Featured Review #62: Demetori - 愧人贖悪 ~Evil People as the True Object of Salvation~

[Zeus 7997]

Artist: Demetori Album: 愧人贖悪 ~Evil People as the True Object of Salvation~ 1. Introduction ～ Double Dealing 2. ラストリモート ～ Type A Personality 3. リバースイデオロギー ～ The Antinomy of Ideology 4. アリスマエステラ ～ Flow My Tears,the Said 5. 無何有の郷 ～ Grief of Ressentiment 6. 広有射怪鳥事 ～ Till When? 7. Intro:The Shining Needle Castle Sinking in the Air 8. 空中に沈む輝針城 ～ Counter-Clock World 9. 輝く針の小人族 ～ Counter-Attack of the Weak

Rating: | Demetori proves that once again, quality trumps quantity.

 

One of the only arrange bands that I still actively follow, Demetori has seen success by focusing on quality over quantity. This is saying a lot about their contemporaries more so than their particular habits. Most normal bands take a year or two break between albums but it is not uncommon to see a doujin artist release four albums in one year or to find musicians starting solo projects once they exhaust the hundreds of video game jingles associated with Project Shrine Maiden (or touhou if you will). Most of these acts disappear into obscurity faster than you can say "animated jailbait", but despite first impressions the duo have stuck to their guns with making strictly cover music since 2005. Considering how easy it is to fall off in this scene, I find their dedication and consistency incredibly impressive. Best described as Meshuggah meets power metal, 愧人贖悪 ~Evil People as the True Object of Salvation~ is their tenth and newest album, with most themes lifted from either the seventh or fourteenth Touhou video game. It's the most interesting album since 曼衍珠汝華～ Nada Upasana Pundarika, restoring a sense of confidence in the band that was missing from their last two albums. It's still the same style of metal since 2007's Il Mondo dove e finito il Tempo, but with a sense of energy and excitement I haven't heard in quite some time. 徳南 (Tokunan) is still a beast with the guitar, so much so that I feel comfortable pinning him somewhere between FAR EAST DIZAIN's LEDA and Galneryus' Syu. His brother 九宝時 (Kyuhouji), keeps his crown as the best drummer in the scene and delivers an equally as gripping performance with the percussion. Few ideas were lifted from earlier arrangements with no modifications and the ones that were are expertly done. The mid-album ballad "無何有の郷 ～ Grief of Ressentiment" is a good example of this; it sounds like it came straight from 2006's 如臨深遠 ～雨縒煙柳～. The wealth of new ideas and the appearance of some uncommon melodies extends the life of this album by a good amount.

The paradoxical thing about doujin music is that what gives it its charm also holds it back. It will rarely be seen as anything more than "epic rock video game music", and despite the technical proficiency of the Teramae brothers 愧人贖悪 ~Evil People as the True Object of Salvation~ is no exception. Demetori's answer to this problem is to add more of their own ideas to the melodies that they cover, complementing the original melodies to create something that feels familiar but still fresh. It's very much an instrumental shred fest - it always has and it always will be - but sometimes the video game melodies don't make for the best rock or metal melodies. It can be tricky to bring them together without sounding contrived. For the most part they were successful with adapting the melodies to fit the metal motif, but there are still those awkward thematic or mood transitions here and there that make you roll your eyes. However, it's nothing that gets in the way of enjoying the album to the fullest.

The perfect album for those into insane guitar solos, instrumental hard rock, doujin arranges, or just something to pump you up in general!

Support the band!

愧人贖悪 ~Evil People as the True Object of Salvation~

[Deathtopi4 428]

I've listened to Demetori quite a few times but I've just never been able to get into them. But even so it's really nice to see a doujin review on here, awesome job! 

[bonsaijodelfisch 328]

whoa, this has been out since mid-august? damn, i'm not worthy of calling myself a fan...

 

(btw. i found the last album pretty solid actually, agreed tho on "begierde" being rather underwhelming)

 

I might put in my few cents here as well later, but i doubt there's much more to be said^^

[Zeus 7997]

whoa, this has been out since mid-august? damn, i'm not worthy of calling myself a fan...

 

(btw. i found the last album pretty solid actually, agreed tho on "begierde" being rather underwhelming)

 

I might put in my few cents here as well later, but i doubt there's much more to be said^^

 

Don't worry. This flew under my radar as well and I found out about it only a week ago. I have some catching up I need to do as well.

In regards to comments I made about Begierde Des Zauberers and Le Grimoire de Reve. Begierde is considered to be one of Demetori's worst albums because it couldn't match up to Nada Upasana Pundarika or Offering to the Sukhavati either with pure melody or pounding aggression. Listening to the album gives me an impression that the band was struggling to "top" themselves with that album and it didn't pan out so well. I like Le grimoire de Reve much more, especially tracks like "Dream War" and "Death Echo". I just feel that when compared to "the holy trinity" it sits in a healthy fourth or fifth place.

This album does a really good job of topping those two. Feels like a mix of Il Mondo... and Offering... with some of the aggression from Nada Upasana Pundarika. So basically speed metal Demetori mixed with Meshuggahtori, just a little more engaged and lively than usual. Basically if you liked the last two albums you'll love this even more.