Luminaire || January
- Soilwork - Verkligheten (2019) || Melodic Death Metal / Groove Metal
- Chthonic - Battlefields of Asura (2018) || Symphonic Melodic Death/Black Metal
- Dance with the Dead - Loved to Death (2018) || Eletronic / Synth / Rock
- Eyes Unclouded - The End of The Seasons (2018) || Melodic Death / Metalcore
- Hymn Above Traumatic Emotion - Ombra (2018) || Melodic Death / Symphonic Metal
- Apink - PERCENT (2019) || Kpop
- Born of Osiris - The Simulation (2019) || Progressive Deathcore / Metalcore
- Hollow Front - Still Life (2018) || Metalcore
- WJSN - WJ Stay? (2019) || Kpop
- Q'ulle - 我夢者羅 / My Dreamer (2019) || Alt-Idol / Jpop
- REGiNA KiSS - Idol Shredder (2018) || Alt-Idol / Jpop / Jrock
- Cloudbreaker - Confinement is Finite (2019) || Melodic Death Metal
- GFRIEND - Time for us (2019) || Kpop
- Evergrey - The Atlantic (2019) || Progressive Metal
This was a pretty solid month for me, lots of stuff came out that I liked that was new while some of it was me looking into albums I missed or groups I hadn't heard yet. Figured I'd share my thoughts on some of the stuff I listened to for the first time in Jan.
Soilwork - Verkligheten (2019) || Melodic Death Metal / Groove Metal
Song:
Arrival
This is a very solid album from Soilwork. It continues the sound they evolved along with their return to melodic death in The Living Infinite. I think it's some of their top three work, but like every album since Natural Born Chaos, I don't think it captures that break out mind-blowing sound that they had back in the early 2000s. Still, it's very good and I'm glad they're continuing to evolve while holding tight to their roots.
Chthonic - Battlefields of Asura (2018) || Symphonic Melodic Death/Black Metal
Song:
Millenia's Faith Undone
I'm not entirely certain how I missed this, but I suppose it's because it's been so long since their last actual album. I found it to be a fantastic listen and further grows Chthonic's signature sound - symphonic black/death mixed with traditional instruments giving it a very heavy sound with folk touches. Upon first listen, the first half sounds all very similar. Yet upon subsequent listens, each track had its own identity and powerful sound. I've yet to figure out where it places in a ranking, but it's very high up there.
Dance with the Dead - Loved to Death (2018) || Eletronic / Synth / Rock
Song:
From Hell
I really enjoyed the B-Sides album from this group, as it focused a lot more on heavy rock and metal elements mixed with electronic dance music. I only gave the album 3-4 listens and can't really hear anything standout from it in my head. I may need to give it some more. There wasn't a single bad track, but it call kind of blurred together unlike the B-Sides album. However, I will say that its lovely driving music.
Eyes Unclouded - The End of The Seasons (2018) || Melodic Death / Metalcore
Song:
The End Of The Seasons
I'm a sucker for Japanese Melodic Death Metal, and this album was quite good. This album has a nice sound to it with with some wonderful leads and melodies to it. It's very heavy with some more dry growls, but they do get quite low. I really enjoyed this one, but some of the songs had their pacing wrecked by some (fairly brutal) breakdowns that went on a bit too long.
Hymn Above Traumatic Emotion - Ombra (2018) || Melodic Death / Symphonic Metal
Song:
Himmel
This was a very interesting album from an interesting band. They're a melodeath/sympho band with a male growler and a female clean singer. They seem to be equally balanced, so it doesn't feel like that usual 'female fronted goth metal band with a growling guitarist' that you see everywhere. They mixed Japanese melodeath with Japanese symphonic metal, so it feels a bit like Onmyouza with a darker and heavier side. The cleans are pretty and the production is pretty nice. I wouldn't be surprised if this group started out as a Touhou Doujin Circle.
Apink - PERCENT (2019) || Kpop
Song:
Eung Eung
Apink made a pretty fierce comeback last year with "I'm So Sick", which showed a more mature side of the long-time idols. This latest single continues on with the mature vibe, skirting the bubblegum pop sound for something more spacepop with an 80s vibe to it. The (mini) album has a solid identity and sound to it, feeling very cohesive and well produced. The writing on the lead single is infectious, as the track has been stuck in my head for weeks after release. I'm excited to see what else they bring out this year, as these two comebacks have been powerful.
