Asriel – Eien ni Sasageshi Itetsuku Nemuri October 16, 2009

Track Listing

1. sleeping beauty
2. Itetsuku Homura
3. Haitoku no Eden
4. Fumetsu no Tsukiyo ni…
5. Rengoku no Sora no Aurola
6. Garden

1. sleeping beauty

What an eerie opening to sleeping beauty.  I have to say that this is an interesting opening because it’s radically different from what I’ve heard previous and has an amazing orchestal feel.  KOKOMI sounds relaxed singing in the song and I feel myself drawn to her vocals as they are like Yui from Yousei Teikoku.  It’s strange again…  The chorus brings out the rock elements to make it more different and I like it quite a bit.

2. Itetsuku Homura

While the album’s opening song starts quietly, Itetsuku Homura is opposite because it instantly starts off loud and exciting with Kurose blaring out his guitar playing.  Once KOKOMI comes in, the song quiets down, but I did feel her performance here was perhaps a little too expressive as she’s doing her vibrato in the most awkward of times.  The interlude though was a nice touch and builiding up back to the chorus was just wow…

3. Haitoku no Eden

Haitoku no Eden also starts off quite loud, but I’ve been noticing that the arrangements of the songs so far are way more progressive than the stuff back on “QuoVadis”.  Then again I’m also thinking that the music is starting to get back into the sameness that made the former album a miss for me.  Back to the song, KOKOMI is trying hard to stand out, but Kurose is actually covering her up here and I barely heard what she was actually trying to sing.  It’s alright for now.

4. Fumetsu no Tsukiyo ni…

The longest track on the mini-album, reaching about 7 minutes.  It’s the first song that I heard a little bit of synths used here and that made me happy.  The song though ends up being another carbon copy to “Haitoku no Eden” because it’s fast-paced arrangement and Kurose’s wild composition.  It seems like a really hot mess that tries to make a point and it kind of does since it’s so chaotic.  The same can be said about KOKOMI here as well since she’s singing all over the place.  I can’t say it’s a good idea, but it’s interesting nonetheless.

5. Rengoku no Sora no Aurola

Luckily, Rengoku no Sora no Aurola fixes the messed up previous tracks quite nicely.  KOKOMI is singing louder than the music and the arrangement isn’t screaming total failure.  It did lose synths, but gained a nicely played strings melody.  While it does sound exactly like stuff off of both “QuoVadis” & “unveil” this isn’t too bad and the guitar solo from Kurose was pretty epic.

6. Garden

Rounding off the mini-album, Garden is rather weird.  KOKOMI sounds exactly like Rina Aiuchi in the opening and it scared the hell outta me.  I thought it was going to be a nice ballad, but of course Kurose wanted to make a really hard song with heavy instrumentation and pounding riffs and drum hits.  At least the verses were done really well and then leading back into strings only.  I thought this was like taking various ideas of the album itself and blended it into Garden.  I actually liked it a lot and it’s got fire in it so I’m happy with this track.

 

 

Asriel kind of gotten a little better since releasing both indies and major label albums this year.  Eien ni Sasageshi Itetsuku Nemuri isn’t what I call a huge step because Kurose still has a bit of a problem making the music flow in one direction…maybe that’s the point of it, but what’s coming out are sounding too forced for the listener to make a long-lasting impression.  KOKOMI is somewhat sounding better, but vibrato shouldn’t be the focus of the song….it’s quite bothersome actually….Oh well…at least both the first and last track were the standouts.

Asriel – GARNET no Hamon ni Somaru Sora August 18, 2009

Track Listing

1. Al meila
2. Alice
3. HARM
4. Eclipse ~Gesshoku no Yuugi~
5. Setsuna Yumemiru Shoujo
6. Yoiyami no Homura ni Yakarete…
7. Al meila (acoustic Ver.)

1. Al meila

We begin Asriel’s 2nd mini-album with Al meila.  From their first mini, this comes off as a pretty nice opening and there’s a bit of a difference from the two.  KOKOMI might still not have the strongest voice but this with the fact that strings and piano are nice flowing along, makes it a worthwhile listen for sure.  The drums are the only thing that really bothered me because it’s just loud, but whatever.

