New Blood Reviews             

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New Blood

Alice

Paradox

Nageki no Tenshi

Yume Narishi Kuuchuu Teien

     Review submitted by Kokochou:

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New Blood is a solid first CD for D.  The four songs on the disk definitely stand out and set a good example for the band to follow up on.  Dfs excellent melodic lines and the strength of the band as a whole are well represented by this disk. 

The first track, Vampire Missa, is a graceful mixture of hard rock with strings and piano.  What could have been a strange jumble of pieces instead becomes a complex song due to skillful transitions within the piece.  Asagi does an excellent job of adapting his vocals to the changes in style throughout the song.  The only disappointing element of this song is the short guitar solo in the center.  It is not badly played.  It is simply out of place and does not match the theme of the rest of the song. 

Dangan is an interesting version of a standard indies crowd-pleaser.  The main guitar riff is very catchy and energizing and the repetitive parts are made for a live audience.  What makes it stand out above the usual is the effort and attention to detail that they put into making it sound interesting the entire way through.  The vocal distortion and layering Asagi uses, running bass lines, and light chiming guitar work at strategic moments all make it much better than the average.  Combine that with a particularly singable chorus, and it will remind you why these songs got popular in the first place.  Once again, the guitar solo is less than amazing but the energy in the rest of the song makes up for it.

Eden is my favorite song on the CD and one of my overall favorite songs by D.  The guitar work is beautiful and Asagifs vocals make the song sound like a dream.  The wonderful bass and drum work complete the picture and even the solo (my usual complaint) is marvelous.  This is one of the songs that got me hooked on this band.

The last track, Lost Breath, is a unique combination of the standard ballad and the crowd-pleasing rock tune.  They mix their usual well-timed transitions with some interesting musical lines and the result is a song that sticks in your head like glue.  The addition of the piano at the beginning is a nice touch, but what really makes it stand out to me is the last chorus which winds down with a change into ¾ time.   Hirokifs drumming in this part is amazing.

One of the reasons that D is more impressive than many other indies bands is the quality of the bass and the drum work.  Hiroki and Rena continue to impress me with how much they put into each song.  Combined with Asagi and Ruizafs abilities to make beautiful melodies, the result is magic.  New Blood is an excellent example of this.

(BTW.  Hide-zou was not a member of the band on this CD)

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