ジュリィー - ストロボ [2007]

"ストロボ" is very stock and doesn't have a soul. "木漏れ陽" is much better; it has more feel to it and the buildup towards the end is quite enjoyable. For that matter, even "晩餐" is better than the opening track. This seems to be quite a trend among the Japanese bands, where they put some shitty sell-out song first to capture a large fan base and then the real songs come after it.

Rating: 7

http://www.jully-web.com/

All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.

DELUHI - Frontier [2010.06.16]

Promising riff, but then right into melodic metal. It's fairly contrived, and I'm kind of sick of the copy-cat attitude that they've been taking on the last 5 disks. Though, if I'm in the right mood, it can be catchy.

Rating: 6

http://www.deluhi.com/index_pc.html

All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.

DELUHI - The farthest [2010.07.14]

Haven't started, but I'm going to assume this will be more of the same from Frontier, but perhaps they'll copy some newer style that we've done in America. So, more Metalcore with just a dash of Progressive Metal. Now they've been looking at either Dream Theater or Between the Buried and Me with light bulbs going on over their heads, an index finger pointed up, and a truncated "あ！！". "Departure" starts off so nicely and really makes me think that all will be well with this song, but then the fucking verse kicks in and ruins everything. This album is so goddamn thick with auto-tune that I think I'm going to fucking puke. I get the feeling that this band will never again go above a 6.5.

Rating: 6

http://www.deluhi.com/index_pc.html

All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.

DELUHI - ユグドアライヴ -Yggdalive- [2009.11.04]

Impressive beginning track that shows off the more electronic side of DELUHI. However, "G.A.L.D" ends up feeling like the US's Pop Metal/Metalcore filth with the goddamn awful auto-tune vocals. "Revolver Blast" is much better and feels more like a proper Heavy/Thrash Metal song. They've jumped on the bandwagon by adding blasting sections. "Flow Snow" shows that DELUHI has been looking at Soilwork with envious eyes. Many of the verses and chorus' retain their Japanese rock identity. This album definitely has better structure, better writing, more soul, and higher energy than JAGANNATH, but it's all very clearly derivative and designed to sell.

Rating: 6.5

http://www.deluhi.com/index_pc.html

All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.

Nightwish - Dark Passion Play [2007]

The first track of this album and let's not fuck around, the music is epic. However, it only takes the very first vocal line to make me miss Tarja. Sure, the new broad is a good singer, but she sings mostly in a pop style, which comes across as out of place and obnoxiously bitchy. Some of the transitions in the middle of the song feel a bit lazy as well. "Bye Bye Beautiful" is a throw-away song, but then "Amaranth" is a great popcorn song that's catchy and displays some of the better sides of the new girl's voice. "Cadence of Her Last Breath" has a pretty catchy chorus. Whereas "Master Passion Greed" is a waste of some good guitar riffs ruined by the vocals, an awful chorus, and piss-poor lyrics. "Eva" is a nice and beautiful song where the vocal stylings of Anette actually make sense. Overall, the music on this album is quite good. It doesn't have the feel and emotion of "Once", but it's still fairly proficient song writing. However, there are still quite a few fillers and more than a few riffs that just sound like they were thrown in there to lengthen the song. The lyrics throughout the album are just bad, though, and Anette's vocals are quite unwelcomed in my ears. You get the feeling that she is quite proficient in classical singing, but rarely uses it. Lower score for almost ruining the music with crap vocals and lyrics.

Rating: 7.5

http://www.nightwish.com/

All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.

Akira Yamaoka - Silent Hill Original Soundtracks [1999]

Well, Akira sure didn't waste any time jumping into a creepy feel. 11 tracks in and it's plainly obvious that this is mostly an atmospheric album that uses industrial hits and effects. "Claw Finger" is one of the few tracks to catch my attention. This album would be great to create atmosphere in the background and for falling asleep, but I can't say that it has much artistic merit at all because it's 45 tracks of mostly repeated effects with the occasional sudden punch. Standout tracks: "Claw Finger", "Don't Cry", "Ain't Gonna Run", "Die", and "Silent Hill Pianissimo". Towards the end of the album, the tracks start using more music than effects. However, the album is still too long and has way too much just faffing about for me to enjoy listening to it actively.

Rating: 6

http://www.blog.konami.jp/gs/cat67/index.php

All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.

The Faceless - Planetary Duality [2008]

Ok, half-way through the second track and I can already tell that the songwriting has improved quite a bit. Some riffs aren't all that powerful, but at least they still feel like they serve a purpose. Contrary to the mainstream opinion, I think that the use of robotic vocoder is nifty and interesting. "Shape Shifters" flexes the deeper songwriting muscles responsible for creativity in a song before bashing my face in with "Coldly Calculated Design". This feels like a much more energetic and brutal album than the first one. It's actually quite good, this album. More catchy songwriting combined with some creativity, great consistency throughout the album, extremely precise technicality, and ESPECIALLY the near-exclusion of that shit-fest known as Melodic Thrash Metal make this album the first one from this band that I will listen to regularly. Even so, it's not exactly ground-breaking or pushing the limits of Metal to some amazing new area, but it is very well-done and with a style that is mostly their own.

