Wrapping up 2020 on top of their game, GYROAXIA go loud and aggressive for their new single “EGOIST”.
GYROAXIA consist on Jin Ogasawara (on vocals), Shinichi Hashimoto (guitar), Takumi Mano (guitar), Hiroto Akiya (bass) and Kousuke Miyauchi (drums).
Title: EGOIST Release date: 30/11/2020 Label: Bushiroad Genre: Rock / Punk-rock
Tracklist:
1 - EGOIST 2 - GETTING HIGH 3 - VOICE DRAMA「PREFACE」
Track by track analysis:
1 – EGOIST
GYROAXIA go loud and aggressive for EGOIST. The song kicks off with muffled guitar riffs but quickly, dynamics change and the guitars unveil themselves, bring a thunderous bass line and imposing, bass-drum driven drums along.
The verses are intense, arriving with a lot of aggression and powerful, making quite the big impression.
There are punk-rock influences in their sound, mostly noticeable in the fast paced and rather simple drums work in the verses.
Things change in the chorus, with the drums going the double-bass route, pounding and imposing themselves over the rest of the instrumental.
The bridge is the heaviest I’ve heard from a 2D music project in 2020. Those low, nu-metal inspired guitar riffs pack quite the punch.
When it comes to the vocals, Jin Ogasawara goes for a masterful performance that matches the intensity of the instrumental.
He never misses a beat, adding quite a bit shot of energy and power to “EGOIST”.
2 – GETTING HIGH
The single wraps up with GETTING HIGH, song that strays a bit away from GYROAXIA’s usually punk-rock sound by bringing electronica into the mix.
However, don’t worry, electronica makes its way into this song in a pretty tasteful, seamless way.
The verses are your good and intense GYROAXIA trademark however, you can also count with the guitars to be rather funky, or at least giving off a more danceable vibe than ever before. Strangely, it fits well with the band.
GETTING HIGH has quite the groovy bass line and pounding drums, something that I deeply enjoy finding in rock music.
The chorus gets a bit dragged by its repetitive final line but, if you’re not one to be picky about details, it shouldn’t bother your listening experience.
On the vocal end, Jin Ogasawara goes for a mixed performance, bringing to the table rap and clean singing. At the same time, I found his performance to have a rather “traditional” touch to it in the chorus.
The progression in that section gives him an enka flavor that I wasn’t expecting to find in a song that is still quite heavy and aggressive.
Final considerations
GYROAXIA wrap up 2020 with a massive release. EGOIST is not shy about its heavy and aggressive sound right off the bat.
Its imposing and intense sound – led by the guitars and bass – made quite the good impression. I am a fan of that brand of rock and thoroughly enjoy headbanging along to those deep, shredding guitar riffs and pounding drums.
EGOIST is exactly the kind of rock song that I’d love for more bands to give it a try and embrace.
It doesn’t have to be necessarily draining on the vocals, as you could hear, Jin Ogasawara gave quite the comfortable performance, and the instrumental can be as simple as what this song has at its core.
There’s no need for synths or other elements that, most of the times, only come to clutter the song.
Keep things simple and to the point like GYROAXIA kept in EGOIST. How much would I love for rock bands in the 2D music industry to challenge themselves with a sound like this… And then, I miss Band Yarouze!.
Either way, back to this review.
EGOIST is a certified headbanger. Perfect to be played live, packing quite a lot of raw power and energy with it. Easily my favorite song in this single.
The single wraps up with GETTING HIGH, song that brought electronica to the spotlight.
Although it could have gone wrong pretty quickly, the addition of electronica was only used as an accent, something to enhance the overall performance. I was not a big fan of some of the sections in this song.
The repetition in the chorus alongside the electronica was a bit too much and off brand for GYROAXIA.
Did it take away my enjoyment when listening to this single? Slightly but not enough to deem this song “bad” or “mediocre”.
All in all, EGOIST is quite the impressive single.
After their previous release – IGNITION -, I was not expecting for them to go this heavy right off the bat. Thankfully they did.
What a masterful way to wrap up 2020.
[…] the exciting releases of “IGNITION” and “EGOIST” in 2020, fans are pretty excited for what GYROAXIA have up their sleeves for their […]