D'espairsRay - Mirror [review]

a.k.a. Review number 7, guys. Exciting stuff.

So, if you haven't read the title, you'll most likely be wondering what awful-album-you've-never-heard-of I'll be reviewing today. For those of you who are more observant, you'll have noticed I'm reviewing Mirror by D'espairsRay. Shall we get on with it then?

Ah but wait. First, I must point out, that I am entirely unsure about what to think of D'espairsRay. I'm hardly a rabid fanboy of theirs, but at the same time, I'm not consigning them to the metaphorical music rubbish bin of doooooooooooooom. And, as such, this review will probably be the least biased one yet. Hooray.

^I would ask what the hell is up with the album art, but that would be rude :S

So. Track one. "Damned". No, they're not all that happy a band. A single looping guitar riff for 40 seconds. Fair enough. Then, an awesome scream at about a minute in. Now would be the perfect time to talk about Hizumi's vocals. Certainly, his screams are incredible. Unfortunately, his actual singing voice is a sort of semi-operatic one that may put some people off. I think the awesomeness of his screams should offset the slightly meh main vocals for most people. But I love his voice anyway. Oh right, the actual song? It's fine. But the band is just getting warmed up...

Song number twoooo. "Trickster". This is actually a really solid song from D'espairsRay (or Despa, if you're feeling especially lame). Hizumi's voice, for once doesn't feel out of place (especially the screamy bridge about halfway through the song :D ) and, well, need I say more? Love it.

Third Track. It's name is "Mirror". It opens with synth. Synth. Oh dear. What is the world coming to? On certain bands (Girugamesh springs to mind) I'll let it slide. Here, it doesn't work. Sorry guys. Chorus is horrible. Song is horrible. KILL IT WITH FIRE.

"Sixty∞Nine". Wait isn't that a sex...oh, never mind. Song's definitely not to my tastes, until it takes a dramatic turn at around 2:30. Then we like it. There also seems to be an irritating amount of synth in this song as well. It's just not called for. 'Nuff said.

Next song is "Kogoeru yoru ni saita hana". The title's something about flowers...i think. Hmm. Can't be bothered to check right now.I can't stand this song. It's so...pop. There, I said it. About as good as having your face attacked by a zebra.

Suddenly, the album takes a dramatic increase in terms of quality :D

And then we have "Screen". It's a really pretty sort of song. One of those unexpectedly calm songs that takes your breath away (see "Glass Skin" by Dir en Grey for another example of a song like this). So much awesomes. Yep, "awesomes". This song becomes so good that it breaks my grammar. w00t!

LOST SCEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEENE. Or, err, "Lost Scene" if you're a normal person (I'm not, by the way. I'm weird). Suffice to say, this is my favourite song on here, and it almost makes up for the flaws of the songs that come before it. The song that comes after it, "Hollow" is okay, too. And theirs a "la-la-la-laaa-ing" bit, punctuated by screams. What's not to like? :P

"Closer to Ideal" opens by sounding very much like a Girugamesh song. Then Hizumi sings. Then it sounds like something Despa would do. Obviously :S An alright song, which admittedly, has moments of downright fantastic. Okay, as a whole, the song is very good. I'll give them that. Did I mention it goes on for six minutes?

"Angeldust". Despite the girly-sounding name, it's arguably the heaviest song on here. Hey, you don't see me complaining. Nice song. Very nice song.

"Squall". Sounds weirdly like a Hyde song. A huge change of pace, and, well, I really like it. Even though there will be haters of this song, I really don't care. It's wonderful.

Finally on the album (excluding the European bonus track "Desert", which wasn't much good anyway) is Kaleidoscope. Much as you'd expect an album like this to end. Fairly inoffensive, alright guitar solo. Two words: let down.

The conclusion? I don't think I'm a Despa fan. Some of their songs are alright, I guess, but others will make you want to tear your ears off. Or maybe just your earphones, if you're not a huge fan of masochism :P

C+