Truth be told, the new Calvi’s release is full of life, energy and tension which hardly would come as a surprise for those familiar with the producer’s style. All of that are great characteristics. The album’s title (which no doubt would score the maximum on a hypothetical emo album naming scale ;) ) is taken after one of the songs here, the track #11. And this song deserves some detailed comments.
Maybe you think this song holds the essence of the album, its purest and most concentrated features? Well, you’re wrong. In fact, ‘A peaceful death’ (#11) stands out, and it stands out not only within the album but in the broader set of Calvi’s music works as well.
See, guys, this album is as much “true Okame-P’s sound” as it could be. More awesome, more ‘tasty’, more powerful and don’t forget more lengthy! It matches your expectations precisely. But to stand out, the song has to push beyond expectations. And ‘A peaceful death’ does exactly that. It stays within its post-hardcore genre. But the style, the style is remarkably different from the usual producer’s works. The ease at which Calvi-sama switches between different sound patterns, between different tonalities, between different approaches is astonishing. Even more wonderful is the fact that by juggling all that multitude of unwieldy elements Calvi Taro assembles a whole piece of tremendous intensity and power. And, what’s most important, it’s not an ‘easy listening’. The thing defies the order, it coils and uncoils, it’s forced to exist beyond its critical point. It has kinda eerie feel (not to say novel) – much unlike the rest of the album. Well, my expectations on this one were promptly short-circuited :)
Another track worth mentioning in this regard is ‘Azayaka ni irodzuite’, #15. In English it would be something like ‘Vividly colored’; and Okame-P goes out of his way to put this concept into the music :) But the song is unique in another way. Usually the producer starts with some post-hardcore base and then adorns it with electronic parts. Here the electronics are the foundation, and elements like distorted guitars are only one of the multiple layers by which Okame-P creates the soundscape; these elements subject to laws set by electronics. Needless to say, the result sounds rather offbeat. What should be said is the result also sounds awesome! You’ll find everything from dubstep (which made its way to other tracks as well) to chiptune in this sonic overabundance. Again, this doesn’t overshadow the main story (and very profound story to be sure) carried by Miku Hatsune.
That was… let’s say “untrue Okame-P’s sound”. Heresies, if you wish ;) Though I hope strongly these ‘heresies’ will become the main area of Calvi’s creativity because, well, they’re great.
For now we have a huge set of ‘more traditional’ meals. If there’s a single word which describes the emo feast that is the album best then this word is ‘epic’. Yeah, ‘epic’, no more, no less! The sound is rich and dense, the structure is well-thought, elaborate yet clear; and the sheer force of the impact of the music is awe-inspiring.
That’s one of the major developments with the previous album of Calvi-sama, ‘Dreaming Colors’. In the latter we had ultimate, pure and piercing sincerity of intimate passion and grief. ‘Dreaming Colors’ were razor-sharp. ‘A peaceful death’, on the other hand, pushes on like a two-hundred-ton locomotive. To put it simply: ‘emo’ and ‘epic’ are two characteristics quite a different in their nature; and at some point one starts to outshine the other. It’s a trade-off between an overwhelming power and a brittle emotional bareness. This time Calvi have chosen the former. More importantly, the outcome of this choice proves to be exceptionally well-conceived.
Two-hundred-ton locomotive. Serious beast, eh? ;)
Some difference between Calvi’s two latest albums can be explained by a shift in the emotional focus. ‘Dreaming Colors’ were tightly centered on a theme of loneliness and sorrow. ‘A peaceful death’ covers a way more broad range of distinct moods.
The evolution in the music seems less obvious. There are some experiments, like with J-rock in ‘Omoi o nosete’ (#14). But the majority of tracks has the same ‘goode olde’ feeling with melodic guitar riffs and ‘lighter’ verses parts. Some pieces have more post-hardcore-ish sound with pounding alternate picking and flurry of electronics. ‘panikhida’ (#7) provides a better chance at measuring Calvi-sama’s progress. The song was released back in 2012; and it’s included in ‘A peaceful death’ with really minor changes, retaining the feel of the original. At this distance the change in producer’s style is unmistakable.
The ‘lighter’ parts have finally found their right dosage. Still in some instances ‘lighter’ also feels ‘thinner’ and ‘more superficial’ which hardly was the producer’s intention. In such moments the gap between these parts and skillfully executed heavy sequences becomes too evident. Sad, because elsewhere Calve shows his excellent ability to perfect lighter parts into great and very convincing atmospheric moments, such as in ‘Kegareta aien’ (#2).
