Matenrou Opera - Abyss

[dannemannen 69]

Very disappointed, only liked 2 songs; hanayome and futari. The other 5 were forgotten 10 seconds after they ended.

Was expecting more... 4/10... what do you guys think?

Edit: Haha, the chorus in 'independent' is so annoying!

But i'll keep listening! Hope it grows!

[Peace Heavy mk II 7200]

I'm only on "frill" and I already think it's better than 4 / 10. "Independent" was great; it'll be up there with "Eternal Symphony" and "Anomie" for me. As far as I can see, this redeems Murder Scope and Genesis / R for me.

[Kaye 296]

I'm only on "frill" and I already think it's better than 4 / 10. "Independent" was great; it'll be up there with "Eternal Symphony" and "Anomie" for me. As far as I can see, this redeems Murder Scope and Genesis / R for me.

Same here. Mini is good. And if it'll grow on me, it'll probably be great

Ayame is still creepy though :s

[minre 13]

hanayome and coal tar [holy!!] are the only ones I tolerate. [still 3 to go]

INDEPENDENT pissed me off and frill bothered me. maybe it'll grow once I know what to expect ha.

[Des 289]

Coal Tar is amazing. Very beautiful song. Double Clutch is cool too. I like all songs on this mini actually except the PV song. That one doesn't do much to me. And I agree Independent is a bit odd, but somehow it's interesting. They did a great job. I like this mini.

8/10, I think, for now. Might change as I listen more.

Now... let's listen to Coal Tar again. And again. And again. And again.

[tosinn 3]

I'm still on Hanayome, but I have to agree about other people's comments regarding INDEPENDENT; its chorus is so annoying. Sono's voice gets really...ugh.

Will come back later and write a proper review.

[sai 868]

Lolol my whole review got deleted due to my name change. Anyway after writing the review I concluded this was 7.5/10. Pretty decent, frill is my favorite.

[toshii9245 0]

I really enjoy it, so far. Highlights are coal tar, Futari and Hanayome, though the others were also cool--except frill, which I wasn't really into. INDEPENDENT was indeed a bit strange at the beginning, but it grew on me, so yeah. A pleasing mini, I give it 7.5/10.

[Miasma 162]

INDEPENDENT

Well I'm not so pleased with the opening riff, heard it countless times before. But the song's progression is quite remarkable, the tempo variations are nice and a pleasant surprise. The song is really frantic, but not to the point were there's too much going on. I also quite like the chorus, I'll admit the screams are bit uncalled for, but it was definitely the most memorable part of the song, which is what a chorus is supposed to be. INDEPENDENT did it's job, as an album opener, very well.

4/5

も??一人??花??

The keys are what sells this song to me, Ayame plays great and kept my full attention throughout the entire song. And Sono's vocal rhythm flows nicely with Anzi's playing. Not much else I can say about this song, it's just great, definitely will grow to become one Maten's trademark tracks. Also, couldn't help but notice how misplaced this song was in the album, would have played better if placed after coal tar.

5/5

frill

Somewhat of a groovy-upbeat-metal song, if that made any sense? Basslines are overused, but keep my foot tapping to the beat. Pre-chorus verses are fun, but made me realize how boring the drummer sounds throughout the song. Makes me think of Dolce, just heavier, and more upbeat.

3½/5

coal tar

Here's where we hear some more variety from the drummer! The backing orchestra accompanied by the band playing that violent riff sounds great! The chorus sounds nice, but really doesn't fit in with the rest of the song. That moment were Sono's voice begins to become distorted played as a great prelude to the guitar solo. coal tar's dark atmosphere is definitely what makes the song's furtherance interesting; think of a toned-down Faust.

4½/5

Double Clutch

Cliché anime opening title and song anybody? Not impressed with this song at all, shows very little talent from these guys. During the chorus Sono shows us just how annoying his voice can get. The only things I can praise from the song, is the intro, and the basslines. Hands down, the least interesting track from the album.

2/5

フタリ

Can't say much about this one. I keep bringing myself back to listen to it, but I find it quite boring. It's a pleasant tune, but not one that I'd search for to play.

3/5

Finale...

Quite an eerie intro the song has. Anzi keeps me entertained, Yo's basslines are great, Ayame' keys are smooth, and Yu needs to quiet his drumming. Finale...'s a nice instrumental, but the song would have sounded much more better with Sono. Glad they put this here though, it would have been disappointing if they ended the album with フタリ.

4/5

Overall I give Abyss a 4/5. Although, I have to say that I feel as if the album lost it's direction after the first four tracks. It's a great listen though, shows just how much this band has evolved in such a short time. Congrats to Maten on releasing such an excellent album; definitely my pick for 2010's best mini.

