Review: Matenrou Opera- Abyss [Mini-Album]

Tracklist:

1. INDEPENDENT

2. Mou Hitori Hanayome
3. frill

4. coal tar

5. Double Clutch

6. フタリ

7. Finale...

INDEPENDENT- Great opening, catchy but heavy at the same time, love the screaming parts, I also like how the vocals are switched up alot. Wow! Wonderful guitar and bass solos! This is my favorite part.

 Mou Hitori Hanayome- My least favorite part of this song is honestly the opening, love the piano thrown in here and how the pace of the song changes back and forth. As I said about the PV Anzi's guitar solos here are fantastic, and this is good song. I would say this is more on the ballad side, not my favorite one by Matenrou Opera but still good. The further I get to the end of this song the better it gets for me. The last minute is the best part, to be more specific from about 3:20 to the end of the song.  I just keep rewinding that over and over again. The instrumentals in this song are amazing!!

frill- Whoa! I'm immediately reminded of old school hair-metal.......that is without a doubt an 80's rock guitar riff right there. This song is also a bit swing influenced, listen to that bass line. Definitely something different from Matenrou Opera, can't say I love it, but at least they're switching it up!

coal tar- Apparently we are taking our hair-metal to church in this song, interesting change. With the exception of the symphonic choir and 3:28 to 4:09 (where it sounds as if my radio frequency is screwing up and of course that awesome guitar solo) I find this song a bit on the boring side, there is no real catch to it and if the aforementioned attributes were gone there would be no reason for me to listen to this song.

Double Clutch- I love this opening, the piano flows well (and I love how this is underlying throughout the song) and the high-pitched guitar wail.....glorious! Also, the drums leading into the rest of the song, very nicely done. However, the rest of this song seems a bit rushed especially the vocals and the fast pace comes out of nowhere. Again though these guitar players are extremely talented, pretty sure I'm in love with them!

フタリ- Beautiful! These are Sono's best vocals on this entire mini-album. The playing is also very spanish guitar-esque (at least that is what I'm reminded of).

Finale..- Oooooh Opera.........this sounds like an extension off of  フタリ and I like that very much... they flow well off of one another. I love that this is purely instrumental and choir, it really gives the guitar player a chance to shine, the operatic elements are so beautiful and at times it is difficult to differentiate between that and the guitar. Wonderful!


While there are one or two songs that I wasn't exactly extremely impressed with, all in all I really like this mini-album. It took me while to have the time to sit here and listen through the whole thing non-stop but it was definitely worth it. It has been a while since I've sat and listened to Matenrou Opera, and this album really reminded me of just how talented this group is.

My Grade: A, 4/5