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Blotto
Singles Collection 2004-2007 |
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Tracklist |
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1. Subculture Engineering
2. Yasashii Cycle wo
3. Sayonara Television
4. Ongaku wa Kokyuu Suru
5. Shokuji Chuu no Shizuka na Danwa |
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Review |
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When I first heard of the three piece Climb The Mind, I wasn't sure what to expect. From their name, which I actually like, I figured that they'd either be a typical emo act or experimental noise makers that don't really go anywhere in their music. Instead, they surprised me and fit more so in the hard melodic rock genre along with bands such as The Back Horn and Eastern Youth. With their second album, Tsunagaru Shunkan ni Shutter wo, which is only a mere 20 minutes, Climb The Mind create a small epic that's musically tight, loud, and at times quite beautiful.
The album starts out with the peaceful guitar intro of "Subculture Engineering," which then quickly follows with the noisy entrance of the drums and bass, with vocalist/guitarist Kojiro Yamauchi finally belting out lyrics over the rest of the music. Masaki Tomita's busy bass work takes turns dueling with Yamauchi's distorted guitar and Yuta Muramatsu's deafening drums for nearly the whole song. It's a great opening to the album and it displays the complexity and unusual rhythms heard in Climb The Mind's songs. "Yasashii Cycle wo" continues with the odd timing and spontaneity seen in the first, but carries it even further with booming transitions where the music just keeps getting louder and louder until it ends, leaving me with a harmonious ringing in my ears. The instrumental work done in this song is complicated and really impressive, especially coming from a three piece.
The third song, "Sayonara Television" is the shortest and hardest track on the album, where Muramatsu's drums somehow get noisier than before, which is saying quite a bit about the power this band can produce. The song is probably my least favorite on the album, just because it almost feels too powerful. The drums feel too loud and it's hard to hear some other parts of the music because of this. The band's talented musicianship can be seen best on "Ongaku wa Kokyuu Suru," as the guitar, drums, and bass are all going crazy and there's too many awesome surprises to count. The final song on this short mini-album is "Shokuji Chuu no Shizuka na Danwa," and there's some peaceful, catchy guitar work which eventually builds into the instrumental climax of the song which has Muramatsu on violin and Yamauchi on piano. It's a great way to end the album, though I would have liked to see the climax go on a little longer.
With Tsunagaru Shunkan ni Shutter wo, Climb The Mind have created the most epic sound I've heard in the shortest amount of time possible. My only complaint is that they essentially fit too much music in too little time. I'd really like to see them release a full album where they can spread the transitions out further and just take their time with it, as it's a little intimidating. Given the extra time, this three piece has a whole lot of potential to create something truly great. |
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