Recently, I am addicted to two series of doujin music works: "Ancient Colours Infinity" and "ORBITAL MANEUVER", featured by composers Hiroyuki Ooshima and bermei.inazawa, lyricist interface, and the most famous three doujin singers, Haruka Shimotsuki, Chata, and Rekka Katakiri.
The first series, "Ancient Colours Infinity", is focusing on using elements giving people the feeling of the distant past, the time we do not know yet. Songs in this series are mostly sung in ancient Japanese, which fits the sense of "ancient" very well. Each CD cover is mainly based on one single colour: green, blue and red. Oh, that's the ancient colours! XDD
I remember I have ever tried some pieces from Haruka's album, and said, "oh, no, that's not my favoured type." Yet now, I love it so much… orz. I think my taste got changed a lot during these years since I began to listen to tons of Japanese pop/doujin music. :P
★*♪。☆*★*♪。☆*★*♪。☆*★*♪。☆*★*♪。☆*★*♪。☆*
-霜月はるか：泰東ノ翠霞 - Haruka Shimotsuki: Taitou no Suika/Emerald of the Great East-
My favourite album from this series. From the first song "泰東ノ翠霞/Taitou no Suika/Emerald of the Great East (my careless translating, applicable to all translation below!)", You can feel typical bermei.inazawa-styled noise. The background noise and the percussion are such a well-done. This song really sounds like the very music used in a ritual, a mystic ceremony to praying for the eternal peace. Track 2, "さよなら/Sayonara/Farewell" is my favourite song. I love its medium tempo introduced by a rather slow solo. This song has even more elements from traditional Japanese ballad. In the middle of it, percussions make out a calm yet intense rhythm. Haruka's multi-layered chorus is another point that attracts me. Ohh, also, do not forget to notice her whisper-like chanting in the late part!!! Track 3, "森羅/Shinra/The Universe" is another of my favourites among the whole series. This song has a fast tempo, and a more complicated arrangement as well as chorus, which indicate the intriguing true nature of the universe. I love it also because its melody is so catchy!! Track 4 and 5 are remixed versions of track 1 and 2, and they are also very nice, in which track 4 is more rich in arrangement comparing with track 1, whereas track 5 is simpler and cleaner than the original version.
One-sentence summary: Haruka does not sound like Haruka… lol
★*♪。☆*★*♪。☆*★*♪。☆*★*♪。☆*★*♪。☆*★*♪。☆*
-茶太：蒼昊ノ恋歌 - Chata: Soukou no Renka/Love Song of the Endless Indigo-
To be honest, I am not a bit fan of Chata – I more care on the melody itself than how the singer's voice is, and the melodies from most of Chata's songs do not attract me – they sound just average (I am serious!). However, songs from this album all have beautiful melodies, and thus I love it! Except the typical bermei.inazawa-noise, many Chinese traditional instruments are used in this album. Then, look at the cover of this album again, hey, does not this album have a perfect ambience of the ancient South China (maybe Soshu according to the jacket)? I have never thought Chata could sing that amazingly in Track 1, "古街/Furumachi/Old Town"!! Hmm, here, Chata does not sound like that Chata either! LOL Comparing with track 1, track 2 "蒼昊ノ恋歌/Soukou no Renka/Love Song of the Endless Indigo" is much calmer, like a serenade and might be perfect if listen during the night. Track 3, "いささめの花/Isasame no Hana/A Small Flower", is my favourite of this album. The melody is like the flowing water, and Chata's sweet voice fits it so well. Track 4 and 5 have more noise but they sound similar in terms of the ambience for me…
One-sentence summary: My favorite Chata album is this!
★*♪。☆*★*♪。☆*★*♪。☆*★*♪。☆*★*♪。☆*★*♪。☆*
-片霧烈火：饗旺ノ烈火 - Rekka Katakiri: Kyouou no Rekka/Mighty Blaze-
Rekka Katakiri, since the time I knew her she gave me a feeling of craziness and darkness; she is the queen of the darkest abyss, the owner of the most powerful voice (for me, though she HAS peaceful and calm songs… ^^;). The last volume from the ACI series is featured by such a sense of darkness. I cannot say how good the melody is, but I do love the album! Here, the melody is not that important for me anymore – I love the final assembly of the noise, arrangement, metal-like background effects, and the intense voice. I lost the feeling of each single song; I recommend listen to this album without any break. Songs in this album have to be listened constantly to achieve the most ancient feeling of the unknown force – yes, it is "force", not "power", which fits the feeling of the crimson CD jacked, which was rather scary for me, orz. If I say Haruka's album is like a developed ancient civilization, and Chata's album is like a not-that-ancient town, Rekka's album is describing the most original universe, in which everything was in chaos. Track 1, "饗旺ノ烈火/Kyouou no Rekka/Mighty Blaze", is the first sign of life in the world, which is rather calm but full of energy. Track 2, "纏/Matoi/Entangling", is the vast chaos before any civilization; track 3, "贈火/Zouka/The Fire has been Controlled", described the very beginning of civilization (I guess!). The world was tending to have rules and well-organized, in which the melody is much calmer. Ahhhh, by the way, the two remix versions are much crazier!! Enjoy! :P
One-sentence summary: anyone who can sing songs in this album must be a singing god of chaos! ;)
Writing a review is exhausting! I will talk more about the other series, which is "ORBITAL MANEUVER" later… flees away to play "Dragon Nest" now!!! XDD