Mystic Your Heart

When I covered all of Blood Stain Child's material basically back to back, I left this album out because, frankly speaking, the sheer technicality of the wall of guitars was intimidating to try to dissect and write about. If you're cutting out the strange sixteen and a half minute silence of the closing track, this release comes out at just thirty-three minutes, which is barely qualifying for what most (Not most people on this site, but most metal listeners in general) consider to be album-length. They make the most of that thirty-three minutes, that's for damn sure.

I've seen a lot of comparisons to Children of Bodom (And when I say comparisons, I mean that people say that they sound pretty much identical), and to be completely honest, I haven't listened to much from them. That being said, from the little of CoB that I have listened to, I can see where some are coming from, but I'd absolutely make the argument otherwise. I'm sure that CoB has their fair share of technicality in some songs, but dear God does BSC have it in spades here. Don't mistake technicality for anything progressive though: This is straight up early 2000s melodic death metal, but less so something like In Flames and moreso something like Dark Tranquillity or Omnium Gatherum (When they aren't being completely fucking mid, anyways). That may sound disappointing, but they do it in a very impressive manner and with certain elements that very much make them have their own sound and be their own beast. The more straightforward lead guitar melodies are the one thing I'd say sound like Children of Bodom, but considering that that those are the hallmarks of Children of Bodom and melodic death metal (Particularly Finnish/Gothenburg-sounding melodeath) as a whole, I can completely understand the comparisons. I would say that this album sounds as much like Finnish melodeath as Idolator sounds like Gothenburg melodeath, if that makes sense.

The drums are precise and good enough, but they primarily just keep pace. For all intents and purposes, yes, Violator sets or keeps a fast pace to such songs, so if you're looking for that bare minimum, you've got it. However, it never really goes beyond the basics in terms of technicality or variety, with you only getting even a blast beat once in a blue moon (Ex. one part of "Artificial Mind", "eM Solution"). Really, the only fantastic performance is in "eM Solution", subtly (And by subtly, I mean being so far back in the mix that even the rhythm guitars overpower it) showcasing change-ups, various fills, and quite a bit of technicality. The rest of the drumwork may seem impressive at first, but it really isn't, with any sort of surprises being simply because the songs let the guitars rest for a second to allow for a synth and drum change-up. Thankfully, Violator would put in far better performances on the subsequent two albums, even if neither stack up to the greats of even just melodeath. Getting into the greater metal scene with drummers such as Brann Dailor, Daniel Tracy... Doing that would blow Violator out of the water, unfortunately. The real crime, however, is that the guitars are so forward in the mix that the drums are completely overpowered- And that's in combination with the kit sounding seriously weak. The kicks are barely there. Sure, it sounds punchy like I like, but it lacks impact or any semblance of sustaining. If you listen to the snare, you'll know exactly what I mean.

On the bright side, I can actually kind of here the bass in the mix. It's funny because the lead and rhythm guitars are so loud that there's quite a bit of compression overall, and the rhythm guitar just barely ekes out of the frequency range of the bass. However, the bass isn't actually as far back in the mix as you'd expect, and the lead guitars are played at such high notes that they stay far out of the bass' range. What results is the ability to barely hear the bass, but hey, you actually kind of can. It's more credit than I can give the band on 90% of their other works. The actual playing generally follows the rhythm guitar, though at longer notes, making it nothing to write home about. It sounds alright too, nothing spectacular for a bass, but it usually carries a bit of a smoother tone so that it's not intrusive to the guitars. It's completely intentional, and I absolutely understand why it sounds like that, so I can respect it. There is a moment in "The Rise of All the Fall" where the bass gets a very short solo section in the vein of the synth and drum change-ups I mentioned earlier, and it sounds fucking fantastic because they used a scratchier, almost nu-metal sound for the bass there. It's a little moment, but it's one I absolutely love. It's also the only really exceptional moment for the bass playing.

