Featured Review #29: 和楽器バンド - 戦-ikusa- / なでしこ桜

[Zeus 7997]

Artist: 和楽器バンド Single: 戦-ikusa- / なでしこ桜 Score: Meet the next Kagrra, of VK.

You already know what the deal is.

Few bands manage to turn me into a rabid fanboy the way 和楽器バンド has. As the bridge between the visual kei, doujin, and vocaloid scenes, their unique sound and striking visuals caught everybody's attention instantly. In a year, they've made moves in their career that other bands never get the opportunity to try. The hype is so real, both tracks from their second single 戦-ikusa- / なでしこ桜 were featured in the anime Sengoku Musou. For an indie band, that's a huge accomplishment.

 

戦-ikusa- / なでしこ桜 is another excellent entry in 和楽器バンド's small but excellent discography. There's enough strings between the eight members of this bands to appease any bondage fetishist, and as usual the performances are top notch. 戦-ikusa- is the more energetic opener. Conjuring emotions reminiscent of excitement and war, it's perfect for the anime it was chosen for. In general, it's a pleasant rock track and a good choice for promotion, but it's not one of their best tracks. Their previous single 華火 was a better take on this type of sound. I find the mid-tempo なでしこ桜 to be the more intriguing track. Yuko's voice is much more emotional and impactful here, and the slower pace of the song allows the band to create a stronger atmosphere. This is a much better representation of their sound, but perhaps the less accessible of the two songs.

 

This second single isn't enough to draw any major conclusions from. They've done a great job of picking up the mantle Kagrra, left behind in 2009, but 和楽器バンド have yet to prove themselves to me. To date, 和楽器バンド has only released three original songs. The real test is their first mini or album. Deliver an album as consistent yet varied as Vocalo Zanmai and I'll gladly proclaim them to be the best indie band this side of the rising sun.

 

For now, they're just pretty damn interesting.

[beni 2149]

Great band, great single, and great review! I personally find them enjoyable and the whole traditional attire and sound is really intriguing to me. They're, admittedly, not a band I listen to all that much, and I went to them by the time they released their album just because of the Vocaloid covers, aha. I was conflicted for a bit which poll option to go for, between the two top ones;

 

I agree. This is one of the dark horse bands that have the potential to explode!

Somewhat. The music sounds pleasant but I don't see what other people see in it. 

 

My opinion on them is both of these points. They have major potential and I'd like to see more people get into them while the band also explores more sounds they can surely pull off. While I like them, I can see how the hype is quite a bit more than expected but it's awesome to see (I mean, come on, they're restoring what Kagrra, had to stop as already mentioned). I think most of us can hype our favourites, but when I hear these guys, I just think that they can offer so much more to the table which is why I feel this way.

[doombox 4421]

I agree. This is one of the dark horse bands that have the potential to explode! 

I agree with the hype. xD But I feel like they are already exploding. Not sure I'd still call them a dark horse anymore.  But the hype is so real. So. Real. 

 

Also, they aren't indie anymore. They've been signed to Avex for over a year (to my knowledge), so getting an anime theme at this point felt pretty natural to me.

 

But I'm with you on trying to reserve some judgement until we get a mini or full album. But my instincts tell me it's going to be more of the same, which is great in my book. High hopes! I enjoyed the single a lot and I think it was perfect to show they're really strong song writers but they aren't giving everything they have away in one go. Hopefully some is reserved for the next big release. 

 

Nice review, as always. ^^

[Zeus 7997]

 

My opinion on them is both of these points. They have major potential and I'd like to see more people get into them while the band also explores more sounds they can surely pull off. While I like them, I can see how the hype is quite a bit more than expected but it's awesome to see (I mean, come on, they're restoring what Kagrra, had to stop as already mentioned). I think most of us can hype our favourites, but when I hear these guys, I just think that they can offer so much more to the table which is why I feel this way.

 

 

I'm not even sure if this band could pull off any other sounds besides this one and honestly I don't want them to. I listened to Hanafugetsu and found it super boring, despite there being almost 95% similarity between the two bands. That 5% difference between Wagakki and Hanafugetsu is the reason why everyone knows about the former but not the latter, and it's what caused them to blow up in the first place. They have a lot of freedom to play around with but ultimately they've committed themselves to this theme of theirs and are confined by it until they decide to re-define it later. And if they're going to re-define themselves they need to be very, very careful not to mess up.

Plenty of good one-dimensional bands from Bathory to -OZ- have tried to reinvent themselves and failed. Both were really good at what they did (black metal and metalcore respectively) before they tried to change it up. Bathory's thrash era is bad. Everything post-ROUGE for -OZ- was...not as good as VERSUS. Neither really needed to change anything about their sound but chose to anyway and were arguably worse off for it. I see no reason why this band needs to change anything just yet. Now eventually, they will need to switch it up and find new ways to expand their music and keep it interesting. That kind of balancing act is what separates the good artists from the great. But there's enough within their limited theme to enable them to continue for the next five years easily before it starts getting stale.

[CAT5 9075]

I chose the 2nd option in the poll, as i'm still not ready to board the hype train with this band yet. This single was pretty good, but I feel like their songwriting is perhaps a bit too hook-y and pop-centric for my tastes. After watching their 'vocalo zanmai' DVD, it became clear to me that this band is comprised of fantastically talented and dynamic musicians, so I can't help but agree with @beni in that I'd like to hear them do something just a tad less formulaic. I know their first album was basically a cover album, so I'm still looking forward to what their original tunes might unveil. These 2 songs work great as anime themes, though...and I understand that they probably didn't want to get too self-indulgent here.

[TheStoic 176]

I am drinking the Kool-Aid.  This band is superb!  It is a feat just to be able to seamlessly blend all of those musicians and instruments at once, but they do it so effortlessly that it is a really amazing feat.  I love when artists mix the traditional with the modern, and was a fan of bands like Crow×Class ～黒鴉組～, Kagrra, and composers like Noriyuki Asakura before Waggaki Band hit the scene. 

 

I feel like the potential to break up is high since one member calling it quits might tumble the House of Cards to the ground.  However, I hope that never happens.

 

I'm on board, but really would like to see them write some original material and maybe branch out a bit and try to write a darker song.  I think once they break the tried and true formula of vocaloid covers and can execute just as flawlessly, they will hit it big.  They are already making waves.

[Zeus 7997]

I'm on board, but really would like to see them write some original material and maybe branch out a bit and try to write a darker song.  I think once they break the tried and true formula of vocaloid covers and can execute just as flawlessly, they will hit it big.  They are already making waves.

Them tackling a darker song in the vein of Kagrra,'s Ouma ga Toki would be marvellous! I was also under the impression that 戦-ikusa-/なでしこ桜 were written by them. Is this not the case? If so I have to fix my review :<

[doombox 4421]

I don't know much about vocaloid, but Hanabi was promoted as original work, so I'm pretty sure this single is too.

Edit: I just checked the credits, it's definitely original.