lynch. - ULTIMA [Discussion Thread]

[CAT5 9075]

リリース： 2020年3月18日

レーベル： キングレコード

 

▼収録曲

1. ULTIMA

  2. XERO

  3. BARRIER

  4. EROS

  5. ALLERGIE

  6. IDOL

  7. ZINNIA

  8. IN THIS ERA

  9. RUDENESS

  10. MACHINE

  11. ASTER

  12. EUREKA

 

 

 

 

What do you all think of the album?

[RazorGenesis 11]

my favorite songs from the album?

FACTS:

1- ALMOST ALL THE SONGS ARE SO FUCKING GOOD!

2- YES ITS BETTER THAN XIII  DEFINITELY!!! (doesnt mean XIII was a bad album)

3- In the future im gonna buy the album

[GuancheVK 1658]

I have certainly already eaten it, that is soon my copy. Is incredible

[cvltic 1482]

did you make the five star rating text just for me!!!

 

anyway to drop the stan mask for a second my favorites are EROS, ALLERGIE, IN THIS ERA, ULTIMA, IDOL & ZINNIA.
IN THIS ERA has been on repeat for a few hours, it's very melancholy but pleasant to me.
tbh one problem i have was that ALLERGIE completely mopped the floor with any other heavy songs on the album. like i'm sure MACHINE is very fun live, but when listening to this as an album experience, there's not really any coming back after ALLERGIE. also i understand the vibe they were trying to achieve with EUREKA but i feel like PHOENIX already did it better...

 

 

also shameless plug but i translated the lyrics.

Edited March 17, 2020 by cvltic

[YuyoDrift 1540]

24 minutes ago, cvltic said:

tbh one problem i have was that ALLERGIE completely mopped the floor with any other heavy songs on the album. like i'm sure MACHINE is very fun live, but when listening to this as an album experience, there's not really any coming back after ALLERGIE.

This was my first thought. Gonna be very hard to beat this song moving forward. I was ready to say that this was gonna be a 3/5 album but then ALLERGIE slaps you across the face haha so I have to reconsider.

 

I'll come back to this post and add more stuff/vote but right now I'm torn.

 

Edit: So this album was a pretty good binge.

 

The sound quality/production still bothers me as it sounds like a majority of it mimics XIII  (you can read my review here) but I do give them props on so many  subtle nuances and changes to the arrangements that you'd have to be actively looking to hate the album to notice that the composition is somewhat the same. The middle playthrough of the album is definitely the strongest as ALLERGIE, IDOL, ZINNIA, and IN THIS ERA are hard to skip on the first listen.

 

Still, we can't avoid the Macaroni metaphor being tossed around because it's true and so we hope ULTIMA is a hint at a change in musical direction going forward.

[RazorGenesis 11]

 This is my opinion, for me the best 5th album from the band (after GALLOWS, The buried, greedy dead souls and avoided sun)

 

 

 

[ShanethVarosa 1209]

I think this will ultimately go down as my favorite lynch. album. This has part to do with I just thought everything before like... the last few years all sounded the same and with nothing super differentiating, and part to do with it being legitimately amazing. I'd say my favorite song of this band to date is still the newer version of "The Whirl," but this album had legit contenders to usurp that if they continue to stick with me. 

 

I voted the album as a five star effort with my favorite tracks being Ultima, Idol, and Machine. 

 

[Bunny 1140]

ULTIMA is their typical opening ceremony song for the album , love the arrangement from the beginning with the clear guitar start , solid lynch. heavy metal track.
XERO is great title(?) track I guess , lots of howling scream as usual.

BARRIER , IDOL also sounds like their era of GALLOWS , I LOVE the vocal in IDOL especially !!

IN THIS ERA , EUREKA are averagely good songs , just like their older album,
 

MACHINE , ALLERGIE , RUDENESS = My kind of lynch. headbangers ❤️

[EvilHippy 142]

I'm shocked that Ultima isn't an intro.
EDIT.
Okay. I've listened to the album. 
Barrier has nice guitar effects.
Allergie rocks! I like some crazyness in songs, and I felt it.

Idol is good example of typical lynch songs. That intro/outro and solo are nice.
Zinnia reminded me of Aka and Required Malfunction, huh. Pretty nice ballad with a good rhythm.
Machine is fun.

And they should have ended album with Aster. Because now it's like Ninth - ends on a poppy song, c'mon. 

Edited March 18, 2020 by EvilHippy

[nekkichi 6043]

I'm shocked that Ultima isn't an intro. (2)

 

idk who does their synth arrangements on this album, but I really hate the 90s europop/late sukiyakikyo sounding keyboards in ultima

allergie sounds like a 2011 gazette b-side, idol is v good I loved it, 

 

I really would like them to re-record the avoided sun with their current sound production tbh; they still realy on the same pastiche composing approach way too much for most of the album to sound enjoyable but like whatever, I honestly expected less from the entire thing.

 

my fave tracks so far are ultima, aster and in this era; xero is garbage bin jús.

