The GazettE - NINTH [REVIEWS THREAD]

[nullmoon 784]

I dunno, I thought The Mortal was pretty fresh for them? But yeah, most of the album is copy-paste. I'm cool with that though as it means it has more longevity than Dogma. I loved that album when it first came out but I struggle to listen to it in its entirety now. 

[Saishu 1589]

Yeah, Unfinished is literally just Shiver and Ibitsu again. 

 

It also sounds really awkward coming after three of the heaviest tracks on the album. 

[geist 227]

It's good; but not great.

 

One of the strange things about the GazettE is their inability -- or unwillingness -- to create a cohesive, solid, album experience that is consistent from start-to-finish. Throughout their career, the GazettE have only been consistent with one thing: mediocrity.

 

Take any of their albums and you'll find a mix of great music with strange forays into all kinds of styles ranging from smooth Jazz and Muzak to pop-punk, and electronica. While a band cannot be faulted for seeking to explore new sounds and styles, criticism is due when it results in an overall product that is lacking in consistency and impact. Without fail, the GazettE is consistent in that trend. Even albums considered among their "best" (NIL and DIM) are packed with the musical equivalent of bumper-to-bumper traffic. Often the albums will start with a strong trio of songs (Nausea & Shudder, Bath Room, Maggots) and then immediately devolve into boring, meandering pop tunes such as Namaatatakai Ame to Zaratsuita Jōnetsu, D.L.N., and Shadow VI II I that grind everything to a halt. 

 

This is a trend that, without fail, you can apply to every GazettE album. Except one.

 

DOGMA (2015) is an album best described as the GazettE's first real, and serious, attempt at consistent songwriting within the Metal style. In the past, we got structurally boring tracks like OGRE, HEADACHE MAN, Before I Decay, and DISCHARGE characterized by their simplistic progressions, structure, and rhythm. These are songs by a band, that you can tell, don't really understand metal because the style was largely unfamiliar to them. Years of refining their craft lead them to DOGMA, and as a result we got the most cohesive and impressive GazettE release to date. Each track fits into that "DOGMA style" and feels like they're part of one unified sound. Even the individual contributions by band members (Deracine, Wasteland, Grudge, Paralysis) fit into the overall sound of the album and don't deviate in anyway that could be perceived as jarring. DOGMA is, without a doubt, the GazettE's best album.

 

So imagine my surprise when the GazettE released a couple singles, and began promoting NINTH. The aesthetic was similar, the band's sound was similar, so I thought we would get a perfect compliment to DOGMA. In some ways we did, in others we didn't.

 

First let me say, I really enjoy the production on this album. DOGMA, despite great songwriting, was mixed in such a way where there's not much low end present in the mix. The bass and drums are largely drowned out by the over-prominence of the guitars. This is why some people here have said NINTH is mixed in a way that it sounds "muddy" -- because the mid-range instruments (guitars) are not has heavily prominent as they were in DOGMA or other releases. For once on a GazettE record, you can feel Kai's strikes on the drums and the low-end crunch of Reita's bass. The guitars are still there; but they're dialed back somewhat, leading to a more even mix that does not overshadow any of the other members.

 

With that said, it appears lightning was unable to strike twice for the GazettE, causing them to fall into composition faux pas that see them pulling from the well of musical gimmicks they seemingly always return to. One of which is Kai's insistence of playing this stale, party rock, pop-esque drum beat that opens the track Uragiru Bero and is played consistently in several other tracks that feel like the GazettE are moving away from a serious Metal sound and towards a combination of DOGMA with a mainstream pop/party vibe. There is also the GazettE musical gimmick of including hand claps to count along to the beat. Hearing this in the intro to the verse of ABHOR GOD, I can picture all of the Japanese girls clapping along and dancing in unison -- which is a strange visual for a song that opens up the way that ABHOR GOD does. And that's part of the problem for me: on an album that has tracks like ABHOR GOD and NINTH ODD SMELL, we're then treated to the designated pop sections and the run-of-the-mill pop punk tunes like UNFINISHED.

