This Japanese quartet basically plays instrumental emo music built largely around slow melodic chords and lead lines with a somber sort of laidback side, backed with simple drumbeats and pulsing basslines. The tempos are really moderate and consistent, with layers of guitars building and changing to work together while independently, and there are usually light effects adding some additional depth or character. Also worth noting is that the basslines never duplicate the guitar parts either, so you've got three stringed instruments that never double one another all working in tandem to create interesting soundscapes, often based around repetition. Fairly tame distortion kicks in for the first time (most of the guitar parts are clean) towards the end of "Ceramics", the second track, picking up the tempo and getting a bit more intense overall. "S.S.K." continues the slightly faster tempo and uses light distortion with octave chords and plenty of pull-off riffs, even distorting some of the basslines for more prominence. The recording's fine for what it is (a demo). It's better than average, but still needs more polish to work in their favor. The drums are resonant but have a bit too much snap at times, and the guitars need to be as smooth and lush as the bass (which sounds superb, especially since the bassist plays with his fingers). It's good, but were it better the songs would be more effective. The CD-R comes in a minimal sleeve printed in green ink with some abstract artwork and text credits. That's that. I like this. It's not where it needs to be for it to be considered fully realized, but the music is strong enough to stand without vocals for the most part. I do think they need a little more variety in tempo if nothing else, but this is a strong debut demo, and I'd like to hear more.
[self-released]
Running time - 14:03, Tracks: 3
[Notable tracks: all three are equally nice]
3nd - http://www.ismusic.ne.jp/3nd/
