| | | Ratings (21) |
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| 0.0 | Arche | January 2nd 16 |
Speaking positively, National Trauma does have a lot going for it. The production is excellent, each track progresses nicely and the combination of melodeath and traditional Chinese folk music works really rather well. Most of the vocals are strong and effective, and in parts they do manage to create a surprisingly convincing 'spiritual' atmosphere too. Indeed, about 80% of this is nothing short of fantastic. However, there are a couple of things that hold this back, unfortunately quite substantially. Firstly, the vocals are occasionally amusingly overdone, and the operatic vocals - I understand this may be partially due to language and cultural barriers, but still - quite frequently sound odd at best and laughable at worst, when used in conjunction with the rest of the music. Add to this a slight hint of homogeneity, and it does slightly feel like there was an opportunity missed. Despite this, Black Kirin's debut is solid, and well worth checking out if you fancy listening to some melodic death metal with a slightly different twist. Stream here: https://blackkirin1.bandcamp.com/album/national-trauma
2 Bumps | Bump |
| 3.5 great | chilledpunkrock | January 23rd 21 |
This is a really unique band, and I wish I'd found them sooner. Their 2017 album Nanking Massacre is definitely their best, but even here on their debut they sound fully formed and great. The only issue I really have is the mixing leaving these songs feeling off -- the vocals are SUPER loud much of the time to the point of drowning everything else out, and some of the orchestral instruments don't feel like they're part of the band so much as just playing on top of it.
Bump |
| 4.5 superb | Zac124 | October 16th 23 |
| 4.0 excellent | Brabiz | January 25th 23 |
| 3.5 great | SuzyC | April 9th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | Awake88 | November 24th 17 |
| 3.5 great | arf | December 12th 16 |
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