Killer Show, the WORLD Ruler, Ultimate Circus... Nightmare uses some pretty grandiose titles for their albums, and while it's not good to judge a book by its cover, the automatic thing for people to do is exactly that. So when the band's latest comes with a name like majestical parade, the expectations might be a little high. If the album does live up to its name, good for the creators for making something worthy of the title - on the other hand, it's awfully disappointing when the expectations fall flat.
majestical parade starts strong with its first two tracks, PARADE and Can you do it? PARADE starts off in an appropriate, albeit slightly contrived, fashion with a military-esque drum cadence that builds into a darker rhythm with the accompaniment of guitars and a resonant bass line. It's a bit long, but quite dramatic, and accomplishes what a first track should do by building up anticipation for the rest of the album. It does a particularly good job of bringing the listeners into Can you do it? The second track is well-paced, exciting to listen to and has a darker edge; its powerful verses and rousing chorus urge listeners to get up and move.
To continue the energy from Can you do it? is Mr. trash music, which is energetic but doesn't do the trick. While Mr. trash music boasts a fast bass line from Ni~Ya, who keeps up with the pace nicely, and an interesting 80's speed metal-punk anthem feel, the concept in reality does not work out well. There are moments when the song sounds outdated, making the listeners wonder if Nightmare forgot what decade they were in. Similarly, the other high-powered track later in the album, Gianism 9, feels almost juvenile compared to other songs: it feels like a song from a band that just graduated Rock 101, lacking in technical flair, but compensating with its rock-energy and spirit.
After the first two songs, the album plays it safe and delivers some unremarkable, but still likable, tracks. There are some more optimistic songs typical of Nightmare, which will keep their die-hard fans and people who need a break from the usual heavy fare that often comes with visual kei happy. Tracks like the jazzy MASQUERADE and Gianism 9 are energetic pieces that will boost the energy of the listeners. The ninth track, Nothing you lose, is a decent piece and possesses the strong feeling of action and consequence that Nightmare has done well in the past. That said, they're all "safe" pieces and for the more adventurous listener, it might feel like they've heard them before from Nightmare, or even another band.
Some of the problems with the tracks on majestical parade are that they have a tendency to err on the side of cheesy at times, for example, the unnecessary female voice-over in Cynical Re:actor. In addition to being a distraction in an otherwise strong piece, it just sits over the music. There also seems to be a lack of specific direction in some of the tracks. Nightmare can't seem to make up their minds completely: NAKED LOVE is an ambitious try at a sensual and bluesy rock tune that completely kills the mood with the jarring chorus; MELODY plays around with pretending to be a Kagrra, song and feels out of place on the album.
To end the album on a calmer note after throwing listeners into a pool of different styles, majestical parade finishes with some rather disappointing ballads: Lost in blue, Simple Life and Chronicle. Lost in blue is clunky and has too much going on, while Simple Life is simply boring. The final track, Chronicle, starts off in a promising vein, sounding like the song Travel from Nightmare's Libido album. It alternates between the soft and dreamy verses that open the song and slightly operatic guitars; while the song needs the latter to keep it from being too mushy, it also feels rather contrived.
After listening to the whole album, the best song is easily Can you do it?: it is edited down to a no-frills affair with guts and direction, something that the rest of the tracks on majestical parade desperately need. With this album, Nightmare didn't really move out of their comfort zone, but somehow they still managed to get lost. And while it's not necessary for bands to be out-of-the-world experimental with every new song and album, the latest effort shouldn't end up feeling so underwhelming and generic.