[NICKT 147]

I'm not musically articulate but I'll throw my hat in the ring anyway.
Going by stars I started losing interest/focus after IN THIS ERA, with the only song I didn't care for before that being ALLERGIE which is interesting 'cause I see a lot of love for it here, so I'm listening to it again but jesus fucking christ it just sounds like a shitty Diru song.

My favourites were BARRIER and IDOL, for sure.

I liked more songs than I did XIII (8/12 vs. 2/13) and it's the most I've enjoyed an album by them since GALLOWS (10/13). Feels like they've cut themselves a new corner that's just not the lynch. I got into when I was a wee little teen breaking into the Visual Kei vault years and years and years ago, but this is the best they've been at it yet imo.

Edited March 18, 2020 by NICKT

[EvilHippy 142]

36 minutes ago, NICKT said:

Going by stars I started losing interest/focus after IN THIS ERA, with the only song I didn't care for before that being ALLERGIE which is interesting 'cause I see a lot of love for it here, so I'm listening to it again but jesus fucking christ it just sounds like a shitty Diru song.

It's a shitty Diru song, but a very good Lynch. banger

[nekkichi 6043]

1 hour ago, NICKT said:

I got into when I was a wee little teen breaking into the Visual Kei vault years

I keep forgetting they formed in 2004 despite someone recently pointing this exact fact out fuuuuuuuuck

[zombieparadise 487]

Getting really excited reading all of you folks' positive impressions! Sounds like this is going to be something different this time around.

Still waiting on my copy.

[Ro plz 1290]

Somehow Lynch. was able to keep my interest in those string of Albums that dropped back to back.  Once AVANTGARDE came about, it was VERY clear that they were running on fumes but were starting to break out their shell a bit.  BLOOD THIRSTY,  and SINNERS were more great steps in the right direction even with the absence of AK. 

 

That momentum went out the window when AK came back. XIII was a mess.  It was worse than that one album ppl always killed me for hating...what was it? OH "I BELIEVE IN MID." Easily one of the biggest let downs  of 2018.  

 

ULTIMA is what XIII should've been. This album is LYNCH showing in length that they're evolving while still staying true to their sound. This shit is a breath of fresh air, dawg. Maybe they realized how they let a nigga down, and they channeled that energy and really  crafted something amazing. The energy in this album feels like a huge fuck you to me and anyone else who doubted them. They had something to prove here. 

 

Like dawg, why do I wanna do dirty things to my woman...but dance at the same time while listening to EROS?

 

Why do I feel like the band sat through a couple of the GazettE's recording sessions and used that influence to create the BANGER that's MACHINE?

 

Who told them to make DEVIL better by making IDOL?  WHO?!!!

 

What the fuck is Reo and Yusuke smoking?  Did AK give them the same weed he got caught with? The fuck is up with the nasty riffage in these songs?

 

Why do wanna cry after listening to ZINNIA? 

 

I have so many questions after listening to this album. This shit SLAPS. What the hell man.

 

Even XERO, which i killed sounds good with the rest of the album.

 

Man 20/10. Fuck the proper rankings.  

 

Unless DECAYS or KEEL is coming back,  I aint tryna come back on here and talk about J-rock for the rest of 2020 with yall. This album sealed the deal.  Corona virus can take its time. The endless replays this masterpiece will get shall hold me over. Have y'all seen someone so happy with a release that they quit  a forum over it? No.  Congrats, I just did it. And you just saw it. 

 

Bye.  I love you all  and ill see you in 2021. 

Edited March 18, 2020 by Ro plz

[ghost 2687]

Based on the poll, I think I know how I'm gonna feel about the album. But people saying that it sounds somewhat different has got me so intrigued. BRB, gonna take a listen.

[geist 227]

Allergie was a decent song until about the 1:35 mark when harsh clipping was inexplicably inserted into the track. Really? You're going to write something somewhat passable as a metal song (core knock-off nonetheless) and then you take away from the song with that nonsense? 

 

The rest of the album? Well, what do you expect? It's bland pop metal with the band stealing ideas from the GazettE (does XERO sound familiar?). If you want decent pop metal, just listen to the GazettE and throw this album into the trash. 

 

 

2/10

Edited March 20, 2020 by geist

[YuyoDrift 1540]

So I've been trying to figure out why this album works out so well to revive reinvigorate that macaroni formula they were trying to do with XIII.

 

I've noticed that they've taken arrangement styles from music of the late 00's, bands like Sadie, Sel'm, 9GBO, even the GazettE which I'm surprised by, combining it with their own composition style to release a "take-two" of their last album and honestly ULTIMA does a lot more to bring those nostalgia vibes (something they were trying to do with XIII) than XIII did.

[Komorebi 2193]

23 minutes ago, YuyoDrift said:

So I've been trying to figure out why this album works out so well to revive that macaroni formula they were trying to do with XIII.

 

I've noticed that they've taken arrangement styles from music of the late 00's, bands like Sadie, S'elm, 9GBO, even the GazettE which I'm surprised by, combining it with their own composition style to release a "take-two" of their last album and honestly ULTIMA does a lot more to bring those nostalgia vibes than XIII did.

WHY does “old school” = “better”.

 

I expected more from you, Yuyo.

