After the last time I saw Blood Stain Child, It was pretty obvious that I would be seeing them again. Getting to see them in my local however was quite the surprise! Even more so was the fact that they were with a bunch of really good support acts. The theme was female fronted hard rock. Apologies for the photo quality, I needed to snatch them with my iPhone...
The opening act was from Gunma and they set the tone of the event. They were good. Very damn good! Gunma being Gunma I knew there was a lot of rock and a fair amount of hard rock out there, however what I had heard before, while decent was never moving. This band however were quite impressive. Their music was tight, hard and pretty skilled. Their vocals were powerful and had presence yet remained distinctly feminine. I would say that back when exist†trace first started they wanted to sound like Flowers for the Broken Spirit do. I foresee only good things if they keep at it and push at the industry. They got me amped up properly which is something that opening bands in small events rarely do.
“Their music was tight, hard and pretty skilled”
I chatted to them a bit afterwards and I think I may have made a few new friends. Definitely some kindred spirits. I am seeing them again on the 17th… Hopefully I can get more decent shots of their stage then.
At first, honestly, right after Flowers Flowers for the Broken Spirit, they were a bit of a downer. They lacked the power and impact initially that the previous band built up. As they settled in their skill shone through. A much less metal sound in general to the previous band with cleaner vocals. Those vocals were very impressive but I did find it hard to get my body into the music. That said I was suitably impressed and got a copy of their first full album , “Hymenoptera” from the local Tsutaya and gave them a more thorough listening. As I had suspected at the live, they were as tight on disk as they were on stage and as a result I grew to really enjoy their music. They are more of a listener than a watcher for me, but I may go out to a one man of theirs and see if the vibe is as nice as when I hear them on my home system.
<their latest PV>
<their latest PV>
The calm before the storm. They were the second best known band there and thus their crowd was a tad larger and fed more energy into the atmosphere. That said like the previous band, I found myself listening to them more than moving my body. I have trouble comparing them to LANCER>>Bee simply because they were so similar despite their sounds being so different. I preferred the previous band’s vibe, energy and composition in general but I didn’t dislike Guardian Hacker. I just was still amped for more thanks to the first band and so I will also give Guardian hacker a listen again before I decide whether I like them a lot or just a bit.
The last time I saw them, it was Sophia’s first live show and she was a bundle of nerves. There were also very few songs written for her voice at the time. That has all changed. She has settled well. She is confident and thanks to the release of Epsilon, numerous tours, and a great Ghibli cover album she has come to the fore. It was always obvious that Blood Stain Child would never change to a female vocalist and a whole new sound if said vocalist wasn’t brilliant. She is just that. The new tracks fit her like a glove yet lose nothing of the sound that made me a fan of the melodic death metal band they used to be.
“While it was by no means an epic pit it was a pit and any pit is good”
Blood Stain Child is ne of those on switch bands. They play and I go wild. There were a few others (Including some members of Flowers for the Broken Spirits) who joined me in the mini mosh pit. While it was by no means an epic pit it was a pit and any pit is good.
When they played their classics rewritten for Sophia we all held our breath. How would they translate. like the time I saw them in Tokyo, she didn't falter. If anything the old Bloodstain child songs have gotten even better now that they have been rewritten.
In the end, I as always, had a blast. To hear some tunes from some of the aforementioned bands and many more, remember to tune into my streaming radio show every Sunday from 12H00 UTC (21H00 JST) on LiveRadio.co.za
No comments:
Post a Comment