A
few months ago, I reviewed Mejibray's latest mini-album MESSIAH.bat, which changed my
feelings regarding the band's musical legitimacy from skepticism to optimism.
It was a well-made release that made it clear the band had found a way to
control the chaos in their music and seemed to be on track to evolve into a
force to be reckoned with in the visual kei world. But although Mejibray
created a solid musical foundations for themselves with MESSIAH.bat, it was hard to tell if they would be able to
capitalize on it and continue to take steps in the right direction as a band.
So
I am very pleased to say that with the release of three singles over the last
three months, Mejibray has not just taken a step forward as a band—they’ve
taken a leap. The three releases have demonstrated that, for the most part,
Mejibray has learned to use what could have been considered vocal
inconsistencies and dysfunctional instrumentation to make songs with a distinct
sound that exhibits variety and intensity. And none of those three singles makes a larger statement about this band’s development than A Priori.
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| A Priori Regular Edition Cover Art |
1. A Priori
2. -XV-
3. RISK:er (Regular Edition only)
The title track of A Priori completely steals the show with its raw
and brutal intensity. The song starts out with Mejibray's vocalist Tsuzuku
rattling off a chain of his signature tortured screams while a climax-building
guitar riff plays in the background. The verses are composed of a few lines of
singing that are immediately followed by a pseudo-breakdown that alternates
between distant backing shouts and Tsuzuku’s screaming. The screaming in this
song is all over the place, and I mean that in a very good way. The vocalist is
able to jump from somewhat low growls to his tell-tale, impossibly-high squeals
(all of which are part of his real voice, as anyone who has seen a Mejibray
live performance can attest). It’s very impressive, although I wish he would’ve
let loose even more during the breakdown (a la Sadie’s Rosario). It feels like the back-and-forth between his screaming
and background shouts slows the pace of the song down a bit too much, but this
is a minor complaint. I’m very impressed with how Tsuzuku has taken his screaming
voice, which could very easily have been received as grating and irritating,
and used it in a very unique way that is both acceptable to the ear and
congruent with the personality of his band.
Those of you who listen to Mejibray are well-aware
that the high points of some of their best songs (and the saving grace of some
of their worst) are their enthralling choruses, and A Priori’s chorus packs the strongest punch yet. The song is also
very subtly infused with a variety of background sounds such as piano, synth
notes, and additional percussive effects, all of which do a good job of making
the song feel fuller without distracting from the main instrumentation. The
bottom line is that this is a fantastic song that should put Mejibray on the
radar of most hard-rock visual kei fans.
Compared to A Priori, the B-sides on this single seem quite unremarkable. -XV- shows off Mejibray’s creepier and
odder side with high-pitched, constricted screams, and didn’t really appeal to
me. Risker (Regular edition only) almost
seems like a sequel to A Priori; in
fact it is essentially to A Priori
what Fallin’ Maria was to Messiah on MESSIAH.bat. However, because the two tracks are separated by -XV-, Risker is a lot easier to be absorbed as its own separate experience,
whereas Fallin’ Maria immediately
followed Messiah and was too similar
to allow for any distinction between the two songs. Either way, both of the
B-sides are pretty sub-par, and when compared to A Priori, it’s clear that anyone who buys this single will be
buying it for the title track.
A Priori is a fantastic single simply
because of the title track. The song is an explosive chemical reaction of heavy
and melodic rock, and its release confirms that Mejibray continues to head in
the right direction. It’s very admirable what this band has done with the limited
tools given to them. With the right vocal coaching and production assistance
from a larger record label, I could easily see Mejibray becoming a serious
force to contend with as a mainstream visual kei band (and I still strongly
believe that going major on an accommodating major label would be the best move
for this band). A Priori and the
other recent single releases have shown that Mejibray has what it takes to
succeed as a visual kei band, and I am excited to see what the next step in
this band’s evolution will be.
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