[11:1 0]

I didn't have a problem with any of the tracks on Abyss whatsoever. Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever had a problem with any of Matenrou Opera's songs. .______.

It's a great mini-album without a doubt. Exited to hear what they'll put out next!

[anieresus 270]

Going to review this song x song

INDEPENDENT: I love this song, probably one of my favorite songs from the mini-album. It sounds like Old-School Matenrou, but taken to a whole new level. Love the guitar/bass/keyboard solos. 9/10

も??一人??花??: The PV was released about a week ago or so on TV, and Cat was kind enough to upload it in HD <3 Anyway, this song probably reflects Matenrou's new direction, which is a matured one, and also someone on last.fm stated that this song sounds like "Genesis" and "Eternal Symphony" mixed together, which I agree, and that means it's awesome. The PV for the song is awesome too, 'cause it FINALLY has some story behind it. 9/10

frill: This surprised me, because most of the song is groovy, not really Matenrou's style, but somehow they seemed to have pulled it off. The guitar is what out-stood for me the most. This seems like a really fun song to play at a live or something. 7.5/10

coal tar: The intro is really amazing, and I love how the song is really calm which Matenrou does it perfectly, the solo like in most MO songs is really awesome, I love it. 8.5/10

Double Clutch: Probably the song I liked the least from the mini-album. It's not bad, it just gets really boring at some parts, but aside from that it's ok. 7/10

フタリ: I love how the use of acoustic guitar in the song, and I get the same feeling of this song like with coal tar. 8/10

Finale...: I'm a big fan of Matenrou's instrumental songs, and this one is no exception. Every single instrument fits perfectly, and I'm glad this doesn't have Sono's voice, not because I dislike it, but this song was made to highlight the instruments, it goes on the same par as "Utopia" the instrumental song from their ANOMIE album. 8.5/10

Overall I give it a 9/10, TBH I was scared that MO would become crappy, like in the case of most now-major bands. But I'm glad they proved me wrong, and did a fantastic job on this album.

[jurideluhi 6]

omg.how can double clutch be my fav song on first listen ! I would say the intro part of this song really good. I like this song the most from this minialbum!

others are also good but not awesome as double clutch! 6.8/10!

[Jigsaw9 6783]

I haven't listened to them in a looong~ while, so I just randomly tried this mini out, but holy hell is it awesome!!!

Cool start, lots of nice tracks, and the ending song is just guitargasmic! Nice job!

[fitear1590 2414]

I must say, I've got to hand it to Matenrou Opera for not making their second "full album" out of this.

Just imagine, take these mini-album tracks, add a cheap keyboard intro called "~into the abyss~", and do "abyssal ver." rerecordings of Genesis, R, Murder Scope, and an older track and you've got yourself an "album"!

On to less sarcastic things though. I've only given it one listen, but THIS is much more the matenrou opera that I want to listen to, as opposed to everything else after Anomie, which I didn't care for at all.

Overall, the tracks sound pretty good to me. A pleasant heaviness to many of them. I thought I would hate frill from the "groovy" description people were giving it, but I think they made it work pretty well!

There's a lot more piano this time around, isn't there? Ayame really is the band's weakest link for me, as his cheesy keyboard stuff pisses me off a lot of the time (like in FUTARI), but the piano sounds are generally much better.

I suppose, the one major complaint I have is that I still keep hearing familiar vocal melodies from Sono. I think it was mainly in the PV song, but there's a few parts that remind me of Alkaloid Showcase/瑠璃色で描く虹 melodies. (Didn't murder scope have parts that also sounded like those?) And he occasionally sounds to "squeaky" for me, but that's just personal preference. He's obviously very talented, technically speaking.

At the very least, a 7/10.

Will probably go up.

[golffy_aoi 15]

3/10!!!

[D.L.S 11]

I like! 8/10

[gyakutai 12]

I will never do a nice review.

Anyway, I think it's a masterpiece and I am so happy I bought it. Will be very proud to wear their t-shirt.

As zesshoku/koe said on last.fm, probably A is the lucky letter of Matenrou Opera. I suggest as next title something with "Angel-"

Favourite track is coal tar. I think it's the best ballad of 2010. INDIPENDENT must be great live. Most forgetable track is Double Clutch, but still a nice song. Loving the high scream in the end of the jazzy frill. Futari has an awesome acoustic guitar beginning. And finale... closes really well this awesome mini.

Overall: 9.5/10

[dannemannen 69]

You guys are right, coal tar is amazing! The score is now 7/10! Pretty neat mini after all =)