Sadie - Grieving the dead soul

Although Sadie has experimented with different styles to varying degrees of success, Grieving the dead soul achieves their optimal sound, and it should come as no surprise that it reached number one on the Oricon indies chart. It's a great gift to fans as the single includes not two or three, but four original songs (on the regular version). The two fillers fall into the gray category that takes time to grow on you, but the first and last tracks are automatic smash hits that merit a buy on their own.

Grieving the dead soul has everything you'd hope for from Sadie: a chorus of ghoulish death vocals, Mao's trademark sing-scream style, and a refrain that will have you head banging even at your desk. In less expected territory, Mao raps at various points throughout the song, but it meshes wonderfully with the raging mood. Still the apex is his wrathful screaming, particularly toward the end. Kei's drums are at times carefully omitted, and then inserted for optimal impact, and the quiet areas break up the pace and keep you on your toes. This track exhibits the real flairs of Sadie packed into one concentrated track of sublimity.

Sexual affection is another story. Not nearly as melodious as the previous track, the focus is its violent, weighty atmosphere. For a while, it feels a bit like a let down with its slow and lumbering pace, but it picks up with the refrain. A metal song chock-full of top-notch death vocals, it's one to experience at a live, or to listen to if you're in a particularly ireful mood. It's followed by Hakanai risou wazuka na ai, a fairly mediocre ballad. Aki's rumbly bass, the haunting piano and pretty melodies are offset by the song's lengthiness and excessively slow pace. Not to mention Mao's vocals are entirely too tame, never becoming emotional or intense. Though a nice enough song if you need something to help you sleep, it's not what fans are probably looking for from Sadie.

180 degrees in the other direction is In Cave, which actually achieves the same level as the first track, an incredible feat in itself. With a sprinting pace and a mix of 2/3 melodious and 1/3 violence, we get it all in the final song. In fact, we even get a little more, as Mao's melody line ventures into unexpectedly high territory during the refrain and actually sounds good. Again, the composition benefits from the momentary lapses followed by forceful entrances, and the balladic bridge saves the track from being too loud.

Grieving the dead soul makes the recommended listening list for visual kei enthusiasts, and needless to say it's indispensable for fans of Sadie. Starting and ending with two gorgeous tracks, the pace of the single is sufficiently broken up by the slower fillers. Ultimately Sadie has produced another masterpiece, and we eagerly wait to see what they'll cook up next.