Welcome to D'espairsRay.

Ok, I'll start off with a little context for you to understand my ramblings. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Visual-Kei, it is a genre predominantly hailing from Japan which refers mostly to the wardrobe of the band members. Rather than trying to describe it, just Google 'Visual-Kei' and you will be hit by an array of VK bands (there are a lot out there trust me.. ) The music is rock, usually quite heavy, some of it metal. So, VK's musical range can be broad. There are also genres that originate from various districts in Japan - for example Nagoya kei, from Nagoya, which usually has a dark, heavy sound. Lynch are a good example of this genre. Other popular genres are Shibuya kei (Pizzicato Five) and OShare Kei (An Cafe).

A lot of Japanese bands have their name typeset in English because it is considered quite trendy (it would look cool if we used Kanji). Japanese bands also like to capitalise English words for track names. For some reason, there are often disputes over the correct typesets of bands. It can get messy because bands sometimes change the typeset after a while. Many bands use Katakana, which is the Japanese loan word Alphabet (e.g. ナイトメア or Nightmare use Katakana) which is used for words that derive outside the Japanese language.

Before I got into D'espairs, I was into a band called ナイトメア (Nightmare). I first heard ナイトメア when I started watching Death Note, a Japanese manga series ('manga' simply means 'cartoon' in Japanese, by the way). And I really started to love the theme songs for the start and end credits, both by ナイトメア. So, I checked out the WORLD ruler by ナイトメア, and I love the rest of the album too. I had not heard anything quite like this music before, it was as if ナイトメア had the secret to producing rock music completely unlike the rest of the world, they had (have) such a great sound! I had kicked off my love for VK! So, I decided to investigate further. I discovered D'espairsRay - I think through a user's profile. I thought 'that band name sounds cool', and usually that is enough reason for me to check a band out.

I chose the album REDEEMER (2009) as it is the best D'espairsRay album to get my point across, partly because it is more accessible than the others. It is also my favourite D'espairsRay album.* (see footnote at the end of review for more detail on this)

Here is the track list for REDEEMER (2009) (notice the mix of Kanji and English and the capitals..):

1 Lizard 4:29

2 BRILLIANT 4:33

2 REDEEMER 4:20

4 琥珀 4:23

5 KAMIKAZE 4:24

6 Lost In re:birth 4:09

7 R.E.M-冬の幻聴- 4:58

8 HORIZON 4:07

9 MASQUERADE 4:00

10 夜空 4:12

11 PARADOX 5 5:40

12 HEAVEN'S COLOR 4:42

D'espairsRay (formerly typeset as DéspairsRay or +DéspairsRay+) was formed in 1999 by: HIZUMI on vocals, Karyu on guitar and backing vocals, TSUKASA on drums and ZERO on bass. HIZUMI usually writes the lyrics and Karyu writes the music. I warn you now, I am going to bow down to this band like they are ancient gods, starting from now. HIZUMI and Karyu are fantastic writers :) D'espairsRay typically base their songwriting on the themes 'despair' and 'hope'.

So, the moment you have been waiting for! The reason why I love D'espairsRay so much. Well, I would recommend playing REDEEMER while reading, or listening first. Listening and reading will give you a much better idea of what I am talking about as the awesomeness music is fresh in your head. So, I mentioned in my previous journal (Feeling Strangely Summarised), that I am a very picky listener, I quote specifically 'I like my music to be upbeat and I like the riffs to change frequently to hold my interest.' D'espairsRay are a kick-ass example of this, especially on REDEEMER. I love their sound - again it is like nothing you have ever heard before - the sound is D'espairsRay. I have A lot of respect for bands that have their own sound. In my opinion, this puts D'espairs several notches above other bands that don't have their own sound. If I were to try and describe D'espairs in genres, I would say they were Industrial metal mixed with electronics, mixed with alternative metal.

The first time I heard REDEEMER, I thought it was ok. I really liked Lizard, and I quite liked BRILLIANT. What was wrong with me? I don't know. I have this a lot, I listen to albums, and at first I think - yeah, it's good but not great. But, after so many listens, It grows on me. Before I know it, I think, wait I love this song, and it is almost an instant realisation. Then I look back and think, 'why didn't I love this song before?'. I don't know why I grow into them so much. I think it is because you sort of get to know the song, and know what is coming, and somehow that makes it more interesting. This might not make sense to everyone..

I remember thinking Lizard was an interesting song when I first heard it. I still think so now. It has a different vibe to the rest of the album, so does BRILLIANT actually. I always felt that this and BRILLIANT would fit better on MIRROR (the previous D'espairs album -2007). The starting riff is quite industrial, then breaks into an even more industrial but melodic section that I love. There are a variety of ear-pleasing instruments. I love the changes in guitar riff and the solos, and what always attracts me nowadays are synths/keyboard/eletronic sounds in metal. They really contribute to the melody. Another thing I like about this song is it's fast pace. HIZUMIs voice finishes it off between his screamy growls and his clean vocals, and makes it sound quite rough, yet very melodic and listenable. At least to me. If you don't think it is melodic, give it a few listens. Maybe you are not into metal, but believe me metal can be very melodic. Trust me because all I listen to is melodic metal.

