And the final unit from the Forbidden Star project makes its debut. Black Verry have a star-studded lineup consisting of Kenji Nojima, Yuuma Uchida, Koutaro Nishiyama and Toshiyuki Toyonaga, sadly the instrumentals for both tracks left us thinking that maybe Rejet is playing to safely with such a powerful unit.
Single: 優シイ果実 (Yushi Kajitsu) Label: Rejet Release date: 28/09/2016 Genre: J-Pop/Rock
Tracklist:
1 - 優シイ果実 2 - Stupid Collection 3 - ミニドラマ「Bad debts」
Track by track analysis:
1 – 優シイ果実
Kicking it off with raging guitar riffs, fast paced splashy drums and a daring bassline, Yushi Kajitsu lays all its strengths on the table. This instrumental piece could have easily been one of OLDCODEX‘ songs – the fast, knife-like guitar riffs, the fast pace in the chorus in contrast with the mid-tempo in the verses, even the build up to the chorus. The instrumental alone is quite entertaining and certainly engaging for us listeners. The vocal performance is just as what we expected when we saw who was going to be part of this unit. With Toyonaga and Nojima‘s experience combined, both Nishiyama and Uchida sound fantastic. They displayed total harmony in both the verses and the chorus, with the four of them even having time to battle things out between them in the chorus with a canon showdown. An energizer and a good way to kick off this release. 4.5/5
2 – Stupid Collection
Mixing the refreshing piano melody with heavy guitar riffs for the intro was impactful by itself. Soon the instrumental grows not only quieter, but also slower, making good use of the drums that not only set the pace but also build up the tension for the fast-paced, amped up chorus. Vocally, this track is on the exact same tier as the previous one. There’s nothing out of the ordinary going on in terms of vocal performance – which can be good and bad, depending on the perspective -; the line distribution was interesting this time around as both Nishiyama and Uchida take the front seats for the first verses and deliver them without any kind of mistakes. When it’s time to call out to the big league, both Toyonaga and Nojima don’t fail to impress, blending in for a powerful unisson chorus and subsequent solid verses. Another solid track. 4.5/5
Final rating:
Enlisting Toyonaga, Nojima, Uchida and Nishiyama for this unit turned out to be not only a safe, but also a sure bet. Toyonaga and Nojima are by far two of the most techinical and controlled singers in the business. Both of them have countless years of singing experience and have always showcased incredibly powerful techniques with their performances. Toyonaga is a falsetto master whereas Nojima‘s prowess lies with his stunning vibrato that is always on flick. For this single both of them put their trademarks aside and blended with the new blood. Yuuma Uchida has been showing his cards taking part in several musical projects/seiyuu units (Idolmaster Side M, Heavens) and impressing everyone with his stable mid-tones and versatile tone. Koutaro Nishiyama was and is also part of several seiyuu units (former Animarus member and currently part of KiLLER KiNG) and has been showing everyone that he’s developing his singing skills at an insane rate. These four members together provided us with a crafty, technical and highly entertaining release in which it’s impossible to choose who sounded better among them.
The instrumentals thankfully were rooted to a rock/pop-punk sound which made it all the more engaging for us, providing the vocal performances with powerful stages to showcase their skills. What made us worry was that both tracks sounded similar. Despite how good the vocals are or how exciting the instrumental is, having two songs with the exact same feel and similar composition left us thinking that maybe, just maybe, the next releases will sound just like this and start to be predictable and boring.
In the end Yushi Kajitsu is a release that although incredibly consistent, leaves us with some doubts about where they are heading to in terms of music composition. We’ll have to way for the next release to really ascertain what Black Verry‘s stance really is among the other Forbidden Star units.
優シイ果実 (Yushi Kajitsu) is available for purchase for all overseas fans on CDJAPAN
