Why I Love It
Ahh where do I start with this album? It's a mini album and is therefore is just over 20 mins long, but it's so good that it makes up for that short stay. The way the music is composed, from harsh dubstep, to aggresive guitar, and bass that you feel deep in your ears. The DROPS. All the drops in this album are something else man. You know how my complaint about some of their other songs was how it felt like they didn't utalize the women's voices as much as they could? Well throw all that out of the window because in this album we get Moeka and Haruki singing in voices I've never heard from them before. Sure Moeka is the bass voice of Harmoe, but in this album you get to hear her on her own sing in that bass voice, and not just when singing with Haruki. It sounds... so good... when I first heard it I was like "Thats Moeka?!?!?" Haruki also sings in a deeper voice in some of these songs which I also enjoyed, but she also sung in a haunting high pitched tone too. In their other songs Haruki does sing in a high pitched voice, but in those it's cute. Here it rings differently. I was exited for this album before it even came out, the concept seemed so interesting to me, taking on the villains perspective of fairy tales. I had my expectations high and they were more than reached. I love every song, but my favorites have to be QUEEN and VOICE, I'm a very big bass Moeka fan. Please listen to this album I'm begging ya. It's nothing like their other works but it still feels like Harmoe and I love it.
Thoughts on the Idividual Songs
QUEEN
QUEEN is such a strong start to the album, the perfect introduction to say "Yeah this is gonna be different from here on out." A true welcome to the villains world. The way the two are both using deep strong voices makes this song sound angry and powerful. When Haruki's voice does go back to the higher pitched we're used to, it contrasts perfectly against Moeka's voice. I have literally never heard Moeka sound like this before, and now that I have I want to hear it more. As all the bridges are in this album, it's super good. Going from angry to a bit of a softer tone. I'm still very much a begginer to japanese and only understand bits and pieces, but I think this part may be to shed a more sympathetic light onto the Queen of Hearts. All in all super duper good first song and super duper good song in general. (I'm so bad a reviews.) I'm very exited to hear this one live.
Brilliant and Bad
Mmm I love how this song starts off with a callback to Kimagure Ticktack, their first song. The little rising noise and the way the "Devil, Devil is me" part is sung is in a similar infliction as the "Let's go to the party" part in Kimagure Ticktack. OH and the "こじ開けちゃうんだ" of this song also has the same delivery. Going onto the actual song now, it's also very good! It's the most "Harmoe" sounding of this whole album, which isn't a bad thing. I like the sounds of a camera shutter going off in the background, I think it really encapsulates Curella's whole fashion thing(It's been years since I've watched or read anything related to 100 dalmations cut me some slack HAHAHA). My favorite part of this song has to be the chorus, the piano right after it is so good too. The way they sing so aggresively compared to the parts of the verses is a nice difference. I also really like the bass in the instumental during the verses, its deep and acts as a nice constast against the more softer tone they sing in during it. OH YEAH the bridge as always is great, with them and the music sounding... mischivious? I think that's the right word for it. This song makes me wish all the other songs had MV's aswell but that's me being greedy.
Anti-Client
OHOHOHO this song... this song I like a lot. It sounds literally insane. The first part sounds relatively... calm? If you can call it that. Then literally only about 30 seconds in the beat DROPS and it's so different from how the song started that it catches you so off guard. When I first listened I started laughing from how much it suprised me. It's such loud and incoherent noise that you can't help but love it. I really wanna see how they look trying to dance to this song. The parts where the beat isn't destroying your ears are also super catchy. I love the harsh cuts in this song, be it the singing getting cut off or the instrumental itself. This song's bridge is very soft sounding and then turns back into that crazy bass out of nowhere. Writing this I've noticed that all these songs have lots of contrasting parts. Even the very end of this song sounds good with the instrumental completely stopping and you just hearing them say "ANTI-CLIENT". Idk I like it when songs end like that. Super duper good song and something I would love to blast in my car once I get the CD.
Sleepless Forest
This song starts off with some funky bass and with Moeka singing in a slightly deeper pitch and Haruki singing in a ghostly tone. Then it transitions into a super catchy pre-chorus, which I find myself singing often, plus the electronic sounding sax(?) sounds so so good. I like how Moeka and Haruki in this song sound kinda... condecending? Espesically Moeka, she sells that voice well. I also think she says nice guy in this song which makes me giggle. OH YEAH the chorus in this song, like the others, is a very different vibe from everything else. It's super dance-y sounding if that makes sense. I really makes me wanna get out of my chair and just start breaking it down HAHAHA. I think it fits Maleficent well, the more chaotic and condecending sound. If I remember it correctly, she is the embodiment of chaos after all. I love how they sound in the bridge, its whispery and weirdly nostalgic to me? Ahh these songs are too short. My one complaint.
VOICE
Probably my number one favorite song in this album. This was another song that made me go "THAT'S MOEKA?". When I first put on a little snippet of the song for my brother he was like "Who's that?" and was also shocked when I told him. It's so different but so good. Unlike QUEEN, this deeper voice is not powerful and mad, but instead goes up into high pitches and the voice in itself sounds like the waves. Up and down up and down. Haruki, as always, hitting high notes with a insane amount of control, but her voice also falls into deeper tones here too. I love the little "Koe (Koe)" part, they bounce off eachother nicely. This bridge is REALLY love. The dialogue part where Haruki is the Little Mermaid and Meoka is Ursula is so good. Ik I'm saying that a lot but I really mean it. I love the way "さここに早く!" is delivered. The laugh and the sort of demonic grunts are so cool sounding, and so is the "Take away your voice". I really like the vocalizing, it kinda shows how she stole her voice, and is testing it out. OH and the bubble sounds that they had in My Pace ni Mermaid being at the end is a nice call-back. This song has been on loop for me, it's so so good.
Unfair Mirror
Unfair Mirror is different from the rest of the songs, in the sense that it's softer in tone, even during the dubstep parts. It's super pretty sounding, both the piano in the background and the singing. I absolutely adore the piano mixed with the more techno sounds, it makes this song sound cold in a good way. The way the two are singing in this song is whispery and soft, especially in the bridge. Their voices in it are high and beautiful kinda like a bird's song. It's haunting and melancholy. From what I've heard from japanese fans, it seems that the lyrics are also saddening. It's also been years since I've watched or read anything related to Snow White, but it would make sense on why the Evil Queen's song would be more sad in tone, she doesn't seem too have much self esteem. Though I'm not sure if the song's about that because my japanese is bad. I really like this song, it also makes me nostalgic as I used to listen to a lot of similar sounding songs back in middle school. It's a soft end to a loud and angry album, it's a lovely way to drop you off.
