OLDCODEX – pledge (Review)

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What a better way to kick off this month than with OLDCODEX‘s newest mini-album pledge. The famous band returns this year with this mini-album after last year with Dried up Youthful Fame, that was well accepted by the fans, which leaves us to expect a good performance on this one as well. Without any further ado let’s get this review started.

pledge is only available on one edition: CD+DVD.

More details regarding the single:

pledge

Mini-album: pledge
Label: Lantis
Release date: 01/04/15
Genre: J-Rock / Punk Rock
Tracklist
1
EYES IN CHASE
2
PHYSICAL
3
BITTER ASPIRATION
4
REEL
5
SEEQURET
6 LOST BEFORE

 

Track by track analysis:

1- Eyes in chase

To kick off this mini-album we have a powerful track more focused on the bass and guitars. Eyes in chase completely screams OLDCODEX, we have the fast drums, the bass that is on “solo mode” throughout the whole song and last but not least we have the guitars that are almost fighting for the spotlight in the track. Let’s just mention the drum work at the beginning of the track going all-out, speed wise, but not for long because as soon as Tatsuhisa begins to sing it slows down. The guitars that creep from time to time and the bass that is really going at it are really good, and actually they make a the perfect stage for the chorus to “explode”. This track is like a new “sound” that OLDCODEX never produced before, and in fact for some of the fans you’ll notice that in their repertoire you won’t find a similar song. The addition of the synths was good although it was kind of unexpected in this track but nevertheless it was refreshing. The outro of this track is once more a very good one with the guitar and bass, not forgetting the drums that aren’t all that fast but make that small outro very melodic alongside with the rest of the instrumental. The guitar solo is also something that we cannot forget to mention even if it is small but the guitar is very melodic and very beautiful. 4.5/5

2-physical

physical is the intro theme of the anime The Transformers: Mystery of Convoy and we must say it has a really eerie intro with the siren and the guitar that makes its appearance before the rest of the instrumental. The way Tatsuhisa starts to sing helps to give off the whole mysterious feel to the instrumental. The once again powerful guitars are very good and the small electronica elements combined in the song are actually surprisingly good. The guitar and bass are definitely the main focus in physical. In the chorus we have a beautiful guitar part but it is in the actual solo that we have its best performance. The outro in this track is also good as the rest of the track. One of the best tracks in the album. 5/5

3-Bitter aspiration

Kicking off with the guitar and then giving its way to the rest of the instruments we have Bitter aspiration with a rather unique guitar on the background. This track’s instrumental is really good, the peculiar guitar, the amazing bass and the non-stopping drums make this track yet again sound fresh and new. Bitter aspiration unlike the previous tracks, hasn’t an all that fast instrumental but it still has a pretty good one. The guitar solo is this song is once again surprising and it is something we never listened from OLDCODEX which is a plus. 5/5

4-reel

Starting once again in an unexpected way we have reel that has a very eerie and “dark” guitar playing in the intro. This track also has some synths combined at the beginning of the song and also we have to mention the drums that are great. This track is more rock oriented instead of the more punk-rock songs that we are used to from the band. The chorus is a slight disappointment because it loses all the momentum that it had and it actually kind of ruins it almost like they’ve runned out of ideas or tried too hard to make something new that it ended up like this, but if we expunge that part it is a nice track to listen to, although it might not be everyone’s “cup of tea”and there’ll also be a lot of people wondering the reason to why reel has such a “lifeless” chorus. 4/5

5-seequret

With a more melodic guitar we have seequret that kicks off with a slower instrumental but with all the needed elements. The beginning of this track completely gives away the fact that this track is a ballad.  Once again and as in their previous album A Silent, within the roar with How Affection, we have a ballad that shows that Tatsuhisa can sing well other genres other than the usual punk-rock. The instrumental really gives the whole song the perfect stage for Tatsuhisa to show his vocal potential, although the song doesn’t get any different from the beginning until the end with the slow and melodic guitar and the bass but it is definitely the best track in the album. 5/5

6-Lost before

To end well we have Lost before, a track with some electronica elements at the beginning and with an amazing piano and drums that mix well together making it sound like a Nordic romantic-rock band which is something that I must say, I wasn’t expecting at all. This track is also not super fast, but is certainly has all the necessary elements to make Lost before a favorite for many. The momentum slowly grows but when we reach the chorus it explodes and delivers us a powerful instrumental. The guitar has the spotlight for some time then gives it to the bass that later on follows the guitar. The instrumental in this track is definitely a masterpiece making this track also one of the best track in this album.5/5 

Final rating:4 5 stars

In this mini-album we could really see that OLDCODEX is trying to incorporate new elements little by little in their “sound” which is really good and in their case they managed to work it out well except for the song reel that had so much potential to be a great track but it all went down the drain when they tried too hard to incorporate new elements and making the instrumental sound new that it ended up being to far-fetched. On the other hand we have some pretty good tracks like physical that had that eerie instrumental or seequret that despite being a ballad was really beautiful or last but not least, Lost before that really ended the album with the right foot and somehow it made a redemption of reel. pledge really made us notice that the band is really investing they time into creating songs that aren’t similar with previous one in their repertoire which is good, still let’s hope that they continue to make new tracks that sound so good as the three songs I mentioned and learn with reel and don’t make songs like that in the future.

pledge is available for purchase on CDJAPAN for all overseas fans.

Vanessa Silva
Vanessa Silvahttps://www.handthatfeedshq.com
The Hand That Feeds HQ founder, content creator, and music reviewer. Basically, the only person managing everything at The Hand That Feeds HQ. Stumbling upon Mamoru Miyano's "Orpheus" in 2011 was the start of this journey. If music is thought-provoking or deep, you may find her writing almost essays (not limited to, but it happens a lot with Soma Saito's music). She's the producer and host of the male seiyuu-centric podcast, SEIYUU LOUNGE (see Spotify link in this profile).

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