EROSION shows all the ugly, the bad, and their fragilities but also the will to fight, the love and the passion underneath their tortured souls in this spine-chilling CD.
Brief introduction
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.
Review
Title: EROSION with YOU from CARNELIAN BLOOD Vol.4 YORU Label: Rejet Release date: 23/03/2022 Genre: Rock/Hardrock
Tracklist:
1 - OneThing (EROSION song) 2 - Determination (YORU solo track) 3 - 激辛なカレ 4 - イカれた料理教室 5 - 甘い、甘い、甘い蜜 6 - 苦くて苦しいソレ 7 - 酸いも甘いも×××次第
Track by track analysis:
1 – OneThing
Vinyl hiss and background static welcome you to the grandiose “OneThing”.
If you were missing heavy rock from EROSION, this song more than delivers that. This is quite possibly the band’s heaviest song – instrumental and emotions combined – so far.
The soundscape is surprisingly open in the verses, leaving the pounding drums at center stage as EROSION’s vocals Shoya Chiba, Ryota Suzuki, Yuya Hirose, Arthur Lounsbery, and Toshiyuki Toyonaga scream their hearts out in what is one of the most technical performances by the talented 5-vocal rock band.
The 2nd verse changes things around ever so slightly, adding distortion to the guitars, atmospheric synths, and a pounding bassline on top. You can feel the tension rising, those raw emotions piling up, being bottled only for the chorus completely pouring those over you.
This is one of those rock performances in which the instrumental demands a performance on “the edge” for the singers.
As such, not only do you have screamed vocals in the verses but you also will notice on several occasions, EROSION’s members roughening their vocals – some of those performing on a lower scale than usual, Shoya Chiba being especially intense – to sound even more dramatic, something that I believe adds to the factor that this song will shake you to your core (emotionally).
Another detail – still on the vocals – that I love is the way the vocals were directed.
Everyone carries a lot of legato during the verses, bringing a melodic edge to a song that, otherwise, would be pitch-black. There’s beauty underneath but darkness for sure takes over for this song.
On the instrumental side, I’m absolutely in love with the drums work.
That bass drum and snare hit like a truck.
It is a sound so raw and deep that it’ll overwhelm you.
It is pounding throughout the song, never missing a beat, always making sure the song is dark and heavy. The lower tuned snare has a delightful “color” that I love and that bass drum is just… pure quality.
And if that wasn’t enough, as the drums keep pounding their way through the instrumental, bringing in a splashy edge, the guitar goes for a solo that winks at 80s metal guitar solos. It has a powerballad edge, carrying a lot of emotion without being aggressive.
In a way, the guitar ends up being the “gentlest” instrument in this song, which is a surprise.
“OneThing” will drain you emotionally but it is one hell of an impressive song.
2 – Determination
Wrapping up this CD is “Determination”, solo song by YORU (CV: Arthur Lounsbery).
What an entrance this song has! “Determination” is a stripped-down rock song that hits insanely hard as soon as those slow-paced lower toms kick-off.
This is quite the atmospheric song and surprisingly simplistic in the way it creates this desperate, obsessive, fragile, and passionate dark soundscape you’re left in.
Those lower toms arrive alone.
Nothing more is in the soundscape.
They echo, they slowly set a marching vibe to this song. Like someone fighting to take a step forward. Finding the will and determination to move forward.
That empty heart steadily beats and only stops when the song wraps up. That is the element that never changes to the song.
That is more than enough to tell you that this song is going to be dark and emotional. Then, a tambourine joins in, adding a bit of depth to the instrumental yet, you can feel like it arrives as an element to flesh out environmental storytelling. Think of the sound of the tambourine, steady to the toms’ sound.
It sounds like chains hitting the floor. Those chains that metaphorically have locked that empty heart that was mentioned within the very first seconds of the song.
That sound – and thus the choice of a tambourine for a song like this – can symbolize those invisible chains locking the heart to avoid feeling something again. It can symbolize “determination” as marching forward with chains takes more effort than usual.
