Nitro Mega Prayer "The Reason of Hers Smile" CD
[Gods Child]
Here's some caustic yet melodic screamo type of stuff out of Japan. It's very unusual. The basslines are kind of amelodic and all over the place behind jarring and abrasive guitar parts that range from almost tangible chord progressions to noisier notes or textures, and the vocals are high-end screams that sound a little atypical from most. Honestly I'm bothered by the fact that the bass sounds like it's significantly out of tune from the guitars, and I think that's definitely impacting how I feel about this. The songwriting is a little out there as well, though. For instance, there are some great dissonant riffs in "Looking for Something", but then some weird ska sounding chords break in and dissipate out of nowhere!? It's hard for to get past the vocals sometimes as well, they're just too over the top. For instance, "I Just Think So" hits on some pretty straightforward melodic and fast hardcore chord progressions, as well as some slower passages that have a little more emotion to grasp onto, but the shrill vocals cut into that and really create a hindrance in front of the music. "Arch" is one of the shorter songs and its use of melody is quite a nice break in the disc, standing out as one of the most memorable pieces herein, and making for my favorite track by far. At the end of the disc is an unlisted cover of "Lori Meyers" by NOFX, which is also nice and energetic. A little more frantic than the original of course, but good nonetheless... they mess with it a little bit and make it more their own, but it's still one of the best songs herein. The recording is okay, but that needs work too. I like that the mix is really cohesive, but the vocals (which are honestly irritating as it is) might be mixed a little high, and there's not enough clarity, so details are definitely getting lost in the music. I love that the bass works on its own, but the tuning issue definitely needs to be corrected because it creates a lot of fucked up disharmonic tendencies that definitely disrupt the listen. I don't mind that the sound is kind of dirty and biting, but they need to clean up the edges and make a few adjustments to properly express their music. The layout is done in shades of red and black with layered textures that kind of look like dirty, blocky abstract buildings, with a few tiny photos of the band members' instruments and the lyrics in both English and Japanese. The lyrics are pretty straightforward considering the language barrier and tend to dwell on the slightly more pessimistic side of life, more specifically with relationships and such: "Just hating, just grieve, the existence of myself is leaving. Am I here? It is so cold, really cold. It can't help doing. If I closed this window, I will not be able to see anything. I died." I'm not too into this overall. There are some really excellent moments, but the vocals aren't working for me, and I think the songwriting and recording need a little more of a push to become truly effective. (5/10)
Running time - 33:16, Tracks: 9
[Notable tracks: Arch, Lori Meyers]
Gods Child Music - http://www.godschild.com.hk

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