Matenrou Opera - Helios

[Zeus 7997]

I haven't reviewed something in a while and mammoth reviews aren't needed.

Helios - It doesn't have enough substance to warrant being five minutes long, especially when some parts drag as they do. When it hits, it hits with the force of a cannonball wrecking a building. When it's not, you're just waiting for it to start up again, which leads to me getting bored. Fast. That's a super negative right there. Sono's singing has improved and Ayame's synth playing doesn't simply float on top, which are both positives. It's also got a nice Sonata Arctica / Nightwish/ general European power metal feel to it. Easily one of the more interesting songs they've put out lately, but it's negatives make it fall short of Faust and coal tar.

Adult Children - I thought that we moved past the "whiny gerbil on helium" portion of Matenrou's music making, but it's back. I dislike Sono's voice during the chorus, "can you fuckin' feel me" sounds lame and the uninspired group chanting needs to go. Solo is nice but nice solo =/= good song. I will probably never listen to this song again.

Helios (A Prayer to Helios ver.) - New intro is nice but transition into the actual song is jarring. Other than that, pos and neg's remain the same as before. My preferred version will depend on whether or not I want to sit through the minute and a half intro.

Magnolia - Sounds like standard Matenrou from the get-go, which means this song isn't really going to drive home. Very average and forgettable. Sounding like Jeniva was OK in the Jeniva era, but I really want more songs in the vein of Helios, not something that sounds like it was left off "Sou, Mei Kuru Hi no Tsuki". The synths aren't strong (or good) enough to channel Jeniva anyway. The solo made me chuckle in the best possible way though.

Kizuna - Being a ballad for a good reason doesn't make it a good ballad. A little on the boring side to be honest. I probably won't listen to this again either.

...there you go. Not TOO excited about this one. ABYSS was a much more solid effort.

[Peace Heavy mk II 7200]

The title track was great. The remix was a cool idea, but like you said, some of the transitions were a bit jarring (like the random piano interlude? What?). Better they released it as part of the single than as a filler for their next album. I liked Adult Children, but that's probably because I didn't pay a lot of attention while listening to this single. Magnolia came off as being standard to me as well, nothing too amazing. Kizuna was boring and Sono should stop doing songs with so much vocal exposure.

[minre 13]

Helios definitely the best track though it's missing something.

I thought A prayer was going to be a alternate version of the song, not some added on chants.

Adult Children is too immature, unless they're saying that's what children shouldn't become so quickly, not that it matters, too distracting.

Magnolia is generic Matenrou, skip that.

Kizuna is still as boring as when the video was first released.

Definitely worse than ABYSS. Helios is good, but doesn't touch coal tar. But at least they're not giving up on power metal and the likes.

Average / 10.

[gyakutai 12]

Amazing single. Matenrou Opera is definitely one of the best vk bands nowadays.

Helios: At first, when I heard Helios on YouTube, I wasn't satisfied. Now it really grow on me and I am in love with it. 8/10

Helios (A Prayer to Helios version): I expected this to be a complete different version of the song... instead it just adds an intro and an outro. Still nice but I prefer the 1st version. 7.5/10

Adult Children: The worst song of the single. It's OK, but nothing special. Anyway I am sure it will be cool live. 7/10

Magnolia: My favourite song from the single, it's really lovely. Sono's voice is so sweet here. 8.5/10

Kizuna: Not great... but surely a beautiful ballad. I like that it's not too long (I don't like long ballads). It relaxes me a lot. 7.5/10

Overall: 8/10

This single is really nice, everyone should listen to it.

[dannemannen 69]

Title song has epic instrumentals/sound, but i still feel something is missing, maybe its the chorus? Rest of the songs are ok.

7/10.

[LIDL 692]

i like it.

adult children was good, title track was great, and all other songs in between not just fillers.

each can stand on their own and winning.

also glad they include the charity song n this single.

i already liked it after looking from tge youtube acoustic version.

so overall it sounded good to me.

can you flaking feel me?

[anieresus 270]

Quick review.

Helios and a prayer to helios are both amazing, fantastic instrumentation, and Sono's voice is tolerable.

Adult children was okay, the typical hard song on a single, but magnolia was kinda crappy, and Kizuna is pretty good though kinda boring sometimes.

Overall: 8/10

[Des 289]

I thought the whole thing was kinda boring sometimes. It had its moments, but there's nothing that really stands out or kicks ass. The vocalist STILL hasn't improved, not even a tiny bit, which is really starting to irritate. Whenever I listen to them I think "it's good, but could be better if...".

I wouldn't rate this higher than 5.5/10, which is just on the edge

[Kuroihotaru 0]

Rate overall: 7,5/10

Helios (both version) and Adult Children are great songs, but Abyss is more powerful than this single