REVIEW: Mejibray's The "420" Theatrical Roses

Mejibray is a band that garners a lot of decisive attention. Fans of visual rock music either love this band or they don't. No in between. Detractors will say that a lot of their music sounds the same and that they hardly grow or innovate, but I challenge them to say that after listening to the sophomore studio album The '420' Theatrical Roses, an album that defied expectations to deliver the band's most cohesive and interesting release so far in their career. While the title may insinuate that the music held within is more psychedelic acid rock, what they actually deliver is a collection of a variety of sounds from extremely dark and heavy, to a more emotional side of Mejibray that I feel we haven't seen yet. Even if the guttural growls of Tsuzuku aren't your thing, The '420' Theatrical Roses should prove that Mejibray is a visual force to be reckoned with and is here to stay.

1. Idea
2. Theatrical Blue Black (AI Version)
3. DiefiL
4. Hungry Psychopath
5. Mr. Rain wa Shindafuri
6. Raven (AI Version)
7. Maisou Mushi
8. Contagion
9. Echo
10. Hatred x Tangle Red x Hunger Red
11. Shunkan no Ideal
12. Bowwow
13. Suicidal Word Game
14. Servant
15. Cristate
16. Tori wa Oyogikata wo Shirazu Obore Nakigara
17. Copernicus

The opening track to The '420' Theatrical Roses is simply instrumental. "Idea" sets the mood for the album by showing that there's going to be a pretty liberal use of synth throughout, which is not necessarily new from Mejibray but it does sound far more advanced and legitimate than on previous albums or releases. This is followed quickly by the second single from this era "Theatrical Blue Black", which is likely my favorite overall piece from the band so far in their career. The song takes you through a few different movements in it's 4:31 run time, but the best is the chorus. Tsuzuku sounds brilliant in one of the catchiest choruses of the year, followed up by some pretty great growling while MiA chugs away on the guitar. The band continues in the same energy with "DiefiL", a song that is more oriented towards the pop/rock fans in that it features no harsh vocals and it's melody is very safe. While I don't think the vocals do anything to enhance the ambience of the song, the guitar solo about halfway through is the star of the show.

"Hungry Psychopath" is a song to look out for. While it isn't the most prominent song on the album as a whole, it showcases every member in one way or another. I'm a particular fan of the hook that leads into the chorus; which really shows that Tsuzuku isn't only hear to growl, he's here to sing... And belt it out at that. Otherwise, the song has a lighter atmosphere in that it's not so focused on the rhythm and bass, but on it's powerful melody and strange underlying melancholy. Following "Hungry Psychopath" is "Mr. Rain wa Shindafuri" which definitely is among the album's best. The overall vibe from this track is dark, heavy, and emotional. Although the guitar is very rhythmic, it does it's best to avoid being heavy by throwing in some interesting synth (that almost borders on hip-hop) during the verses and piano sprinkled in throughout the song to drive the point home. This is another song that while the composition is big, the vocals are bigger. The sixth track on the album is the lead single "Raven", which is the last incidence of a single (or b-side) for the remainder of the 17-song album, which is pretty impressive. Just like "Theatrical Blue Black", "Raven" is slightly remastered for the album to make it fit better in the context of the whole piece. "Raven" was definitely an interesting song being that it was so frantic and rushing. It's extremely high energy and rhythmic. In fact, I don't think there's one individual aspect of the song more prominent than Meto's drums. A close second could be Tsuzuku's excellent screaming/growling. That right there is pretty much the whole song. It goes on for 4 minutes in a pattern of heavy drums and fast-paced guitars followed by deep, guttural screams. 

Track number seven, "Maisou Mushi", is an absolute killer. It is 100% harsh vocals and heavy guitars mixed conservatively with what sounds like a down-tuned shamisen. People will inevitably compare this to something that Dir en grey would release, but this still it's fundamental Mejibray-ness considering that when one really listens, Tsuzuku and Kyo sound nothing alike. The band once again comes down from a very high paced segment of the album for something a little less in-your-face. "Contagion" reminds me thematically of "Hungry Psychopath" in that the focus is not necessarily set on the technical skill of the band, but on the lyrics and on the vocal performance. While not being strictly a ballad, it does have an overarching melancholic feel that Tsuzuku manages to display entirely in the way he sings the lyrics. When listening to this song, or the follow up song "Echo", one would not even imagine it is the same band that recorded "Maisou Mushi". The composition to "Echo" is so enormously powerful that one would expect it from a more experienced band. This is a power ballad that conveys some pretty powerful emotions over it's six-and-a-half-minute run time, but fails to break up those minutes by use of different movements which is the only flaw I could find. The most singularly interesting thing about the song is the acoustic guitar solo followed by an electric guitar solo around four minutes in. While the vocals really do impress me, the song could have been trimmed down by at least a minute to make it more palatable to a wider audience.