 

The GazettE tricked me. I thought when they released DOGMA, it would usher in an age of great songwriting because the band was challenging themselves in ways they hadn't done before. Not only were they trying to write metal tunes, they were trying to write good metal tunes. Serious metal tunes. That, apparently, was a one-time thing because the GazettE are back to business as usual. There's a lot that I enjoy about this album: FALLING, NINTH ODD SMELL, Uragiru Bero, and ABHOR GOD include some really stellar moments; but then you realize you're listening to an album by the GazettE, and I feel like the band suddenly realized it as well.

 

 

 

 

7/10

 

Edited June 29, 2018 by geist

[Zeus 7997]

I took you up on that offer and I still hear no muddiness . If I want, I can pick out any instrument and follow along almost effortlessly in TWO OF A KIND. There are moments when fuzzy synth comes in and out and that masks more sibilant sounds like the cymbals, but I don't hear muddiness. What qualities are you all referring to when you say muddy?

[Saishu 1589]

I can’t call Ninth muddy anymore after spending time with a CD copy of it, but I do notice that the mix varies across several songs. Utsusemi is way too fuzzy, and maybe that was intentional, but I’d like more oomph behind it. Some of the heavier tracks also sound really compressed to my ears. 

[sugibo 403]

disappointed. the whole album is boring to me, nothing new nothing interesting nothing impact.  everything is so formulaic, i've hear the same breakdown and melody for million times. a random metal band can do better than this. i expected more from them. maybe i just lost my interested in vk band. 

[chemicalpictures 1888]

On 6/28/2018 at 6:42 PM, Zeus said:

I took you up on that offer and I still hear no muddiness . If I want, I can pick out any instrument and follow along almost effortlessly in TWO OF A KIND. There are moments when fuzzy synth comes in and out and that masks more sibilant sounds like the cymbals, but I don't hear muddiness. What qualities are you all referring to when you say muddy?

 

I think muddy is not the best term to describe it.

 

Are you familiar with what people calls Loudness War? It's the idea that modern producers try to make everything so loud that it end up compressing it up and making every instrument sounds like one giant thing. The drums and bass gets heavily compressed and lose their "punch". Using TWO OF A KIND as an example, the bass is so drowned, it sounds so flat that if you remove it in the mixing table, I'm pretty sure most people wouldn't even notice. Yeah, you can find it in the whole song, but that's not how a bassline should fulfill it's role in a song, neither how it should sound... Even the cymbals you mentioned, Kai is banging it like a motherfucker, and compared to everything else, it barely shows up.

 

Of course it's not gazette exclusivity, it may even be intentional, as it is a modern thing, but it's certainly there

[dannemannen 69]

Can't believe this is the best they could come up with after 3 years. Most of the album felt like filler. 

[masa0922 3]

Where would you put this album in a ranking with DIM and Stacked Rubbish?

[Saishu 1589]

6 hours ago, masa0922 said:

Where would you put this album in a ranking with DIM and Stacked Rubbish?

Below both of them. 

[Zeus 7997]

On 6/30/2018 at 2:44 AM, chemicalpictures said:

 

I think muddy is not the best term to describe it.

 

Are you familiar with what people calls Loudness War? It's the idea that modern producers try to make everything so loud that it end up compressing it up and making every instrument sounds like one giant thing. The drums and bass gets heavily compressed and lose their "punch". Using TWO OF A KIND as an example, the bass is so drowned, it sounds so flat that if you remove it in the mixing table, I'm pretty sure most people wouldn't even notice. Yeah, you can find it in the whole song, but that's not how a bassline should fulfill it's role in a song, neither how it should sound... Even the cymbals you mentioned, Kai is banging it like a motherfucker, and compared to everything else, it barely shows up.

 

Of course it's not gazette exclusivity, it may even be intentional, as it is a modern thing, but it's certainly there

The loudness I do hear. When I was doing comparisons, I was using DIVISION as my reference album and it struck me how much louder NINTH was. I would be willing to give people that criticism because its true, but it hasn't affected my enjoyment of the album any.

