D'espairsRay - MONSTERS

[elvis 0]

The album is Beautiful <3

Overall: 9/10

[CAT5 9075]

This was album was ALMOST as satisfying as eating an air-sandwich.

I've only given it one listen so far, but it just sounded sloppy and lackluster.

If I were to rank their full albums, it would be something like this:

1. coll:set

2. -

3. MIRROR = REDEEMER (they were about the same for me)

4. MONSTERS

[ShanethVarosa 1209]

As for my $0.02:

Human-clad Monster - I do agree... This is the best song on the album. Not much to say, but amazing. 10/10

Death Point - It's a good song, very addicting, can't imagine the lyrics have much meaning, but it's fun. 9/10

13 -thirteen- - For me, the lowest point on the album. It's not very good. @whoever made the "long interlude" comment, I agree 100%. It seems like the music wasn't really going anywhere, neither were the vocals... no real melody... I didn't like it. 5/10

Love is Dead - I adore this song, I don't even care if I'm in the minority, I love it so much 10/10

Devil's Parade - This one.... This one I enjoyed a lot. I'm not sure why, there's just something about it that I like, even though the preview made me dread it a little. 9/10

Dope - The first song on here I'm indifferent about. 13-thirteen- was an abomination to me, while everything else was really good. this one just made me go... "meh. " It's not memorable to me. 7/10

Falling and Progress - To me these are both really good songs, that end up being interchangable for me. I really don't have a lot to say about either one aside from their good. Once I listen to them more I'll be able to distinguish between them, but for now they're both 8 or 9/10

Final Call - I like this single just slightly less than Love is Dead 9/10

Abyss - Preview did nothing for me, full song blew me away 10/10

[anieresus 270]

Doing just a quick review.

Human-clad Monster: 7.5/10 Not as good as I expected, but after listening to it a bit more I'm liking it.

Death Point: 8/10 I already liked the song since the pv came out, though I think Karyu got lazy with his riffs on this one.

13 -Thirteen- : 6/10 Boring, I only like the Marilyn Manson vibe in it.

Love is Dead: 9/10 I LOVE this song, and I also loved "You spin me round" so that was a major plus. Probably one of the best songs from the album.

Devil's Parade: 8.5/10 Another good song which I would probably love the more I listen to it.

Dope: 5/10 Boring, really really boring.

Falling: 5/10 Another boring song.

Progress: 8/10 I really like how the song starts, and same with Devil's Parade.

Final Call: 8/10 I can't say it's awesome, but it's one of the first D'espairs Ray song I actually like.

Abyss: 7.5/10 It's not bad, but sometimes it gets kind of boring.

I was expecting a bit more of electronic elements on the album. but overall it's quite enjoyable with it's ups (like Love is Dead, Devil's Parade, Human-clad Monster) and downs like (Falling, 13 -Thirteen- etc). It's obviously better than Redeemer. But still not as good as expected.

[tosinn 3]

Started listening to it right now. So far so good, I'm loving Human-clad monster. I'll come back later and write a proper review, if I'm not feeling too lazy.

EDIT: So, after giving this album a listen, it's safe to say that I've actually enjoyed it. MIRROR's my favorite D'espairsRay album, so it's still number 1 for me. I don't know if MONSTERS manages to surpass REDEEMER though, I guess time will tell. REDEEMER took a while to grow on me, and I'm betting that MONSTERS will too. For now, REDEEMER = MONSTERS.

I'm not doing a full review because it's pretty late and I'm feeling as lazy as ever, but it's basically like this:

Human-clad monster: Decent song. It didn't catch my attention as much as I thought it would though. For now, I'll give it a 6/10.

DEATH POINT: One of the best songs off the album. It's a good and catchy song. I give it a 7.5/10.

13 -thirteen-: I didn't like it much at first listen, but I'm hoping it'll grow on me later. I'll give it a 5.5/10 for now.

LOVE IS DEAD: To be honest, I didn't like this song at all when the single was released, but it's grown on me a lot, so along with DEATH POINT, I think it's one of the highlights of MONSTERS. 8/10.

Devil's Parade: Not really that memorable, so I don't even remember what it sounds like right now. I think it could be better though. 5.5/10.