The vocals... Are pretty weak. I love Ryo as a vocalist, but he wouldn't display nearly as much of a range until Idolator. His vocals are flat, lacking the layering or fullness (Particularly on the lower register) of later works, while also never going for anything other than his standard screaming. With that fullness, it's one of my favorite screams from a melodeath vocalist, but without it... It's just weak. I don't think he's offensively bad here, but he's definitely not good either. His clean vocals are pretty bad on the title track, but the almost-whispered spoken word of the closing track is absolutely fantastic. Then again, I love that sort of thing, with Anders in In Flames' classic material having some of my other favorite spoken pieces. It's a lot more difficult to even tolerate in the title track where it's just weakly groaned into microphone as if he's got a stab wound or two and losing consciousness from blood loss (Or for a tamer analogy, really shitty voice acting from a guy who's only being paid ten bucks for his work). I know that's rather oddly specific, but it's the best analogy I have for it.

The synths are pretty good, transitioning from being symphonic to more trance/EDM-feeling. They don't overtake the songs like in Epsilon, nor do they feel like quite as much of lead melodies as in Idolator or Mozaiq. There's an array of different sounds, but my favorites are the more understated ones (Ex. the main part of "Deep Silent Memory", "eM Solution"), the melody of the beginning of "Be In For Killing Myself", and particularly the PS1 game-feeling ones (Ex. the beginning and end of "Artificial Mind" and the beginning of "Deep Silent Memory"), which seriously sound like something straight out of Clock Tower 2 and Clock Tower: Ghost Head. Those two melodies in particularly are some of my favorite synth melodies in all of music, and I wish I could hear more melodies like them. The only melody I don't like is the one at the beginning of "The Road to Ruin", but even then, it's just the choice of sound/'instrument' for it. It doesn't approximate the actual instrument it's based off of (Which at the cost of sounding unprofessional, I can't remember for the life of me at the moment), and instead sounds obnoxious as all hell. The synths overall are generally either as forward as the rhythm guitars or as far back as the bass (So a bit above the drums) in the mix, which is pretty good. My only complaint there is that they're slightly too far back in the latter situations, though those are rather infrequent.

The sheer talent showcased on the guitars, both lead and rhythm, are fucking astounding. The technicality of the leads and the precise groove of the rhythm guitars are both things that later albums- Even Amateras- completely lack, and it helps the band to differentiate themselves greatly from Finns like Mors Principium Est. I generally write off most guitar-centric albums as being somewhat shallow, superficial, and narcissistic. If you've listened to even one song from this album, you know the exact sound I'm referring to. You know, the guys who are seen as virtuosos, but would be far better fits for easy-to-forget metalcore bands or 'progressive metal' bands. And to clarify, I'm not referring to bands in the vein of Periphery- That band's guitarists are seriously talented, and even making the comparison would be rather insulting. In my eyes, what really makes a fantastic guitar-centric act is one where the rest of the elements aren't sidelined in either the playing nor the mix as to avoid having the spotlight be anywhere other than the guitars. However, I'd say that even though the mixing is similar to those kinds of hacks, the guitarwork on display absolutely isn't. Even then, I don't see a band that is intentionally being sidelined for the sake of the guitars here, I just think that the guitarists seriously outshine the rest of the band talent-wise, who hasn't quite caught up just yet. They would absolutely do so in Idolator, and especially in Mozaiq (Save for Ryu's truly horrendous clean vocals), but they haven't quite done so here yet. From little licks, to small solos in the middle of verses, to harmonized leads that dominate that section of the track, the leads are nothing short of brilliant and masterfully calculated (In a way, similar to the first two Soilwork albums, but far more impressive). I couldn't pick out a favorite solo or favorite song guitar-wise to save my life. To simply write them off as Children of Bodom clones is to deny them credit that they absolutely deserve. Similarly, the rhythm guitars aren't mindless chugging, instead containing nice old school grooves, the occasional nice modern groove, solid harmonized rhythm sections (Which is incredibly rare to see), old school heavy metal long notes, or rapid almost blackened-style tremolo picking. I've always heard about the leads being praised, but the only other time I've heard the rhythm guitar be praised in Diamhea's review of Idolator, where he cites that Shiromasa didn't stack up nearly as well as Daiki. I'd be inclined to agree, as Daiki (Who basically disappeared since departing from Blood Stain Child) made the perfect team with Ryu. I get the feeling that he had a much greater part in composing the band's earlier guitar melodies than given credit for, and it's a shame that he never went on to play guitar in any other band (He's now in a J-rock band called Thinking Dogs, of which he's the surprisingly talented drummer). I'd actually argue that he's at least just as talented as Ryu.

