Not exactly the first of the new wave of Japanese all female metal acts, but certainly one that caught on with their stage presence by marrying their feminine visual appeal with no-frills metal, excluding the frills adorning their garments. Yeah, black for the most part was their color scheme at the onset, but the baby doll hair styling some of them embellished would influence a slew of later acts that took that approach and went ballistic with it, appearing on stage as angelic nymphs while tearing shit up. That Destrose still exists today highlights the perseverance of guitarist Mina, who formed the band in 2005 and today remains the only original member left, while much of the rest of the initial ensemble defected to eventually design their own act presently named Mary's Blood. What's even more surprising is that the new cast of characters she currently surrounds herself with bring about an even more uncompromising sound to Destrose, and without even an album to their name since their inception, they solder on and support their expensive clothing habits through numerous concerts, festivals, DVDs and the odd independent single release such as this one. And it's a doozy.
The opening title track of this three song release almost duped me into believing that I had just invested in a crock of dogshit. Initially based around a pastoral guitar melody, at the song's commencement the production was stultifying with its sub-demo trebly mono mix and I almost stopped the damn thing right there to clear the unexpected ringing harassing my eardrums, but what soon followed brought not only a sigh of relief, but a Cheshire Cat grin to my face. The band suddenly ignites in full stereo mode, brandishing a darker sound than most of their immediate peers by infusing a bit of gothic flair but is nevertheless relentless fast metal. The guitars have a vicious and rather icy tone to them, but it's the ultra thick and massive bass guitar high in the mix that sold me. Any worries that the horrid tinny sound of the opening verses would carry through this entire release were long since vanquished. Marina's vocals balance between a power metal "fist to the sky" and a melodic Jpop "wand in the air" delivery, but with enough attitude to keep things more nebulous than the norm, enhancing the tune's menace. The drum-work lunges between mid-paced and thrash rhythms skillfully, yet the exquisite Haruna's stick-wielding efforts are almost buried in the mix, most likely as a consequence of the heavy bass production.
"Lifer" follows, and is no less of an impressive display, this time incorporating propulsive D-beat punk into that stoner-metal engineering job. Possessing one of the more infectious three chord riffs I've heard in a while, Mina and Narumi keep things snazzy with numerous little guitar fills sprinkled about, providing the tune with an almost early Guns & Roses vibe although much heavier and punishing in scope.
"Rose Of Destruction" ends this single, but not even remotely on a sour note, existing as an instrumental showcase for Mina & the gang to cut loose with numerous solos and a battery of rapid-fire riffs and tempos. The sudden fade-out at the end feels a bit cheap in execution, but outside of that petty issue as well as the title cut's painfully deceiving treble-drenched intro, I have no complaints regarding this work.
When I think of single releases, I usually expect one of the tracks to possess at least some level of commercial appeal since the format itself is limited to being a quick fix of the group's capacities in terms of style, execution and memorability. Thus a mid-paced number with an irresistible hook was what I had anticipated, followed by a B-side or two of heavier though less thoughtfully written material. Deathless Memories is nothing of the sort, but instead it's an unrepentant slab of thrashy, punkish power metal adorned with melodic vocals and a deep mammoth bass resonance. While lately they've been adopting a more "kyabajo" fashion, they remain one of the heavier all-girl metal acts in Japan, though it would be cool if they could finally get their act together and put out a full length before there's another mass exodus of players. Until then, I'll settle for the odd single.