Don’t Regret - album review

Great releases keep coming from Russia. We should thank Sander-P (or Alexander Pivnev if you prefer real names) for the latest one. It took eight months of work – hard work, to be sure – but the outcome proves to be worth the time invested.

The full-length album (11 tracks including the intro) has all the vibes of earlier era metalcore. Think of the beginning of 2000s when many of the elements now iconic for the genre were considered mere optional fluff. Breakdowns? What breakdowns? Never heard of ‘em :) Back then metalcore was less bound to the confines of the established standards. It was more experimental in its nature, and we can feel echoes of that spirit in ‘Don’t Regret’.

Another notable thing is the mood of the album which can largely be attributed to the vocalists. ‘Don’t Regret’ is starkly, gravely serious. To the point you won’t usually find in the other songs.

The thing is, 95% of metal Vocaloid songs (and 99.9% of the total Vocaloid scene) try to entertain us, one way or another. It’s not necessarily blissful jubilance or dazzling frenzy; there are a lot of tricks that can grab your attention. The attitude is so common it usually goes unnoticed. Until you’ve listened through the whole tracklist of ‘Don’t Regret’.

And then a sudden thought strikes you. The Vocaloids here… They. Do. Not. Try. To impress. Anyone. Weird, huh? I mean, is it even a right thing to do for the performer? Well, it’s up to you to decide. I can only add that such a disconnection from the audience adds a certain level of authenticity. More, it requires from the listener some strain to narrow this distance and to realize the narrative better. Quite an unusual approach and it worked for me.

Of all the vocalists, Yohioloid seems to be the only one engaged. Surprisingly (or maybe not so), he fails to reach the same degree of authenticity which Gumi and Miku exhibit casually.

Perhaps the serious attitude of the album can be explained by the fact it uses fine poetry as song lyrics. And by fine poetry I mean Sergey Yesenin, William Blake and Vladimir Mayakovsky. Now that’s an uncommon concept. Well, I have to admit this poetry was never meant to serve as ‘entertainment’ in the sense it’s often found in Vocaloid music or modern music in general. More, the way ‘Don’t Regret’ plays it out seems to be the only appropriate one.

“You William Blake?” “Yes, I am. Do you know my poetry?”

To be sure, Yesenin and Blake weren’t the types known for their angst. Maybe that makes them more, not less favorable source for metalcore. No matter how awkward may feel this exotic crossbreed of Vocaloids, metalcore and classic poetry, Sander-P manages to fuse everything into very solid piece.

Steering back to instrumentals, I should mention Sander-P’s decent skill in guitar wielding. ‘Don’t Regret’ isn’t particularly technical-heavy but there are some moments where proficiency is required, most notably in several guitar solos. The music is largely built upon deft melodic riffs, rather traditional in their nature. What add the album a special flavor are its acoustic parts.

And this ‘special flavor’ can be one of the greatest features of the release. Off-beat and crafted with talent, acoustic parts enrich the atmosphere and add depth and diversity to the music. ‘The Black Earth’ (#11), the acoustic-only track, is a fascinating example showing unique style, profound emotional clarity together with somewhat surreal feel. The song has distinct post-rock influences though it’s the only track that ventures beyond the general metalcore boundaries of the album.

The aforementioned ‘oldskool’ spirit of the music is supported by the specific distorted guitars sound. It’s edgy but not perverse, with the tuning drop not so deep. There are some variations between the tracks. ‘Wrath Of Wolves’ (#9) takes the most suffering: the distortion here is cranked up to the moon, listener beware! :) The bass guitar is shoved somewhere below. It hardly plays any prominent role, except for a few instances, like in the end of ‘Face To Face’ (#2) – is that sweep picking?

The drum section mostly falls into the overall ‘trve metalcore’ theme. Needless to say, this theme bars the use of electronics sequences. Only post-rock-ish ‘The Black Earth’ (#11) features synthetic drum line which is rather common for this style.

Of course, we have synthetic vocalists, a whole bunch of them! The quality of the vocals is very impressive in general, with a bit of variance here and there. But Gumi wins my favor by a large margin. Ahh! Her singing is a quintessence of this strange yet alluring merger of poetry and heavy sound. She sounds determined and secure while at the same time having an aura of dignity and a slight touch of etherealness. Gumi’s parts transcend beyond mere words and melodies, they convey depth and enhanced experience; all of it with undoubted genuineness. Bravo.

Miku-san shows her ability to reach the same level – like in ‘Cold And Shuddering Fears’ (#8) – but falls short in other tracks. Yohio tries hard to do his best, but seems like metalcore is essentially a new concept for him :) Maybe next time when the guy will familiarize himself better with it... Meiko is the least lucky of all: both tracks she participates in she sings alongside with Yohioloid who doesn’t give her a single chance of taking the spotlight. Now, that’s not a proper thing for a gentleman to do, Yohio! No, not even in metalcore! ;) No, not even when we all know Meiko’s vocals are far from stellar! ;)

Speaking of things far from stellar, I have to point out the extreme vocals. While those fully belong to ‘goode olde metalcore’ scheme, their implementation in ‘Don’t Regret’ will make your ears bleed. The nightmarish noise which is supposed to represent screaming is not for weak-spirited listeners; given choice I’d opt for listening even to Meiko instead! :)

But let mere technicalities not cloud the overall impression on the album. Sander-P has undertaken a unique approach at song-writing and developed it thoroughly and skillfully. I, for instance, don’t regret (pun intended) listening to it a single tiny bit :)

Bottom line: classic metalcore embraces classic poetry. The outcome is… classy!

Album download link: https://sander-p.bandcamp.com/album/dont-regret-full-album-2016
The album is free + option for donation
Sander-P’s VK page: http://vk.com/vocaloid_perm

Sander-P and a kitty. Aww, kawaiiiii!!!