doombox 4421 Posted May 4, 2016 Tracklist: 1. Push [Instrumental] 2. Justify 3. Doubt 4. Expectations 5. Forest | A shadow of their former selves I think we all know I was this close to starting a mourning thread for FACT when they decided to call it quits. Luckily they announced their split a year before it was set to happen and they released enough goodbye material to satiate me. But the best news of all was the announcement of their new projects. SHADOWS sounded as if it had the best possible group to continue on the FACT signature sound with both guitarists and the vocalist sticking together to form it, so I was counting the days awaiting its release. It's kind of astonishing to think one could be so disappointed in only twelve minutes. Cue my first letdown. FACT was known to write some short songs, but to see the entire 'mini album' only reached a twelve minute running time came as a shock. "Push" starts off innocently enough, as a nice guitar-lead instrumental. The same seven-note riff repeats over and over as it optimistically builds up to the next track, "Justify". Effectively, these songs sound like they are one track that got spliced in half. It was the right choice to start off the disc because it's the only song I'd recommend for older FACT fans. Even at its one minute and seventeen second track length, it has a healthy dose of aggression and emotion to keep you engaged. The following song "Doubt" is when the real train wreck happens. I'm guessing it was an intentional choice to let vocalist Hiro sing the entire song off key, in an incredibly cringe-y way, not a cool, intensely emotional kind of way. In fact, Hiro's vocals seem void of any and all emotion for the entire track. So just imagine an off-key robot yelling at you over incredibly repetitive and watered-down FACT riffs-- Actually, don't. Just pretend it doesn't exist like I'm going to after this. The second half of the 'mini album' carries on with "Expectations" and while the emotions are still feeling stunted with the vocals, the guitar riffs are driving the atmosphere. They push the track down a punk rock-rendered void so you walk away with the feeling of the pressure they must have felt to deliver on these songs. It's too bad it seems the pressure may have gotten to them in their effort to rush them to the masses. The final track "Forest" rounds out the end of the release. On the surface, it comes off like a leftover idea from FACT's burudanga album, which wouldn't so bad if SHADOWS and Extrance weren't standing directly in the shadow (pun intended) of FACT's former glory. The harsh truth is that their fans do have expectations, and even if the guys want to press on in a new direction, at this stage in their careers ideas have to be presented fully realized and polished. And what I find even more insulting is they are being called 'live' recordings, but what they sound like are single take play-throughs. If you're going to push demo level music, don't expect people to happily shell out top dollar for them. I still have hope that their future releases will improve because any new band would need to take time and find themselves. But this ultimately felt like an unnecessary cash grab, and that's what hurts the most. Buy Extrance @ CDJapan! 1 Zeus reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zeus 7997 Posted May 4, 2016 When I hear someone claim "future releases will hopefully see this band improve", usually I'm reading about an upstart indie band or veteran musicians who can't mesh their styles together. I know that's what I really mean when I say it. But it doesn't seem like that's the case here, right? Where did all the magic go? It's mostly the same members, yes? So did FACT's disbandment throw up a mental blocker which is restraining the band? I listened to the video you attached and it sounds so lethargic. The riffs feel flat and you completely nailed my feelings about the vocalist in your review. No energy at all! Length isn't so much of a problem for me. If it's short and addictive it lends itself well to repeats. The English gets to me more than the length. Perhaps this time a shorter length is better so you don't have to suffer as long? Great review! 1 doombox reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chemicalpictures 1888 Posted May 4, 2016 I think that the FACT (pun intended) that this was a live/one-shot record wasn't much of a help to hiro's voice. He can stand on his ground on lives, but with proper recording he does sound better overall. I can see what you mean in 'doubt', but 'forest' striked me as a honest performance, I quite enjoyed the song. But you are right, this would probably feel better released as a demo or something, rather than a full release. They had the whole recording of it on youtube, but for some reason took the video down and let only 'Forest' up... For what I could see, I expect them to keep a 'Eat your Words' vibe, which is interesting, but I hope Adam's band can do something similar to 'witness'-'KTHEAT' era. 'Push' into 'Justify' is definitely the best thing on this mini, but overall I was satisfied with this preview to their sound. 1 doombox reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
