These Japanese rave metallers have been making quite the name for themselves…perhaps it’s because their musical approach is absolutely bat-shit crazy – but they have produced some stunning tracks in their few years of existence! We review their brand new album ‘Feeling of Unity‘.
[tracklist]
01. Cast Your Shell
02. Meaning of Existence
03. Escape from the Loop
04. Starburst
05. Interlude
06. Party Boys
07. Graptitude
08. Ignite Your Frail Mind
09. The Demon Called Careless
10. Let Me Hear
11. Journey To Aim High
[/tracklist]
[details]
[record_label]VAP Inc.[/record_label]
[release_date]30th September 2015[/release_date]
[/details]
Fear, and Loathing in Las Vegas are one of those bands that you will love with a flaming passion or absolutely despise. If you haven’t heard them before, they are basically Enter Shikari on a cocktail of steroids, meth and acid. Their sound is based on a electronicore idea that takes the whole concept to an extremely technical level, adding rave music with metalcore harmonies and brutal riffing, more often than not played at the speed of light with absolutely no song structure whatsoever. One minute you’ll hear a danceable mid-tempo chorus covered in electro-flurries, and the next a super speed twin-harmony attack. Of course the vocals are a point of controversy being layered with brutal screams from one vocalist, and auto-tuned wailing from the other, though it definitely gives the music flair!
I have actually very much enjoyed this band given the previous releases of ‘All That We Have Now‘ and ‘Phase 2‘ have been stellar in terms of musicianship albeit unconventional metal – and of course I have received numerous headshakes of disapproval from metal purists over liking this band. Adventurous metalheads, this one is for you! Let’s review ‘Feeling of Unity‘…
It’s actually very hard for me to comprehend how this band write their music which is generally the basis of what impresses me about them. The songs are totally erratic in style, yet they all have identifiable elements that don’t make them a sloppy mess as one would expect. The opening track ‘Cast Your Shell‘ does just that in proving what Fear, and Loathing in Las Vegas are actually worth. Opening with a few seconds of jazz on keyboards, bursting into a steroid-induced twin-harmony intro, mellowing out for the first verse then blowing your mind with a huge chorus with bending electro overlay. It seems like the music is written as a collaborative vision of interests, but it somehow works.
It’s party music through and through, with tracks like ‘Escape From The Loop‘ being fast and upbeat and the techno-induced ‘Starburst‘ simply making you want to jump. It’s worth noting that Fear, and Loathing in Las Vegas sing mainly in English – but it is very incomprehensible – however the vocal lines in this only serve as layers to layer a band that really is all about the music, so it could be in gibberish for all I care (it kind of is). The hooks are incredible, the guitar work in both rhythm and lead are outstanding and the battery is intense. Even the use of the bass in parts of the album leaves the wow factor in tracks like ‘Ignite Your Frail Mind‘, and even as a metal purist it’s hard not to agree that these six men know how to perform and play, even if you hate the style they adopt.
Every album the band releases they try to throw something in we haven’t heard before in their music, with a highlight in particular being the bass funk in the in the interlude of ‘Party Boys‘ and the U2 esque intro of ‘Journey To Aim High‘. Once again Fear, and Loathing in Las Vegas have created something interesting, and more proof that they really are one of the most weirdly creative bands out there at the moment. But I don’t forget that music like this will probably drive 90% of metalheads mad, but I do like ventures outside the box…especially with musicianship like this!
[verdict]Yes[/verdict]
[why]It’s another great album from FaLiLV. If you enjoy things that are wildly outside the box, you will love this. If you are even remotely discontented with anything electronic, steer clear. [/why]
