GROWTH “Mahou no Kizuna” (Review)

“Mahou no Kizuna” will transport you to a world of fantasy, a world filled with delicate harmonies, dramatic and grandiose instrumentalization, and most of all, a perfect performance that makes this song the best one GROWTH has released so far.

Title: Mahou no Kizuna
Label: Tsukino-Pro
Release date: 27/10/2017
Genre: Orchestral-Pop/ Lyrical pop

Tracklist:

1 - 魔法のキズナ
2 - 魔法のキズナ　-off vocal-

Track analysis:

1 – 魔法のキズナ

There’s a whole atmosphere about this song that immediately draws you to it. The tropical vibes in the intro, the whole dramatic piano section, the hasty percussion, the rustic bagpipe parts, or even the mix of strings and contrabass that enrich this instrumental piece.

Blowing instruments are few but enough to add a refined touch to this grandiose song, acoustic guitars add depth and the timpani bring orchestral elements into the equation.

But its richness goes beyond what we wrote. The song is 6 minutes long and rest assured, there are a lot of small details that you won’t be able to notice with only a couple of listens.

That, by itself, is something that makes it even more interesting to replay this song. Some minimalistic percussion parts and orchestral hits are way deep, hidden in the background, and are only noticeable if you’re familiar with the instruments or really pay attention to the instrumental as opposed to the vocal performances.

What can I say about GROWTH‘s vocal performances that might be different from what I’ve been saying about them?

It’s hard to describe a group that, time and time again, completely overwhelms the listener with rich and high-quality performances. I dare say that GROWTH are the only group among Tsukipro‘s units that can harmonize in a way that they actually sound like one in the choruses (QUELL are a close second).

Their vocal colors are so different but fit so well, and every single one of the members is incredibly skilled, there are no flaws to pick on when it comes to them.

Toki‘s leadership goes beyond his leadership role, he does lead a lot during the choruses due to his polished lyrical singing technique, the chorus parts on this song are a great example of that.

Yamashita is a force to reckon with, his tone is so rich and exquisite, plus he has a wide vocal range that makes him one of the most important assents to this group, Terashima is the owner of a sweet natural vibrato that makes all his performances shine as well as warm low notes and Yamaya is mostly a high note hitter but don’t get fooled by his apparent vocal range, he can go low if needed and he does it well in the chorus. He’s also one of the most skilled members when it comes to harmonizing.

As a whole, the solos, crescendos, choruses were all performed flawlessly.

“Mahou no Kizuna” is one of those songs in which you’ll be totally immersed from the get-go and completely forget about the time. It’s rich, dramatic, grandiose, unique, a song that transports the listener to a new world, a world of fantasy and dreams. This is a masterpiece from GROWTH.

“魔法のキズナ” is available for purchase at CDJAPAN.

Maho no Kizuna

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