Concerto Moon
Rain Fire


5.0
classic

Review

by Meridiu5 USER (5 Reviews)
September 22nd, 2021 | 6 replies


Release Date: 2020 | Tracklist

Review Summary: Natural talent meets execution.

A rare thing in albums today is the ability to separate the wheat from the chaff when piecing together a final product. How to hit the highs - and consistently - without overstaying your welcome. It becomes an even rarer task when you are a neo-classical guitarist, Norifumi Shima, who's been in the business for over 25 years, and loves to show off shreds. But, one of the greatest parts of this album is that thing specifically. In particular, this album's sheer simplicity. Even the most bombastic guitar licks remain germane and refined here.

There aren't any particularly ambitious or long songs here either. Simply, there are 10 songs total on the record; 2 power ballads (Rain Fire & Waiting for You), 1 instrumental guitar interlude (The Next Moment of Grief), 7 straight-up bangers, and absolute killer opener and closer tracks. The best way to describe the style is neo-classical metal, but there are tons of throwbacks to bluesy metal roots and arena rock choruses that make this a bit different from other names of the genre. The Stratocaster twang in the guitar tone also gives the music a unique flavor. Being power metal, the lyrical themes aren't overly complicated. Rain Fire, Long Way to Go, and Burnt Society most obviously refer to how the world has been turned upside down over the past two years with the 19 bug. Stir in in generic themes of survival and struggle along with a lovesick ballad and you achieve a nice mix that is coherent but doesn't become stale.

The album rips open with an intricate and driving guitar buildup, reminiscent of John Petrucci's artistic style, albeit a bit more rough and angry. Norifumi Shima has worked up his Concerto Moon brand quite a bit, maintaining his strength as a guitarist even while many band members came and went over the years. The guitar is a clear strength all along the way, achieving maximum shredditude during the title track Rain Fire's solo. All of his guitar work is basically metal, but he uses an absolutely huge variety of techniques/approaches to meet the particular mood of the moment. Particularly good interplay between melodies happens during the mid section of The Night Tells Thousand Lies. There's even some interesting atmospheric spacy effects and bend work going on in some parts like the intro of Mirror Design.

As the first songs progress, it leads into power operatic vocals that end up being the clear highlight of the album. The singer delivers classically phrased melodies akin to Tony Kakko and is capable of carrying the melody long enough to build a nice tension as the song progresses, peaking and releasing at the chorus' culmination. Its worth noting that the vocal melodies are a bit odd too though because the singer drifts back and forth between Japanese and broken English, which may bother some even though I find it appealing. The lyrics are simple and lack any intricate storytelling because of this. However the chorus on the title track, Rain Fire is easily one of the high points on the album and maintains a consistent strength over the course of the whole ~45 minute run time.

Every now and then they keyboards will sweep in too. The keyboards are quite subdued, but it suits the music fine because the guitar and vocals take center stage anyway. Nothing is worse for a band like this than a keyboardist drowning the atmosphere in cheese. There are only a few delicate keyboard solo parts throughout the record to set up a ballad or transition like at the beginning of Waiting for You, the rest are emotional backing to the main melody like the interplay with the guitar in The Night Tells Thousand Lies.

This would normally hover around a rating of a 4 for me, but the sheer ability and consistency of the singer raises this to a whole new level. Wataru Haga is the new singer of the band as of 2017, and brings high-pitched operatic style that can also crossover into pop sensibilities. The best way to describe him is a younger Roy Khan with a heavy Japanese accent. It would be interesting to consider how wide a variety they can achieve in the future with such a versatile singer. With all things considered, I'm putting this as probably the best power metal album of the past 10 years so far.


user ratings (3)
4
excellent

Comments:Add a Comment 
Meridiu5
September 22nd 2021


4200 Comments

Album Rating: 5.0

Album stream

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ar18tdczFc

Butkuiss
September 23rd 2021


8132 Comments


Their only good song was To Die For.

Lies and Betrayal cracks me up every time tho

Meridiu5
September 24th 2021


4200 Comments

Album Rating: 5.0

they used to go HARD back then.

everlasting nightmare is still one of my favorites from their ambitious days.

Casavir
September 27th 2021


5657 Comments


Should check out some of their later stuff. Their first four are a jam though.


Meridiu5
September 27th 2021


4200 Comments

Album Rating: 5.0

This one, savior never cry, and after the double cross are prolly the best after their golden age. Savior and double cross are probably up your alley.

Meridiu5
October 30th 2021


4200 Comments

Album Rating: 5.0

FAALSU CONFINDENCE!!



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