Born of Osiris - The Simulation (2019) || Progressive Deathcore / Metalcore
Song:
Cycles of Tragedy
I only got into Born of Osiris around 2015, when Soul Sphere released. I loved that album immediately, but never found myself digging their old sound that much. With the re-recordings of all the old songs, I hadn't heard much new from Born of Osiris for quite a while. This album dropped and I immediately listened to it three times in a row. Part of that is because its rather short, but it's just quite a good listen. Every track feels heavy with a great melody to it while having its own direction. BoO have some of the prettiest solos as well. They truly shine in every track.
Hollow Front - Still Life (2018) || Progressive Metalcore
Song:
Backbone
This album was a little bit of a disappointment, but not because its bad by any means. The first song I heard by this group was the title track, which is a beautiful and crushing song that has some haunting guitars with some pretty heartfelt lyrics. Every song in comparison just doesn't sound as good, though I wonder if more listens will make them stand out more on their own. They don't feel as creative or emotional and all kind of have that djenty metalcore sound. Between all that are some pretty great riffs, but I'm personally a little tired of that muddy djent sound.
WJSN - WJ Stay? (2019) || Kpop
Song:
La La Love
WJSN is one of my favorite Kpop groups. They've been incredibly consistent with every release since their very first (which was kind of a disappointing track to launch their careers with.) They keep their cosmic sound and have a very creative distribution of lines, letting each of the ten vocalists stand out exactly where they need to. The raps are inspired and each track flows with a beauty to it. With the group originally being 13 members, I feel like the remaining 10 have been able to explore more of their vocal styles. Personally, I think WJSN is a far better than group than Twice, which is one of the biggest Kpop groups.
Q'ulle - 我夢者羅 / My Dreamer (2019) || Alt-Idol / Jpop
Song:
Survival
Q'ulle is a wonderful little group that puts their heart into every song. They're more of a Jpop / Jrock group these days than an Idol group and each album and single has sounded bigger and better than the last. The album is a very varied, with some punkish pop-rock songs, more higher pitched tracks that would sound right at home on an anime OP, and then some straight up metal with growls. This would be a surprise if I hadn't known that one of the members went on to form a melodic death metal band herself. It's a pretty unique and fun listen as it seems to span a wide array of sound.
REGiNA KiSS - Idol Shredder (2018) || Alt-Idol / Jpop / Jrock
Song:
Nozenkazura
This is my favorite group that I've come across in a long time. I saw their name a few times on a blog but skipped them for some reason. After finally listening to a few of their tracks, I was floored by how the two vocalists work together. Kia and An are both fantastic singers and complement the other incredibly well. When they both hit the same notes, its like their voices are weaving together. The album is incredibly solid with many great songs that I've been blasting on repeat for weeks now. They're a former idol group that reformed into an actual band upon losing their third member and the result has been some fantastic jrock. If I were to highly recommend anything from what I've listened to this month, REGiNA KiSS is at the very top.
Cloudbreaker - Confinement is Finite (2019) || Progressive Melodic Death Metal
Song:
Emptiness (All That Is Left)
Skimming through this album in 30s chunks initially made it sound somewhat generic and uninspired, but I realized I was very wrong. Upon listening to it fully through a few times, it's actually quite good and very unique. The tracks flow well and have a pretty bright spark of creativity in them. The album has a very epic feel to it, as if its trying to tell a story through its instrumentals alone. The production is quite good, but it has a grimeyness to it that makes it feel a little more raw while retaining its clarity. I enjoyed it, but its a slow burn to get into it at first.
GFRIEND - Time for us (2019) || Kpop
Song:
Sunrise
GFRIEND has a particular sound to them, often laced with tons of violin and piano. This album has a very "GFRIEND sound" to it that makes it in line with most of their previous releases, but its evolving their sound overall. There are faster tracks laced with electronica, bouncing summer bops, and many songs that sound distinctly different from their usual style while still keeping everything that makes them
GFRIEND. It's a very pretty album that I'm certainly satisfied with, but I do wish they'd take a few more creative risks.
Evergrey - The Atlantic (2019) || Progressive Metal
Song:
Weightless
Everygrey's newest album leaves me with mixed feelings. I quite like it, its one of the heaviest things they've put out in a long time. However, I feel the pacing of the album gets damaged by far too many slow songs or straight up ballads. Everything feels slower, and sometimes there are a few back to back. It's not that a slow pace is bad, its just harder for me to get into when I'm driving home or plugging away at work. I'll say its one of their best albums in a long time, but I'm dearly missing some of the speed of their earlier works.
I'm eagerly looking forward to what else I'll find in 2019 or what else will be released from my favorite groups.
