Review: Zemeth – Loneliness

Style: Neoclassical Power Metal/Melodeath (harsh/mixed vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Galneryus, Versailles, Imperial Circus Dead Decadence 
Review by: Andy
Country: Japan
Release date: 12 August, 2022

In the hall of very good bands with very bad names, Bloody Cumshot takes a prominent position right next to Fvneral Fvck. Despite writing one of the best melodeath releases this decade, BC alienated many of their potential listeners with their band name–let alone with track titles like “Menstrual Chocolatier.” The squandered potential of that band comes back around to Junya’s other project Zemeth. As opposed to BC’s over-the-top, weirdly sexual theming, Zemeth lean hard into an anime style like fellow countrymen Imperial Circus Dead Decadence. Does Zemeth accomplish anything to make the risky weeb aesthetic worth it?

Well if you like guitar, that answer is a resolute YES. Junya has shown he is without a doubt one of the world’s most talented guitarists after his last couple releases: The pithy, elevator pitch description of Zemeth is something like “if Galneryus had harsh vocals… and were played at a hundred and fifty percent speed.” Despite Loneliness’ energetic high shrieks and rasps, it sounds like a Japanese power metal album at heart, incorporating Syu-like neo-Romantic soloing, steamrolling drums, and bombastic keyboard orchestrations. Zemeth also barely lowers the unmatchable energy of BC while increasing the neoclassical tendencies–a fair trade-off. The first track, “Vermillion Dawn,” demonstrates Junya’s absolutely incredible guitar skill–not to mention compositional skill–the riffs somehow sounding more technical than many a lesser band’s solos; moreover, Junya’s vibrato and legato in particular rival anyone’s, garnering a rare Hizaki (Versailles, Jupiter) comparison. 

To advance the anime aesthetic, J-pop singer Nayuta makes a guest appearance on “Kyoai Loneliness,” a similarly hectic track that sounds like Unlucky Morpheus in all the best ways. The harpsichord fluttering around the background interacts with the prominent, bouncy bassline in an unadulteratedly fun way, and even the typically annoying lullaby motif is integrated well enough to not detract from the song. Hardly a moment passes without Baroque levels of counterpoint and Romantic amounts of overwhelming sonic power mixing together: Explosions of arpeggiated guitar are supplemented by the jovial bass peeking out from below, drums as blasty as power metal (and even melodeath) ever gets, multiple keyboards providing the symphonic textures, and the crazy, varied vocals atop it all. “Flor de Nieve” slows the pace down slightly to a more “pedestrian” standard power metal speed, and the euphoric lead work and catchy harmonies stand out even above an album full of phenomenal guitar. Unfortunately, the vocals are completely harsh throughout except the guest track, lessening the impact compared to a group like Imperial Circus Dead Decadence, who often go from brutal death metal gurgles to stereotypical power metal operatics in a single phrase.

This complete instrumental suffocation thankfully gets broken up just frequently enough by both solo sections and segments which drop many instruments at just the right times. Junya’s keen ear for composition prevents the snowball from reaching a true avalanche; he merely alludes to the listener that he could completely and utterly overwhelm them. The EP format, moreover, finishes just at the first signs of the release actually becoming too much to handle. Even I, after all, can only take so much of coked up Japanese neoclassical melodeath/power metal that also pounded down a few Red Bulls.

The compositional ability and performance are off the chart, and Junya’s guitar playing easily ranks him among the best of the year, making the risk of possibly being mistaken for a weeb by listening acceptable. So is Zemeth worth listening to over the already proven greatness of Bloody Cumshot? When all is said and done, both bands and releases have enough energy and absolute insanity to be worth their short runtimes. So if BC’s name turns you away from their music, a more than worthy alternative is out there for you! 

Recommended tracks: Vermillion Farewell, Kyoai Loneliness, Flor de Nieve
You may also like: Bloody Cumshot, Jupiter
Final verdict: 8.5/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Youtube | Spotify | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives page
Label: Independent

Zemeth is:
– Junya (vocals, guitars)