2. Alice

Our “Silencia”, Alice has a stronger synth influence and KOKOMI is singing a lot more stronger than she did before and I love the fact the song is upbeat and shows us KOKOMI’s vocal ability in a pretty sweet well.  Well, she might be overdoing her vibrato and hitting odd notes, but she did a pretty good job otherwise. 

3. HARM

I would’ve though that HARM was going to be the hardcore rock track, but we got a pretty calm track.  It does seem they mixed the strings and piano from “Al meila” and threw in some synths to make up for the lack of flow.  There’s this odd percussion sound in the verses and it annoyed me to no end.  I guess it’s alright.

4. Eclipse ~Gesshoku no Yuugi~

I’m starting to like Kuromi’s synth based tracks instead of the others right now, it adds so much life into it.  Once again we find ourselves with a ballad of all things and even though there’s synth, the song doesn’t really stick out until the chorus.  I’m not liking the fact that all of the tracks have been a ballad so far.

5. Setsuna Yumemiru Shoujo

Another strong influence of synth.  Luckily, it’s not a ballad so I can really enjoy this track fully.  The whole time there’s synth plying around and the upbeat nature of the song helped out.  It might not be vocally the strongest track from this mini-album, but being so up-tempo kind of makes it stand out in a way. 

6. Yoiyami no Homura ni Yakarete…

Interesting that they stuck another upbeat song to finish the album.  I quite like this track and KOKOMI is supported by BKGD vocalists and that’s a nice touch to the song.  Then again the flute interlude in the middle was also quite super.  I think it’s my favorite track off of this mini-album.

7. Al meila (acoustic Ver.)

As much as the original track was already acoustic enough, Al meila got another version and the track sounds more mystical as the result of this change.  KOKOMI at the beginning though is so strange, but when she does come in with her regular voice she sounds way better.  Honestly, it feels a lot more together and that annoying drum isn’t in it so that automatically means it’s an easier listen. 

 

 

Asriel’s 2nd mini-album is actually a whole lot better than their debut.  KOKOMI’s vocals have gotten a whole lot better and even though this was plagued by a lot of ballads, the production seemed more solid too.  I still don’t know if they’re more to my liking, but I can see they are trying to get better.

Asriel – unveil May 28, 2009

Track Listing

1. Metamorphose
2. Kegarenaki Yume
3. Sen’oku no Hoshizora Furasu Yoru no Sora
4. Setsugekka -unveil ver.-
5. Gemini
6. Omoi no Kakera to Shinjiru Kakera
7. Mizu no Tsukiyo
8. Hokorobishi Hana
9. Nageki no Ame wo Hitoshizuku
10. Tsuioku no Chikai -Naked JAZZ Mix-
11. Al meila -unveil ver.-
12. unveil

1. Metamorphose

Starting the album off with the duo’s major label single.  Metamorphose already sounds catchy and pretty awesome.  I quite like how the mix of gothic styled strings and a hard guitar riff.  KOKOMI sounds pretty good in the song as well using a more deeper setting than her normal sound.  It does sound like a typical anime opening, but I quite like this.

2. Kegarenaki Yume

The 2nd A-side of the era, Kegarenaki Yume sounds a bit like the last track, but there’s an eviler glow in the song because of the creepy verses that has KOKOMI whispering and singing at the same time.  I think what made the song a bit better was the added guitar solo.  That was pretty sweet and I think this was my favorite song of the era.

3. Sen’oku no Hoshizora Furasu Yoru no Sora

Our first new track pops up and it’s more or less what we’ve been hearing in the last two songs.  I’ll say there’s a bit more life in it than the other two and the strings play a good important rolse and they sound good too with the hard guitar playing.  KOKOMI’s vocals are a bit bad, but it’s nothing terrible since she can control it pretty well.  I guess the song ended up being better as time went on.

