Band-Maid - Unseen World: instrumental maturation

 

Hello my dears. I am the Raven who speaks to you.

To listeners who have never heard me talk about Band-Maid, I clarify that I do not base my evaluations on the appreciation I have for a band. Unlike fandoms, I've never been willing to uncritically accept everything artists do. My tone is normally demanding on what I think needs some criticism. However, I don't like to criticize just for the sake of criticizing. And it was with a lot of demand that I listened to “Unseen World” from the first stanza of the opening song, called “Warning”, to the closing of “Black Hole”. I was determined to listen to much more than what Band-Maid has traditionally offered in previous years and I wouldn't be generous with them if I found exactly the same standard of quality as the previous album, called "Conqueror".

“Conqueror” was not an album that convinced me for a number of reasons. The japanese are culturally workaholics and in many situations, for their art to become more refined and for them to be able to extrapolate the standard of quality they usually set, it is necessary to stop a little. Reflect and review some concepts, update yourself and go back to studying. Band-Maid, in the years leading up to "Unseen World", didn't have time for that. The band was busy between shows and interviews, marketing the brand tirelessly as much out of necessity as it was demand. After all, they were signed to the Nippon Crown label and its subsidiaries, who also made demands in terms of publicity. Kanami Tono, the band's guitarist and songwriter, wrote the songs for “Conqueror” in her rare spare time. And this lack of time to work intensely on the compositions contributed to the fact that the album, although of an average level and with some good compositions, was lacking in a central concept. What definitely doesn't happen here, with “Unseen World”: now we really have an ALBUM and not just a bunch of random produced songs. "Unseen World" has a completely enlightened musical direction, with the band aware of what they want for themselves musically. Here we have an album in the literal sense of the word, and not a tangle of tracks like we had in “Conqueror”. “Unseen World” is a planned, thoughtful album, with a defined musical direction and that requires a considerable effort from all band members to execute it. And the fact that Band-Maid was on the sidelines for the entire year of 2020, with absolutely nothing to do but work on writing new music, certainly helped a lot in this regard. “Unseen World”, in addition to being mature, is musically intelligent, technically challenging and very savvy about its own intensity. In my opinion, this album could easily be called “Band-Maid”, but the title “Unseen World” points to the desire to visit places that they haven't been able to. And I say that because this album is a charter of what Band-Maid is and what they do best, something that Nippon Crown and its subsidiary, Revolver Records, were corrupting and endangering.

When I previously heard the single called “Different”, I also mentioned how much Kanami Tono was overly hidden in the mix made by Revolver Records. And also how the latest compositions were flirting excessively with j-pop, being forced into the mainstream, when in fact Band-Maid didn't even need it. Their songs have always been accessible, one way or another. The label's demands were turning Band-Maid into an overly fancy band, far removed from Miku's original concept and Kanami's musical preferences. I strongly criticized the sound production, the sound engineering of “Conqueror” and also of “Different” - the record company should get on track and stop blowing up the band’s songs, because the compositions were good, but were underused due to weak mixing and forced into the mainstream.

When I heard the first two tracks of “Unseen World”, I was immediately blown away. I thought: “wait... this is too good. Misa and Akane are on point, as loud as ever, but now Kanami's guitar sound is as powerful as theirs. They finally brought it to the front of the mix, exactly how I wanted it. The sound is impeccable. This cannot be the work of Revolver Records. It can not be." So I checked to see if the band was in fact still with Revolver and found out that the album was produced by another company, Pony Records. Mystery solved! And I thank heaven for that! Nippon Crown is pretty big in Japan, much bigger than Pony Records. Band-Maid, by the way, when joining the latter, becomes one of the main names of the company. But, thankfully, the band took a step back. “Unseen World” was absurdly well produced; the hard rock we hear explores and makes sonically transparent what each instrumentalist in the band has to offer. And best of all: Band-Maid is back to doing what they should never have put aside; to be a band where the main thing, above all, is musicality. Band-Maid is formed by a monstrous drummer (that's Akane). Misa is not far behind and Kanami is an excellent songwriter. The talk here is music, even if image is an element of the band's concept as well, given Miku's interest in Maids culture. But what really matters here is music and Band-Maid is a hard rock band, first and foremost. That's what they excels at and that's exactly what “Unseen World” offers again: the compositions are daring, in-your-face, with several challenging moments.

Miku gave some interviews revealing the band's desire to go back to the roots and, at the same time, go one step further in musical terms. And “Unseen World” proves that they were very serious about this. I imagine that all of them, especially Kanami, Akane and Misa, were certainly very uncomfortable with the musical direction that Nippon Crown was forcing them to take. “World Domination” was an excellent album, very cohesive and that revealed to the west an extremely promising japanese hard rock band. But soon after, just as the band became more popular than it had ever been, landing festivals and even venues across the US, Nippon Crown wanted to capitalize on their success by demanding a “bubble gum pop” approach for a wider audience, who is not so familiar with rock n' roll. And thus “Conqueror” was born. With “Unseen World”, Miku and Kanami gave the message, they made the situation very transparent. And the message is: “hello old fans and new listeners… we are Band-Maid and we are a rock band. Like it or not, that's who we are. We believe in what brought us here and we will remain loyal to that. We want to improve instrumentally, challenge ourselves technically, rescue the powerful riffs we had, but making the structure of the songs even bolder. We are musicians and not merely advertising dolls.” And the result is here. It’s called “Unseen World”, a great Band-Maid album.

