Sounds fine to me
When people talk about how an album sounds, bitrate is never what they mean or think they hear, I guarantee you that.
It’s not that it’s bad per se (especially not in the context of vk), it’s just lacking in some areas in a very similar way ADORATIO could have used a “tweak” here and there. Listen to ADORATIO, if you think it sounds great, you probably won’t notice anything major about EROSIO.
Oftentimes you can take complaints about sound quality as a seal of excellence. It usually means that a release is so good, the only thing to gripe about is mixing and mastering 
I very much disagree on that. Progressive and left-field songwriting has been sukekiyo’s strong suit from the get-go and much more fundamental to their signature sound than it ever was for DEG. This might sound like a hot take but I don’t even think it’s controversial to say that, unlike sukekiyo, DEG’s progressive aspirations have always been severely bottlenecked by their songwriting chops and musical skill. I would never call them truly progressive, they make adventurous, off-kilter alt metal, inconsistent but with amazing highlights and VINUSHKA is a prime example of that. The main thing that differentiates it from 訪問者X is its excellent feel for progression, grabbing the listener, taking them through highs and lows, building up tension, playing with it and releasing it in a really satisfying and cathartic way. 訪問者X does none of that… it’s playful, some of its individual parts are great but as a song it doesn’t really make me feel anything in particular.
2 Likes
This I agree, one of their best songs
I like the production
Rongai is a little butchered but I still like it
Overall I like it better than Infinitum but not as much as their other releases, there’s some misses but the good parts are still very good
Lacking a bit in the bass, but I don’t find it terrible. You can do far worse in visual kei.
These are the similarities that I found:
- 9 minute song that comes second on the track list
- Defined sections and motifs within each section
- Quiet and loud sections with a slow opener
Regardless, it’s too soon for me to say which song is better. I’ve had Vinushka since 2008. I’ve had all of three days to think about 訪問者X. I can’t draw any firm conclusions about this album beyond “I like it” and “they go ham on the synth”.
1 Like
I like the production, but I also like the way Adoratio sounds. I’ve mostly listened to it with neutral sound signature gear and I don’t really have a problem with it, though I did have to EQ my car’s stereo to turn the treble down because some of the sound effects were a little grating.
oh also the dynamic range is pretty good for a vk release! Usually the standard is “what dynamic range?”
4 Likes
On first blush it’s pretty weak, but I am judging it on their magnum opus that is Immortalis which is one of the greatest albums ever made and top three albums that Kyo has involvement in. 訪問者X isn’t on the level of Vinushka imo, and the best songs are probably Margaret, The Hole, 愛した心臓, MOAN, and 呼吸. Some of these feel like they’re better produced demos.
Overall I’d rank this third behind Immortalis, and Vitium, just ahead of Adoratio, and far ahead of Infinitum which is still my least favorite release by them. It might grow with age, but at this point it’s something I’ll keep for shuffle since it doesn’t feel like a fully composed album and is pretty all over the place.
Back to DIR EN GREY if I’m wanting a Kyo fix. The singles have been the best in some time; SALUS, and AMOR blow this album out of the water and it’s a damned shame.
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I just have to say I love seeing the diversity of opinions here.
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Yes! The vocals too seem like they’ve been recoreded in no more than one take a lot of the time.
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Top 3 tracks for me are actually the last 3 tracks (not in the same order):
- 呼吸
- 変わってくれませんでしょうか?
- フレームアウトからの
The pinnacle of the album for me is that “Tenshi no yō na…” in the last track (thumbs up if you feel that as well).
Other personal highlights:
- 論外な生き物として: waiting for that beat drop in the middle, that was pretty sick.
- 口に林檎: when the instrumental kicks in during the middle of the song, amazing.
- Margaret: such a wonderful melodic song to listen in between some more “demanding” songs.
- mysteryな: that ending chorus is gives me the energy to jump through my apartment walls!
5 Likes
Wow that the quality sounds like they just went with the first one take… That’s really yikes but it can’t be that bad, no…?
I’m still waiting to listen to it myself.
I was (grossly) exaggerating the fact that the vocals seem a little vague and awkward at times which I’ve never experienced in a studio release of theirs before and it seems to me like the result of too few takes or not enough studio time. It’s minor details actually, really not that bad, don’t worry! Since you haven’t listenend to it, you shouldn’t spoil yourself with other people’s thoughts on the album anyway, go into it with an open mind 
2 Likes
oh my god mucc6 my saviour
For the most part, every Sukekiyo album has clicked with me, especially Adoratio, which is my favorite. Infinitum was the first that I sort of didn’t “get” upon the first few listens. It seemed a lot more formless, almost meandering at times, but I eventually grew to like it a lot.
Erosio seems to be an extension of Infinitum. The band has appeared to almost completely abandoned conventional song structure. There are times where Kyo’s melodies are just slowly slinking below the wall of sound and never surface. It’s not often that something here will grab your ear with a hook. Instead it’s more about grabbing you by the collar with how bizarre it can get. I’ve had about four full listens so far and each time it gets better and better.
Still too early for me to point out specific favorite parts, but I will say that Hounonsha X is an absolute banger. That entire instrumental jam in the middle is so good, and I love that Kyo reserved himself from truly belting anything out until the very end. It’s so effective and gives me chills every time. Awesome dramatic release.
8 Likes
Interesting that Sukekiyo has been letting Tue Madsen mix their stuff since… Vitium, I believe? Sometimes the mix is fine. Sometimes one aspect of the music like the vocals or the drums are buried. Sometimes everything is buried together.
All I’m saying is when you’re making music this dense, things need to be balanced better than what’s happening here. But this has been the case since Adoratio, so…
3 Likes
People are kiiiind of starting to agree with eachother that houmounsha X is the best song on the album?
Its pretty great, but I think that my favorite track is either “Kawatte Kuremasen Deshouka?” or “mystery na”. Both tracks are absolutely fantastic, and exceptional in their own ways.
3 Likes
I’m finally done with my vacation travels and can take time to write up a decent review.
From the top, I have to agree with the common thread here. Some of the mixing left me disappointed. I can’t understand a thing Kyo is saying at the beginning of Margaret or so other songs. His voice is just not clear. There are other times when I’m like “Oh, I thought I just heard one of Yuchi’s good bass lines” but it’s so buried that I doubt if it’s there at all.
After listening to EROSIO 4 times or so, I went back and listened to their previous albums as well, and I’m fairly confident in my ranking:
1.Infinitum
2.Erosio
3.Adoratio
4.Immortalis
With no single album scoring less than a 9/10 for me, to be clear.
That said, I think EROSIO is pretty catchy and engaging. I enjoy each track for it’s own unique style. That said, the only tracks I didn’t vibe with are:
Moan - I can’t get over the tiny voice Kyo makes. The song is a banger otherwise.
変わってくれませんでしょうか? - doesn’t get started until 2 minutes in.
アウトフレームからの - Doesn’t grab me until the end.
The tracks I come back to most are 口に林檎, Margaret, グロス, 愛した心臓, ans Mysteryな.
I was also coming back to 訪問者X, but I’ve already burnt myself out by listening too much since it went up on YouTube lol
Happy to see such a diverse set of opinions. Makes me feel a little more comfortable sharing my thoughts too.
3 Likes
Is anyone else getting Merveilles era Malice Mizer vibes from Kuchi ni Ringo?
There’s also one quick vocal melody towards the end of Margaret that reminds me of DEG’s Jealous.
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