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| Left to Right: Ds. Jinra, Vo. Ryuusei, Ba. Umi, Gt. Hayashi (Guitar: Elizabeth) |
akai SKY isn't like other bands in America. They come with their own style of rock that you can listen to in any kind of emotion or feeling -- even if you have a headache, this could soothe that bad boy right up. If you're one to want something heavy, but can't entirely handle it, this EP is definitely the way to go.
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| 1) Break Down! 2) In Black 3) The The Sea 4) Mugen |
Break Down! begins the mini-album with an alternative sort of beat. The lyrics describe a sort of rebellion with the song in comfortable, floating kind of melody. There aren't any added electronic beats or instruments other than the band itself. The guitar and drums over the drum solo are simple but entwine with each other to create an interesting scenario and mix of sound. Break Down! is a song that you could dance to with somewhat rebellious lyrics as the song closes on the lyrics, "Break the walls down 'cause you can't stop us." Something about this entire track makes me want to walk up to someone and scream at their face... Namely the guys on the street that tell me I can't wear a winter hat in the summer. Rebellious kids, like me, will adore this track!
In Black is a bit more jazzy with an emphasis on the bass during the introductory measures (although, the first 3 seconds can be a bit misleading, what with the heavy drumming and all). It slows to a point to make a lounge-like feel with heavier drops, almost like waves of water tugging on a ship violently back and forth. At 0:50, the introduce the chorus, a beautiful round about it and a repeated action to reintroduce the bass. With overlapping vocals and intricately composed drums and guitar solos, In Black shows you the more mysterious side of akai SKY that makes me want to come back and listen to this song more and more to find out just what makes it work as they leave us in a sudden silence.
To The Sea breaks the silence with a slower, more like a "ballad" than anything else I had managed to hear in the extended play so far. Something about akai SKY makes them extremely soothing just as they can be heavy. Listening to this song, I almost forgot I was supposed to be reviewing it! (In fact, that goes for the entire album!) The song takes you into a trance, feeling as if you're swimming as the acoustic guitar plays in the background. Ryuusei's voice leads you through the waves of the waters to reach land, but you aren't drowning. The song is almost lazy -- in fact, it just makes you feel all around lazy, but a sort of energized lazy... If that makes any sense at all... (It probably doesn't, but when you hear this song, you will understand).The song is more than 5 minutes that pass so easily -- it's almost as if the song ends too soon for you to even notice until The final track Mugen plays.
Mugen enters just as easily as a lot of the other tracks. akai SKY really know how to make a playlist! The slow bass quickly hastens as the drums and guitar enter. We aren't entirely returned to the beginning beat, but we are certainly back to an energized feeling as they work to hasten us to the end of the EP almost resentfully. Umi plays her bass assuredly, with her own awesome solo instead of a guitar solo. Once it's over, the beat somehow speeds up -- and I never noticed that Umi had slowed it down! At last, there is a guitar solo from Hayashi as he plays "Elizabeth" (that's what he's named his guitar) that is almost light speed in the final two minutes of the song and the EP. Ryuusei never manages to return with his voice from this point and we are lead off to the end by Jinra, Umi, Hayashi and Elizabeth.
Now, a few more words about Heart, Attack! This EP seems to put a lot of emphasis on the bass, like a certain genre of visual kei called "Iryou Kei". This genre holds bands such as SEX ANDROID and LuLu -- if you listen to their music, you can hear the bass so well! The only thing is, akai SKY doesn't dress like doctors like the other bands related to "iryou". They dress...like they want to dress because they aren't exactly a "visual kei" band! Heart, Attack! is something more like the movement and experiences with water in the sounds than anything, in my opinion, but they certainly make my heart pump. I'm not being sarcastic about anything, here, these guys really are the kind of band that would have awesome energy live and are perfect to listen to just about whenever!
If you're anything like me, you listen to music until you have a headache because your iPod or music player is full of metal...usually heavy metal. Even afterward, you try to push through it because you want more music, but you can't! At that point, or even right from the beginning of the day, I would want to play myself some akai SKY. If I can get my hands on anymore of their stuff, I certainly would because four songs will never be enough for me! Overall, I suggest you purchase Heart, Attack! and check out this band!
Related Links:
akai SKY OHP
akai SKY Facebook
For disclosure, Visual Kei Heaven had recieved a free copy of this CD for review purposes only.
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