Review Summary: Grab your Sunny D and Gameboy. Its time for a road trip.
Lunaria is a vast soundscape rife with magical essence and playful bounciness that is somehow a cohesive blend of 8-bit, chug-happy metalcore and a sprinkling of rave music. For those who grew up on a diet of Gameboy advance and Nintendo 64, this will be a rampant flood of awesome childhood memories, as good Nintendocore tends to bring. However, this doesn’t mean that there isn’t a whole vault of awesome raditude waiting to be unlocked for everyone else, because Lunaria works on a level that goes beyond the fun gimmick that is often Nintendocore. This is because of just how vibrant and mystical this record really is. The track “ Axis” flings you into the midst of a chaotic battleground where explosions dot the sky and bullets whiz through the air. The track “Collision Effect” plunges you right into the midst of a giant dungeon, facing down a gargantuan, green goliath with nothing but your most trusted dagger by your side. Each track regardless of your nostalgic attachment to Nintendo immerses you into a whole new realm, one where you are the master of your fate. One where you are a superhuman capable of immense power that one could only dream of.
To put it simply, this album radiates with fun and badassery, a mix attributed to hefty guitar chugs and fantastical 8-bit sounds that imbrue you with a sense of wonder. Even the interludes are their own bits of beauty, serving as the perfect way to take the energy down a notch in order to toss you back into the fray once more. Both “Interlude” and “Postlude” are soothing, perhaps even slightly mesmerizing, and so when a track like “Red Planet” blasts in with its wild arpeggio’s, the impact is increased tenfold. Before I become redundant I will close this off with one statement to summarize everything- this album is the pinnacle of fun. Those worlds unreachable many of us yearn for where the dismal aspects of life don’t exist become a reality, and everything falls into place. If only. For. A moment.