 

On 7/9/2018 at 9:34 AM, masa0922 said:

Where would you put this album in a ranking with DIM and Stacked Rubbish?

Probably on par with DIM, definitely above Stacked Rubbish.

 

[BrenGun 2261]

I love the dislike of the gazette fans calling something really amazing TRASH.

❤

 

Totally did expect this all.

[VkBrutaliaN 1890]

to make it pretty short and simple...

LOVE THE ALBUM! its heavier than i expected it to be and Rukis voice is just amazing. the only problem i had with my first listen was that imo the transition from the bridge to the chorus in UNFINISHED felt quite bad but after like 8-10 listens i got totally behind this now.

[Kirito 69]

I like the fact that reita Bass Can be heard again. But for the rest of the production DOGMA sounded better, it's Like more detailed sound.

 

I read an interview, it seems like Uruha mixed 3 songs on this album.

Edited July 13, 2018 by Kirito

[JamesR 119]

{Probably listened to it over 100 times by now}

 

I think it's a pretty good album all around. Am I the only one who tinks this is their heaviest? Not as moody/sludgy as DOGMA but the breakdowns hit HARD... Also, is it just me or is this album almost unbearably loud? Iliterally cannot go past 50% volume on my crappy Razer headphones

Edited July 13, 2018 by JamesR

[Kirito 69]

yes it's very loud. It's one of the reason there is no dynamic and sound a bit flat. It's hard to make a dynamic song and crush it so loud during mastering

Edited August 12, 2018 by Kirito

[thom35 31]

Very forgettable.

[Kabukichoatmidnight 269]

Being a newer member around here am a bit late to the party here, but am surprised at how negative a lot of people's opinions are on this album. The Gazette are good at what they do, I'll be surprised the day they produce an album as dynamic as Dir En Grey's - ARCHE for example so for me guess I didn't expect anything more than what we got, which in my opinion is a decent offering from the Gazette, personally there aren't really any songs I really like or dislike many more than others and enjoy it overall. I personally prefer the more aggressive approach that they've taken in the more recent years and some of the riffs and overall composition in my opinion is pretty easy to follow, again, not super dynamic, but it doesn't sound all over the place or hard to follow at all. I don't have an issue with the production in complete honesty, I've always been able to hear everything pretty clearly and never really thought too much gets lost in the mix or whatever. That's one thing with the Gazette is that they do keep it simple and don't have crazy amounts of stuff going on at once so again, is easy to follow what's happening all at once.

I am curious to know how many people here do play or produce music themselves? I'm new so not sure who does this kind of thing. I'm not saying I know better than anyone else, everyone is entitled to their own opinions and have their own thoughts but as a musician/ex-producer (decided to focus on playing, production is a pain in the arse...haha) I really can't agree with a lot of the opinions here but each to their own. : ) So overall I guess I'd say I do enjoy this album and have listened to it a good handful of times since it's release, so for me 7/10, losing points for just generally being a bit too straight forward and not having enough dynamics going on (Which Dogma did have more of) but a pretty solid effort from them I think, definitely looking forward to seeing what they come up with next.

[ki11edb1th3qu33n 40]

i personally can listen to ninth randomly but not concurrently if i have to revist the gazette ill have to go to older works im not into  the newer stuff how they mergevthe electronics and new sound of band.lyrics fine but i prefer hearing wakaremichi/madara/disorder/dim/stacked rubbish...

 

anything else i feel over produced i hope they rec like old days before big name label took ahold.. 

for ex wakaremichi....... a regular old demos versus the first stuid albums done instudio recording studios matter i hope go back to same ones or recreate ones inthe hersey in future i prefer old rec ways verus new..

 

[GuancheVK 1658]

For me this album is a marvel, I love the heavy sound of the band. You are already in my top 3.
1 Dogma.

2.Ninth.

3.Division

[sleepy coffee 1476]

it's a super solid 5/10