NIGHTMARE - ｢√25｣

[Heyt]

First listen:

Baku: Yomi’s vocal sound distincly TNB most of the time and the song itself doesnt’ do much for me. It’s a start for him but I don’t think he’s gonna turn any heads 4/10

Smile: much more interesting, smooth and catchy, has great flow and Iove the guitar and piano tohether and the small tempo rushes on the melody 8/10

Jubilee: yes, this is a Sakito song alright. A bit too reliant on his usual tropes, I think. I guess thats the point of this release but the basic ass synth they are using is a bit too dominant and the instruments get a bit walled behind It and the volcals. What’s on there I like… but I have heard before shining more so… 6/10

Birth: after how cool and rocking BULL FIELD songs were Im surprised Ni-ya went for the same vibe as RAY OF LIGHT. Its competent but I don’t think its gonna be stuck in my head . 5/10

Mist: the song is great, but its another case of a loud ugly synth bringing It down. Regardless, this is the standout of the bunch for me and the only one that feels like a proper single leading song from them 7.5/10

I would also like to point out that this production sounds distincly rushed in terms of mixing, like happened with Labyrinth and Kuon. There’s so much they could have done production wise to make these songs sound much better, like taking more time selecting the synths (or consider replacing them with actual instruments…anything! I would take Sakito pulling out the electric sitar again over this canned stuff any day of the week).

Jubilee in particular has ton of cool stuff going on that is hard to appreciate because of how sound is layered out.

Mist synth is way too basic and repetitive and goes too close into underground train next stop announcement jingle territory. They should really look into revising it or having that melody played by another guitar or something.

Hitsugi’s song was the only one in the end that I had no issues with and enjoyed all the way through, even being pleasantly surprised with the choices made. I was expecting to like this song the least since i never liked him as much as the others as a composer…but if this was a competition the underdog took the price.

As for Yomi’s songwritting debut… it doesnt live up to the rest of the band and the arrangements don’t help. I came in with no expectations so its no loss for me, but I’d say Ni-ya’s absolutely was.

I’d say it’s a 6/10 overall for me but I am left mostly dissapointed. If they fix the recordings for the CD release I would really appreciate It.

[rsm_rain]

Forgive the complete lack of irony in posting but every time i listen to a post-2020 release all i can think about is we’re so lucky to have these guys back

Off a first listen - well my #1 thought is to agree with Heyt, the mixing is… not what i expected. I think it’s too early to say it i’ll end up coming to love it like TiW’s or if it’ll just feel like a missed opportunity. It sounds overall like a wet blanket is draped over everything, especially Yomi’s voice. But it’s a pretty gloomy sounding EP anyway so i’ll leave room for it to grow on me.

Off the first listen i’d rank the tracks from fav to least:

Mist
Jubilee
Birth
Smile
Baku

Which… is just about in order of who’s done the most to least songwriting so far. I hope Yomi sticks with it tho, not for sale of nostalgia or fairness, w/e, but bc first attempts at new songwriting is always janky but once you get through that phase you open up some great contributions. I’d happily sign on to a Yomi B-side every single as long as Naito and NPC feel the same way.

Overall i think i also end up at 6/10. Nothing career-defining, no milestones based off of music alone, not really any high points either. But i can absolutely see this becoming one that grows on me with many listens as opposed to a simpler straightforward anime-opener style single.

Ruka’s track in particular, it sounds so much like a LSN song with the Naito guys playing their parts i wonder if that’s literally what it is. They’re all good songs, well played and nice to listen to as is, but this track really affirms my belief that these five musicians and my interests in guitars music are so closely linked, it’s hard for me to prefer anyone else performing works from the same composer. Pure fanfiction territory here but a split album of Naitomea covers LSN; LSN covers Mea would be incredible.

I’m glad they’re still making weird music, i’m glad we’re still getting new naitomea songs in 2025!!

[zeetabyte]

I’ve been informed by @mmm that Sakito slid in the names of the members in Jubilee SOBBING I’ll put the part of the lyrics in here later after work or if @mmm can get to it first pls share

Overall agree that it is something they really just tried their best to come out with within a very rushed time frame. Rather than career-defining, I’d say the songs are more a milestone of “hey, we made it here”.

I say this knowing that these guys made this silly-ass comment video about their songs…(pasting here shortly brb)

[Heyt]

@rsm_rain

Pure fanfiction territory here but a split album of Naitomea covers LSN;

I have been wanting them to do covers from all the solo projects for long while now since all of them have some really good songs that could really fit the band. I particularly think BULL FIELD IS overlooked and has really nice songs that suffer from Ni-ya not being able to do as much a s the while band production wise (also his voice needs a lot of help sounding ok).

[chrisXlr8r]

I’ll put my thoughts very quickly

Jubilee reminds me so much of Requiem (longer title) and I remember Sakito commenting it was his favorite song at some point. I hear the echo in this song although it won’t be stuck in my head.
Baku is a competent song. The part at 2:40 is CRINGEEEE but aside from that I actually rather enjoy it. Yomi is an inexperienced composer but by no means is he an inexperienced lyricist
Smile is for sure my favorite. Glad Hitsugi decided not to go heavy on synths when he usually does (ERRORS and Rad Dream for example).
Mist is good. Someone said the synths sound too close to corporate store music and I agree. If those were simply quieter it’d probably be my favorite. Although Yomi sings it pretty low and I don’t get why.
Birth is like Knee Socks (insult).