Rating: 8

http://www.myspace.com/thefaceless

All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.

The Faceless - Akeldama [2006]

It's pretty straight-forward Technical Death Metal. Unfortunately, some of it feels a bit cliché. However, there are bouts of creativity and interesting keys thrown in the mix to set the music apart from the rest. The technicality is quite impressive. Some of the transitions could use working on to make them more smooth and increase the song's flow. I'm certainly not a fan of the Melodic Thrash sections littered about the album like plastic bags in a state park. One other thing I don't like is that I can clearly hear all of the hard-cuts performed by the recording engineer. Overall, it's a competent first album that has some creativity mixed into a fairly stock but effective style with bouts of catchiness. The reality is that I will probably only come back to this album for one or two songs.

Rating: 6.5

http://www.myspace.com/thefaceless

All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.

Sister Machine Gun - Burn [1995]

The first track is pretty unimpressive. It's a bit boring, far too repetitive, and very hollow compared to SotF. So, all in all, there's only two decent songs on the fucking album and it's the title track and "Snake". The rest is just thin and not very catchy. I like the fact that they tried something different for "Snake", but it can't save the fucking album.

Rating: 4.5

http://www.sistermachinegun.com/

All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.

Porcupine Tree - The Incident [2009]

Wow, I've got to admit it, I'm less than two minutes into the second track and I'm THOUROUGHLY impressed by the heavy sections. The chorus is a bit worrying, though, with it's influence heavily taken from the more popular side of alternative rock. However, there are a lot of other elements at play in this song, so I'll just wait and see how the rest of the album plays out. I'm at track 5 and I'm quite happy. The effects usage is great and the album that started off with such heaviness and an odd sound has settled down to the more contemplative and sedate style that I'm used to with PT. However, it's small sections like the chorus of track 5 that throw me off a bit. It doesn't really fit well. And then, without any warning, the next song kicks off with a cool trip-hop beat and ominous effects. Porcupine Tree is really trying to put it all under one roof with this album. Overall, it's a very conflicting feeling I get from this album. It's not very catchy through and through. There are a few songs where sections feel like they dive TOO deeply into pop and very little of the album stays with me after listening. This certainly isn't one of PT's greats, but it is a bit creative and the heavy parts don't dominate the album like on previous efforts.

Rating: 7.5

http://www.porcupinetree.com/

All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.

Sister Machine Gun - Sins of the Flesh [1992]

Not a bad start at all. I was expecting much less. "Sins of the Flesh" is pretty catchy and it's got a solid beat with good feeling samples. Second track is a really enjoyable listen as well. I've been sort of subconsciously hoping to add an Industrial Rock band like this to my library. There's virtually nothing at all in the way of variation between the tracks, but I expected that from a band in this genre and from this time period. The songwriting is solid all the way through, even if it's based on a bit of a formula. One thing that seems to keep coming back to nag me throughout the album is that the vocals feel a bit amateur at times.

Rating: 7

http://www.sistermachinegun.com/

All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.

Porcupine Tree - Nil Recurring [2007]

Well, this is odd... PT seem to have actually put out quite a good EP for once. The first track doesn't feel that inspired, but things immediately pick up with "Normal". It's a nice and calm EP with significant bouts of the more aggressive and heavy sections they have recently become so fond of. It's a decent length for an EP as well.

Rating: 8

http://www.porcupinetree.com/

All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.

Incubus - Light Grenades [2006]

Trippy start with "Quicksand" and then into a much more catchy, confident, and bold "A Kiss to Send Us Off". This album is yet another step up in their careers. There's a decent amount of catchiness littered about the album along with some creative songwriting, soothing melodies and moods, exciting riffs, and the classic Incubus style and feel. Very well-polished songs. They have hit a ceiling, though. It can't get much better than this without increasing the creativity... and maybe add a few more of those hard rock sections.

Rating: 8.25

http://www.enjoyincubus.com/us/home

All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.

Porcupine Tree - Fear of a Blank Planet [2007]

Off to a very promising start. "Fear of a Blank Planet" starts off with more psychedelia and verve than before until the heavier guitars come in. It's a little darker as well. Pretty catchy chorus. "My Ashes" is much more like a slightly more modern version of the more subdued era of PT. Time really seems to fly when listening to this album. "Anesthetize" is too large of a song to explain, but it's quite a journey. "Sentimental" REALLY feels like the PT of old. Overall, I'm much happier with this album than the previous couple. The metal influence doesn't dominate the experience, and, most importantly, the songwriting isn't as dumbed down and mainstream-oriented. This feels much more like a modern progressive rock album. The first two tracks had me a bit worried, but by the end of the album it really felt like a Porcupine Tree effort. I'll need to listen to it a few more times before I start to think that it's their best yet, but for now, it's equal to any of their other releases.

