Deathgaze - insult kiss me/the studs - Niji no iro

I thought for sure Deathgaze was gone! But they aren't. And they're back. With 'insult kiss me'. Apparently now the bassist, Ai is on vocals. And it doesn't sound like it. On the first/title track, which is bland Deathgazeness, he could've said it was Sou, and I'd believe him. The riffs are still the drop A chug-chugs they've been doing forever. Nothing impressive. The remake(?) of disease is.. a remake. The screamed vocals are heavily distorted. Bleh. The song is uninspired anyway. Chaos is one of my favorite Deathgaze songs, and it'd be almost impossible to mess up. And it finally, FINALLY, starts on the right beat and doesn't confuse my ears anymore! But the bass thing in the beginning is gone. Oh well. The distortion actually works on this song. It's just that it becomes really apparent that Ai isn't the best screamer in the VK world. Sometimes his voice leaks. (That's a term I use to describe vocalists whose talking voices.. leak into their screaming. Where you hear the scream but you can also hear their talking voice too because of strain) Overall, I still get that good headbangey groovy feeling I would otherwise get. It's just that.. it's a shame the only song I'm into is a remake. In closing.. IS THAT ALL YOU'VE GOT?!

The Studs also released them some new music. Niji no Iro, the title track is.. bland. I still like it, but there's nothing that makes me go "wow this is cool". Aie saves this song with his awesome. Nagaeku Akairo also.. just sits there. And also is saved by Aie's awesome. Shakunetsu ha reido is dull as hell. In closing.. NO.

Deathgaze - Genocide and Mass Murder

This week I ain't doin' a track by track. It doesn't feel right at the moment. Okay, review time.

It opens up with a scream, which I was not expecting. I always fear heavy bands wussing out, so I've become a pessimist in that way. Venom, track one is very rhythmic with its vocal delivery. Sou still barks like a psuedo-Jon Davis, which is good. The next track sounds almost exactly the same, but still is enjoyable, though not very.. headbangable. It's more of a 'sing-along' song. Glad they no longer sound like KoRn though. Except for SxSxDxD, which is ripped straight from the KoRn book, with its odd guitar squeals.

The remakes are wonderful, I listen to them more. But then there's Grave... Grave has this groove that I like, alot. I never thought they could groove like this. The background synth is nice too. This song will suck live though unless they're amazing.

There are a few really nice moments on here, that break away from the 'greyness' that most of this album is. And that's why I'll be listening to it a ton. Like the short blastbeat in The Fist. All of the instruments stand out alot, to me. But it's mostly Sou and Ai that I listen to, though Naoto impresses me. So, in the end, this album actually is pretty good, despite the generic songs that aren't worth listening to (Which is the grey part). Somebody should just tell Deathgaze that soft songs aren't their thing, unless they're actually... like ballads or something. Not pop-rock stuff (Gethsemane). I still can't help but think of Lynch when I hear this, though.

Okay, there we have it again. A good album, in my opinion. It could have been ALOT better, just like Rentrer en Soi, but it's good enough to love!