Review: Sadie - COLD BLOOD

Sadie is a Japanese visual kei band which mostly makes metal. At the beginning of April 2011 this band released a new album, entitled COLD BLOOD. Here is a review of this CD.

As has been said in the introduction, Sadie is a visual kei band. For more information on what visual kei is, click here.

General information

• Album made in: 2011
• Country of origin: Japan
• Music by: Sadie
• Lyrics by: Mao (Sadie)
• Limited edition: CD with 12 tracks and DVD with two live performances
• Regular edition: CD with 12 tracks

The music

The album starts off nice and quiet with Doukoku. It is most certainly not a ballad, but Mao's voice is soft and calm and there is even a part with only him and a piano. It sound very melancholic, but this isn't odd for this band. The lyrics, Mao's voice and the melodies add to this effect. Then the pace is sped up quite a bit with Juggernaut, which also includes much heavier guitars. The sound becomes even louder in LOOSING MY WAY OF THE PROUD, in which Mao shows he can also grunt. In Sabaku no syndrome he alternates between grunting and singing, but by now it is clear that this is truly a metal band - not only because of the vocals, but also because of the music itself.

Then it becomes a little calmer with -toge-, but it has to be said that this song was meant for an anime; hard metal usually isn't used for this. Yet it is clearly a Sadie song and they haven't adjusted their entire style, which is something some bands do. This is followed by deathopia - which starts off quietly and becomes louder and louder - and Dress, of which an unplugged version is also included on the album.

Graceful Angel is my personal favourite, mostly because of the guitars. Despite the title, the song is definitely not angelic, but one of the heaviest songs on the entire abum. Kasume ni kieru hana, however, is much quieter. GIMMICK and Cry More are both a mixture of singing and screaming, but Cry More has more singing than GIMMICK does. Mabuta no yuutsu ends the album on a very calm note, with a piano clearly audible over the other instruments. This suits the beginning of the CD.

Conclusion

I found it a very good album, but I also know that it definitely isn't for everyone. Mao has an unusual voice some people have to get used to, though I do love it. Metal fans and people who are interested in it should certainly give this CD a try, though they might struggle with the Japanese. Personally I think Japanese is a beautiful language to listen to, but this probably doesn't go for everyone.

What is too bad for people who don't like metal is that there isn't much diversity on this album. There are some quieter songs, but those often belong to the metal genre as well, and there aren't many. So if you don't like metal, you're better off ignoring this album.

Sources: www.todio.nl