Kozi - Katarushisu

By 1-5

Release Date: 03/31/2004
Price: 2700 yen
Type: Album

My Rating

Sound Quality - 8/10
Length - 10/10
Songs - 9.5/10
Overall Score - 9.5/10!

Review

Following up his debut solo single, "KHAOS/KINEMA", "Katarushisu" is Kozi’s (Eve of Destiny/ex-Malice Mizer) first solo album. If you’ve heard "KHAOS/KINEMA", it’s a good taster of what this album is like and the song "Promenade" is on both releases.

On the other hand, if you haven’t heard the single, then you can expect a mix of electro-industrial, rock and weird pop, with smooth singing from Kozi. Although vocally he isn’t the best you’ll ever hear, he uses some nice vocal effects on the more electronic track and his voice is well-suited to his music.

One striking thing about the album, considering Kozi is also a guitarist, is how few tracks feature guitars. It really feels like he was trying out various styles and techniques and still was unsure what kind of music he wanted to make. However, that’s not necessarily a bad thing as it’s made the album a more interesting mix of styles and vocal effects rather than just being of the same song 12 times over with the titles being the only difference. This doesn’t mean that the album is at all disjointed though, because it isn’t; it all flows together really well.

Songs like the fast paced "Grottesca" and "Dans Erebos" and the more guitar-heavy "Cruel Arcadia" are great and energetic industrial tracks. In contrast to these, there’s also the strangely cute-sounding "Crimson Star" and "Promenade", which are fantastic pop songs and the pop rock sounds of "Innermost". Another thing worth mentioning about the album is the obvious influence Kozi has taken from working with industrial goth band Eve of Destiny. This is most evident on the song "Life Goes on ~ With Melancholy", not least because Haruhiko Ash wrote the lyrics for it. This influence is clearly a good one as, along with "Incoherents" and "Innermost", "Life Goes on ~ With Melancholy" is one of the three best songs on the album.

Kozi also collaborated with author Minako, who he previously worked with on the book/CD project "Izayoi no Tsuki", on "Nocturne". Again, this was a successful collaboration, with Minako’s sorrowful lyrics fitting perfectly into this melancholic pop song.

Coming at the beginning, middle and end of the album, the three instrumental tracks on "Katarushisu" "Kinema", "Katarushisu" and "Khaos" are highly atmospheric. This is especially true of "Kinema", which builds up slowly, making it a great intro track, and "Khaos", with it’s haunting sounds that give it a slightly unnerving quality.

Overall this is a really great album with enough variety to stop you getting bored. If you liked "KHAOS/KINEMA" then chances are you’ll probably love "Katarushisu" and if you didn’t then it’s still definitely worth listening to for the variety and interesting new songs.

Track Listing

1. Kinema
2. Grottesca
3. Incoherents
4. Nocturne
5. Dans Erebos
6. katarushisu (in katakana, English is "catharsis")
7. Promenade
8. Life Goes on ~ With Melancholy
9. Crimson Star
10. Cruel Arcadia
11. Innermost

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