Tri Odyssey

So, I just reviewed Epsilon, and I absolutely tore it apart. I'm sure its fans may very well hate me for that opinion. Let's double down on that, shall we?

Tri Odyssey is easily quite a lot better than Epsilon. Why? Better mixing, more consistency, better guitarwork. The guitarwork is actually quite nice, as Ryu seems to have gotten his spark back after losing it in the Mozaiq era. There are some fantastic solos that actually pop up outside of the usual 'towards the end of the song' routine, and there are some really satisfying breakdowns. In fact, Tri Odyssey has some of the band's best solos, which is quite weird to think about. In a way, it's about as metalcore as Epsilon's guitarwork, but it's more pronounced, and more importantly, it isn't mixed like a flaming bag of dog shit. Sure, the guitars may chug every now and then, but it isn't tuned down so far as to sound muddy, and the production and mixing gives it some room to breathe. It may sound like a miracle, but it actually sounds like, you know, a guitar, and not just the same fucking chugging that pretty much every single deathcore bands uses. They're also more towards the middle of the mix, unlike in Epsilon and The Legend, though this bring us to the second problem.

The synths are a bit much, and they're quite high-pitched. It can be quite grating at times, and it leans way more towards EDM and dubstep than trance. Honestly though, while they aren't as good as in Epsilon (Which I don't think I gave them sufficient credit for), due to being quite haphazardly and somewhat mindlessly used, they don't destroy the mix. You can still hear the vocals (Which has never been an issue), but you can still hear the guitars and bass. The drumkit's decent, nothing special, but still better than in Epsilon and The Legend. It definitely doesn't emphasize the great playing the way it should. Meanwhile, the bass itself sounds good when it's audible, but the playing doesn't do much for me. Ryo definitely had better playing and a better sound to his bass overall, but I can somewhat consistently hear the bass here, and that's enough to leave me satisfied. If there's any album/EP during the band's identity crisis (Mozaiq-The Legend) that used synths the best, it's certainly Tri Odyssey. The title track definitely has the best synths.

Now for the biggest problem: The vocals. I said it in my review of The Legend, but Saika is an incredible vocalist. His contributions to his old band, The:Ø are wonderful. So, why are his vocals a problem here? Well, there's the smaller issue of his cleans having effects put on them too often. Simply put, they just aren't needed. However, Ryu clearly wanted an EDM/dubstep sound here, similar to Mozaiq, so he 'made them sound futuristic', like in Mozaiq. Yeah, the excuse doesn't hold up so well as it does there, does it? At the very least, they're much better than the cleans from Mozaiq. As for the bigger issue, Saika's range is high screams (As heard in "Kamui" from The Legend, and in The:Ø) and low growls. In fact, his growls here sound top notch. It's his mid screams that sound pitiful. I don't know if it was his choice to do them or if Ryu gave him that vocal direction (Ryu is rumored to be quite the control freak), but either way, the band approved of them, and they sound absolutely horrible. They're at their least offensive in "Trance Dead Kingdom". Despite the vocal issues, they don't ruin the EP for me.

In fact, each of the songs are great listens. I think if the synths weren't so 'beep boop'-y, I'd absolutely love this EP. The weakest track here is "[email protected]", but it isn't that bad at all. It just doesn't stack up as well to the other three.

If this was a full album, I'd be quite happy with it. Unfortunately, we only got an EP with Saika, and no proper album. Instead, he was confusingly tasked with the 'best of' compilation, The Legend, which was an absolute atrocity. And I'm only leaving this here for my own reference, but I'm only giving this a higher score than Last Stardust because it had "Stargazer -X-", which dragged it down at least 10% for me. I'd say that had a better, more restrained use of the synths, but I'm happy with this sound nonetheless. "Gaia Evolution" may very well be my favorite track here, but I'm not quite sure just yet.