EROSION raise the stakes with RAD HEAD. Exciting, gritty and refreshing – even if with some hiccups -, this is the band’s best release in 2020.
CARNELIAN BLOOD is a mixed media – voice comics, music, etc – project created by Rejet. EROSION stems from the franchise as its representative group, a rock band with 5 vocals.
EROSION‘s lineup includes Shoya Chiba, leader Ryota Suzuki, Arthur Lounsbery, Toshiyuki Toyonaga and Yuya Hirose.
Title: RAD HEAD Release date: 25/11/2020 Label: Rejet Genre: Rock / Electro-Rock
Tracklist:
1 - RAD HEAD 2 - Get Out!!!!! 3 - (Outro) Sham’ing 4 - Voice Drama "Happy School Festival"
Track by track analysis:
1 – RAD HEAD
Pounding drums, a reverberating bassline, shredding guitar riffs blend with minimalistic electronica, with a slow-paced piano + sampled drums part joining in.
I love the instrumentalization in the pre-chorus, with that quiet piano section adding a unique and pretty exquisite melodic touch to RAD HEAD.
And what about this chorus? RAD HEAD goes loud into headbanging territory, with dark, low guitar riffs, double-bass drums, and a massive bassline shaping this track into one of EROSION’s best songs to date.
On the vocal end, EROSION doesn’t shy away from delivering a powerful and intimidating performance that mixes rough, edgy singing with rap sections.
That, alongside the song’s existent electronica + turntablism touches flows pretty well. Now, comes the chorus and they don’t spare anyone with their groovy, intense performance.
Top marks.
2 – Get Out!!!!!
Funky guitar riffs and dirty electronica lead the way for Get Out!!!!!.
The song has an obvious duality, with the verses shifting between intense rock, groovy melodies, and slow-paced electronica as the members take turns to deliver their piece of mind in his song.
While this may not sound well when you read my description (hard to describe these abrupt mood swings), these shifts in intensity make the song a blast to listen to. It’s seriously addictive strangely danceable.
The chorus is overdriven and exciting, being the perfect background to EROSION’s powerful vocals.
The vocals are groovy and melodic in the verses, being incredibly passionate in the chorus. The harmonies flow well, adding quality to the release.
There’s also a brief rap section in which all members take turns, adding fancy touches to their overall performance.
Certified banger.
3 – Sham’ing
Sham’ing wraps up this release with a lot of drama. Pizzicato strings and a delicate piano melody paint a unique soundscape.
In a strange change of events, EROSION ended up performing a dance track that blends EDM with classical music.
I don’t know if it’s just me but while the verses flow well and are really fancy, the chorus sounds too crowded and honestly it is difficult for the vocals to rise above the loud strings that share the center stage with them.
The mixing in this song sounds clumsy in the chorus.
The vocals are energetic and melodic, adding a good amount of power and quality to this song.
Final considerations
EROSION wrap up their first set of 3 releases with a golden key.
RAD HEAD is powerful, intimidating, and overflowing with energy and quality.
The title track is, hands down, EROSION’s best song to date, a bona fide banger of a rock track.
The chorus is explosive, the blend with electronica works pretty well, it has a beautiful and unexpected gentle side in the pre-chorus and some of the best vocals so far in the franchise.
Get Out!!!!! brought a bit of electronica into the mix, creating a tasteful blend of their gritty rock sound and dirty electronica. Multiple tempo and tone changes make it quite an interesting listen, keeping you on your toes throughout the performance.
The single’s closer is Sham’ing, song that showed a lot of promise but is downright sloppy in its chorus. There is a complete lack of balance in the mixing of the chorus, with vocals and strings with the same sound levels, making it impossible to listen to clear vocals. To top it all off, the background instruments are too close, once again enhancing that feeling that the mixing is messy.
Aside from the chorus, Sham’ing is incredibly good, packing quite the punch even though it is far from being a rock song.
When it came to the vocals, EROSION’s members don’t spare anyone.
There’s a lot of energy overflowing in all performances, with all members pulling off their best in their individual parts as well as showing a lot of consistency with their harmonies in the chorus sections of all songs in this release.
All in all, EROSION’s “RAD HEAD” is the band’s best release to date. Exciting, gritty, refreshing even if with some hiccups along the way. A single that makes me excited for what’s to come for them.
RAD HEAD is available for purchase at CDJAPAN.
