Track Listing
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Jou
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Astral Dogma
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Solitude
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Kyouki Chinden
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Kokoro Sanctuary
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Tsuki Kagami Hangon Cinerarium
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Siege oder sterben
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missing
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The Creator
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Herrscher
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Kuusou Mythology
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Hafuriuta
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Kikai
1. Jou
Not surprising that Yousei would open their album with an intro. Being a minute long, it really does set the tone of the album by being more dark and goth (which has been the recurring theme recently for the era). Then in the second half, a male voice starts to dar menacingly! Definitely does its job and I am excited to get into it, especially since Yui at the end says the album title.
2. Astral Dogma
Entering our first full track, Astral Dogma instantly pounds away at my headphones with furious guitar lines and awesome chord progression. Add in some cool synth lines to and we get a VERY aggressive track from the band! I love the background chanting as well, though it is pretty random to hear Yui using her cutesy vocals..so random, but I love the hell out of this song for some reason, even the pounding drums weren’t too much of a problem. I’d say this set the standard for the rest of the album!
3. Solitude
The fun doesn’t stop when we enter Solitude. I really loving the double effect from the guitars and it ironically sounds like a more progressive track than “Astral Dogma”. Like it was meant for an anime tie-in. Yui’s vocals are also just more cutesy, but it has this feel of evil. I was actually bobbing my head to this song a lot! One of the album’s best songs right here!
4. Kyouki Chinden
It seems like it’s gonna be a non-stop headbanging fest of an album as we’re getting a lot of hard tracks. This song kind of reminds me of one of their older songs, “last moment” with the chorale chanting that happens throughout. It does a lot of similar things that helped the first vocal track, but I once again enjoy it and I love the bang this song have, but it doesn’t rise up above “Solitude”. Though Yui’s vocals are rather mesmerizing!
5. Kokoro Sanctuary
Now our next track feels a lot like songs throughout the “GOTHIC LOLITA” trilogy with pipe organ and a fast arrangement! It’s definitely the song that screams gothic and I quite enjoyed the various instrumentation used here for sure. Yui’s vocals might be pitchy actually in this song, but when the song is rather powerful, it’s a rather small problem. Overall, not a bad song and another good song for this album!
6. Tsuki Kagami Hangon Cinerarium
For a rather interesting title, Tsuki Kagami Hangon Cinerarium actually lays off the heavy and powerful rips by giving us this creepy mid-tempo song. Actually this is where I thought Yui sounded best funny enough. There’s just something about this unsettling air that REALLY pushed this song forward. It’s such a dark and dreary song, but I really loved it for it…OK, this is the best song off the album right now!!!
7. Siege oder sterben
After that break, we get back into the band’s heavier stuff with Siege oder sterben. Unlike the other rock songs, this sounds like it has a lot of direction and feeling behind it which made it come out to the forefront here. Yui also sounds like she was having fun with this song as she has some playful parts behind the fire and dark brewing with this tune. Great tune!
8. missing
Another goth metal song huh? I was a little disappointed that it kind of reminded me of a mix of “Astral Dogma” and “Kyouki Chinden”. There’s a lot of parts that kind of sounded like screamo riffs and there’s a lot of chanting as well. This is actually the first misstep on the album since it didn’t stand out for me and the drumming is quite annoying to me. Were they trying to be DIR EN GREY?
9. The Creator
I am so very surprised that this album didn’t include the first and third singles released (“Mischievous of Alice” and “filament”). Anyways, we get into the B-side from “Kuusou Mythology” and initially I wasn’t interested. On the album, it’s really more of the same after “missing” without the DIRU-like progressions and techniques. Add in more chorale parts and strings and I’m just kind of forgetting this song. I don’t know but nothing about this song left a mark on me.
10. Herrscher
I didn’t know what we were going to get with an intro like that, but I’m happy that Herrscher pulled us out of the symphonic elements of the previous couple of songs. I’m also loving that Yui is under filters and actually singing in a different tone than her higher pitched tones. Like there’s just something badass and sometimes I feel like Yui sounds like KOTOKO 0.o I really did enjoy this song though!!!
11. Kuusou Mythology
The only A-side to make the album, it left me curious to why they chose to omit the other two released. At this point the chorale intros kill me, but I really did love this track and it’s still a higher ranked song! This was the kind of rock track that I would easily fall in love with and fits the album quite perfectly. There’s just something about Yui’s vocals that just sounded cool here. For more casual listeners, this might just be another song that fits with the above arrangement similarities. Still, great to see this make the album’s cut.
12. Hafariuta
What could be best described as the band’s “ballad”, Hafariuta starts quietly with faded piano and some tapping sounds with Yui singing lightly before the tune opens up with the rest of the members joining in. I really do love the cello before the second verse at least…dark and depressing, one of the more unique songs on the album.
13. Kikai
We finally make it to the end of the album where we’re brought in by subdued and filtered strings before guitars rush in and take over. I actually think it’s an odd song to come across because the mood is happy but at the same time not..it’s very much a juxtaposed track with its mood swings. It’s an interesting song to end it with and kind of doesn’t wrap things up as well as “Hafariuta” would’ve to be honest.
Tracks Recommended
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Tsuki Kagami Hangon Cinerarium
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Herrscher
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Solitude
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Kuusou Mythology
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Astral Dogma
Song of Avoidance
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missing
Would you believe this is Yousei Teikoku’s actual first album (yeah the “GOTHIC LOLITA ____” albums are all considered best albums. Also, it’s also the first album with this new line-up. I guess after “gothic lolita agitator”, Yui and Takaha recruited 3 new members and since then went as Yousei Teikoku Das Feenreich. Although, I felt that they’ve been around since after “Irodori no Nai Sekai”. PAX VESANIA is a rather powerful album with a lot of straight up goth rock tracks that really have been their aces for a while. I will admit that it did start to slip towards the end, but the first half is definitely awesome. I can’t wait to see what they’ll be like after this album!