I know I've cited the drums and the vocals in particular as serious negatives, so why would I give the album a 95%? That would be because all of the songs are fucking fantastic. Everything is masterfully thought out in terms of composition that even though my favorite album by Blood Stain Child is Idolator (Sorry, but a more Gothenburg sound suits my tastes perfectly ), I would say that this is easily the best work the band's ever put out, and only Amateras comes close. However, in the only areas where that album falters sonically (Which are all incredibly common for modern metal), this one has in fucking droves. Dare I say it, if this album ever got remastered with a better drum sound and had re-recorded vocals from Ryo, it would be one of the best melodic death metal albums out there. I don't expect that to ever happen, and I'm not going to ask for it, but I can certainly imagine. It's nothing short of a consistently phenomenal thirty-three minute masterpiece in all but two aspects, and it's one that I get fucking lost in every time I listen to it. It was intimidating to review this album because of everything it presents, but biding my time and dissecting it proved to be worth it. Sure, maybe I just haven't listened to enough Bodom, but even with its similarities, I still believe that Mystic Your Heart shines in the sea that is melodic death metal. Even other classic masterpieces, such as The Jester Race, Above the Weeping World, and The Unborn have their share of production and mixing issues, but their compositions arguably help them to overcome (But not eliminate) such problems. I'm not saying this to say that you should or have to overlook such issues. If they're issues that seriously detract from the album for you, then I completely understand. Hell, it's a rather big problem for me with Lunar Strain and The Jester Race. However, for me, I can look past the production and mixing because this album is so goddamn fantastic. I'd even say that it's one of the few albums that is even better to listen as a full package than it is to listen to a/each song individually.

Songs To Recommend: I was going to list my favorites, but all the ones that I didn't like slightly less than the rest ended up growing on me that much. I didn't mention "∞ System" or "Clone Life" at all, but those are just as good as the rest of them.
Songs To Avoid: I wouldn't recommend avoiding any of these, but the title track's easily the weakest track to me. Not by much, but still a little bit.

Long before the hyperactive trance effects entirely took hold -those which dominate the band's later work- Blood Stain Child played a more streamlined style of metal with much less a disparity between guitar and keyboard wankery. Judging by the band's later efforts, I wish they would have continued down this path.

On Mystic Your Heart, the band takes the style pioneered by popular bands such as Children of Bodom and carves their own little niche in the sub-genre. As expected, however, there is little originality on display here, leaving pure technicality to make or break the deal. Ryo's vocal performance here is in a word: lifeless. His harsh screams feature absolutely no range or diversity.; his clean vocals are even worse. To be honest, this is still far superior to the vocal atrocity that is Mozaiq, which suffered from a misguided vocalist swap.

As stated above, the musicianship of the members is all the album really has to stand on. At all times, they are playing with frenetic energy and displaying technical skill rivaled by few. Sometimes epic, and always catchy, the songs continue to twist and turn and never outlive their short playing length. This brings me to one critical point of Mystic Your Heart, it is quite short. Don't let the forty-nine minute playing time deceive you, nearly twenty of those are pointless silence in the final track. Regardless, the innovation on display as guitarists G.S.U. and Ryu intertwine leads and solos with brilliant keyboardist Aki is worth time for any fan of the sub-genre to look into. Drummer Violator simply keeps up with the aural mayhem, lending little creativity, which is of stark contrast with the rest of the musicians.

Some of the best cuts are the title track, "Be in for Killing Myself" and "The Road to Ruin". Beware ridiculous spoken vocal sections and an overzealous reliance on many of the same licks. Otherwise, you'll dig Mystic Your Heart; especially if you find pleasure in bands of this oft-misunderstood sub-genre.