Style: touhou (mixed vocals, English/Japanese lyrics)
Review by: Josh
Country: International
Release date: October 2, 2020
As with all Touhou metal albums, I must first explain exactly what Touhou metal is. Touhou is a Japanese series of bullet hell games known for its active fanbase and great soundtracks, and within that fanbase are many who do their own renditions of songs from the game. Many of these are metal arrangements, and this album is a compilation of those, from various artists across several metal subgenres. With that said, let’s get into the review.
(warning: I’m about to say “original” way too much)
The arrangements in the album are phenomenal, among the best I’ve heard within Touhou music. Instead of simply replicating the original but in a different musical style, they transform each track into something new, sprinkling elements in of the original as if to make the listener go “ahh, I see what you did there.” Take the track “EYE CRUSHER,” for example. Instead of taking the original song and trying to work it into metal, they build an incredibly heavy, sludgy metal track from the ground up and then weave in bits and pieces of the original into the verse riffs, only playing the main melody all the way through about three minutes into the song (and even then only once). This approach in my opinion works far better than the alternative, as it gives everyone involved a chance to show off their creativity in songwriting while not sacrificing the highlight of the original tracks, the melodies. The end result is an album of arrangements that come off as more of spiritual successors than remakes.
The main reason that this approach is so effective, though, is because everyone involved is a great musician. There were a few weak tracks on the previous Holmgang Ov Gensokyo record, but this one is straight gas all the way through. The production, generally the weakest link in Touhou metal albums, never brings down the quality of the music by much, only really being an issue on the second track, and even then that’s still a good song. While the album is a fan tribute, its quality is high enough to the point where it feels professional.
Each songwriter carves out their own stylistic niche, but the moments that make this album truly unique are when it taps into the essence of the originals. Even when not directly referencing the game’s soundtracks, there’s still an added focus on melody that, for many of the album’s songs, deviates from the styles they’re in. In doing this, they manage to blend in elements of the originals that on paper should not work at all, yet in practice sound great. There are violins and pianos in a sludge metal track here, and there’s another song that sounds straight off of a Rings of Saturn album yet has prominent accordion. This unifying theme gives the album a feeling of cohesivity that goes far beyond that of most compilation albums. It slides from post-black metal to djent to self-described trance-core without a hitch. The final product is a compilation album that feels like a concept album.
This is not just a good Touhou metal album, it is a good album, period. Any fan of progressive metal should enjoy at least one track off of here.
Recommended tracks: 華焔 (ka-en), Tendinitis Planet, EYE CRUSHER, Hourai Hunter
Recommended for fans of: the Touhou games, can’t really put anything else because of how disparate the stuff is here genrewise
Final verdict: 8/10
Related links: Bandcamp | Official Website | Twitter | Discord
Label: Independent
Holmgang Ov Gensokyo is:
Arrangements:
- Anuhu
- ラウ
- WAORU
- NiGaRi
- ArmpitMaiden
- Dryhands
- Realmweaver
0 Comments