REVIEW: the GazettE - Beautiful Deformity

I have no idea how the GazettE continues to release content at the rate they have. Over the last 3 years, they have released 2 singles, 3 albums, and 3 live DVDs. When you consider the fact that the GazettE has preceded and followed each album release with live tours (one of which was a world tour), their release cycle seems nigh-on impossible. And yet, with lightning speed they continue to release smash hits that set the standard for innovation in rock music for both the visual-kei scene and the entire Japanese rock music industry. It only seems natural to wonder if a band moving at this pace will ever run out of top-quality material. Is it really possible for this band to release and tour at such a rapid rate for 3 years in a row without watering down the quality of their songs?

Allow me to answer that question with a statement: purchasing the GazettE's newest album, Beautiful Deformity, off of iTunes may be the best $10 transaction I've ever made.

Beautiful Deformity Regular Edition Cover


Tracklist (With Song Lengths):

1. Malformed Box (1:27)
2. Inside Beast (3:49)
3. Until It Burns Out (3:45)
4. Devouring One Another (3:29)
5. Fadeless (4:05)
6. Redo (3:49)
7. Last Heaven (4:43)
8. Loss (4:07)
9. The Stupid Tiny Insect (2:59)
10. In Blossom (3:31)
11. Karasu (3:46)
12. Kuroku Sunda Sorato Zangaito Kataha (3:58)
13. To Dazzling Darkness (3:51)
14. Coda (2:45)

Defying all odds, the GazettE have created their best-arranged album in the band's history, second perhaps only to their 2009 album Dim (but this is highly debatable). By releasing this album, the GazettE seems to have decided that they've achieved enough with their experimentation in combining dubstep/electronica elements with their music over the last 2 years, and that it is time to return to their roots and bolster the core elements of the band. Beautiful Deformity personifies this intent: it is a perfectly seamless transition from their latest musical experimentation back to their 2009 sound from Dim. But don't think that means you'll be hearing the same songs again. Beautiful Deformity features songs written by all five members of the band, and these songs contain perfected versions of the GazettE's previous styles and musical tendencies, as well as new combinations.

Most of the songs on the album decline having a "smash-hit" status in favor of forming a cohesive overall product. As a result, Beautiful Deformity feels less like an "ear candy" showcase (as Toxic did with "The Suicide Circus", "Red", and "Vortex", and as Division did with "Derangement”, “Attitude", and "Required Malfunction") and more like a well-put-together work of art (like Dim). While I personally believe that either method is a viable option for making an album, I'm glad to see that the GazettE knows when it's time to make an appropriate transition from one to another.

The introduction track "Malformed Box" continues the tradition of what I've decided to call the GazettE's "perversion of dubstep". Although it is almost entirely dubstep, it is infused with a familiarly dark and ominous feeling. It ends with a change to a faster tempo accompanied by frantic-yet-catchy drums, and transitions directly into the next track after a female voice utters "Welcome to the malformed box."

How you perceive "Inside Beast" (written by vocalist Ruki) will depend on how you've felt about the GazettE's experimentation with electronic rock music over the last two albums. If you were pleasantly surprised and found it to be a refreshing take on what could have easily been an unwise musical combination, then you will never get enough of this song. If you absolutely hated the change and just want to hear them make songs that sound like the ones from Dim, then you'll probably have problems with this song as well. "Inside Beast" is a hot mess of grating electronic sounds, frantically catchy drum beats, and female background vocals saying sexually charged phrases. I encourage you to look up the (not-so-well-pronounced) English lyrics to this song, as they are actually surprisingly deep.

"Until It Burns Out" switches to a more-familiar hard-rock style, and features vocalist Ruki's newest experiment: full-on screaming. Seasoned listeners of the GazettE will know that Ruki typically uses a somewhat staccato growling that can easily change into rap or something in between the two. Throughout Beautiful Deformity, Ruki attempts actual screaming in addition to growling, with some success. Unfortunately, the vocalist's powerful singing voice seems to come at the price of a somewhat weaker screaming voice. However, there are times when vocal distortion is used to cleverly disguise this shortcoming, and doing so actually enhances the songs that use it.

"Devouring One Another" (written by guitarist Aoi) comes off as a little bit forgettable, but has a slow and unique sound reminiscent of industrial metal that makes it interesting to listen to from time to time. "Fadeless", previously released as a single, is possibly the best song on the album. It combines the female backing vocals and hard-rock guitar sound found in songs like "Leech" (from their Dim album) with a lighter theme reminiscent of Toxic's "Red". Although this seems like an unlikely combination (and "Fadeless" does take a little getting-used-to during the first verse), the result is a fantastic song that perfectly walks the line between hard- and melodic-rock.

"Redo" is written by the drummer Kai, and is one of lightest-sounding songs done by the GazettE in recent memory. It's a jazzy song that displays a lighter side of the band without appearing like an attempt to branch out to reach a new audience. "Last Heaven" is even lighter, and features both guitarists playing acoustic guitars for most of the song (and it works very well). "Loss", which features slow-yet-powerful guitars and airy female background vocals, is similar to "Yoin" (from Division) in track placement, but sounds much better.

"The Stupid Tiny Insect" kicks off the last (and best) leg of the album. This song is intense, energetic, and wild. It is similar to both "Hedoro" from Division and "Vermin" (a B-side from the Red single), but it is heavier than the latter and outright superior to the former. "In Blossom" is a roller coaster ride of intense screaming, powerful singing, and soothing vocals. "Karasu" is written by the bassist (Reita), and is one of my favorite tracks on the album. It features heavy slap-bass, an addictive drum beat, and a repeatedly shouted hook that makes the song sound like a marriage of "Cockroach" and "The $ocial riot machine$". "Kuroku Sunda Sorato Zangaito Kataha" is a successful a combination of two types of late-album, "GazettE-sounding" songs: incredibly heavy (like "Psychopath" and "Attitude") and energetically conclusive (like "Tomorrow Never Dies" and "Required Malfunction").

"To Dazzling Darkness" (written by guitarist Uruha) sounds like it could belong on the GazettE's Dim album. I found it to be a decent song on the first listen, but on subsequent listens I couldn't wait for it to end—not because it was bad, but because the seamless transition into and the entirety of the concluding track "Coda" is absolutely amazing. "Coda" sounds like a track off of Dim to the core, but it has the quality instrumentation and production sound of a 2013 rock song. I was floored by how well this ended the album; "Coda" is easily the best outro track that the GazettE has ever made.

The decisions that the GazettE made while making Beautiful Deformity show that they are one of the few rock bands today that really "gets it" in terms of evolving as a band. I have never replayed an album in its entirety more times that I have with Beautiful Deformity. It is, in my opinion, the best album released in 2013. the GazettE made all the right decisions while making this album. As a result, its songs don't pack as much of a punch as a few of the songs from Toxic and Division did, but Beautiful Deformity is a masterpiece of an album. the GazettE's latest release is so well-arranged that it makes Toxic look like a singles compilation and Division look like an "overly-extended" Extended Play. At the same time, it also shows that the band's journey into electronic rock music added a variety of weapons to their musical arsenal, and that they can use all of them in any combination they desire.

Buy it on:

• CDJapan
• Regular: http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=SRCL-8358
• Limited: http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=SRCL-8355
• iTunes
• https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/beautiful-deformity/id710289839

How do you feel about Beautiful Deformity? Leave a comment and let us know!

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