[sleepy coffee 1476]

nothing special, possibly better than anything else thats gonna come out this year 

[YuyoDrift 1540]

41 minutes ago, Komorebi said:

WHY does “old school” = “better”.

 

I expected more from you, Yuyo.

You misunderstand.

 

What I mean is that lynch. (a band that has been around for a long time, when those bands were around, specifically) wanted to do exactly what we are hearing with ULTIMA, but did not do as well with XIII. I guess you can say that it's the equivalent of when the GazettE tried to do this with Beautiful Deformity and that was not that well received, and then making up for it with Ninth.

 

It's difficult to put into words but lynch. pulled it off.

 

Edit: These "styles" aren't good because they are old (or rather used before), but that they are good arrangements in general, and need to be used more often by bands of today, which does not happen. 

[ghost 2687]

So, I'm surprised by how much of the album I actually enjoyed. It's like @YuyoDrift pointed out, but there is some musical semblance to an older era of jrock. For me, I hear some throwbacks to lynch.'s own "I Believe in Me" and even a touch of "Inferiority Complex".  That being said, I think the album is an inconsistent pile of concepts frankensteined together into a seemingly complete project. 

 

I want to start out by saying that there are absolutely some great tracks on here. The highlights for me (in order of appearance) are Barrier, Eros, Idol, Zinnia, and In This Era. The only real dud for me is Aster which I think is the worst ballad lynch. has ever written. It's just boring and the climax of the song isn't a good enough payoff to have to sit through 5 and a half minutes of serviceable song writing and none-too memorable melodies. The choir-like vocals at the end seem tacked on as there aren't really any other moments in the album with anything like that. And that leads me to my first real issue with "Ultima" as a whole.

 

A lot of tracks show lynch. playing around with new ideas but they seem like half-baked afterthoughts. Ultima features a female vocalist for a short 15 seconds, Allergie shows just how brutal the group can be with a heavy-as-lead breakdown and vicious growls from Hazuki but is tonally set miles apart from everything else on the album, and Aster & Eureka include some underutilized choir vocals . I'm all for experimenting, but my issue here is that none of these ideas really come together into one cohesive effort.

 

The female vocals in Ultima are there for literally just the intro before the song even takes off. What was the point of them? They hardly add anything. Why are they using choir voices in the last two tracks? I've already made comments on the choir voices on Aster but why are they also in Eureka? If they had been incorporated throughout the song somehow I think I would've warmed up to them more, but what the band has done is literally write an unrelated minute-and-a-half break just to fit in an extended choir section. The song would've worked fine without it, if not better, because it's bloated in its current state. You might also be saying, "but ghost they used choir voices in Zinnia too" and, yes I don't think they're really worked in all that much better there either. But it sounds more natural to me there because it goes well together with the flute acting as a sort of orchestral support.

 

And this is probably an unpopular opinion, but I think Allergie should've been left off the album. It's not a bad track, but it's tonally entirely different than anything else on the album. "Ultima" has its heavy moments, but this is such a stark contrast. It feels more like lynch. decided to add it in to throw a bone to fans of their more hardcore sound.

 

Everything else for me is just par for the lynch. course. Xero is yet another paint-by-numbers lynch. track down to the breakdown countdown. They've done songs like this to death and I don't hear Xero offering anything different or better. It's this album cycle's Evoke/Antares, F.A.K.E., Blood, or Joker (Except, I really like Evoke). Rudeness and Machine are too short and don't offer anything impactful in their short run lengths. I think these tracks definitely could've used more development.

 

Although not their worst offering, I think "Ultima" as a whole just doesn't all come together. In total I'd say there are 5-6 tracks I can say are solid with the rest either being average or in need of some more time in the thinking chamber. If anything I'm quite pleased because the tracks I do enjoy I find refreshing and somewhat set apart from other songs in their ever growing library. They strike this perfect composition of throwback sounds, balance between melody & heaviness, and new direction that's re-ignited my interest in the band. But the album could've used more work and that's my main criticism; they need to give themselves more time in between albums. I'm not sure what their contractual obligations say about how often they need to pump out albums, but assuming they're not in a release-an-album-a-year situation, I really wish they would slow down and refine their work. 

 

That being said, don't sleep on this one. I think it's their most interesting release since D.A.R.K.

Edited March 24, 2020 by ghost

[Dxrk1sm 9]

If all the songs were like Allergie it would probably be my favorite album of the year. Too bad we got a bunch of mediocre ballads with 0 personality instead.

 

Will have to give it more playthroughs but don't think my opinion would change much. 6/10. 

[EvilHippy 142]

So, Zinnia is an old idea of Yusuke, I guess?

[Ro plz 1290]

14 hours ago, Dxrk1sm said:

If all the songs were like Allergie it would probably be my favorite album of the year. Too bad we got a bunch of mediocre ballads with 0 personality instead.

I swear I’m not even saying this as a means to sway your opinion.
 

But This album is more than Just Ballads LMAO. 

Actually, now that I think about it...this album would’ve been more dope if it was just ballads. 
 

Edited March 27, 2020 by Ro plz