Starwave Records
2014
1. Creaith (Intro)
2. 朱ニ染メ狂フ
3. Various
4. Dark Side of the Moon
5. パラレル戯曲トラップ
6. 絡みつく空虚
7. グリード
8. Unplace
9. Persona
10. Deep Affection
11. Fate Gear
The theme of this set of reviews is mostly bands I've never heard before and the theme continues here. This band from Japan is a stranger to me and although they've had a couple of mini-albums/EPs, this is their full length debut. When I saw this band I was reminded of the kind of quirky symphonic sound I heard from fellow Japanese resident Liv Moon (which I completely dig) and decided I'd give this band a shot.
Well what I expected is pretty much what I got and that is not a bad thing. Creaith anthem is full of over the top dramatic delivery, keyboard symphonics, and thick/kind of modern sounding guitar. I know some people immediately cringe at the word modern, but I don't think a thick sound if it's not just simple chugga chugga guitar and the music on Creaith Anthem is absolutely not that. This is more like metal mixed with touches of Trans-Siberian Orchestra flare and with a touch of anime soundtrack. I really dig the fusion and to me the combo of high speed keyboard, thick guitar, and symphonic elements just makes for a great heavy yet dramatic and powerful experience. Any band that pair guitar and keyboard into a majestic experience like this is a winner in my book. Not to leave out the vocals, they're mostly mid-ranged female vocals sung in Japanese and the woman has a good melodic sense which fits well with the overall symphonic yet heavy experience.
Song-wise the experience is overall strong with a fair amount of intricacy to the symphonic/keyboard elements. Stand outs include Various with it's controlled chaos feel and グリード with it's dark jazz feel that would make Tim Burton proud and reminds me a bit of Mechanical Poet 朱ニ染メ狂フ is also worth mentioning with it's nice shapshifting structure between slower heavy moments, mid-paced melodic vocal driven segments, and quick moving passages often driven by the keyboards. Fate Gear is highly enjoyable as well with it's swift melodic feel. There are maybe only two touches on this album I don't like and those are the kind of feedback sounding effects in 絡みつく空虚 and moments of mediocre death vocals in Unplace. Both are fleeting though and don't really detract much. They're more like minor nitpicks.
To sum it all up, this is pretty interesting and involving debut. There's a lot going on and the songs have a lot of pace changes and variation within them. I find this symphonic, complex, heavy, and just plain enjoyable. If you like your music heavily keyboard driven and dramatic this is for you.
Highlights: Various, 朱ニ染メ狂フ, グリード, Fate Gear
Rating - 4.0/5
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