E'm～grief～ - grief

E'm～grief～

grief

2010/12/22

01. Infinity Daze

02. Heretical Glare

03. Seduce

04. Eternal melody

05. Kyrie

06. 独白の空

07. In paradism ～淡い色彩～

08. Pains of aspiration

09. Le soleil de l'oasis

10. Amentia

11. D.L.S ～Dirty Limbic System～

12. Seelenheil

13. Atonality

Remember UNDER CODE? Back in the day they were easily the top indies-VK label to me with a relatively sizeable roster that boasted quite a variety of bands. Among those, E'm~grief~ was probably one of the more memorable ones, despite their short run.

If I remember correctly I wasn't even that impressed by the first samples the label put out, but after checking out their early singles I quickly recognized the charm of E'm~grief~. Take some standard goth rock, mix it with metallic riffs and a ton of cheesy synths and harpsichords, finally dip it in that visual kei sauce and voilá! They delivered their musical goods in short bursts, only singles and one mini album (which was more like a padded-out maxi-single anyway) before kind of quietly fizzling out and going on the dreaded Indefinite Hiatus.

Thankfully, we have the collection album "grief" to remember them by. This baby contains all the material that the band recorded in the studio over their fleeting career (except for a Phantasmagoria cover track that no one really misses), so you really get the complete picture on what these guys were all about. You have your typical synth-heavy dramatic VK tunes with the goth-o-meter turned all the way up, but they manage to sprinkle in some unexpected sounds and effects that bring on a sense of otherworldliness. Adding to this, some of the tracks go into campy electro-dance territory with industrial clangs and ambient interludes that can easily put you into a fever dream-like state. At other times the light and airy nature of certain songs evoke the best moments of MALICE MIZER (their Voyage days especially). On the heavy end of the spectrum the group even employs some symphonic black metal tropes, even if those are copy-pasted from Dimmu Borgir and Cradle of Filth almost note-for-note (it's quite hilarious!).

A very strange but potent mixture, this E'm~grief~... Even after all these years, I find myself being surprised and amused by their musical choices, but somehow they made this clusterfuck work. If you enjoy being bombarded into sensory overload by a whirlwind of aural decadence (you like VK so why wouldn't you?), then look no further!