D'espairsRay - Brilliant

After a little over a year since their last release, D’espairsRay has given us a dazzling new single, Brilliant. As a band that is known for taking their time releasing new material, many fans have been chomping at the bit for some new music from these guys, and Brilliant is well worth the wait.

The title track engulfs you right from the intro and pulls you along with little time to get your bearings. The driving rhythm and a sharp lead guitar from Karyu braid effortlessly into Brilliant, making it an out-and-out rock song. The blend of instrumentation, vocals and a subtle ambient background gives off a lighter atmosphere than the songs on Mirror but rocks just as hard. A slight drift off into a guitar spotlight and trailing vocals from Hizumi are the only break you'll get from its consuming flow. This song keeps in D'espairsRays tradition of songs with a powerful sound mixed with intense emotion. Brilliant is bittersweet hope, a metal-edged song that would surely create one hell of a mosh pit as well as pull at your heart strings.

The next song is Cocoon, a song that blindsides the listener who is still reeling from Brilliant. Cocoon offers a heavier and thicker sound than the previous track. Hard, rolling drums and bass from Tsukasa and Zero dominate this somewhat somber song from beginning to end. A blend of Japanese and English lyrics bring Hizumi's vocals from flat-out singing and growling to deeper, more intense moments. Karyu's well timed subtle and foreboding guitar gives an ominous aura to this powerful track. Cocoon's rich, hard hitting feel combined with the angst of the vocals takes you a step deeper into D’espairsRay's world and leaves you wanting more. The ending is rather abrupt, but adds an exclamation point to the end of this non-stop single.

The only constant in life is change, and the growth of sound is a necessary evolution. This single may raise the eyebrows of a few fans as to the direction D’espairsRay is taking, but this is just the next evolution in a direction they have always been going in, a ray of light through the darkness. Brilliant stands alone as a stunning single and also fits perfectly as a piece in the whole of their discography. If nothing else, Brilliant lives up to its title.