Featured Review #68: THE EGOIST - EMBLEM

[tetsu_sama69 1119]

 

 

Tracklist:

1. Everlasting

2. BLACK ROSE

3. Collapsed Connection

4. Enough.

5. THE AGENCY OF PROVIDENCE

6. Maladjusted Child

 

   | A rush of energy spiced with a hint of chaotic undertones that barely falls short

 

THE EGOIST was formed from the members of a live-limited band by the name of Limited「E=」featuring members from LiLiCAL and @NNIVERSARY on the 10th of October 2015 and are currently signed to ROCKSTAR RECORDS. Some are already familiar with the Vocalist Rouis who came from a band of a similar name エゴis≒徒 (Egoist) and guitarist セツナ (Setsuna) from LiLiCAL. They announced soon after that they were releasing their first mini-album and debut release EMBLEM which came out on the 12th of December 2015. With the experience of their line-up does this mini-album express their style and sound well? There's only one way to find out!

 

The opening track "Everlasting" starts with a cascade of solid drumming and a slight ethereal guitar riff mingled with a nice bass line that carries the song along before the vocals kick in and it melts in a very solid song with Rouis giving a nice sample of his vocal range; especially the mixed in whispers throughout which I feel melt in with the song quite nicely. The track isn't extremely heavy even with a taste of screams thrown into the bridge before bringing you along on a trip with a tasty guitar solo and taking you to your stop back to the chorus. I feel this song is a great opener and leads you in the next song smoothly. The next track "BLACK ROSE" starts with another great guitar riff and the slightly rough vocals that explode into a nice scream which leads into the great energy that keeps on strong. The bass throughout is amazing and even the drumming remains strong until the mid-point of the track. It then melts into another fantastic guitar solo with a heavy breakdown that carries you back to the chorus. "Collapsed Connection" is a bit heavier and it makes that quite obvious right at the start with the slightly chaotic guitar mingled with heavy bass and drumming. The vocals kick in and through the song they occasionally add a nice filter to it and I never feel overwhelmed by as it's not overused. The pace of this song fits with the chaotic style of the music and it keeps up the strong energy of the mini-album.

 

The next song on the album does not disappoint with "Enough." opening with a clapping beat and a similar filter on the vocals as the previous track. That is soon taken over by an extremely lively bass line that explodes into a charging heavier tone of screaming vocals and music. It dips into a jazzy beat with more of the filtered vocals which go back the nice rough whispered tones that Rouis does so well and transitions you into the chorus spiced so nicely with sweet bass lines. I feel this song stands out in a very solid and energetic mini-album and shows off the musical talent of the entire band especially after Rouis sings "You're asking for it" and it explodes into an even heavier breakdown until the end of the song smoothly transitioning you into the next track, "THE AGENCY OF PROVIDENCE". The song keeps up with the high energy of the album and continues to follow the even heavier pace that was started with the previous track. There are more robotic filters used with the vocals throughout but it never feels overused as it's only sprinkled into just the right places. I mostly enjoyed the song up to the point where Rouis lets out an insane laugh and it roars into another chaotic breakdown but then falls short when it transitions back to the chorus. The chorus doesn't stand out well in this song as it's mostly just "the agency of providence~" over and over again and feels like cookie-cutter clean vocals that you hear from most current visual bands.

 

With the last track "Maladjusted Child" I was worried it was going to be an obligatory ballad-type song but it surprised me. It doesn't follow the same chaotic style featured through the rest of the album and is a great closer. The smooth bass line sets the mood for the song and is partnered with great drumming that keeps up the calmer pace. The vocals emit the darker emotion of the entire track, especially the rough crooning that picks up during the chorus and fits in perfectly, carrying you to the end of the album.

 

THE EGOIST came out of the gate with a very solid and energetic debut release. Even though there was a very slight shortcoming in the latter half of the album it wasn't enough to ruin the release for me. It does a very good job of showcasing the band's talents and I was happy it wasn't overtaken with excessive filters and the complete lack of djent "bleep-bloop" left me with a very good taste in my mouth. It also didn't get stuck into trying to be super metalcore but instead feels like the direction some Visual-Kei bands need to take a step in. If you're looking for some heavier styled high energy music, then EMBLEM is definitely what you're looking for.

 

 

-Support the artist! Buy it here!-

    Brand-X CD Japan    

[Peace Heavy mk II 7200]

As I tried to say before this was officially published

 

 

I liked this mini. There's something oddly nostalgic about them, but I don't mean to imply that they sound like a late-90's revival band at all. It's more of the feeling I got when I was first getting into vkei and listening to what UCP had to offer in 2007 (like CleariVeil and Mago). Thus far, they aren't really anything to write home about but they'll be nice to check in on from time to time.

[filth_y 189]

To me they sound like a 2016, "little harder" version of many 2006/2007's great bands like ガイズファミリー, heidi., etc. Also a lot of comparsions i would like to make with C"LOW"N (basically (but much inferior) BLESSCODE now). One of the more interesting releases last year (one of many actually), especially together with Hiz's (now CANIVAL) "8インチの脅迫" single. The use the typical formulas of todays vk bands but add enough interesting stuff here and there were other bands just release the same song over and over again (DADAROMA, MEABEL, MEJIBRAY, MORRIGAN, アルルカン or one of these other horrible bands).

Their contribution to "BLACK MARKET GANG I" (Murderr face) remined me a little bit of "FACE TO FACE" (just the intro). Otherwise the song was a letdown, so i hope they werent just a one hit wonder with this mini.

[tetsu_sama69 1119]

As I tried to say before this was officially published

 

 

I liked this mini. There's something oddly nostalgic about them, but I don't mean to imply that they sound like a late-90's revival band at all. It's more of the feeling I got when I was first getting into vkei and listening to what UCP had to offer in 2007 (like CleariVeil and Mago). Thus far, they aren't really anything to write home about but they'll be nice to check in on from time to time.

Yes! Exactly feels like it's from that era. They really aren't anything stellar but they have the foundation to be a solid band if they can just improve slightly and bring more to their sound.

[tetsu_sama69 1119]

To me they sound like a 2016, "little harder" version of many 2006/2007's great bands like ガイズファミリー, heidi., etc. Also a lot of comparsions i would like to make with C"LOW"N (basically (but much inferior) BLESSCODE now). One of the more interesting releases last year (one of many actually), especially together with Hiz's (now CANIVAL) "8インチの脅迫" single. The use the typical formulas of todays vk bands but add enough interesting stuff here and there were other bands just release the same song over and over again (DADAROMA, MEABEL, MEJIBRAY, MORRIGAN, アルルカン or one of these other horrible bands).

Their contribution to "BLACK MARKET GANG I" (Murderr face) remined me a little bit of "FACE TO FACE" (just the intro). Otherwise the song was a letdown, so i hope they werent just a one hit wonder with this mini.

I really hope so too. There's a lot a great potential here for their first mini. They don't seem to be stuck in current trends (djent and shit like that) so we can only wish they try to stay pretty solid and strong.