just finished my second listen of mortal downer and here are my thoughts so far:
isolation might be one of my favourite album openers they've ever done. i love an instrumental intro and whenever a dir album has one i'm instantly tuned tf in.
this album feels very cohesive and consistent in terms of sound and quality. the songs fit together nicely and i feel like the lyrics explore similar themes, giving it a concept album feel.
the mix felt a bit muddy to me at first (what else is new) but now listening to the album again, i feel like while compressed, it's still definitely a step up from their previous two albums. i think it's mainly the super low distorted guitar that makes some of the songs feel muddy and makes it hard for me to hear individual instruments as well as i'd like. sometimes i really miss that crystal clear sound arche and dss had.
while the overall sound is very modern diru, there were many moments in which i was vividly reminded of previous eras, even surprising ones. i could definitely hear similarities to dss, uroboros, macabre, and even kisou, which was honestly delightful and i was very happy to see them exploring those kinds of soundscapes again.
that being said, i do wish some of the chorus melodies or heavier riffs on this album were a bit more inventive, as i feel i've heard similar descending vocal melodies and low distorted guitars a lot from them lately. however, a lot of the verses or bridges in turn had quite a few refreshing vocal (and guitar!) moments, which i will get into :)
some personal highlights:
isolation as a whole. amazing. love the build up of the ever-growing oppressive low background hum.
the bass intro and instrumental bridge in discard. i love how the instruments come back on one by one. i bet this song goes hard live.
the guitar riffs in the verses of there's nothing else are giving arche, and the bridge with the muted instrumentals is quintessential macabre/kisou vibes, i love it sm.
hizumi to ame is a fantastic song and feels both very oldschool and very fresh at the same time. the song feels like it's constantly evolving and morphing into something else, which is exactly the kind of dir song i love. the vocal melodies and lyrics are also very reminiscent of sukekiyo, and i love that kyo is bringing bits of that energy into his work with dir too.
also that high pitched scream in the bg of the breakdown in hizumi to ame is so good.
mobs is another big favourite of mine and i was absolutely gobsmacked hearing it the first time. it's apparent that this track is the key to this album. it's so trippy and unsettling in the best way, and i love the added instruments. listening to this the first time i actually wrote "i love this band and their freak sm" in my notes and i feel like that sums it up lol
demand was surprisingly emotional and actually made me tear up the second time i listened to it. i'm a sucker for a 6/8 time signature chorus, what can i say. the ending of this song is very reminiscent of kisou to me in terms of the raw, emotional vocals and heavy background riff.
moumoku ga yue ni is very immersive and the bass line is definitely one of the most fun i've heard from them in a while.
all in all, i was very pleasantly surprised with this album and i think it will continue to grow on me as i listen to it more. there aren't many lows and the highs are really high. i think this melody-first songwriting approach can work quite well for them, and i hope they continue to explore with new sounds as well as borrowing from previous eras in an innovative way. :-)
romaincrisis
prguitarman
jacobvanloon
germansingergirl
annaxmalina