Dope: Nothing much to say about this one, just that it's a pretty good track. 6/10.

Falling: I think that this one is THE BEST on the whole album. I've only listened to it once but somehow it caught my attention like no other song. I'll be giving it a 9/10. If it does grow on me later, it'll be one of my favorite D'espairsRay songs.

Progress: Like Devil's Parade, it's not a really memorable song that sticks easily. I remember that I did like how it sounded though, so a 6.5/10.

FINAL CALL: Like LOVE IS DEAD, I disliked it when the single was first released, but somehow it's grown on me now. 8/10.

Abyss: Unique and beautiful song. I think it'll become a favorite of mine in the future, since it's a perfect closing track and it has the right atmosphere. I'll give it a 8.5/10.

[Shizumi 1]

...

Edited September 4, 2017 by Shizumi

[Tony 1]

Not what I expected at all. Need more time but this is going to divide fans again. Electronic elements are barely there.. I was expecting them to have more of a precense than on their other studio albums.

I'll be back with a better review.. this is not an album you can judge quickly.

[Elevenofone 0]

Loving it thus far, pretty heavy for a D'espairsRay release if you ask me. I like.

[Furik 832]

Loving it thus far, pretty heavy for a D'espairsRay release if you ask me. I like.

Pretty heavy? In my honest opinion, I found it was pretty weak compared to their previous three albums in terms of heavy.

[Elevenofone 0]

Loving it thus far, pretty heavy for a D'espairsRay release if you ask me. I like.

Pretty heavy? In my honest opinion, I found it was pretty weak compared to their previous three albums in terms of heavy.

Hmm, well, I suppose Heavy was the wrong term here. Dark maybe fits it better?

[Zeus 7997]

Go back to their earlier days. That's dark.

[mintiichoco 0]

LOL

Dark are you serious? Wow.. nor is it heavy! But hey that's my opinion I don't want to bash anyone here. Have to give it more listens then I'll give a review about this.

[Elevenofone 0]

I've been a fan since the start, and I know D'espairsRay's sound. There are tracks that are quite dark. Devil's Parade for one, is extremely dark toned, as is Thirteen.

[Number Girl 48]

Okay, I'm not good at saying reviews because I don't know much about music terms and all that, so . . . and this is only one quick listen, so I might change my mind about it.

Human-clad Monster - 4.5/5; the song kinda reminds me of "Lizard" a little bit, a nice start!

Death Point - 1/5; I'll just go ahead and say it . . .this song is utter crap - crap everything! Make it stop!

13 -thirteen- 3.5/5; I love this song a little more, I like the drums in it. Though I wish the chorus kinda picked up a bit. Then it would have been super cool. . .

Love is Dead - 3/5; I actually always had a little thing for this song; it would be cool to see someone make up a dance for it!

Dope - 5/5; I love it a lot too; umm. . . I really like the guitars and bass in it the most. Great head-banging song.

Devil's Parade - 3/5; not at all what I had expected, it is actually really annoying like Death Point! But a bit better in the music part . . .

Progress - 4/5; Kinda generic D'espairsRay song, but I like it. It needs an extra "kick" though I think to be better.

Final Call - 2/5; I've always hated it. Laaamest song ever written!!! >.<

Falling - 3.5/5; Also slightly generic sounding, but overall decent, pretty song. I can see myself forgetting about it in the future though.

Abyss - 3/5; starts off very pretty, but the chorus is a bit meh. A so-so ending.

And funny thing, Blindman started playing after this and I thought it was still D'espairsRay and then I was like "Wow that's the best song they've ever written! And Hizumi sounds so much better at English, omg!!!" and then I was like "Oh yeah. . ." XD

Overall, it gets a 3.5/5. Above average. I think that was about the same way I rated Redeemer my first listen. But in ways I think this is a better album than Redeemer and in some ways it is the same. I wish they had done more electronic stuff with it. That part was kind of a let down for me. But still it sounds pretty cool and I think I will still buy this CD instead of just having the Amazon stuff!

[SUBLIMINAL 52]

LOL

Dark are you serious?

The whole album is dark. The atmosphere is dark, the lyrics are dark (with the exception of LOVE IS DEAD and FINAL CALL). The album concept is dark. To argue that is ridiculous.

