REVIEW: Girugamesh - MONSTER

In 2011, Girugamesh surprised everyone with the release of their album Go, which featured a major change in direction from their previous music. The album, which had a substantially lighter sound and a noticeable lack of vocalist Satoshi's signature growling/screaming, left some fans pleased and others mortified. Now, with the release of their newest album MONSTER two years later, Girugamesh seems to be moving in a completely different direction. Their sound new sound, which their Facebook page describes as "music containing elements of breakbeat, dubstep, djent and progressive metal", packs quite a strong punch. Overall, MONSTER is powerful and shows potential, but Girugamesh's drastic (and somewhat last-minute) shift to a new style has resulted in an album that sounds musically-immature when compared to some of their previous releases.

MONSTER Album Cover

Tracklist:

1. Intro

2. Drain

3. VOLTAGE

4. INCOMPLETE

5. Zantetsuken -MONSTER ver.-

6. antlion pit

7. Resolution

8. BAD END DREAM

9. Live is Life

10. Zecchou BANG!! -MONSTER ver.-

11. Another way

12. ALONE

For those of you unfamiliar with the genre, djent music is a spinoff of traditional progressive metal, and has gained popularity in the western rock scene. Djent-influenced songs typically sport highly distorted, palm-muted guitar riffs, which are often accompanied by spectacular guitar soloing. Most of the songs on MONSTER combine djent-inspired guitar chords with subtle breakbeat sound effects and over-the-top electronic noises. As it turns out, the distorted guitar riffs blend very well with the dubstep sounds that Girugamesh frequently use throughout the album. These blended effects allow their songs to sound very heavy one second and incredibly catchy the next. There is a lot of potential in this new style. I feel that Girugamesh would have had a much more refined product if they had used a somewhat similar sound in Go to transition more smoothly into the one found in MONSTER. 

"Intro" pulls out all the stops at the beginning of the album with the use of heavy guitar riffs frequently punctuated by raging dubstep sounds. It's actually one of my favorite intro tracks to come out this year. The two newer promotional tracks ( "Drain" and "INCOMPLETE") are both quality songs. "Drain" is a headbanger that makes the best use of the the djent/electronic fusion on the album (I found the deep "croaking" dubstep noises on this album to be both well-placed and very enjoyable). "INCOMPLETE", on the other hand, best demonstrates the band's newly-found ability to transition from a heavier sound to a lighter one with lightening speed. Although these songs are both well-defined in structure and direction, some of the other tracks are not. "VOLTAGE" and "antlion pit" are full of exciting moments, but none of those moments are ever tied together in a way to make them stand out. "BAD END DREAM" has a surprisingly unique ability to transition from light-to-heavy in much different way than "INCOMPLETE" does, but I felt that the song was a little repetitive. 

"Live Is Life" executes a much more energetic version of the formula used in "BAD END DREAM" and is overall a better song. Two of Girugamesh's slightly less-recent singles, "Zecchou BANG!!" and "Zantetsuken", have been given djent/dubstep makeovers. While I found the new version of "Zecchou BANG!!" to be interesting, I still recommend the single version over the MONSTER version, as the djent sound doesn't quite match the style of the song. On the other hand, the MONSTER version of "Zantetsuken" is a major improvement over the single version (which I found to sound a little unremarkable when it was released).

Believe it or not, MONSTER's best-kept secrets are its lighter songs. "Another Way" and "Alone" have core sounds reminiscent of Girugamesh's sound on their Go album, but they are extremely well-produced and provide an unexpectedly exciting change of pace at the end of the album. But "Resolution" may be the biggest surprise of all. Thrown right in the middle of some of the heavier songs on MONSTER, "Resolution" is a flawless, hope-filled song that puts most songs used in anime-openings to shame. I actually tip my hat to Girugamesh for resisting the urge to make this a promotional track in favor of showcasing their new style, and I wouldn't be shocked to see anime companies lining up for the rights to use the song for a show's opening.

MONSTER is not a bad album. It has some fantastic moments and is definitely worth giving a listen. But the fact of the matter is that this is Girugamesh, a pseudo-titan in the visual-kei scene who in the past has released some of the most solid and inspirational material the J-rock industry has ever seen. And when you hold them to the standard of their older albums, MONSTER isn't quite there. I know many fans are happy to see Girugamesh returning to a heavier (and more familiar) style and I hope that they will continue to evolve their new sound, which appears to have quite a lot of potential. In the meantime, I recommend giving MONSTER at least one listen, because you may find a few (or many) tracks that suit your tastes.

Buy It On:

CDJapan 

• Regular Edition: http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=XNDC-10061
• Limited Edition: http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=XNDC-10060

What did you think of MONSTER? Let us know in the comments below.

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