oh my god we are so fucking back
Give us a short review, diving into it later today!
My rough notes are this:
- It’s their 20th anniversary release, but it recalls the sounds and aesthetics of the first two SHO albums than their major debut. It has the vigor and scale of Resurrection with the hard rock DNA of Phoenix Rising. I’m usually not into it when Syu leans this hard on his Scorpions/Asia influences, but I think this has a much nicer balance of their sounds than Phoenix Rising or One For All. You still get a nice helping of the epic, cosmic power metal on here. FINALLY, IT COMES! is like launching in a rocket.
- YUHKI continues to be the dark horse star of Galneryus. He’s got some awesome keyboard sounds on here, and his solos are excellent. The one on LOST IN THE DARKNESS is an album highlight for me.
- The lead single works much better in the context of the album. It’s a very standard Galneryus song - but the rest of the tracks are pretty distinct from it, so it manages to shine in its moment. The lyrics and chorus are starting to resonate with me.
- HEARTLESS kind of reminds me of X at moments. Of course I love that.
- Galneryus ballads are really hit-or-miss IMO. This one is nice, YUHKI wrote it so it’s very piano-driven. Nostalgic chorus and synth sounds. It isn’t their best ballad, but it’s up there. The bridge around 5 minutes in reminds me of Talk-era Yes, a connection that’s probably insane to anyone who isn’t me. AORneryus. Tasteful little guitar keyboard duel to close the song. Solid track.
- VOICE IN SADNESS is the track I’ve latched onto the least so far. They do the Viking chorus thing in this one which can get exhausting in their music. The instrumental section that starts around 3 minutes is cool. Don’t love Syu’s solo here, but he gets a nice lead part to follow it up. Good outro and final chorus too. There are parts in this song I like, but it’s the obvious weak link to me ATM and I think it could have lost a minute or two. Especially at this point in the album.
- I BELIEVE! A scaled-down version of their huge epics with an intro that calls back to the opening instrumental. A nice touch. Syu has some of his best moments of the album on this one. This is more THE FORCE OF COURAGE than ANGEL OF SALVATION, but a little lighter on the prog. Life-affirming, that kind of big epic they shoot for often but don’t always nail. It’s actually sort of like those epics by way of DESTINY. Not their crowning epic, but a strong closer paired with LIFE WILL GO ON.
Overall I think this album is their strongest LP since Under the Force of Courage, albeit not quite reaching those heights - that is my favorite SHO-era release, after all. It’s a notch or two above Into the Purgatory, an album I liked a lot. It’s kind of like an inverse of that album, replacing the darkness and heaviness from ITP with a bright, epic palette of sound. There are less weak links in this album though, with only one song I’m not sold on at this point.
Notes for next time? Give TAKA and LEA a track to show their stuff. TAKA’s songs are typically quite interesting, and the album could’ve been beefed up slotting in a song from the newer blood in place of VOICE IN SADNESS.
5 Likes
2 Likes
Missa put your big brain away.
Been listening to cuts from this album. There’s a spark in this I haven’t heard in their last few albums. I like this so far!
4 Likes