REVIEW: 9GOATS BLACK OUT - Sleeping Beauty
Their last release back in January took the indie world by storm, especially those into the Nagoya scene and those musicians associated with it. Considering how polished and fresh that release was, this single definitely has some large shoes to fill. How likely is that to happen? More likely than you might think.
9GOATS BLACK OUT
Sleeping Beauty
Genre: rock, visual, Nagoya
Release Date: 09-09-08
Price: 1000 ¥
Released By: Daiki Sound
Tracks: 4
01.Sleeping Beauty
02.Lestat
03.Nocturne (remix)
04.Sink (remix)
Sleeping Beauty - begins with some clean guitar strumming and Ryo singing very softly. The song threatens to build early on, but sort of musically checks itself and proceeds at fairly subdued pace, occasionally building, but then coming back down. Ryo’s vocals are unsurprisingly gorgeous, except for his breathing, which is sometimes noisy, but it’s not really distracting. Unless you mention it, which I’m doing, so I apologize. It’s nice that the song is over five minutes and contains a guitar solo, albeit a short one. This was something the first mini lacked, as all the songs were pretty short. I also like that the song never comes to that crescendo that it keeps hinting at throughout. Don’t go against the grain if you aren’t prepared to follow it through, I say.
Lestat - is delightfully distorted from the very beginning. And Ryo’s maniacal sing-song whisper helps it teeter on the brink of madness throughout. Supporting him are some high-pitched guitar squeals and just the right amount of bass dominance. Somewhere near the breakdown, the guitar reminds me an awful lot of Aie, and that actually continues right into the very interesting bridge. If it can even be called a bridge. This song isn’t set up in a usual way at all. Like I said initially with the madness theme, that’s sort of what the composition is like, meandering through parts like it doesn’t know where it’s going. And to top it all off, the end doesn’t make ANY sense whatsoever, but there is no more perfect death growl, nay, roar, than what Ryo pulls off. I don’t think there’s a madder song than this, and if there is, I haven’t heard it. Genius.
Nocturne (remix) - is different from the original pretty fast. Just check out those tablas and dark orchestration. However, they also don’t do Ryo’s soaring vocals justice. The rest of the song is some pretty New Age wankery, and it’s nice, really. I wouldn’t say it’s a match for the original, but at least it’s different, more like a real song.
Sink (remix) - has a lot of random sound effects for about two minutes before you hear the familiar starting notes of the original tinkling in the background. The bass seems more highlighted in this one. But again, there’s a lot of funky synth taking over at sometimes inopportune times, and well, the song is seven minutes where it was originally three and a half, you have to expect some flab.
At this point, if you are into the visual indie scene at all, and have not heard of or heard 9GOATS BLACK OUT, you are probably living under a rock. Their first mini was such a success that it had everyone scrambling to get an interview with them, including us. But they pretty much prove that they warranted all of it with this release. Sleeping Beauty is gorgeous and dark, but the mad genius of Lestat is what really stands out to me on this one. That song is my new favorite from them. Also, it was nice that the remixes were almost more like real songs than remixes.
Final Word: does not disappoint in the least. ★★★★★
Key:
★★★★★ = Excellent, flawless, perfecto
★★★★☆ = Very good, has some minor flaws
★★★☆☆ = Good, maybe a few boring moments, but overall enjoyable
★★☆☆☆ = Fair, bad outweighs the good
★☆☆☆☆ = Poor, possibly offensive to your ears