BRILLIANT also has an ear-opening intro. There are some background 'sparkly' synths that sound cosmic or something that I love. BRILLIANT is also fast-paced, but less industrial. It's a song that is very in your face, or should I say ears - especially when played loudly. The bass and drums are as prominent if not more prominent than the guitar in this one, until you get to the solo, which is epic. HIZUMI yet again provides the great sounding vocals to compliment the song. No growls this time though. I know he has variety in his voice.

REDEEMER is a completely different song than the first two. The intro is again interesting - those drums, then KARYU on guitar.. It is very catchy after a few listens. Also, notice HIZUMI sounding different again for this song. It is quite a strange sounding song really.

I really really love 琥珀. Yet again, this song is different to the first three on the album. It is  at much slower tempo, but it still isn't a slow song! But it sounds like it after the first three. It does have those electronicy synths that I love, though most of the way through, which gives the song most of it's own sound. It is a little progressive as well, with the instrumentation changing all the time. HIZUMI sings with passion in this song.

KAMIKAZE is one of my favs on here too. Different sound again. HIZUMI's voice is put through a distorter in some verses. I really get attached to the drum beat in this one, and HIZUMI's voice is also very likable. The solo in the middle is fantastic. All the instruments come together in awesomeness. I don't know how he does it, but KARYU always manages to make his guitar sound different even in the middle of the song - perhaps a 'waah' pedal of some sort.

Lost In re:birth was my fav for a while. It is quite a heavy song. Again, this song, is so different. Just thinking of the songs in this album makes me realise this. A lot of HIZUMI's lyrics in this song are in English by the way :) 'Gotta wake, gotta wake, gotta wake you A.S.A.P!'. The guitar in this song is exceptional, and so is HIZUMI.

R.E.M-冬の幻聴- Is one of my lesser fav tracks on the album. I still like it. It is still better than anything that has ever been in the iTunes chart a hundred times over. Maybe I like it less because it is slow and I am never really in the mood to listen to it after listening to the rest. I hate to repeat myself, but again - different.

I love HORIZON so much too! I love the start with the electronic, I love the guitar riff, I love the drum beats. Everything together. Then I love HIZUMI's lyrics. ZERO's bassline in this too is quite noticeable and cool. I you watch the awesome video ZERO and KARYU dance around. It is a very well made video. I like the way HIZUMI sort of raps as well. The solo is short - not the best on the album by far, but at this point it doesn't matter. Every instrument and every part of this song I love. It is my second most played song on las.fm at the moment. I also like the way this song wraps up as it starts the same way as it ends.

MASQUERADE is a little more fitting on this album and feels less out of place, it has a sound similar to HORIZON in places. I like the way D'espairsRay can hide the fact how heavy they are, because they are rather heavy, but can hide it behind synths and lots of melody and HIZUMI. The solo-y bit in this song is quite cool when HIZUMI screams. I think this song flows especially nicely.

夜空 is my least fav on the album. I just don't like the drums really. I think it is uninteresting up against the rest of the awesome atmospheric songs on the album. I still like it, but like R.E.M-冬の幻聴- I find it hard to like after hearing the rest.

PARADOX 5 is sort of junglely sounding. It is interesting, but a bit slow for me, and whiney. It does follow the different sounding theme though, but in a different way to Lizard and BRILLIANT, it almost feels out of place.

HEAVEN'S COLOR is a nice upbeat end to the album. It might be a bonus track actually. I don't really have anything else to say about it. Oh, it does have some nice electronic sounds, and HIZUMI sounds nice and varied.

Just thinking about those songs has made me realise how eclectic this album is; yet it also suits itself and flows well, except for maybe Lizard and BRILLIANT. Somehow even they manage to work though. Unlike Feeling Strangely Fine, REDEEMER has a few kinks in the road, which is a shame. But that is a bit petty to say, because I really love this album it's my favourite D'espairs album and has most of my fav songs on it - as well as some of the most well crafted songs that they have ever composed. I fear that this review is comprised mostly of my unending praise for D'espairsRay. But if there is anything that I would ever recommend in the music world, it's this band and this album. Forget anything else I COULD recommend, this is what I WILL recommend to you. Something that isn't mainstream, but is rather popular in it's own way in J-rock circles, and rightly so in my opinion.

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*It is also a widely controversial album. Maybe idiotic fans (my journals are never subjective) often condemn this album. If I were to try and say why, I would say the closest explanation is that it 'isn't classic D'espairs'. To translate this further, they mean that 'it isn't raw enough'. I hate this in metal, it happens so often that so called 'true' or 'elitist' metal fans disregard bands / albums because the band have supposedly sold out when they produce an album that is less heavy than their last. It is so stupid. Sometimes bands do sell out, but seriously, often enough the music hasn't strayed too far musically, and it still sounds good. And sometimes bands are just experimenting. What is wrong with experimenting? It is disrespectful to the band to bash the music.