Really, let your theorization go wild with this song because the soundscape in “Determination” gives you plenty of clues behind the story in this song – and thus, YORU’s.
Slow, distorted guitar riffs trash the soundscape in front of you. They add drama and desperation to this song.
When you notice, you’re already in the chorus and this is where the instrumental shows you something slightly different. Trashing and crashing, the drums spread that darkness all over the soundscape, with atmospheric synths and a choir – this one just but an accent in the far background – complete the sound you get in this part.
Arthur Lounsbery delivered one hell of a tricky performance. Right from the start, he roughened his voice, lowered his tone just enough to bring some emotional edge to his vocals, and went all out in his emotional range.
He screams his heart out in this performance. It feels like there is anger and sadness in his performance. It is haunting.
As you go deeper into this song, “Determination” feels like a scream for help.
A scream to shove others aside.
It is simultaneously a cry for help and a warning for you to not get any closer. Someone – in this case, YORU – is deeply hurt and afraid of moving forward and filling in that empty heart.
And the instrumental’s simplicity, in a way, illustrates that fragility, hurt, and emptiness, leaving a lot of breathing room – although sounding more suffocating than liberating – and by not bringing a lot of instruments into the mix.
As a result, the listener falls deeper and deeper into this dramatic, bassy marching sound, with the screaming guitars holding you by your shoulders, not letting you do a thing.
I don’t even know how to feel about this song. It’s insanely raw. And incredibly sad.
Final considerations
EROSION is the gift that keeps on giving. For its 4th entry in the EROSION with YOU from CARNELIAN BLOOD CD series, listeners find 2 songs that will shake them to their core.
I’m not going to repeat myself, after all this review is already pretty long, but this CD is emotionally raw in all its songs.
“OneThing” may have seemed like it would be a sweet song but after its 14-second intro, the song takes a 180 turn going loud and extremely aggressive, giving way to one of the most impressive rock songs released in 2022 – so far – by a 2D band/group.
Everything about it will please rock fans.
All instruments in the mix have a clarity that will make you want to listen to this song time and time again to focus on a different instrument. The tuning for the drums (and the drum kit chosen) are imponent, creating a deep, dark sound with an intimidating edge that I absolutely love. Guitars scream but aren’t noisy, you can appreciate their melodies and that solo is absolutely divine.
It has been a while since I was last impressed by an intro to a song but hell if the intro to “Determination” isn’t imposing and haunting!
This is a song that will floor you. The story being told, the little nods, or environmental storytelling is done with some of the instruments, and the raw emotions in Arthur Lounsbery’s performance will leave you speechless. Perhaps even make goosebumps all over you and, on the off chance, even make you cry.
This is an emotionally charged performance and despite not seeming like it, the instrumental in “Determination” has a lot of depth and plenty of interesting layers to pay attention to.
I recommend you to listen to this song more than once. While once is enough to take that emotional blow, the more you carefully peel, the more you uncover the story, just in the instrumental.
Now, I’ve heard many songs performed by Arthur Lounsbery but nothing as heartwrenching and powerful as what he delivered with this performance.
This is a masterful performance with a high level of technicality, always in that edge between his voice cracking and almost like anger and crying at the same time. It is absolutely impressive the control he displays in this performance and the ease with which he tackles the complex emotions going on in the lyrics.
This is, honestly, the best performance I’ve heard so far in this CD series.
All in all, EROSION rose yet again the bar while taking the listener to the depths of their emotions, showing all the ugly, the bad, and their fragilities but also the will to fight, the love and the passion underneath their tortured souls.
Jaw-dropping entry in the EROSION with YOU from CARNELIAN BLOOD CD series.
EROSION with YOU from CARNELIAN BLOOD Vol.4 YORU is available for purchase at CDJAPAN.
“EROSION with YOU from CARNELIAN BLOOD Vol.4 YORU” is available for streaming on Spotify.
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