainly due to it collecting a lot of their solid singles. 

 

Then 'Jouyoku no Akume' came out. Lycaon was in the early stages of bringing out their "erotic era" which didn't get them anywhere. Sure, Jesus was a good track but everything was lackluster. This led to their release of their "erotic album" (long Japanese name can't remember). It was a little more solid thanks to Jesus and the re-recordings of past songs but nothing to the point where i'd want to sit back and listen to again.

 

I was afraid Lycaon lost it. They were quiet for a while until 2013 when they finally released a new mini album. Another long Japanese name but we'll just call it 'Masochist Red Circus'. What was included was a bunch of half-assed dubstep (I mean, it wasn't even GazettE cringe dubstep worthy) and cringe-worthy tracks that aren't even worth listening to again. The album as a whole was a mess. I could only listen to it once. 

 

I gave up on ever getting anything remotely decent. Hoping for another 'Royal Order' was not even a distant memory anymore. When Lycaon announced 'Camera obscura' I wasn't hopeful. I figured it would just be another MRS (please god no). I was pretty much wrong. The intro track sets up the whole album pretty well. Once the laughing starts, I was kind of nervous. Then the "dubstep" starts up.. Oh god... another MRS... Then 'tsuioku' starts blaring in my ear. What the hell is this? Some cheesey Malice Mizer piano? I'm in love. Yuuki is actually not slutty-singing. Everyone does their part to set up a decent song. 

 

Then 'Dark Night' comes in. The guitars start kicking - reminiscent of an older Lycaon from long ago. Along with cheesey string. So far, this album is doing well. When I first heard' shadow', I was crying. Lycaon's GazettE-ish ways are back. Yuuki's screams are back. Hands down my favorite track. Good chorus and fun verses. 'marionette' is an interesting song. I don't believe Lycaon has ever made a song like this. Kind of reminds me of 'This is Halloween'. I'm okay with this.

 

I could go on and on about the other tracks but I want to wrap this up because I am tired of typing. It's not a great album. Granted it has a lot of diversity - you get the jazz (Rouge), the GazettE (shadow), the Lycaon (ILLUSION), the Alejandro of the album (Gypsy), the heavy (melancholic). I really just wanted this to be a return to 'Royal Order'. However that dream is definitely long gone. This will do. I just know now that their erotic era is done and over with - and that's a sigh of relief. 

 

I hope you are joking because you are way of base, i cant even. the gazette's sister (you mean master)? yuuki sound like ruki? really when the hell in their metal era did the do gaztte, the vocals and sounds are way different. rose and monrou had like the same similar riffage to chizru and derangement and someother riffage it part of other song but going for different vibes. i never herd something so ummmmm... i done

 

and if i happen to have missed a huge chunk of the gazette i am sure Lycaon was still on top

[eiheartx 1310]

it's a flawless album but like wtf, all mid-album SE's are absolutely atrocious??? opening and closing ones are ok

 

ia, the SE are terrible, hideous and add nothing to the whole album.

the limited edition wasn't worth the money xD

[Gaz 1097]

after listening to this album i pretty sure i dont hate it. i literally hated MRC, it was atrocious piece of trash which only belongs to garbage bin and nowhere else. fuck, i regret even listening to it! well it's not the point anyway. camera obscura was much more bearable that MRS. even though i was quite annoyed by yuuki's doing hakuei worship every now and again at first, but in the end i actually kinda liked it. the most remarkable song for me was probably bakane (maybe it's just because i already liked that track a little). other than that there wasn't anything outstanding at all. 

 

so yeah it was ok for one listen but no way i'll even listen to it again. and when it comes to rating i guess it would be 3/10 (since i managed to listen to it from beginning to the end without skipping tracks). 

[Ro plz 1290]

I hope you are joking because you are way of base, i cant even. the gazette's sister (you mean master)? yuuki sound like ruki? really when the hell in their metal era did the do gaztte, the vocals and sounds are way different. rose and monrou had like the same similar riffage to chizru and derangement and someother riffage it part of other song but going for different vibes. i never herd something so ummmmm... i done

and if i happen to have missed a huge chunk of the gazette i am sure Lycaon was still on top

Blackdoll, you are seriously coming off as a rabid stan right now. What happened to letting someone have their own opinion? Get a grip lol

Anyways, to my review:

I'll start off by saying that after checking out ROSE, and seeing how completely unoriginal it was, I swore to never check out Lycaon again. Pretty much everything on there was a lite version of songs that we've all heard. HOWEVER, i stumbled across this thread and Blackdoll's amazing 10/10 review for every song motivated me to give these guys one more try. No way i was gonna pass up checking out what could easily be the greatest release of 2015/all time.

My initial thoughts? This album is actually pretty solid. A lot of bumping tracks with great composition and originality. I AM SO UPSET that Marionette is only two minutes and some change. WHY?! Such a boss ass song. Also, 追憶 was a beautiful way to start the album off with. AMAZING. I am shocked, I didn't think the band could make legit music without blindly ripping off other groups. Good stuff Lycaon. This def deserves hella replays and It is a strong contender for album of the year.

My first listen, it was a 4.5/10

My second, more serious listen, its risen up to 8.5/10 (I actually made it through much of the album without skipping many tracks this time around.)