Yukueshirezutsurezure - Antino未deology

If you just got chills reading the title of this review, it's because Yukueshirezutsurezure are some kind of eldritch abominations come to wreak havoc on the planet. If you're reading this it's far too late, so you might as well see what this is all about, right?

Yukueshirezutsurezure (Yukue for short) are an idol group, sort of. We've talked about them at length here at A-To-J; basically if they breathed, we've written about it. Now that their official debut mini-album is here, it's only supernatural that we review it. Yukue absolutely blew me away with their first digital single, Kyousoukaichinari. Featured here as the second track, the album version of this song is even more powerful than the single version. While the verses are largely the same, the chorus is mixed with much more grime and bass. It takes an already terrifying song and kicks it up a few hundred notches.

The album opens up with a track called "Ideology", which introduces you immediately to the concept that Yukue will take no prisoners. The opening chords sound a bit cyberpunk, almost like we're getting into PassCode territory, and the first verse is fairly gentle. When the chorus kicks in it's like a slap in the face, with a massive digital distortion drop and growls that could only have come from the depths of hell. The song is pretty loosely structured, and the tonal shifts really take you by surprise even when you're expecting them. From the short bass drop between verses, to the guttural scream near the end, to the... OTHER guttural screams near the end, you never quite know what's coming next.

"Gunjou" sounds like a pretty straightforward alt-metal track at first, but the girls break down in the best way pre-chorus. As for the chorus itself, it sounds reasonably idol-like, which came as a surprise to me. The vocals are oddly mixed, like they're struggling to break out through the wall created by the music. I wouldn't really call it bad production, as in this case it sounds intentional.

"Tsurezure Sanka" starts off sounding like a hit of BABYMETAL without the sugar, but quickly devolves into... something? It's easily the most experimental track here, with unexpected tempo shifts and no real structure to speak of. The vocoder effects sound fantastic here, and the chorus isn't secretly very catchy. At first you may wonder where all the melody has gone, but I assure you this one grows on you. The breakdown after the bridge is to DIE for, leading up to the final chorus in the best possible way. I can only image the sheer power emanating from the stage when this song inevitably gets played live.

The next song is "Shinjuku Cinema Connection", which was Yukue's second digital single. It's one of the simplest and most accessible songs they've put out, and serves as a good palate cleanser after the chaos of the last track. There's a nice contrast between the verse and chorus, but mostly this is just a very dark piece of pop music. The synth lines are fantastic, and the mid-song screams of terror catch me off-guard every time!

The closing track is "Kyousoukadutanari" (not to be confused with the second track of a very similar name), which opens up sounding like it's probably going to be a very sweet ballad. That lasts all of twenty seconds before all hell breaks loose, pummeling and screaming like a demon begging to be set free. And after that, it turns out the song is actually a very sweet ballad. The chorus has similar lyrics to "Kyousoukaichinari", with a slightly similar melody twisted out of proportion. The music box melody goes surprisingly well with the feedback-ridden guitars before the bridge, and once again we're introduced to the dark side of Yukue, the chilling and heart-wrenching end to a very powerful mini-album.

My god, I love this album. I mean, I already knew I would, but I was still very pleasently surprised. If this is what Yukue has to show the world as only their first offering, I can only imagine what the future has in store. This album is both sweet and sorrowful, listless and furious, joyful and painful. It's so mesmerizing from start to finish that I don't think anybody can help but to be drawn in and held captive by the twists and turns of this fantastic work of art. I love this album! I love Yukueshirezutsurezure!

-Justin

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​Antino未deology

1. Ideology
   
2. Kyousoukaichinari
   
3. Gunjou
   
4. Tsurezure Sanka
   
5. Shinjuku Cinema Connection
   
6. ​Kyousoukadutanari

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Yukueshirezutsurezure

Futamaru "Shida" Yashidare TWITTER
Mare "A" Komachi TWITTER
Anata "Tsuya" Tsuyame TWITTER
"Kokoko" TWITTER

WEBSITE
TWITTER

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