Japan has produced some excellent metal over the years and has slowly but surely gained some worldwide fame. The sound of metal bands in Japan has become uniquely identifiable, but much so that many of the bands adopt that sound as a standard, afraid to venture outside of it. Leda, guitarist of Babymetal, has never thought twice about venturing outside the norm to demonstrate his flair and brilliance in guitar and songwriting proven in his brilliant projects of past. Now he brings a brand new, more extreme project to the table in Far East Dizain.
[tracklist]
01. 業 – Karmar –
02. Cry My Name From The Light
03. Memorize
04. The War Went On
05. Blank Space
06. Illest
07. I’m a Human Just Like You
08. 一縷
09. 蜃気楼
10. Super Moon
11. LAST SCENE
[/tracklist]
[details]
[record_label]Dizain Records[/record_label]
[release_date]11th November 2015[/release_date]
[/details]
You might ask how Japan’s latest metal export is more relevant than the rest. Well we are looking at Far East Dizain for numerous reasons – the first of which being the interest that this is the new project of Babymetal guitarist Leda, the second being that I consider Leda to be one of the most phenomenal guitarists on the market, and third this is Japan’s first attempt at incorporating djent into their metal.
Being an avid fan of Leda’s previous projects in Deluhi and Undivide, the debut of Far East Dizain has been something I have anticipated since the release of the debut single in ‘Locus‘, mainly because the first published tracks were something far different than I had heard from Japanese metal before – an extremely technical, off-signature approach. It’s pretty obvious by now I have some high expectations for this album.
‘Tonick Dizain‘ sets up the cyber atmosphere with an electronic intro before blasting into the highly impressive ‘Cry My Name From Light‘, a massive audio mash of synchronised technical ability including clinical drum work matched with every rapid fire note played on guitar.
The track served as a precursor to my expectations of the album, exciting one into believing that every track would be a gargantuan djent spectacle. As the album progresses however it is noticeable that the traditional Japanese metal elements of melodic choruses and strict 4/4 structures take a bit more presedence, evident in ‘The War Went On‘. It’s still catchy, and very technical, but not the new frontier experience I thought it would be.
There is however quite the evidence that there are some very bold attempts to do something different, tracks like ‘Blank Space‘ and ‘I’m Human Just Like You‘ demonstrating Leda’s mastery of the 8-string guitar making good use of note available.
Several listens of the album later and it’s hard to say it’s disappointing, because ‘Tonick Dizain‘ is actually a good album. I was just looking for something revolutionary – a new wave of Japan djent, or Djapan (sorry I had to do it!). Hopefully if Far East Dizain continue (Leda’s band projects are notoriously short-lived), there will be no holding back on crafting something totally incredible. We know they can do it!
[verdict]Yes[/verdict]
[why]It isn’t the mammoth record we were expecting, but the positives definitely outweigh the negatives. The creative and technical flourish at key junctures making ‘Tonick Dizain’ a very listenable record.[/why]