doombox 4421 Posted May 4, 2016 10 hours ago, Zeus said: When I hear someone claim "future releases will hopefully see this band improve", usually I'm reading about an upstart indie band or veteran musicians who can't mesh their styles together. I know that's what I really mean when I say it. But it doesn't seem like that's the case here, right? Where did all the magic go? It's mostly the same members, yes? So did FACT's disbandment throw up a mental blocker which is restraining the band? I listened to the video you attached and it sounds so lethargic. The riffs feel flat and you completely nailed my feelings about the vocalist in your review. No energy at all! Length isn't so much of a problem for me. If it's short and addictive it lends itself well to repeats. The English gets to me more than the length. Perhaps this time a shorter length is better so you don't have to suffer as long? Great review! Exactly, that's kind of the last thing I expected to say. If anyone had the right line up to come out of the gate swinging, it was them. LOL and true, maybe the run length was a blessing in disguise. xD 9 hours ago, chemicalpictures said: I think that the FACT (pun intended) that this was a live/one-shot record wasn't much of a help to hiro's voice. He can stand on his ground on lives, but with proper recording he does sound better overall. I can see what you mean in 'doubt', but 'forest' striked me as a honest performance, I quite enjoyed the song. But you are right, this would probably feel better released as a demo or something, rather than a full release. They had the whole recording of it on youtube, but for some reason took the video down and let only 'Forest' up... For what I could see, I expect them to keep a 'Eat your Words' vibe, which is interesting, but I hope Adam's band can do something similar to 'witness'-'KTHEAT' era. 'Push' into 'Justify' is definitely the best thing on this mini, but overall I was satisfied with this preview to their sound. I hear you. Actually, if this had been in front of a crowd maybe his energy would have been more enjoyable because I have enjoyed his past live footage with FACT. I wonder why they took it down. That EP footage was originally what I was looking for to link with this review. But I guess maybe they felt they were giving away too much if they left it stay up? I'm looking forward to Joy Opposites too. KTHEAT era would be cool, I also have a suspicion it'll have more electronic elements since Adam and Eiji both seem to have/had electronic focused side projects. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
platanity 99 Posted May 5, 2016 (edited) i got hooked up with fact lately, i dont know , i have been listening to them everyday straight for the past few weeks . i wonder why i wasn't so attracted to them so much like now when i first heard them . i am so in love with fact (2009), in the blink of an eye (2010), and witness (2014) -- and dying to listen to the new tracks (not youtube) . it's a fcking shame that they parted ways , although a part of me is glad to hear them going for new music . but i've got to say that this record (shadow - extrance) could've been more experimental instead of going for something 'familiar' , and yet , it's not much of a big leap if it was a case of an extended play of ex-fact . it could've been something more . maybe they're revving and they'll gain speed and power for the next gen music . but i can confidently say that i am looking forward to shadows and the opposite half of joy opposites . but then again, i miss 'fact' -- Edited May 5, 2016 by platanity 1 doombox reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
doombox 4421 Posted May 5, 2016 43 minutes ago, platanity said: i got hooked up with fact lately, i dont know , i have been listening to them everyday straight for the past few weeks . i wonder why i wasn't so attracted to them so much like now when i first heard them . i am so in love with fact (2009), in the blink of an eye (2010), and witness (2014) -- and dying to listen to the new tracks (not youtube) . it's a fcking shame that they parted ways , although a part of me is glad to hear them going for new music . but i've got to say that this record (shadow - extrance) could've been more experimental instead of going for something 'familiar' , and yet , it's not much of a big leap if it was a case of an extended play of ex-fact . it could've been something more . maybe they're revving and they'll gain speed and power for the next gen music . but i can confidently say that i am looking forward to shadows and the opposite half of joy opposites . but then again, i miss 'fact' -- I do think all of their new stuff was shared here, if it's not I can help with that. Those are all great albums, i'm happy to see people are still getting into them. As for SHADOWS, I'm with you on hoping the next release is a step up from this. 1 platanity reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
platanity 99 Posted May 5, 2016 19 minutes ago, doombox said: I do think all of their new stuff was shared here, if it's not I can help with that. Those are all great albums, i'm happy to see people are still getting into them. As for SHADOWS, I'm with you on hoping the next release is a step up from this. are you talking about the new tracks as in "look away" and "choices" ? ? ? (from 2009-2015 best) then in that case, OH PLEASE DO ! and ill forever be grateful ! someone did link to the new tracks, but those were youtube rips . Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
