Rooted in rock music but with tons of influences from heavier rock subgenres, dance/EDM, and jazz, “Timeless” is a fantastic entry in Sir Vanity’s repertoire.
Table of Contents
Review
Title: Timeless
Release date: 25/06/2025
Label: Vanity Records
Genre: Rock/Pop-rock
Tracklist:
1 - HERO
2 - will
3 - RiR
4 - New Day
5 - Timeless
Track by track analysis:
1 – hero
“HERO” is a track featured as the theme song for the Tokyo Revengers stage play.
Now, when it comes to the track it is worth mentioning that this one is nothing like the band’s previous releases.
Shredding guitars and intense synths + piano combo take the stage. You can feel the urgency in their sound as guitars power their way through the track, while the song brings forth explosive, bassy drums and a crunchy bassline.
The little details in this song are beyond impressive.
The brief intermissions bring a dramatic element to their music, with the piano being responsible for creating an exquisite, rather theatrical soundscape in which Yoshiki Nakajima and Yuichiro Umehara’s somber vocals stand out.
“HERO” flies by with its intensity and fast-paced, something that couldn’t be found in previous songs of theirs.
The drama, the little piano, and bass accents, and the vocal performances are all at a higher level than the already high level that the band has displayed since day one.
This is a song to put you on the edge of your seat. This is rock music in its most exciting form.
2 – will
Urgent, dramatic strings paint the background to what is the heaviest song by Sir Vanity (so far).
The build-up is slow but quite intense, with the guitars blasting their way through the violent drums that take you to the first verse.
The tone is dark, decadent. It almost feels like the moment before giving up. It is crucial. Raw and violent, and the instrumental reflects that, going straight for your feelings.
There are strong influences of hardcore in this song – instrumental only – with some post-rock in the mix – noticeable in the slow, melodic intermissions within the song. This mix is a first for Sir Vanity, a sound that suits them surprisingly well.
For the second verse, things change slightly. Snare rimshots echo in the background, taking everything away from you before bringing in the heavy drums, insanely tricky bassline, and screaming guitars.
Slowly, the drums and screaming guitars bring you back to the despair and violence you could find in the first verse, and oh boy. The second time the chorus hits, it feels like it is even heavier than the first time.
Although barely noticeable, in the background, there is a beautiful piano arpeggio going on, adding a layer of raw beauty to this song. A beautiful spot in a song that is pitch-black.
The bridge glitches the guitars and puts the drums and bass at center stage as strings give a grandiose scale to this song.
It’s goosebumps all over me as the double-bass drums, the melodic bass solo, and the strings kick in.
“will” goes loud and straight for your heart, with Yuichiro Umehara and Yoshiki Nakajima making sure to hit the final nails in the coffin, performing this song with an obvious rawness – as if baring their heart – but with an underlying gentleness and care.
Umehara and Nakajima have quite the technical performance in this song, mixing clean vocals with melodic, low parts, falsetto, harmonies, and vibrato. This much variety on the vocals has led to one of the most interesting performances I’ve heard this year.
Rich, full of color, intense, and heartwrenching.
That’s the stuff I look for in rock performances, and Sir Vanity certainly delivered.
This is, hands down, Sir Vanity’s best song to date.
Listening to the band tackling a sound this heavy – and it fitting the band right from the start – makes me wish the band would further explore this sound in the future.
This introspective, “screaming your heart out” type of performance and sound is something that has been lacking from rock bands in the seiyuu industry, and hell if Sir Vanity didn’t arrive with a much-needed song to fill in that gap.
To headbang to no end. To floor you. To play with your emotions. Outstanding song.
3 – RiR
Dramatic piano melodies echo in a wide soundscape. Slowly, strings paint the background as you’re immediately pulled into the song.
The vocals are unbelievable in this song, with Yuichiro Umehara going for the low notes on the vocals as Yoshiki Nakajima taps into his tenor range and brings out high notes that shine bright through the cloudy performance, piercing through the darkness you find in “RiR”.
When it comes to the second verse, the roles change for a split second with Yoshiki Nakajima singing in a normal, faux baritone voice tone, then seamlessly shifting to high notes as Umehara cranks up on those low tones.
The chorus is addictive and will have you jamming along to it in no time. The piano shines bright alongside the strings, the punchy bassline, and incisive drums. The guitars shred their way into the bridge section, which is by far one of the best in Sir Vanity’s repertoire.
4 – New Day
We go into “New Day” and the tempo and tone change, bringing hopeful piano melodies playing in the background as the atmosphere is slightly brighter, even if split into tiny little pieces, which the synths accentuate in a neat effect.
Guitars take over and are the star in this song. They shred their way throughout the song as the riveting drums and deep bassline complement the background to this rock tune.
When it comes to the vocals, it is worth mentioning that the verses bring a mix of clean vocals – low baritone and high tenor – as well as rapping by Nakajima.
If all of that didn’t grab your attention, the chorus ensures you headbang alongside the song, enjoying the legato guitar riffs and piano melodies playing to your right ear as the guitars go on full blast.
What a performance, wrapping up with a bass solo!
5 – Timeless
And wrapping up this release, we have “Timeless” song that brings jazzy piano melodies leading the way into a rock tune in which strings and electric guitars share the stage.
This song feels and is dramatic, with the piano melody playing to your right ear, ensuring you feel that drama, that time ticking. The electric guitars bring destruction as the strings heighten the drama in “Timeless”.
One thing I love about this song is the final, dramatic tone to this song that culminates in a powerful and deeply emotional chorus that will have you on the edge of your seat.
When it comes to the vocals, Yoshiki Nakajima and Yuichiro Umehara ensure you are glued to your seat with your mouth ajar. Their performance – both individually, in their solo sections, and as a unit, when the chorus dynamics demand it – is amazing.
Also, if you’re a sucker for a good guitar solo, Sir Vanity teases you with those screaming guitars pulling at your heartstrings into the final chorus.
Final considerations
Sir Vanity never disappoints, and in “Timeless,” the band showcases just how exciting and unique their sound is. Rooted in rock music but with tons of influences from heavier rock subgenres, dance/EDM, and jazz. That, paired up with the twin vocals and twin guitars, makes Sir Vanity shine as no other seiyuu-led rock band has shone before.
This band doesn’t play around and once again delivers an album in which each song is unbelievable on its own and only becomes even more impressive as part of the whole.
“Timeless” is available for purchase at Amazon Japan (they ship internationally).
You can find this CD on Spotify.
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