[Wind 195]

Of every D'espairsRay album release, this is the only one I will not be purchasing ever. I felt the whole well done moments ("Human-clad monsters", "FINAL CALL") weren't enough to warrant the lows (every other song). Considering I enjoyed REDEEMER, this response doesn't surprise me whatsoever. I knew when the "LOVE IS DEAD" single came out that this would not be an album I would enjoy as much as their other work.

[LIDL 692]

i enjoyed this album.

i didn't skip any track

and this is like the first time since... MIRROR (?)

And surprisingly Love Is Dead was fit into place,

thanks for clever track listing i guess.

However, Devil's Parade's intro reminds me of some signature's music of Western band

but i can't name what band is that yet, i still looking for the name, i forgot it.

"Dope" sounds funny with that music box thing as opening but cool,

the rhythm sounds similiar with KoRn stuffs though

Really i enjoyed MONSTERS than their last album.

welldone.

[Chibi 0]

I really loved this album ! New sound + Old sound = Perfect !

Human-clad monsters : 10/10 : One of the best of the album !

DEATH POINT : 9/10 : A bit repetitive but I really enjoy it !

13 -Thirteen- : 9.5/10 : One of my favourite ! Love the rythm, but a bit longer would be great !

LOVE IS DEAD : 9/10 : In the beginning I didn't really liked this song. Then I listened to it more and more, today I love it ! I really want to dance on it during a concert !

DEVIL'S PARADE : 9/10 : Just love it !

dope : 9/10 : The same. It's a really good song !

FALLING : 9/10 : Love the chorus and... Ok, love the song~

PROGRESS : 7/10 : Well, it's good, not an a amazing song...

FINAL CALL : 6/10 : The same here, but... A bit meeeh...

abyss : 3/10 : I expected something darker with Amazon extracts...

A darker album, an heavier album... Really love it and I can't wait to see them live in Paris ! This album was really made for live ! (13 -Thirteen- I think, for example...)

REDEEMER was a bit boring, but with this album, D'espairsRay show us that they're not a pop band ! I give this album a 8.5/10 !

[Licio123 181]

Great album, IMO.

Human-clad monsters - Addictive, probably the most solid track on the album. - 9/10

DEATH POINT - Repetitive, but fast and furious, XD. - 8/10

13 - At first, I found it funny, but actually, a pretty darn good song. Great drums! - 8.5/10

LOVE IS DEAD - Pretty solid track, we heard it before, a bit poppish, but nice anyways. - 7.5/10

DEVIL'S PARADE - Loved it. Never gets repetitive, nice rythm. One of the best here. - 9/10

Dope - Great song. Nicely timed screams, heavy instrumentals. - 8.5/10

Falling - Yet another of my favorites. Just great all-around. - 9/10

Progress - Just didn' get well with it. But not a bad song. - 7/10

FINAL CALL - Not heavy, but I like the rythm. Good song. - 7.5/10

Abyss - A bit boring, but a nice ending to the album, spot on. - 7.5/10

Overall a pretty good album. I didn't even like this band, but after the LOVE IS DEAD single, they changed my mind totally.

MONSTERS - 8.5/10

[Furik 832]

LOL

Dark are you serious?

The whole album is dark. The atmosphere is dark, the lyrics are dark (with the exception of LOVE IS DEAD and FINAL CALL). The album concept is dark. To argue that is ridiculous.

Wow, you're being serious..

[SUBLIMINAL 52]

LOL

Dark are you serious?

The whole album is dark. The atmosphere is dark, the lyrics are dark (with the exception of LOVE IS DEAD and FINAL CALL). The album concept is dark. To argue that is ridiculous.

Wow, you're being serious..

Yes. And I'm guessing you didn't understand the concept of the album, the mood or the lyrics at all.

[Shimbo-dono 0]

This album is quite an improvement from Redeemer. Redeemer, I thought, was quite forgettable and besides the title track and the cool ambient electronic song whose name I forget, I forgot abut its existence a month after it came out.