4. Setsugekka -unveil ver.-

So, Setsugekka is originally from their 3rd mini-album, “Yume no Mayu Tsumugu Moumoku no Rinbu”. I thought it started out pretty nice and hearing traditional japanese sounds does make it stand out from the album.  Compared to the last few songs though, this was a little boring otherwise.  I need to hear something more surprising.

5. Gemini

It doesn’t surprise me Gemini would start almost the same way as the last song and once again just sounds like the beginning.  I think the addition of piano made it an easier song to listen to but with it sounding like the past stuff just doesn’t cut it for me.  I’ll say though, I’ll listen to it a bit more often because it’s pretty nice and catchy.

6. Omoi no Kakera to Shinjiru Kakera

I guess I can feel a bit of jazz from this song and continuing the melancholic sound mixed actually quite well from out B-side from “Kegarenaki Yume”.  I still feel very bored, but that’s just because of it’s continual sound.  This song would’ve been better on the single and just there so it wouldn’t have to deal with the bland sound this album is putting forth so far.

7. Mizu no Tsukiyo

I was surprised Mizu no Tsukiyo was the first aggressive gothic rock track this album had pulled off so far.  Sadly, that was just the beginning because the verses was a bit slower and then the marching rhythm for the bridge, I actually think this is my favorite track off the album so far.  There’s just a lot going on and the waltz-like interlude in the middle was just what this song needed.  I like it!

8. Hokorobishi Hana

Oh, so now they are putting up the harder tracks.  Hokorobishi Hana still has that bland album sound, but there’s just something that screams epic about the song…it’s prolly KOKOMI that’s doing that to me.  It still isn’t as good as the previous track, but it’s very listenable.

9. Nageki no Ame wo Hitoshizuku

Coming in from “Metamorphose”, the B-side of that single reappears and I still don’t like it much as from the single.  It’s even worse put on the album, so I won’t delve on this song much, but the forefront of strings this time around is a nice touch. 

10. Tsuioku no Chikai -Naked JAZZ Mix-

Tsuioku no Chikai represented the 3rd and final single of the “unveil” era and it’s actually nothing like Jazz at all.  It’s still amazingly hard rock oh wait….the verses are where the Jazz touches come in and it sounds so strange after the opening sequence.  Other than that it’s basically the same song from the single just with extra piano and I kind of like it.

11. Al meila -unveil ver.-

Al meila was originally from their sophomore indies mini-album “GARNET no Hamon ni Somaru Sora”  So even though it’s been a while since the original song and it’s been rearranged a few times.  I got to say that I like the album’s version because it’s put in a waltz style and there’s some other interesting ideas that are going on.  I can picture Kalafina doing a song like this. So it’s another good song.

12. unveil

The final and title track of the album, unveil kind of just passes by me again because of the lackluster sound it’s putting off.  The good thing is that there’s a pretty catchy guitar riff going on and KOKOMI sounds great here.  If it was the first track I’d be in love and I might still be despite the boring arrangement. 

Tracks Recommended

• Mizu no Tsukiyo
• Al meila -unveil ver.-
• unveil
• Gemini
• Kegarenaki Yume

This album was on par at being just as boring as “QuoVadis”  I don’t know why but this album didn’t have a lot surprising sounds nor change overall mood on the album.  It is there debut major album, so I can’t say too much, but they just needed to make a great album like Yui Sakakibara’s “End Prophecy”

Asriel – QuoVadis May 9, 2009

Track Listing

1. Hai’iro no Hitomi no Kenzoku
2. roxalio
3. xxx ni Sasagu Uta
4. Dedicate
5. 13 Banme no Unmei
6. Dark of romantic
7. kerveros
8. Yubisaki no Tadoru Zankoku na Senritsu
9. eternal melody
10. Rouge no Kokuin
11. Shuuen ni Saku Hana
12. Glitter Rain

1. Hai’iro no Hitomi no Kenzoku

A very cold and empty strings section opens up the album to a good start.  It’s so freaky that the piano opening leads into a pretty cool rock track from the duo.  There’s other little tidbits like organ, and some orgel.  When KOKOMI comes in, the song sticks itself with the rock standards and she sounds pretty good.  It’s dark and it’s how I like them.

