Review by Charky

After hearing REDEEMER (Single/PV), I had really high hopes for this album but I was so disappointed. The single is really misleading, I think everyone was expecting/hoping they'd gone back to their dark, gothic [Coll:set] roots. BRILLIANT, HORIZON, Kamikaze and REDEEMER are all previous releases, and weren't remixed when added back onto the album, so I felt a little cheated already knowing a quarter of the whole album. Lizard, Lost in re:birth and Masquerade were all okay/good but seemed to be lacking something. I think there seemed really little anger/emotion, and they just weren't catchy enough for me. I've been such a loyal fan of this band for two and a half years, but for the first time I've actually encountered songs by them I don't like. R.E.M -fuyu no genchou-, HEAVEN'S COLOR and PARADOX 5 I really can honestly say I don't like. PARADOX 5, with the backing/ambience they used of the Indian singers had the potential to be such a heavy amazing song, but it was just another ballad. Basically, I already knew 1/4 of the album, from the new stuff, I liked about 5 songs (but not a huge amount), and I full on disliked three. But I don't know, I'm hoping it'll grow on me. I'm still a D'espairsRay mania 100%, I still love them to bits, and I'll definately buy their future releases.

D'espairsRay are in my opinion the best live band I've seen so far, in terms of amazing precision playing, stage presence, impressive set length and somehow managing to make the experience of listening to D'espairsRay even better. This DVD along with the more recent "Spiral Staircase #15" is definately a must have, I recommend the DVD as much as seeing them live in the flesh. Oh, also--- I think the eye candy the DVD provides is worth the ticket price at least, haha.

I don't think this band will ever disappoint me personally, BRILLIANT at first as a song I was unsure about, but the hesistation didn't last long and a few days later I found myself "la la"ing at it and singing along and I love it. Of course, "Cocoon" I think almost everyone adored the first time they heard it- it has a dark [coll:set]-esque sound to it with an anthemic chorus and this song will get stuck in your head forever, I think it's beautiful. I recommend buying as always.

D'espairsRay is flawless for me. In my opinion, our boys have done it again. At first hearing, Scissors seemed superior to Kamikaze, but after owning the single several months I've grown to love each equally. Personally, after hearing these two songs I had both on repeat for hours. Within a day I knew all the words to both because they were just so fun to sing along to, everything just flowed in different ways, Kamikaze was more anthemic and Scissors was just beautiful and harsh. So I give it five stars, I don't think this band will ever let me down, but make your own judgements. :)