Phero☆men, seiyuu unit formed by Kousuke Toriumi and Junichi Suwabe, shines with the new single “IMMORAL WEDDING”.
Title: IMMORAL WEDDING/Silent Carnival Label: Columbia Music Entertainment Genre: J-Pop/Visual-kei Release date: 02/10/13
Tracklist:
| 1. | IMMORAL WEDDING |
| 2. | Silent Carnival |
| 3. | 懺悔室 (ダミーヘッド・ヴァージョン) |
| 4. | IMMORAL WEDDING (inst.) |
| 5. | Silent Carnival (inst.) |
Track by track analysis:
1 – IMMORAL WEDDING
The major pop song right here. This song is so good that, as I’m writing this review, it’s still on repeat and will probably be for a few more hours.
The instrumental is incredibly good compared with some previous instrumentals the duo has opted to use in their singles.
This time around we have house-like synths mixed with strings, a choir, a piano, and electronic drums all making a right fit with Toriumi and Suwabe’s perfect combination of low-toned vocals.
Highly catchy chorus with both of them taking turns showcasing their flawless vocals. A catchy pop song through and through, easily the best on the single.
2 – Silent Carnival
Where do I start with this song? Simply put: it’s not the best song this duo has presented us to date.
What puts me off with this song is the repetitive chorus and although I’m quite fond of Spanish-like instrumentals (with the trumpets, castanets, and the accordion but not too exaggerated), this one just simply fails to impress and becomes an awkward mess.
It could sound much better if the arrangement was a bit different.
3 – 懺悔室 (Dummyhead version)
An unlikely beginning for a song I must say. The song starts off almost like a drama CD. Junichi Suwabe introduces us to the track along with dummy-head mic usage by Toriumi taking turns with Suwabe.
Around 55 seconds on the track the song really starts off. Just to add more oddness to the song: it’s fully recorded using the dummy-head mic so it’s probably better to listen to this one with some headphones on or you’ll be missing being transported to the studio as soon as you close your eyes. Kind of an interesting approach to this song and definitely a new one to boot.
This song was already featured on their single “禁忌の薔薇〜Aphrodisiac〜” released in 2009 and is quite an interesting track, to say the least.
Simple yet catchy instrumental and with this kind of mic it’s even more interesting since you get to hear the raw, completely unadulterated vocals and the guys completely playing around with the mic throughout the song making this one a different version from the original.
Final considerations
A single that started off incredibly well with full force but somehow lost some of it during the following tracks. That’s how Fero☆men’s “IMMORAL WEDDING” goes.
Besides the obvious best song on the single “IMMORAL WEDDING” the others fail to impress to the same extent and thus dragging the final rating of the single to a mere “good/interesting” evaluation.
Vocal wise these guys never fail to impress as expected by two of the best and most prolific seiyuu in Japan, these guys are literally in every game and anime that is available be it main characters or supporting ones.
Their low-toned voices, Suwabe’s rougher and way deeper than Toriumi’s sometimes hit a more medium-deep tone while singing than his usual deep voice impresses anyone who listens to them singing. Still, they are a good duo, presenting us with new things like the dummy-head mic and making singles with at least one incredibly catchy song on it.
If you’re looking for Toriumi and Suwabe’s newest work and you can’t miss anything they’re in, then grab this single by Fero☆men without hesitation.
But if you’re not a connoisseur of their work and you’re reluctant I must add that the single is interesting enough to deserve a listen at least if you’re up for some unusual j-pop and, who knows, maybe Fero☆men won’t get off your head for a while.
The single is available on CDJAPAN for all overseas fans.
