ZWEI- Ley Line Album Thoughts(J-rock)

 

Tracklist

1. Find The Love
2. Red Zone
3. AKASI
4. 真っ向
5. MY OWN LIFE
6. ライア
7. Fallen Angels Night
8. CRYSTAL CLASH
9. Eternity
10. GYAKUTEN FEVER

 


   Zwei(means "Two" in German) is a band that made their debut in 2004. I didn't know about them until early 2008 but even then, their sales weren't too high. This caused the band to move Record labels more than two times. Universal Japan being one of those labels. The two soon left them too in order to join a lesser label. Things began looking up for Zwei after finally gaining a fanbase preforming numerous anime opening theme songs and doing anime OSTs is what they are mostly known for by fans. Ley Line is the group's fifth album. It's tracklist contains songs used in popular animes as well as video games.

   I've been an on and off listener of Zwei since hearing their song Distance, then becoming a fan. Too bad that single came out when they were on Universal Japan…. Ley Line takes a step deeper into the electro punk rock style that 2015's Neo Masque only briefly visited. There's also a lot more use of English in their music which isn't a bad thing if the singer is only singing a phase or two in English. I'm not going to pretend that I understand what she's saying when she sings English lyrics for a whole song because I don't. Being the English police is not me intention either but this fact is so noticeable on Ley Line that I had to mention it. On to some of the positive qualities about the album, Production of the music was top notice. I didn't expect Zwei to become a dark dance rock hybrid of their former self. Its just that the album makes a huge statement in the musical selection that the old them is dead. Ayumu and Megu craft a fusion sound that contains dance pop from the popular mainstream genre of Japanese music and the punk rock that influence their core sound. The electronica music mixes different edits of sounds taken right from the DJ's dashboard itself. Megu is a truly gifted guitarist that knows what to do with her hands to make the guitar holler. She's always been a demon on the bass. On Ley Line, her guitar playing is the extra spice to the ever growing machine in their new music. Some feature sounds included on top of her guitar playing are choirs, violins, and piano. Can't forget the digital record scratching that gets me moving every time also. Ley Line really features a dark untamed musical style that fits right into the experimental music industry of Japan.

   Ayumu can defiantly sing many other genres of music if she wished to. Her vocals are a band's dream to be honest. I put her on the list of some of the best female frontman in Japan with Do As Infinity etc. Because of Ley Line's experimental musical content, she can be heard using more unheard ranges in her voice. That voice is already pretty strong so you can image how much more powerful it will be in the future.

  I want to see Zwei get a top ten album at least once. Ley Line felt like an edgy anime OST album to me. Good enough to get a passing grade though. I'm waiting for these girls to have their moment in the spotlight. They've made decent sales and even do side projects like modeling. They just deserve to be up there at the top for once.