Hurts ~ Requiem
So, Hurts is disbanding after their oneman on 3/20. It almost seemed inevitable, since they have the double bad luck of being both Nagoya and on UCP. And now seems as good a time as any to tell you what they're like. While they're still together.
They started as a session band, playing in and around Nagoya, before being signed to Under Code. And in a little over a year, have released 8 singles for a total of 19 songs. Their last release, a best-of album, was released on March 5th. Their sound though, was very reminiscent of second-generation Nagoya, and maybe even older. Very dark, grungy and bass-led with mostly un-screamy vocals, they had that certain Nagoya sound that often sets the style apart from other visual kei. Even when the visuals are closer to being generic VK.
The vocalist, Hina, is really never impressive, but more importantly, he was inoffensive. He wasn't terribly nasal, he didn't misuse vibrato, and he didn't constantly screech to disguise a bad singing voice. In other words, he wasn't bad, just not amazing. His voice did work with the music most of the time too. And like a lot of Nagoya vocalists, he certainly had tinges of Aki (Laputa) and Kisui/Jun (Phobia/SIX-R), at times.
Guitarist, Mukku, was interesting to me in his ability to play both lead and rhythm, without too much overdubbing. I liked his grungier style as well. He resisted that bright sound I hate in so much standard VK, but he also doesn't really go for the down-tuned sludge that nu-metal inspired bands go for. No, instead I felt much more of an Eika or Aie comparison at times. Perhaps even Iori, who, btw, has left Siva. Let's hope he ends up in a Nagoya band again.
The bassist was Maki, and the news gets sadder here. He is apparently giving up the bass after Hurts' last live. His basslines weren't terribly dominant, but they did lead the songs fairly frequently, and his solos, when given center stage, were actually pretty damn good. Not just a couple of notes like a lot of bassists will do, but something long enough to get stuck in your head afterward. But most of the time, they just throb along beneath the rest of the song, subtly staying out of the way, but holding up the pyramid.
One thing awesome (out of many) about Nagoya bands is their attention to that rhythm section. Kaede was actually pretty fantastic. Good, interesting lines, and restraint on the cymbal, which is always the first thing I notice about drumming. Love to hate on those cymbal crashes. Otherwise, he was great at giving the cues, and changing things up several times during a song.
It's rather depressing to lose a good, promising band like this so quickly. I'm certain they didn't even close to reach their full potential.