2. roxalio

roxalio comes up next with an organ opening the song up and hearing that with the loud rock instruments really stood out from the last track.  KOKOMI has more of stronger presence here which is fortunate for me because we get to hear her vocals more clearly, but at the same time, she’s hitting some sour notes along the way.  I guess I’m liking it as time goes by.

3. xxx ni Sasagu Uta

Unlike the last two tracks that slowly start up, xxx ni Sasagu Uta instantly starts off strong and honestly sounds like a bit more upbeat and not so much gothic-like.  KOKOMI’s vocals are a lot stronger here and I kind of like the mood the song is radiating.  The chorus is where things kind of get strange as her vocals get all over the place hitting low and high notes on an up and down kind of way….it just doesn’t work.

4. Dedicate

Dedicate returns us back into the darker sounds of the group.  The guitars are a lot more furious and in your face and the whole anxiety mood is carried well.  KOKOMI I think shines the most during the more slowish parts of this track.  Otherwise, this was a pretty cool track.

5. 13 Banme no Unmei

I’m starting to get a little tired of the same ole same ole.  13 Banme no Unmei, sounds like a fast waltz though so it does seperate itself enough away from the previous tracks and KOKOMI once again gives a powerful performance.  A bit later in the song, it gets harder and more towards a rock song, rather than the earlier waltz moments.  It’s definitly something fresh to hear on the album. 

6. Dark of romantic

Dark of romantic instantly reminded me of “xxx ni Sasagu Uta” with it’s harder yet upbeat sound.  So obviously, you can tell I’m kinda of getting tired of the sameness going around in this album.  So it’s basically the same kind of feeling with the track, but at least the chorus is a lot more tolerable and better as well. 

7. kerveros

I was happy that there’s a more hectic sound with kerveros because when you really take a listen into the melody without the guitars and such, there’s a pretty good melody throughout.  I actually think this is my favorite of the harder tracks because it’s so dark and shows off a terrifying mood as well.  Still, it kind of makes the album even more meh because of how similar the songs sound.

8. Yubisaki no Tandoru Zankoku na Senritsu

Finally something that doesn’t sound like another song, this song is a bunch of weirdness rolled up into one song.  First off it starts off mysteriously and with an orgel playing a melody.  Then the tracks goes into a very different sound not following a time signature straight which kept throwing me off.  At least it clears up after a while.  I don’t know but that part bothered me alot.  The rest of the song flowed well and this rock ballad definitly was better after a few listens.

9. eternal melody

eternal melody actually is the most upbeat song off the album.  Its got a great strings melody and the song has a pretty cool beat to it.  KOKOMI however does get covered up by the arrangement sadly.  I still like the track because it is its only flaw really.

10. Rouge no Kokuin

Then I start getting bored again because Rouge no Kokuin is another rock ballad song, but at least a good portion of it is in this ballad zone.  KOKOMI sounds pretty good and being filtered like that during the bridge sounded pretty nifty as well.  The chorus though sped the song up a bit.  Actually, this is a pretty good song as well. 

11. Shuuen ni Saku Hana

KOKOMI finally gets into a seiyuu voice for our next track and even though I don’t exactly prefer this style of singing, she does it well for a track that isn’t all hardcore or anything.  It’s actually quite calm considering the rest of the album’s stuff.  I feel though there’s better tracks than this one though.

12. Glitter Rain

Ending the album off is actually the only true ballad of the album.  KOKOMI’s vocals really sound distant and with only the acoustic guitar and some twinkling sounds, it sounds almost magical.  I definitly enjoyed the chorus because of the added piano hits that fuel it on.  I don’t know why, but it’s so good and awesome.  Definitly a nice way to end the album.

Tracks Recommended

• Glitter Rain
• kerveros
• eternal melody
• Yubisaki no Tandoru Zankoku na Senritsu
• Rouge no Kokuin

Asriel’s first and perhaps final indies album was actually maybe not the way it should’ve been handled because of how similar the songs were to one another minus a certain few.  Still, I gotta say KOKOMI sounds a lot better than she did on their first mini-album for sure.  Other than that, their major label debut comes in two weeks, so I’m wondering if it’ll sound totally different or something.

