Track Listing
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Mikansei to GUILT
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Pixy false
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Hikari ni furu ame
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NEVER REBELLION
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NEO ARK
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Kami Uta
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Fairy times memory
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Material Pain
1. Mikansei to GUILT
I have to say that I love the beginning of this track. There’s some airy chanting mix with this cool synth/bass line. It sounds pretty epic and Riku’s vocals match the mood of the group perfectly. Sometimes his vocals can seem distorted, but when the chorus comes in, it just turned the epic factor on high. What a great way to begin the album.
2. Pixy false
Pixy false begins with this groovy bass line and Riku does some yelling which did turn me off. The song has this strange hook to it and adding in the gothic sound really threw me off from the song. I think it’s basically just a hot mess, especially with Riku’s screaming.
3. Hikari ni furu ame
get somewhat of a calmer song from Hikari ni furu ame. Once again I found that the song had just a little too much going for it. Though without the terrible yelling from the last song, this actually sounds so much more forgiving. Riku’s sound like he’s shouting at some points, but not the usual V-Kei death yell.
4. NEVER REBELLION
I think we get our hardest track so far with NEVER REBELLION which has a loud organ melody that’s also played by the guitar which just made me enjoy it so much more. Riku to me was a little underwhelming since he was all over the place with his notes. There’s some pretty cool hooks, but other than that nothing too special.
5. NEO ARK
NEO ARK sounds like something miyavi would do especially how it opened with Riku yelling, which is basically the premise of the song anyway. It’s definitly hardcore stuff. Riku does actually begin singing a bit later in the song, but by then, I wanna just pass this song up.
6. Kami Uta
Kami Uta gradually comes in with another really aggressive rock song which mixes the guitar with gothic sounds to create a really impeding doom kind of feeling. I actually liked how Riku sounded here since it’s so raw and him just letting go. It’ll prolly bother some people, since it’s just might give people headaches.
7. Fairy times memory
I didn’t expect to have Fairy times memory with some twinkling orgel sounds, and then this lone violin playing. It’s quite an odd thing to hear, but then again the song sounds almost hopeful as well, which just is another stickout. I think, I’m liking this kind of sound from them actually and is one of the best tracks on the album.
8. Material Pain
Finishing this rather short album is, well another hard song, but it actually doesn’t sound too messy and has a lot of interesting stuff in it. There’s some foreboding synth looming in BKGD while the band plays over it. Riku’s vocals sound pretty cool here and made sense like he was in pain. What a great way to finish off this way.
Tracks Recommended
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Mikansei to GUILT
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Material Pain
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Fairy times memory
Phantasmagoria’s American album, Splendor of Sanctuary pretty much gave them a bunch of previous tracks with a few new ones. Luckily, it shows that the band can change from just rockin out to using interesting ideas like organ, synth, and an orchestration. Though, the band does have some issues with making sense of it and Riku’s yelling, this was a pretty cool release by them.