Well, in fact it’s not that easy to make adequate counterparts to that omnipotent distortion guitars which sometimes are unleashed into truly ferocious onslaught. Okame-P plays a little with different guitar effects; the sickest sound can be enjoyed in ‘Heart’ (bonus track). There’re some nice acoustic melodies too. Bass guitar is deep and fleshy. It stays a bit on the background while providing steady support. The are few notable exceptions that show excellent basswork though, like ‘Kono noise no sakini wa’ (#12).
The drum machine is set to spoil all this savoriness. No, seriously, I’m well aware of ‘worse is better’ attitude in emo sound (and nowhere ‘worse is better’ motto is as appropriate as here on VMW) but you have to draw the line somewhere! Cymbals are particularly horrendous, being devolved into vague noise. To worsen the percussion quality compared with the previous release is a bold move, and one in which I fail to see any benefits. There are more than a few interesting patterns which would be very delicious with the more natural sound of drums.
Speaking of ‘unnatural’ matters, I must praise Calvi-sama’s work on electronics. These parts are by far most diverse, exhibiting a spectacular variety of styles. Oh, and boldest as well – even guitars cannot match this synthetic blizzard. Well, here I mean the creativity only, because everything mixes perfectly into rich and potent blend. And it’s not as easy as you may think. Try, for instance, ‘Shiawasena ketsurui’(#9) where Okame-P finds an exceptional balance between quiet and calm piano and booming riffs.
The producer experiments with some non-melodic effects as well, most of the time successfully. Electronics are the key element in creating such a dense, forceful sound of the album.
But force and density alone cannot make the music ‘epic’. We need some special ingredient here, one that has to bring a touch of magic. Luckily, Calvi-sama is well versed in Vocaloid alchemy! I can compare Hatsune Miku in his works with an A-bomb fuse. She sets off, and the whole thing blasts like a supernova. But, of course, her power is rather unifying than destructive. Miku holds the sound structure centered on her; and believe me, it’s an enormous load.
No, not that kind of supernova! What’s this, btw? An ecchi doujin? :)
To say Miku is spectacular in ‘A peaceful death’ would be a gross underestimation. The diversity of emotional themes in the album stems basically from Miku’s wonderful versatility and ability to distinctly accentuate even the slightest shades. And she does it with full passion and integrity.
Another positive surprise is the quality of Miku’s vocals. I can’t say exactly whether the producer employs V4 on some tracks (he definitely uses V3 on several) but I was astonished by the upgrade in Vocaloid’s singing. It’s not lifelike yet (compared with other people achievements) but it’s a huge advance in the right direction. Not all tracks on the album are blessed with such refinement. Several are closer to the earlier Calvi’s technique. Which is still more than impressive.
Somehow those, less polished vocals have even more impact on me. Take it from this perspective: Hatsune Miku is the most de-humanized Crypton voicebank. Imagine: engineers from Crypton and Yamaha forced the voice out of seyu then dissected it in their laboratories, purged it of any remnants of humanity, mutilated it, coded it and passed it to the marketing guys to be sold as a ‘product’. And now Calvi-sama tries to breathe life back into this empty shell, into this wreck. You can’t feel this if the vocals are smooth, they just go on too effortlessly. But when they’re more digital, you can see the tremendous amount of effort the producer put into pulling this poor soul back to existence, you see how desperately she clings to this tiny patch of life…
Welcome to Crypton laboratory!
Miku claims 11 of 19 tracks of the album, followed closely by Megurine Luka (7 tracks). Unfortunately, Miss Luka lags a bit on her more renowned colleague. Which still means an excellent performance. It just happens Miku’s supernova outshines her. I can say in Luka’s defense that the quality of her vocals is on par with the best Miku’s works. Indeed, only Luka was granted a privilege of making some screams here. And those are fearsome screams - too bad they’re only used a couple of times...
But in terms of overall impact I can think of only a few of Luka’s tracks that can compete as equals with Miku’s blazing ones – ‘Hold hands with you’ (#16) being one of them. Gumi features as a guest on ‘A peaceful death’, singing in one track – ‘panikhida’ (#7). She does it rather vividly – in contrast with the mood of the rest of the album.
From a technical perspective, the album is mixed fairly well, the only major complaint being the drum section. The clear sound is like icing on the cake. The cake itself is huge, carefully crafted and stuffed with all kinds of wonderful things you can ever think of. A fantastic work!
Oh, and I forgot to mention that Calvi’s 4th LP is released basically in the same manner as the previous ones in the circle. That means it’s absolutely free and absolutely available for download for those who appreciate epic music. And I hope you do.
Bottom line: epic Vocaloid emo feast.
Album download: http://il-cremonese.net/4th-lp.htm
Calvi Taro’s Youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/calvitaro
Calvi Taro’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/calvi1919
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