While I won't say that this might not happen to Monsters, Monsters isn't the failure I was expecting. Monsters has a handful of good songs, and the rest are forgettably quaint songs. Human-clad monsters, DEATH POINT, dope, FALLING, and Progress are all good tracks. They all have good aspects about them (in HMC where Hizumi goes bat shit crazy for a little while towards the end, DEATH POINT having a nice rollicking energy, dope having that simple, but cool riff that drives the entire song into epicness, FALLING with that nice bit of heavy riffage towards the end) that make them memorable.

The other half of the album, while not bad, you'd be hard pressed to find a "bad" song on this album, is quite forgettable. 13, while a try for something different, lacks the necessary energy and spark that it needed to succeed. LOVE IS DEAD is more of a novelty song than anything else, so despite the inherent catchiness of the song, I couldn't imagine myself going back to pick this song; DEVIL'S PARADE starts off quite well, but I've felt like I've heard this song from them numerous times before, but this song is probably the highlight of the lackluster songs for its dangerous undertones. And where I thought I've heard Hizumi and co. produce DEVIL'S PARADE before, FINAL CALL is the generic song. There's nothing really appealing about this song whatsoever. And now abyss. Abyss is interesting because it starts out with a rather dark and brooding intro, but changes about a minute into the song into a more melancholic, but uplifting tone. We actually hear Hizumi sing during this song as well. So despite me seeing what I think they were going for with abyss (a song that gives the feeling of hope to one who has been in their darkest of times), I don't think Hizumi and co. pulled it off as well as they could have.

TL;DR: ehh 6/10 is no bad for an album in which I probably won't listen to half of it ever again.

[finnthesubhuman 26]

I really enjoyed this album, seeing as I haven't really liked anything D'espairsray have done so far (I forgot most of it). I did get huge doses of an industrial Korn hybrid at times, and although 13 has a similar emphasis on an unusual drumbeat like the Manson song The Beautiful People, I really can't hear how the song actually sounds like anything he's done. There are plenty of artists who write music like this and Manson only did it once or twice.

My opinion means shit here since I'm probably the only person who understands the psychological crap going on but I liked this CD for what it is.

[MARA 0]

Okay, I have listened to it couple of times now.

Human clad-monster: I like it. It's not their best but I like the way they have flirted with industrial music. It reminds a little bit of MIRROR stuff. Well done. 8/10

DEATH POINT: I've heard this thousand times before. Nothing special but what can you expect from this kind of PV songs. It's not bad but god it's generic. 7/10

13 -Thirteen-: I like the drumming in this one. I'm not a fan of this kind of "hey! hey!" songs and this doesn't change it a bit. Overall pretty forgettable though. Except the drumming. 6.5/10

LOVE IS DEAD: Okay, I have to admit that I was wrong. This doesn't fit in the album at all because they don't use electronic stuff much. This really is D'espairsRay's Fuzz. This stands too much out of the album. This really isn't the song that should stand out. 5/10

DEVIL'S PARADE: This is a great song. DEVIL'S PARADE reminds a bit of Coll:set. Those eerie guitars and keyboards are amazing. But I hate the chorus. They should have made it more darker or something. Now it sounds just stupid. 8/10

dope: This reminds me a lot of Coll:set. It's much lighter but still. Unfortunately this kinds of songs are very generic these days. They sound like many other western band. 7/10

FALLING: Lighter song. It's just good. I wouldn't listen this many times but I already forgot what it sounds like. Boring. 6/10

PROGRESS: It's like Desert with slower tempo. Even if Desert is one of my favourite Despa song this isn't that good. Pretty boring. 6/10

FINAL CALL: Super-boooring. Typical single song but still... this is baaad. Why they had to put this in MONSTERS. It would have been much better without. 5/10

abyss: The snoozefest is continuing. I don't think they have used many hours to make this piece of mainstream. 4/10

Overall the album was a solid entirety with couple of stand-outs. Okay, it's MUCH better than REDEEMER but still... This is boring and heard already. I would have wanted something bolder. Nah, not bad though... after REDEEMER.

Overall: 6/10

[Kaleidoscope 195]

Well, i guess i gave the album enough listens by now to give a full review.