Rating: 8.5

http://www.porcupinetree.com/

All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.

Porcupine Tree - Deadwing [2005]

Starts off even deeper into the more Metal territory until the verse starts. It's a much more active side of PT that I'm not used to hearing. If the whole album is in this new style, then it may take some getting used to. The production definitely feels a bit more "in-your-face" than previous albums. "Shallow" feels more like a straight forward Hard Rock song. "Lazarus" feels much more like the classic PT that I know. "Halo" continues on with the more calm and sedate songwriting. It's still a significant departure from the older style, but I'm slowly warming up to it. In the end, I do enjoy the new style, but I also pine for the days where the focus was more on the Progressive and Psychedelic moods. None of the songs really fall flat, but there is a certain quality and depth that seems to have gone missing from them overall.

Rating: 8

http://www.porcupinetree.com/

All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.

ミドリ - あらためまして、はじめまして、ミドリです。 [2008]

Great news after listening to track 2: this may be the breakthrough that I have been looking for from these guys. Track 4 is a re-recording from the first album, but it actually feels better than most re-recordings. This is, indeed, a large step up from the previous material. The production is great. The songwriting has much more of the punky and screamy feel, but the cute parts are still adorable and the jazz is just as prevalent as ever. There isn't one song that falls flat on this album and there is quite a bit of variation between the songs so that boredom is impossible.

Rating: 8.5

http://midori072.com/

All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.

ミドリ - 清水 [2007]

First up is a fairly adorable and entertaining intro track. Track 2 comes in poised and strong. I like the fact that the piano isn't relegated to the right speaker like it was in the previous album. The production is louder and more forward with noticeable distortion during the more chaotic sections (especially noticeable with the drum toms). Track 3 shows off the newer production quality of the guitars... they are audible and fairly clean, if a tiny bit buried in the mix. Track 4 takes the noise element to a new level with a few massively distorted and lasting explosions followed closely by a very catchy chorus section. Track 5 is the same as track 5 on the first album but with a few slight differences and dirtier playing... and it isn't as compelling as the original. Track 6 is a nice, cute, and calmer changeup from the rest of the chaos. I'm happy about the production and the songwriting isn't bad, either. Even so, it's only marginally better than their previous material. I'm still left waiting for the album that will break through their established writing and take everything to the next level.

Rating: 7.75

http://midori072.com/

All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.

ミドリ - セカンド♥ [2007]

Production quality has taken a bit of a hit for everything except the piano. The guitar is especially woefully produced with it often times being completely buried and inaudible. First track introduces the new style and sports much more mature songwriting, but it's not as energetic as the beginning of the first album. Second track is more energetic. Overall, this isn't the most compelling songwriting I've heard. There is certainly more good tracks on this one than the first album, and the jazz punk fusion works even better here. The repetition on this album isn't nearly as annoying as it was on the first one as well. And while the more biting punky sections are more evenly spread out on this album, there isn't enough to be satisfying. The production is really lacking and impenetrable at times (especially with the guitars).

Rating: 7.5

http://midori072.com/

All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.

ミドリ - ファースト [2005]

YAAAAAAY!!! First track and I love it!!! Cool piano combined with punky guitars, thrashy beat, and the most out of place and kawaii vocals I've ever heard! The jazzy piano is here throughout most of the album. The appeal of the amelodic vocals is starting to wear thin by the third track. The longer piano interludes in "A.N.A" help, but the song is hurt by the repetition of the same phrase to the point that I get a bit angry. Track 5 brings back the spastic punk feel. Overall, I like the idea, but wish that they had used some more normal vocals to break things up a bit. Even so, I don't mind much because this album is so short that it doesn't wear me out. Props for something fresh and different.

Rating:7.5

http://midori072.com/

All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.

Porcupine Tree - Futile [2003]

Skipping the edited version of "Strip the Soul", Orchidia is a much more Hard Rock inspired song with no vocals. It's a little repetitive, but certainly catchy. "Futile" continues with the heaviness, but with more of the progressive rock elements from days of old. I have to bare in mind that this is a PT EP, which usually doesn't fair well with me. I like that they use their EPs to experiment and play around with new directions, but they usually lose my interest because they are such a departure from the classic PT sound of progressive/psychedelic/experimental rock.

Rating: 6.5

http://www.porcupinetree.com/

All ratings are out of 10. Rating may not be a whole number.