I've been critical of Band-Maid in years past, disappointed with the change in direction after the great "World Domination". And I have to praise with equal emphasis when the band decides not to sit down in a contract and tries to surpass the album that was the most respectable in the discography. With “Unseen World”, we are left with three shelves in the Band-Maid discography: the third is constituted by promotional releases from the beginning of their career, where the band was still searching for a musical identity and was in development; the second is formed by the four albums considered great (from "Brand New Maid" to "Conqueror", which mark their entry into a major label); and finally the first shelf, which is the “Unseen World” album. It is instrumentally and musically superior to anything Band-Maid has released before. Kanami, Misa and Akane went back to school during this period and dedicated themselves to improving technically. If you already thought that Akane was a fantastic drummer, on this album she surpasses herself: the speed, intensity and tempo changes are incredible, and without losing that groove and musicality that makes her style remind of classic drummers like John Bonham of Led Zeppelin, for example. And the most interesting thing about the band is that having Akane as a drummer forces the rest of the group to work hard, otherwise nobody can keep up with her. Especially Misa. For those who admire Paz Lenchantin's work so much, Misa has great possibilities to create bass lines as intelligent as hers. Misa is very skilled, but at the time she was dissatisfied with her current status, making a heavy self-criticism. And that has made her grow a lot as an instrumentalist. Misa had a desire to compose as well, to help Kanami in the creative process. The songs on “Unseen World” are very instrumentally challenging and surprised the band's most accommodating listeners.

Finally, I couldn't stop talking about Kanami. Her guitar is loud in the mix. But the delight does not stop there. Now with more freedom and without the imposition of writing only commercial material, with “Unseen World” it is possible to hear two very remarkable things happening: first, it is the fact that Kanami is reconnecting with the melodic influences that she had and that have been somewhat suppressed in recent years, given the kind of dull sound imposed on her. For a japanese girl who received musical education on the piano and curiously was inspired by the mexican guitarist Carlos Santana, Kanami would naturally know how to work very well with harmonies and melodies. And what I really liked about “Unseen World” was the fact that, in some moments, Kanami knew how to recognize that a fast solo, at the speed of light, is not always the most suitable. In many moments, what makes the difference in lead guitar is how much it allows the listener to feel and taste note by note. This, by the way, is one of the best lessons that Carlos Santana offers in his work and that Kanami once again pays attention to. I can safely say that she opened her toolbox and returned to give clear examples of her versatility, as she manages to move very well between shred and melodic style.

And that favored Saiki a lot. Kanami's melodic approach and concomitant exploration of different tempos and pitches allowed Saiki to sing in ways she wasn't as used to with the band. I've always thought Saiki's voice was very good, but I've also always been critical of Band-Maid in the sense that they wrote songs that didn't give Saiki greater challenges. I'm not saying that singing Band-Maid's songs is an easy task, it definitely isn't: what I'm saying is that Kanami has never offered Saiki as much of a challenge as she does now. In “Unseen World”, she is not only required to sing in different tempos, but in different pitches than she normally sings. That could have intimidated Saiki, because like it or not, she had been in her comfort zone for a long time. But, in addition to not being intimidated, she accepts the challenge very well and honestly even surprised me. I keep thinking about Saiki's career before Band-Maid, when she was singing in bars and in styles other than rock; she definitely has a much wider vocal spectrum than what we are used to hearing and Kanami has done really well to explore that. Saiki is an excellent singer, with good vocal health. And I hope that Kanami continues to explore her abilities while she is young and can perform her singing with tone and quality. A great band has musical variety. Which, consequently, ends up demanding vocal variation as well. Saiki has plenty of capacity for this and, with Miku on backing vocals and even returning to interpret a song alone (in the singing maid style), “Unseen World” has great vocal harmonies. With Saiki, they tend to lean toward refinement, while with Miku, they're looking for something more accessible to the mainstream audience.

Returning to Kanami, the second aspect that most caught my attention in her compositions was the aggressiveness of the riffs. They have never sounded so strong, deep and intense. At times, the listener will even wonder if Kanami has been listening to metal lately. Because at various points on this album, Kanami is playing absurdly heavy. The rhythm section made by Miku, who obviously always has the function of creating solidity and giving consistency to the riffs, helps to put these songs even more in the listener's face. The most dedicated pop fans, the freshest of the band, will get hit by a train. As a lover of rock and metal, I personally couldn't be more pleased: Band-Maid, with "Unseen World", turned into the band I always hoped they would turn into, as it was evident to me the ability they had to reach this level and attract not only the appreciation of casual rock listeners, but also good instrumentalists. Following this direction, I have no doubt that the respect for them in Japan and abroad will only increase. As much as Miku's choice for Maid's clothes tends to generate a certain prejudice with the band, coming from people who don't even really give the sound a chance, when someone strives to raise their level so much and really succeeds, there comes a time when it's practically impossible to ignore the artist. In japanese rock and metal, Hizaki is an excellent example of what I mean. In the end, the music speaks for itself and becomes bigger than any prejudice. And “Unseen World” is a good example that Band-Maid can achieve its goal, if it maintains such an evident interest in musical improvement.

And that's all. Corvid greetings!