SiM delivered with their 6th Album, PLAYDEAD.

 

A recent release that I was quite excited for was SiM's 6th album, PLAYDEAD. This also marked the first album since they switched to the Pony Canyon record label. They hyped up the release in style with an expansive, full tour of the USA and slowly releasing a few songs from the album in the lead-up to the full release. Then after it came out, they embarked on a nationwide tour of Japan. 

The album starts out strong with the titular track coming out fast and heavy. The intro to the song is great with rhythmic drumming accompanying a neat distorted guitar riff. A great scream brings in the rest of the instrumentation with Mah proceeding to sing with a haunting tone through the verses, before screaming the pre-chorus. The chorus itself is extremely catchy much like a lot of SiM's songs. Being just 2 minutes long, PLAYDEAD is very short and left me wanting more, but did a solid job hyping me up for the rest of the album. Perfect choice for an opening song. 

RED is up next and it's a brilliant song. A fast-paced and dynamic track, RED makes great use of electronics to compliment the nu-metal inspired instrumentation. The catchy choruses are anthem-like and contrast greatly with Mah's expert screams. When asked about RED, Mah has stated that "the song embodies the history of rock music that's engrained in our flesh and blood, our DNA". The lyrics are all about the meaninglessness of division. "We all have different cultures, speak different languages, have different physical attributes, etc. These are facts, but at the end of the day when you cut through the skin, what flows out is the same. Bright red blood". RED was also used as the opening theme of season 2 of the anime, Kengan Ashura. 

Third on the album is Hide and Seek. The sound of sirens opens the song before the crunchy guitar riffs and pounding drums hit. There's a neat twist as the verses take on a reggae vibe with horns and Mah's vibing tones before yet another catchy chorus. I love the small guitar solo towards the end of the song, the tone of teh guitar is beautiful and flows into Mah's scream really well. 

SWEET DREAMS is an eclectic track full of electronic work that starts off with a scream. The fast-paced riffs along with the electronics are very sci-fi and I could see it being a track in a Psycho-Pass style anime. My favourite part of the song is the breakdown as Mah screams the song into silence before the bells chime. There's also some small reggae undertones that can be heard after the breakdown. 

A jangly guitar riff introduces us to Die Alone. Mah screams much more than in the previous songs before going into yet another catchy chorus. I really like how Mah's clean is backed with a scream in the first part of the choruses. Die Alone is another short song that is over pretty swiftly at 2 minutes and 17 seconds and left me wanting more much like the titular track of the album did. 

Some solid guitar riffs and fast-paced rhythmic drumming flood TOO LATE. The fast flowing verses compliment Mah's clean, crisp tones before the tempo changes slightly slower for the chorus. TOO LATE also has another killer breakdown with crunchy, brutal riffs and Mah's heavy harsh screams. 

KiSS OF DEATH brings yet more crunch with heaviness infused with reggae. The metal intro diverges into electronic reggae verses before yet another catchy chorus. Then, the metal is back briefly before switching up again to electronic and back again. I love the tone of the guitar in the last minute or so of the song. 

It's time for another tempo change with Sad Song. Sad Song has a rather nice, melancholic and melodious guitar riff and overall feel before the chorus gets a little heavy. Some really great work by both SHOW-HATE and SIN on the guitars. Mah's beautiful cleans really shine through Sad Song. The screams of the small breakdown almost came out of nowhere, but I appreciated them. One of my favourite songs on the album for sure. 

BBT brings some more of the jangly riffage and fast-paced drumming. I really love the guitar riffs throughout the song, leading up to and including the chorus it all is really captivating and makes me wanna dance. I like the backing vocals in the chorus as they add a little more panache. Another really solid breakdown as well and I love the screaming outro.  

DO THE DANCE makes me want to dance which is exactly what it set out to do. Everything about the song is catchy from the guitar riffs, to the chorus and everything in between. I appreciated the countdown and subsequent breakdown bringing some more heaviness. Also, there's some really fun lyrics such as "You look like John Lennon taking a bite of lemon". Sounds like a great insult to me! 

Not So Weak opens with screaming before moving into a funky, groovy fast-paced rhythmic instrumentation. I really like the subdued guitar in the verses before it unleashes during the choruses and especially the breakdown. There's also some really neat bass work by SIN leading into the brutal breakdown. I also love the spoken word delivery from MaH. 

The very atmospheric full-length version of my favourite SiM song Under The Tree brings the album to a close in style. The beautiful orchestral backing instrumentation along with the keyboard work compliments the stunning musicianship of the band. My favourite aspect of the song is Mah's beautiful clean vocals emoting in Japanese, as he does in most of my favourite songs. The chorus is simply gorgeous and is contrasted by the sheer darkness of the screams and breakdown.  

The orchestral version of The Rumbling completes the album and it is beautiful. Mah's clean vocals really shine as he comes across crisp and clear, emoting fabulously. I prefer the original due to the guitar work, but the orchestral version is beautiful.

Overall, I was not disappointed with PLAYDEAD. I would recommend it to fans of SiM in a heartbeat. I'd also recommend it to those who enjoy Japanese metal bands that sing in English, even if my preference is for them to sing in Japanese.