Shiki and Issei teamed up for the very 1st entry in the NEO X Lied series and fans get quiet the impressive track in the process.
SolidS’ Shiki (CV: Takuya Eguchi) and QUELL’s Issei (CV: Shugo Nakamura) team up for this release.
Title: SQ「Neo X Lied」Series vol.1 Label: Lantis Release date: 30/10/2020 Genre: Industrial / EDM / Pop-Rock
Tracklist:
1 - ドラマ「静かなる挑戦」 2 - ONE WILL 3 - ONE WILL －off vocal－
Track analysis:
2 – ONE WILL
Dirty, drone-y synths paint the dark, intense soundscape that we find in ONE WILL.
The verses have a weird alluring undertone going on, a characteristic of SolidS’ sound but there’s also a touch of QUELL in this song, especially as you’ll quickly notice how empty, minimalistic the instrumental is.
The verses are really slow, although the clap track will indicate the contrary, the buildup is slow but the reward is one of the most melodic and groovy choruses that the Tsukipro franchise has gifted their fans with in 2020.
While this is the kind of song that people will say that would fit best with a pounding beat, I actually appreciate the emptiness that is found in the instrumental.
This experimental blend of acoustic guitars, dirty synths, dramatic piano melodies and sampled beat is unique and provides the duo with just about the right elements for their performance to stand out. Nothing more, nothing less.
ONE WILL has serious influences of industrial rock, going darker and darker, having a dangerous, alluring undertone and an intensity that doesn’t need to be explicit, making the best of minimalism and electronica to charismatically deliver a powerful blow to the listener.
As a massive fan of industrial rock this song checks all the right boxes for me.
The bridge, bringing the shredding guitar riffs to the spotlight while, at the same time, splitting the vocals in half – for you, the listener to stand in the middle of Shiki and Issei’s bout made the song all the more intense and engaging for me.
On vocals we have in this release SolidS’ Shiki (CV: Takuya Eguchi) and QUELL’s Issei (CV: Shugo Nakamura). As 2 of the most versatile singers in the SQ and ALIVE series, I had my expectations high for this release and I can say that they more than met them.
Takuya Eguchi’s lower, almost bass-y notes met their perfect match in Shugo Nakamura’s mid-to-high notes, exploring his tenor range with a lot of flair.
ONE WILL will sound weird to some, it will sound refreshing to many but a quick listen to it is enough to understand that you are listening to one hell of an amazing and unique track that more than deserves your time.
And thus, the NEO X Lied series kicks off in a charismatic way.
SQ「Neo X Lied」Series vol.1 is available for purchase at CDJAPAN.
