Ayabie - Ayabie sokukan ongenshuu

author: Maciej P.

As many visual kei enthusiasts might already know, the early days of Ayabie’s career brought a multitude of fine releases. Through 2004-2006, their discography deserves praise - primarily for proposing quite a memorable mixture between the melodic softness of oshare kei and the sharp boldness of genuinely indie music. Ayabie Sokukan ongenshuu arguably stands out as one of the band’s major works.

It should be noted that unlike Tetsu no shima or Japanese Low-res Carameltown, Ayabie Sokukan... is primarily guitar-driven, while in terms of production the overall result is slightly rough around the edges. Though about half of the songs present come from previous singles - making this release more of a compilation than a “proper” long-play - Ayabie Sokukan… fortunately does offer a genuine “album experience.” In other words, the album doesn't just mash together a bunch of unrelated songs, it's an actual album where each song comes together to form a bigger whole.

But don't get the impression that there are no stand-out songs to be found here. Indeed, nothing could be further from the truth: tracks like Aikagi and Misery in the dusk are as appealing as a good single can get, and each song brings the overall tone of the album a step further as they develop from each other. For example, Misery in the dusk has a bitter-sweet, pleasant yet sad feeling to it, while the next song, Kei, is much more dramatic and excessive. The same applies to Bittsu-asshuku-Roll, which is a sometimes abrasive, sometimes mysterious outburst resulting from the accumulation of emotions built up from the previous songs. This pattern arguably applies to the whole record.

Besides that, most of the songs’ structures build up to a climax, typically a guitar solo. Although Ryouhei most definitely was - and arguably still is - a sloppy guitar
player, he truly knew how to transcend the overall tone of a given song with his remarkable solos. The same applies to Aoi, the vocalist: though sometimes imperfect and off-putting with his nasal style, his performance is, to say the least, intense. As far as drumming goes, it is pretty minimalistic as the band uses three different session drummers. Their contribution can be compared to the style adopted by early thrash metal and black metal bands. So basically, drums are “just there” and that’s about it. Given bass player Intetsu’s well-known fondness for extreme metal - it is even mentioned in the liner notes that his favorite bands include Slayer and Mayhem - it is quite possible that he wanted to pay a tribute to the bands he admires by imposing a harsher, more metal-like approach to the rhythm section.

Overall it must be stressed that Ayabie Sokukan... is no gimmick, no “conceptual” visual kei product, but a compelling yet straightforward work of art.