The Sky Prison

Fate Gear is one of those bands that tends to fly under everyone's radar, even if you're a fan of Japanese metal. With artists out like Band-Maid, Lovebites, Aldious, Babymetal, Galneryus and Nemophila making huge ripples all over the world, it's easy to see why this band might not get the recognition it deserves, plus, steampunk is sorta a niche nerd cliché, with some people even saying it's a way for goth chicks to say they look good in brown. All of this of course means nothing if the music isn't up to par, so with Fate Gear's 4th release, the question is: How does the music hold up?

The answer can be found in the first track, The Sky Pirates where lead singer Nico sings very eloquently and clearly in English for the most part -- her voice is not only beautiful but it's hard to tell this is a Japanese artist at all. The guitarwork of Mina is very masterful and Erika's bass is defined beautifully in Child of Memories, which has a very folk-y and warm feeling to it, almost like something you want to raise a glass of Sapporo and say "Here's to you!", the drumwork of Haruka is almost like a chameleon, it's slow but kept well on tracks like Father yet fast and intense on tracks like Battle Against Justice. The keyboardist Yuri adds the effect the songs need to have, and never more is this present than on Track 8, which I put in a translator and came out as Time of Processing.

A few of these songs are indeed more poppy than others, one that comes to mind is Draw You Dagger but even when it is poppy, it's still really well sung and the melody is both beautiful and enchanting, and it always has a way of coming back to the metal we love so much. If there's one criticism I have about this album, it's that at just 38 minutes, it's a very short full-length release. This is a minor quip and it seems in flux with all of their other releases, but it's still something I kinda feel is lacking just because this band is so good that their albums are worth a lot of play.

In conclusion, Fate Gear has put out an album in The Sky Prison which honestly has run a gamut of musical styles, but the one thing that binds everything together is rhythmic balance, soft when it needs to be, but hard as nails at the right time to remind you this is a power metal band with heart and passion. So what can brown do for you? They can give you some really good heavy metal.