OSIRIS, BLAST and Fairy April are back with another release, and this time around each band has made their endeavors outside their comfort zone.
Disclaimer: we will strictly review the regular version of the album, and will not review Cure2Tron’s tracks as their are not sang by male seiyuu.
Title: Duel Gig vol.2
Label: Sony Music Japan
Release date: 25/10/2017
Genre: Hard-rock/pop-rock/pop-punk
Tracklist:
1：sparkler song/ BLAST
2：Way of Light/ OSIRIS
3：secret lovesick/ Fairy April
4：廻々ストーリー/ Cure2Tron
5：Bystander/ BLAST
6：Cross Wish/ OSIRIS
7：Believe Wing/ Fairy April
8：祝福の花束/ Cure2Tron
Track by track analysis:
1- sparkler song
To kick off this album, we have BLAST‘s sparkler song, a track with a simple combo composed by the drums and guitar which create the perfect stage for the vocals to complement the instrumental piece in this track’s intro. While giving the spotlight to the vocals, we are marveled by the bassy instrumental with the guitar monopolizing the spotlight in the interlude, as if transforming this slow paced track into something even better.
sparkler song gets more of an appearance from the drums and a more prominent presence from the guitar in the second chorus, and although it is ever so slightly different from the first part of this track, the instrumental does not in any become flawed, in fact it become the perfect stage for the guitar solo and the performance delivered by the vocals. This track wraps up in the same way that it began, almost like a full circle. 5/5
2- Way of Light
Up next, we have OSIRIS‘s track Way of Light. This is yet another fully packed of emotion type of track, and with it we are presented with a medium tempo instrumental piece, which perfectly complements the setting of the track. Way of Light has a drum performance resembling a brass band’s, which alongside the guitar and the bass on the background, make up this track’s intro. Way of Light proficiently adapts the instrumental piece to the chorus as we have a more prominent guitar performance and drums, as well as some underlying sparkling chimes.
The melodic and soulful guitar solo really took us by surprise, however we can only say that it was a wonderful way to deliver us with more diversity and emotion in the already amazing track. Way of Light is undoubtedly a merry go round track, but a finer version of it delivered to us by none other than OSIRIS. 5/5
3- secret lovesick
Coming up next, we have secret lovesick, a bassy and up beat track delivered to us by the pop-rock band Fairy April. This track’s intro is delivered by the prominent bass stealing the show, as the drums and guitar serve as background for its performance in “solo mode” throughout the whole track’s instrumental piece. And we must say, for those of you who enjoy Shouta’s falsetto and a good bass performance, secret lovesick will be a must for you.
Along the way, the guitar’s performance becomes a little less of a background canvas for the instrumental piece and blends in perfectly with the instrumental piece. Once again, we cannot be without mentioning just how amazing this track really is, from the flawless vocal performance to the astonishing performance, instrumental wise, secret lovesick is definitely a must. 5/5
5- Bystander
BLAST‘s track Bystander presents us with a new approach to the band’s trademark “sound”. An underlying bass and a playful guitar compose this track’s intro. A different approach to the vocal performance added a different touch to this track’s instrumental piece, as the built up momentum exploded in the chorus.
Despite this track having all the band’s usual performance elements, a bassy performance, the rocky guitar and the drums, we cannot disregard the fact that Bystander is just that interesting, specially the chorus, which is delivered to us by the guitar. 5/5
6- Cross Wish
With a melodic and emotional piano, alongside the guitar and Kobayashi‘s flawless vocal performance, Cross Wish has a promising intro in this track that is fully packed with emotion delivered to us by each instrument. The slow and melodic guitar makes the perfect stage for the bass and the slow drums to complement the instrumental piece in Cross Wish.
The piano makes its comeback in the pre-chorus, as it adds more of a sentimental feel to the track’s instrumental piece, alongside the guitar solo with some strings in the background making Cross Wish a grandiose track, with the final touch delivered by the vocal performance which through falsetto and vibrato managed to make this track as if it was plea. 5/5
7- Believe Wing
To wrap up this album, we have yet another track delivered to us by Fairy April. Believe Wing is a track lead by a powerful performance by the drums, guitar and the bass. As soon as Shouta begins singing the bass makes this track’s instrumental give off a sexiness oozing from the amazing vocal performance.
Believe Wing is a medium tempo track with some synths in the background which eventually become more prominent in certain moments in the track, however the main focus in this track is the guitar, bass and vocal performance. 5/5
Final considerations
This Duel Gig vol.2 was a album full of surprises, delivered to us by Fairy April, BLAST and OSIRIS. It has been interesting to listen to different approaches of each band’s “sound” as each one of them attempted to step out of their confort zone, in one way or another.
Fairy April‘s secret lovesick and Believe Wing were both bass driven tracks as we got to really listen to the instrumental pieces of both tracks and enjoy their trademark bass performances, alongside Shouta‘s vocal performance.
BLAST‘s Bystander and sparkler song were interesting tracks as the band attempted to step out of their usually punk-pop genre, delivering us with extremely energetic tracks, whereas these two tracks were more mellow, which was in fact a noce surprise, as we got to understand that BLAST has the potential for more growth.
OSIRIS‘s Way of Light and Cross Wish are both different tracks, both in the way of approach and instrumental. As Way of Light resembles a merry go round, Cross Wish is a extremely emotional track in which Kobayashi‘s vocal performance played a major role in delivering all those strong emotions that poured from the lyrics. Aside from that, we cannot forget to mention the falsetto and vibrato is Cross Wish which will render everyone powerless as his vocals melt us.
This review was possible thanks to MALLARD084’s sponsored copy.
“Duel Gig vol.2” is available for purchase on CDJAPAN for all overseas fans.