"Hatred x Tangle Red x Hunger Red" is the best and first song in a series of otherwise unimpressive songs. After hearing such an impressive array of songs for the first half of the album, the general eel begins to get a little tired. "Hatred" is not Tsuzuku's best vocal performance, but what it lacks in inspiration vocally it makes up for in technical skill. The song's pop/rock, almost dance/rock composition is what brings the fun, rocking vibe to track number 10. "Shunkan no Ideal" sounds generally uninspired, but not altogether bad. The song has a nice melody and a nice vocal performance, but all one can really say about it is that it is nice. While the rest of The '420' Theatrical Roses was very forward thinking and well-written, "Shunkan no Ideal" seems to represent the band before they tried anything new or different. Thankfully, the song gives way to "Bowwow", a song with excellent rhythm and an atmosphere that would bring a lot to the live stage. Certainly not the best song vocally except around the chorus, but that is more than made up for by MiA and Meto's contributions to the music itself. Additionally, Koichi's bass becomes prominent again as it hasn't been on display as much since "Raven". 

As we approach the end of the album, "Suicidal Word Game" brings back the intrigue to the album. MiA's guitar work is quite impressive on this song in particular being that the actual genre of the song can be debated because of it. What is so great about visual rock is that it's this umbrella term that can house many different genres and although Mejibray does sort of stick to a more metallic genre, but this song is more punk rock than anything on this album or their back catalog. While I insist that MiA is the star of this song, Tsuzuku's vocals are equally as impressive and he uses a variety of techniques instead of sticking to one routine. After the more energetic "Suicidal Word Game", Mejibray gives us the extremely-heavy "Servant". This one is reminiscent of "Maisou Mushi" in it's intensity, but differs in cohesion. Being that the song is so short, the different parts of the song feel forced and rushed where they should have taken the time to explore the movements on their own. Otherwise, the song is kind of a jam. It brings the right level of energy for the kind of song that it is, but should have tried to stick to either clean or harsh vocals instead of mixing them together. "Cristate", which apparently is a word meaning "having or making a crest", is a decently high energy song that utilizes primarily clean vocals with just a spattering of screaming to keep it interesting. The general ambience of this tune is dark or otherwise melancholic and has some decently impressive vocals on Tsuzuku's part, otherwise there isn't much to say here. 

The final full-length song on The '420' Theatrical Roses is the incredibly-long-yet-nonetheless-epic song "Tori wa Oyogikata wo Shirazu Obore Nakigara", an almost-seven-minute power ballad of enormous proportions. This is easily the climax of the album when the most thought was put into the composition and presentation over potential shock value. The most obvious aspect of this song is it's incorporation of all four members' talents and the thoughtfulness that each member brought to the table when composing and performing it. Track 16 is definitely darker than your average song and can likely be compared to a piece or two by the GazettE in it's intensity level. The song begins and ends with orchestral elements and features spoken-word pre-choruses that act as a fantastic lead in for  the emotional choruses that follow. This likely would have been a good stopping point for the album, but instead they tacked "Copernicus" on at the end as a counterpoint for "Idea". The outro is entirely electronic and adds nothing of any real value to the album, but is decent for what it is.

If the question is would I recommend this album the answer would be yes, but not to everyone. I would recommend it to anyone who knows how Mejibray sounds in the first place or anyone who is generally into heavier or darker material. While I need to say that The '420' Theatrical Roses displays musical growth, it doesn't display a wide enough array of genres to be really accepted by a more mainstream or general audience. All in all, though, a very successful endeavor in what I'm certain will be a long career. Please support Mejibray by purchasing their album here. 

Share on Google Plus