To be honest, my expectations were not fullfilled completely - for the first few listens it felt just like with REDEEMER, there were some nice songs on it but it can't compare to [Coll] and MIRROR in the slightest. My impression changed after a few listens and some songs really grew on me, but i'm still not sure if it's better than REDEEMER, which was a good, but not awesome album imo.

The first thing i noticed when i listened to the album was that it's surprisingly heavy, i don't think [Coll] was much harder - another thing is, that the electronic elements Tsukasa announced are missing in the most songs, i hoped for a style closer to WEDICINE. Well, i really liked the dark atmosphere on MONSTERS nevertheless and some songs were pretty close to their old style, the only real letdown was Hizumis vocals, i don't think he's as good as he used to be, not only that his voice sounds partly damaged, but also he pronounces and sings the words in a very weird way - i can't describe it perfectly, it's just different from his old style although i'm sure he would still be able to pull off the old songs like he used to. At least his screams really improved from REDEEMER, i would even say they are as good and intense as on MIRROR.

Human-clad monster 9,5/10

Best song on the album for me, this just awesome. Great chorus and in most parts Hizumi sounds really good, especially the screaming part is more than epic. This is really the core of their sound transferred into their recent style.

DEATH POINT 7/10

Not too much a fan of this song, reminds me of a heavier version of Going On! too much. I guess it's a pretty good songs for live since it's really catchy - contrary to most people i love the "Death Point Death Point Death Point" part, i think it gives the song a lot of energy and drive. What pretty much destroys the song for me is Hizumi's engrish, i think he sounded kind of cool in Infection but this is just plain terrible. Still i like this song sometimes and appreciate it as a good live song.

13 -thirteen- 7,5/10

Wow, this sond needed quite a while to grow on me. First i thought it was pretty boring and repetive, but the songwriting is actually quite clever, i love it how the guitar layers and Hizumis,6 vocals, which fit the song perfectly, build up slowly. Plus the marching drum beat is a really cool idea, although i think this song had the potential to be much better.

LOVE IS DEAD 8,5/10

I know many people hated this songa nd i still don't see the point in that. The composition is great and shows a really good fusion of D'espa's signature sound and dance elements, also the second verse/long bridge is awesome.

DEVILS' PARADE 9/10

Since this was my least favorite preview on Amazon i was really surprised that the full track blew me away. They haven't sounded that dark for a very long time, this is certainly the closest they got to [Coll] recently. Everything is working out perfectly, the composition is just amazing and never gets boring, there are so many memorable parts. I really think this song needs a PV! Sometimes heavy, sometimes with a dance vibe plus the really cool background samples - if that was really the staff, they did a damn good job, the laugh at one part of the song creeps the hell out of me

dope 7,5 or 8/10

This song is growing on me lately. I think the verses a very good, but the chorus just doesn't do it for me, i have the feeling a more melodic one would have fit this song alot better. The part after the second chorus kinda saves the whole thing though.

FALLING 8/10

I loved this song at the very first listen. It starts out with a great riff and a scream (i don't see any similarities to BRILLIANT btw Oo), the verses are very calm and show some of Hizumi's vocals on this album. The chorus is typical D'espa, nothing new, but great nevertheless.

PROGRESS 6/10

Not sure what to think about this track. I think it's pretty good in general, but Hizumi is terrible on this one, this is exactly how i don't want to hear him anymore. Although the short bridge before it is horrible and kinda reminded me of Yozora for a second, the chorus is really nice apart from the singing.

FINAL CALL 7,5/10

A simple, yet catchy and really melancholic song. Definetely not D'espa's most unique song, but i just love the memory and Hizumi is really good here.

abyss 6,5 or 7/10

Definetely a huge letdown for me. I expected so much from the preview and the verses, i thought this could be a really dark ballad in the vein of SCREEN. The chorus pretty much destroys it for me, i think it's much too light for the rest of a song and doesn't seem as emotional as it could be. Maybe this will grow on me later, but they haven't done a ballad that really touched me since SCREEN, so i don't think this one will reach me.

Well, this album is not as good as it could be, but i still enjoyed to hear heavier songs from them after REDEEMER. I hope Hizumi's voice will fully recover soon and he will get back to his former style, that would make the recent songs much better imo.

Personal rating would be 8,5/10, but to give a more objective one i will say 8/10.