Wish the mixing was better. This is the second year in a row they’ve put out poorly mixed releases. I don’t mind sporadic releases (much preferred over rushed) but at least take the time to mix them well. These could’ve been relased in autumn and still receive the same hype without skimping on mixing. With how many concerts they’ve done this year, and how full these shows get, they certainly have the money for it.

I’m sure Smile is amazing in concerts. Mist is good live as well

[rukarukaruka]

@zeetabyte

Sakito slid in the names of the members in Jubilee

I was curious so i looked it up and it’s true!

For reference

よみ ︎ yomi
ひつぎ▶︎ hitsugi
さきと▶︎ sakito
にや▶︎ niya
るか▶︎ ruka

[zeetabyte]

LOUD CRYING

(I have to say I’m surprised that Sakito’s song is not my favourite in this album, but truly for Sakito in general I think his strengths lie in the small details like this.)

[Heyt]

@chrisXlr8r

Jubilee reminds me so much of Requiem (longer title) and I remember Sakito commenting it was his favorite song at some point. I hear the echo in this song although it won’t be stuck in my head.

That’s one of my top 5 songs by them and It didn’t sprung to mind. I’ll pay more attention next.

@chrisXlr8r

This is the second year in a row they’ve put out poorly mixed releases. I don’t mind sporadic releases (much preferred over rushed) but at least take the time to mix them well.

Absolutely agree, we got the worst of both worlds with this

[Anon308]

Do you guys REALLY not hear the improvements in the mixing - but particularly the lateralization issue I hated in Kuon and being unable to hear every instrument - or am I being gaslit here ?

Gonna be honest, this release is solid for my personal taste. Not even Yomi’s song which I won’t be listening to randomly is Bad; Mist was cooler to me at first listen but after a while I’m thinking that Jubilee is better and OMG the lyrics Smile also went up a ranking. The thing about this release is each song has a different appeal so if someone asked me what Naitomea sounds like nowadays (post hiatus) I would personally send this their way (because Nox:Lux has some high highs but then some low lows to me and yes I am looking at you Rad “migraine song” Dream lmao . . . )

I have yet to give the other songs more listens and as a disclaimer I haven’t been using my usual headphones but like it so far

Which… is just about in order of who’s done the most to least songwriting so far.

BREAKING: fans of band enjoy bands sound.

Maybe my expectations were on the low side after the poor mixing and Alice Naito of the past years this has none of that

• Birth - it’s the kind of balladish track that I don’t think fits Yomi’s vocals anymore. Maybe it would have fit his old vocals better IMHO but it’s not bad by any means. Not feeling Knee Socks sorry
• Baku - clearly a Yomi song but even so it’s not bad (still looking at you Rad “migraine song” Dream . . ) very listenable, solid
• Jubilee - now this is where things get really good. While I’m like 100% this is sampling at least 3 preexisting vk tracks to some extent lmao it’s good and it’s the kind of balladish track that IMO fits Yomi’s current vocals and it’s so cute the names aughh kawaii ballad
• Mist - it’s not groundbreaking and I can see it suffering the fatigue that Alice Naito songs suffer in me lmao it’s great at first listen and then it’s like oh . . opposite of Jubilee like tracks that are kinda oh okay at first and then omg this is deliciously cheesy <3 at first this was oh okay amazing and then well maybe I am a bit TOO used to this progression lol
• Smile - there’s this elephant sitting in the middle of the dining room table in this track that I refuse to mention first but leaving that aside my case stands it’s more Hitsugi than a gremlin bouncing its legs on vk halloween party

Review: solid idk 8/10 I am not even disagreeing that it’s not groundbreaking but it’s solid and a good celebration EP because this is very their colors in a way. Pity tne next release isn’t gonna come out before 2027 probably so back to my SSRI shit cya (everybody cheers) (edit: for self-defense reasons this is a joke I wish SSRI would work on me lolss )

Lastly in case their management is reading these forums I would like to reinforce PLEASE put the songs titles somewhere noticeable in the lyrics because Jubilee and Smile in my head will be called CUCKOOOO LALA CUCKOOOOOO LALA and LALALALALALALALALALALA LALALALALA LALALALALALALALALA and that sucks

[chrisXlr8r]

@Anon308

Do you guys REALLY not hear the improvements in the mixing

I’m sorry but they’ve been at this for 25 years. The mixing shouldn’t just be better than Kuon/Labyrinth, it needs to be GOOD. Someone is getting paid to do this and their tickets aren’t cheap. Again this could’ve been released at a later time and still received the same hype, without the mixing issues at all, and they’re certainly making enough money to do this now.
I genuinely thought something was wrong with my earbuds listening to mist because the sound was very dulled. Yomi’s voice sounds almost muffled in Mist. My major real complaint is with mist.

On a high note, all the new songs were performed on Yomi’s BD live so I need to see that

[Kumanosuke]

Came here to complain about the mixing lol
At first I thought it was me. Literally sounds like 96 kbps.

[zaa_zaa]

Gosh, the quality of mixing is insanely bad. It sounds like a demo of a new band with no budget.