Asriel – Tsuioku no Chikai April 22, 2009

Track Listing

1. Tsuioku no Chikai
2. Dearest…
3. Tsuioku no Chikai (Off Vocal)
4. Dearest… (Off Vocal)

1. Tsuioku no Chikai

I kind of was freaked out with the beginning of the track with it’s odd BKGD sounds.  At least when Kurome.K comes in with the guitar part the mood of the song switches over to a more lighthearted sound.  Then KOKOMI comes in with they jazzy piano which kind of threw me off since I’ve only heard their debut mini-album, so this is a new thing for me.  KOKOMI sounds better as well, but then again for a different style, this also called for her to step up as well and she served up well.  Good song overall.

2. Dearest…

I’m not surprised that Dearest is a ballad at all.  Then again I’m surprised it’s actually a gothic folk ballad which right there should tell you that it’s something different from the normal.  This time KOKOMI’s vocals are kind of hit or miss throughout the song.  It seems this was a lot more compact and interesting for them and I liked it as well.  What’s a flute solo doing in here?  SURPRISE!

 

 

Asriel’s possible final indies single shows off probably the best Asriel can put out.  Both songs are great in their respective genres…(whatever that might be).  I think Tsuioku no Chikai gave KOKOMI a great chance to show her vocals, while Dearest…goes into a new sound (maybe not).  Still what a cool single for them to start the year with.

Asriel – Shiroi Yami ni Shizumu Eien no Yoru March 15, 2009

Track Listing

1. Koe wo Ubawareta Shoujo
2. Oz to Majou
3. Mebius Syndrome
4. Tsumetai Tsuki
5. Silencia
6. Reincarnation.

1. Koe wo Ubawareta Shoujo

The sound of rain and thunder with an orgel melody starts us off on this mini-album.  The first thing I notice is the use of strings and a lot of drums.  KOKOMI sounds a little better than Fairy YUI.  That is until we get into the chorus where her voice gets chipmunky for me.  I actually found this to be the hinderence to the song because the musical arrangement is very nice. 

2. Oz to Majou

Oz to Majou begins with accordion playing for a little bit before strings and hard guitars enter the fray.  I know they are odd things happening because the accordion does not at all fit this song, period.  KOKOMI sounds a lot better here and she has a pretty hectic sounding vibrato as well. 

3. Mebius Syndrome

At first, I was wondering why this song sounds so low quality, but it’s actually the hardest song to come by on this mini actually.  It does sound like something Yousei would definitly take up, but I’m also stuck on the fact that KOKOMI sound like F.YUI so much that it’s kind of strange.  I do love the gothic sound of it all though.

4. Tsumetai Tsuki

Tsumetai Tsuki would be considered the ballad of the mini because it’s flowing along and even though there’s still drums and guitar it’s obviously a ballad just for the mood.  KOKOMI kind of sucks singing here because she’s using a girly voice and it just sounds like the song was battered. 

5. Silencia

Silencia is actually my favorite track off of this because the song is definitly synth happy.  I was so surprised at the opening because all it was was drums and synth.  KOKOMI sounds so much better as well again because she toned down the cuteness big time.  There was no way to have guessed such a track would be here, but yep it is.  Strangely cool.

6. Reincarnation.

Ending off this mini-album is also a dark ballad.  On here it seems a bit empty and maybe the most boring of the 6.  I mean there’s a constant beat and KOKOMI’s vocals are steady and there’s an obvious ethereal feel to the track.  It ends the mini-album on a good note in my opinion, but this track isn’t as good as the others.

 

 

I was actually somewhat surprised at what I hear.  Not only was the comparisons right about how Yousei Teikoku and Asriel have the same approach.  Luckily, Asriel seems to be more about the music. but KOKOMI has some quesionable singing styles so I can’t say they are better than YT.  Their debut was alright, give or take a few off tracks, but it was good otherwise.