Jigsaw9 6783 Posted June 26, 2015 Artist: MUCC Album: T.R.E.N.D.Y. -Paradise from 1997- 1. 睡蓮 (Suiren) 2. D・f・D (Dreamer from Darkness) 3. B.L.U.E -Tell me KAFKA- 4. HATEЯ 5. レインボー (Rainbow) 6. Rendez-Vous 7. TONIGHT Rating: | Something old, something new – finally something decent! I love MUCC, I really do. That’s why I’ve been a bit pissed at them for not getting their act together ever since they dropped that monstrosity of an album Karma. Sure, they had some quality songs along the way, but not enough that I could bear listening to a whole album of theirs without cringing every few minutes. So, understandably, I approached their latest offering, T.R.E.N.D.Y. -Paradise from 1997- with extra caution… only to find that my fears were pretty much baseless. Let’s see how this giant of a 'mini' album goes, shall we? First off, "Suiren" is a fitting opener with its faint background vocals and ominous guitar strumming that soon turns into an insistent synth riff, leading into chunky distorted guitars reminiscent of the band’s heyday of nu-metal stylings. Just from these beginning few minutes it’s evident how MUCC upped the game this time, mixing something old with something new. As promising a start as it is, I can’t help but feel that the track’s a tad too long for its own good (almost 8 minutes, seriously?). Next up is "D・f・D (Dreamer from Darkness)", delivering another riffalicious outburst followed by surprisingly laid-back verses. The guys soon pick up the level of aggressivity though, as well as the pace, with varying results. Some metalcore-wannabe riffage, that proverbial dead horse, also finds its way into the mix, but not in annoying amounts. A solid song, all in all. Next up, we’re treated to something lighter as "B.L.U.E -Tell me KAFKA-" begins – or so we think! Miya whips out his heavy metal chops once again, reliably chugging along with a steady drumbeat. I have to give props for the wonderful chorus, guitar solo and sick breakdown as well. It’s a song that perfectly showcases MUCC’s gentle and powerful sides equally. As "B.L.U.E" winds down, we’re led into the next number, "HATEЯ", with a peculiar poppy beat (Tatsurou & co ain’t no hollaback girls!). Despite this initial light-hearted impression, "HATEЯ" turns out to be the obligatory zetsubou-ridden teenage angst anthem of the day. It’s not as lame as it sounds, thankfully, throwing in some well-needed tempo changes and a soaring, melancholic chorus with an exotic touch. With that, it looks like we finally arrived at the calmer point of the release, as evidenced by Tatsurou’s gentle singing over some simple but touching guitars. "Rainbow" isn’t exactly what you’d call a standout track, but it proves to be a breath of fresh air after the intensity of the previous songs. With its subtle atmosphere, emotional (but not sappy!) melodies and steady mid-tempo beat, it would’ve even fit on an album like Gokusai. The follow-up, "Rendez-Vous", changes it up with an interesting electro-rock mixture yet again, complete with dubstep-inspired breakdown (that actually sound somewhat decent). Despite all its efforts to become memorable, it falls a bit flat though. Thankfully, we have "TONIGHT" to close this T.R.E.N.D.Y. mini album: a weird Frankenstein-monster of cheesy heavy metal clichés and gang-chorus punkiness, but it totally works! It’s never a bad thing to end your album on an energetic note. All in all, I’m quite impressed with what MUCC cooked up in the studio this time around! I went in with no expectations whatsoever, but these guys proved that they still know how to craft catchy and memorable tunes, even if not quite at the same level as, say, in their glory days. All these past years I’ve been waiting and waiting for them to deliver something cool, and they finally came through. Moreover, the mini album (even if the songs themselves are pretty long) has an ideal length: it’s almost begging me to start over again and again. And that is what I shall do. Support the band! T.R.E.N.D.Y. @ iTunes (US) T.R.E.N.D.Y. @ CDJapan T.R.E.N.D.Y. @ Yesasia 12 Zeus, Crube, Spectralion and 9 others reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
saishuu 3220 Posted July 5, 2015 I still have to listen to this one a few more times before I can say anything (I'm surprisingly pleased with it so far though!), so I'm not gonna post a full-fledged review or anything, but I just wanted to mention how TONIGHT's chorus is straight up copied from MCR's Helena. lol 2 Jigsaw9 and Licio123 reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
