Review: AND -Eccentric Agent- TRIGGER

Tracklist:

1. _____naught

2. TRIGGER

3. dope

4. torch

5. basis

6. 砕 ～cross border～

_____naught-The most memorable thing about _____naught is the drum line. It's the best part of this song and really pulls everything else together. The bass and guitar riffs in general are nicely done and I also very much enjoy the background vocal effects and growls, as well as the guitar squeals. My favorite part: 1:54 to 2:20, this 20 or so seconds really sums up everything that is good about this song. The rhythm of the bass, guitars, drums, and even the vocals, as a whole, rock. And we even get a little speed metalesque towards the closing stages of the segment. I am disappointed with the length of the song however. Three minutes and 40 seconds seems to be a sufficient amout of time but I would've liked to hear them delve a little deeper.

TRIGGER- This is of course the title track off TRIGGER, and it's a decent song, I can't say that I'm in love with it, but I can admit it has quite a bit of catch. More than likely it's the most marketable song on the mini-album. Indeed, I truly enjoy the instrumental introduction, especially the guitar riff and again the bass and drum lines. I was hoping that AND would present more vocally, don't get me wrong Ikuma's singing is more than sufficient, I just........where did AND's infamous screaming run off to? I am very happy with TRIGGER's play out though, one of the best I've heard recently.

dope- I love the introduction! The mixture of rhythm and lead guitar here is brilliantly done. I feel an intense need to compliment the bass work through out the song. Ex: 1:04 to 1:06, 2:02 to 2:04, and 2:57 to 3:11(Awesome!). As well as the subtle guitar pieces, which I wish were used as more than just an undertone. The added synth/ turn table elements are wonderfully placed and I even enjoy the vocals here though, as I stated previously, it is sans the screaming vocals that I'm used to. Dope is definitely at the top of my list for best songs on TRIGGER.

torch- Instrumentally torch is magnificent, definitely the best guitar playing/ solos with in this whole mini-album. All throughout the song there are these great little one or two time guitar riffs taking place underneath everything else, too bad they aren't a little more apparent, huh? My favorite parts: 3:00 to 3:27, and 4:30 to basically the end of the song. Unfortunately, I don't really have anything else to say about this song, good or bad, the rest is just kind of there.

basis- I've heard this intro somewhere before (the first 8 seconds), I'd swear it! I very much enjoy it, it's an interesting, catchy riff. Sort of eccentric agent like.........

The guitar solo has taken an interesting turn as well, very unique, I love it! Ex: 2:17 to 2:45, I would listen to basis for this alone. Other than that I find the drum line a bit boring, there's a little too much cymbal if you ask me, it certainly couldn't hurt to spice it up a bit, right? I'm not a big fan of this song. It's ok, the guitar riff and solo aren't done any justice by the rest of the song.

 砕 ～cross border～- Wow!...so this actually is an album by And........this is the most absolutely perfect introduction this song could have. I'm very pleased! I'm glad we've finally got some screaming back, including the back up shouting vocals. Hear and feel that power!! Cross border!!! I also really enjoy the changes in tempo, going from that fast, pounding rhythm to the slowed down sequence, flows well off one another.Unfortunately, it seems as if  the most And-like songs are the shortest. I would've enjoyed it more if it were longer.

Ok. I'm a substantially big fan of And, but what the hell happened? I would say maybe 2 out of 6 of the songs on TRIGGER actually sound like And. Not that this is a bad mini-album mind you, I'm just surprised. Are they changing their image/sound or trying pick up a larger audience by making themselves a little more commercial? Instrumentally they're actually great, so I guess what I'm really questioning here is the vocals. Even if you look at it image wise Ikuma seems "pure" compared to his previous looks. When the promo picture for TRIGGER came out I actually did a little research to make sure Ikuma was still the vocalist.

 What happened to CODE「B」and Blackout? That's what I want to hear.

As I said, I don't think that TRIGGER, as an album, is bad. I actually like it. I also realize
that overtime a band's sound evolves, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, it can be very
good. All I'm really trying to get at here is that And doesn't sound the same. Much like Girugamesh or the Gazette or even Alice Nine don't sound the same. But what I want
to hear is the sound And put out then, that's just my opinion.

My Grade: B+, 4/5