Life of Passion

Every once in a while, there are some albums that manage to stand out from the rest of the genre, and not necessarily because the rest of the genre sucks. It's just that there are a lot of things that came together at the right place at the right time, and they blew everyone away. That's what this record did, Zihard's sophomore album. Zihard is a Korean neoclassical band that you probably never heard of. Not a lot of people listen to bands like this, due to the neoclassical genre being a very narrow category for very few people. However, they definitely found their audience in this shred lover!

Zihard's style is essentially neoclassical heavy metal, so do not expect a lot of lightning-fast, blistering songs. This is not about that. This record aims to take the neoclassical metal genre, mix it with traditional heavy metal, and add their own personal touch. Yes, there is a personal touch on this record, this is not one of the many Yngwie-imitating records. Are there some similarities here and there? Absolutely, there are. But this band actually tried to make the neoclassical sound THEIR OWN, as opposed to directly lifting out sections of YJM-compositions, and it shows immensely. It is very refreshing to hear a band that sounds unique in this genre, which is not something you hear every day.

The music itself generally stays within the lower end of the speed spectrum. This however is not an issue, because the band is able to pack so much creativity, so much energy, so much liveliness and color that somehow, despite the slow pace, the songs are just as exhilarating to listen to as some of the most screaming speed metal anthems, just in a different way. "Crying at Midnight", "Viper", and my favorite song off the record, "Once Again" are all examples of mid-paced, very refined and masterfully crafted songs, with amazingly catchy riffs, beautiful vocal lines and very tasteful solos and leads. This is an entire band, this is not just Bak Yeong-Su on guitars.

Speaking of which, Bak Yeong-Su did a magnificent job composing this mesmerizing collection of neoclassical pieces. The songs are very classy, very technical, but at the same time, there is a certain playfulness, a certain down-to-earth casualness to the feel of these songs, except for the two love ballads. The riffs are generally between heavy metal-style chord progressions and neoclassical shredfests, which is perhaps the perfect balance for this album. This dude can solo like anyone ever could, but it sounds like he is always doing just as much as it's needed. Yes, you read that right. In this genre, this is considered to be a relatively small amount of soloing. However, that does not take away from the writing accomplishment. Every note is part of an amazing story, and every melody, every sequence is as striking, as intellectual, as colorful as the very best moments of neoclassical music history. Absolutely nothing is missing.

But like I said, part of what makes this record great is the fact that this is an entire band. This is not a Joe Stump's Reign of Terror record (which I love by the way), on which the biggest selling point is the non-stop shred the guitarist delivers, and the rest of the band is just there for show. This is an entire band, and it's rare to hear a band in this style of music being so extremely good at being a team. The vocalist Kim Seong-Hoon has an excellent voice, and his voice is very oriental, very Eastern-sounding, which is one of the other things that sets this record apart from the Western side of this genre. Furthermore, he is amazingly flexible and trained, which he displays in every song he sings on. The percussion is very standard and typical, but is blessed with a rather fierce and striking sound, which makes the entire sound more lively and uplifting. This is another one of those records where throwing a bunch of random fills in would have ruined everything. This is a very sophisticated and calculated record, and it has been kept that way with good reason.

When all is said and done, this is one of the greatest neoclassical records I've ever heard in my life, not just in recent years. Finally a band that manages to forget about their love for the one and only Yngwie Malmsteen. The fact that this came out of the land of kpop, which I absolutely despise almost more than anything else makes this record that much more special. They wrote an album that's virtuosic, unique, playful, classy, and has everything you'd want to hear. Emotion, shred, catchy melodies, amazing vocal lines, it's got it all in the highest quality possible. If you're open to an incredible neoclassical album that bases its songwriting on every member in the band, not just on guitar, and has their own sound instead of trying to recreate Yngwie's early records, give this a listen!