Izē - [Ark]

Izē

[Ark]

1998/08/21

1.「絵」-Pictures of You-

2. LIFE

3. STILL

4. Parfum

5. CYCLE

6. ARK

7. Sky

8. STILL (Reprise)

Today I'm listening to the only mini album of soft visual princes Izē. Their existence may seem like a blip on the enormous radar of visual kei, but they left behind some quality work that deserves to be remembered.

I must confess, I heard of this band a couple years ago but it was only very recently that I checked them out a bit more. Izē started out on Kreis, the label headed by iconic D≒SIRE frontman Yukiya. Just by knowing that info, I could vaguely place them in a kind of bland soft VK style leaning towards upbeat pop-rock, and ultimately I wasn't far off the mark. In my early years I avoided artists of this label as I was generally interested in more extreme visuals and music, but there comes a time for everything!

Before diving into this mini album I had to realize that I kind of unintentionally already heard these guys: all the members were previously in a band called Kyo-Mai who participated in a nice little omnibus album titled "Jester's Brain" earlier in the '90s. Funnily enough I found their contribution the weakest on there (mainly because of the weird vocals), so I was more than pleasantly surprised to hear they had refined their abilities by the time they debuted as Izē.

The music on "[Ark]" isn't too different from what they played in their ex-band, just presented in a more polished and professional way. It might sound a little paradoxical for me to enjoy this as much as I do, as I tend to gravitate towards the rawer stuff in VK (I think I'm not the only one?), but here they managed to find a good clear production that fits these songs like a glove. The airy piano intro that almost veers into new-age territory sets up the mood quite well for the following six tracks (plus outro). No reinventing the wheel over here, just one solid melodic composition after the other, presented by capable musicians. I must commend the powerfully soaring vocals and also the tasty rhythmic arrangements (like in the closing "Sky"). Overall, a pleasant listen.