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Blood Stain Child > Idolator > Reviews
Blood Stain Child - Idolator

Trip down memory lane: Part 6 - 40%

LawrenceStillman, May 7th, 2023
Written based on this version: 2005, CD, M&I Company Ltd.

Shit, for a pioneering album, this kind of sucks. Epsilon (their 2011 album) did it much better. Which is ironic because that one is less metal-adjacent than this album.

Another trip down memory lane, and that means another story time: Back in high school where everyone was really into dumb shit like Asking Alexandria, I decided to find what band began this obnoxious-ass sound and discovering BSC as a result. Initially, I thought, "Wow, this is so much better than all those metalcore bullshit, how did they go from this to that dumpster fire?" But after a few years, I went back to this album, only to find myself looking at it with indifference instead of adoration.

Blood Stain Child is a melodeath band from Japan that basically pioneered the EDM (electronic dance music) elements commonly seen in modern-day melodeath and metalcore. But instead of the more hardcore techno or synth pop-focused electronics, this band elected to use trance instead, and they have been using it since they started doing this style. But that is not what they REALLY began as. Instead, their two albums prior to this had a more Children of Bodom-esque sound to them.

First, I have to address the elephant in the room, and that is the Gothenburg style of melodeath they adopted from this album onwards. This isn't the kind of Gothenburg where the band experiments with the songwriting like Disarmonia Mundi, but instead they copied the same style of melodeath as later At the Gates (by later I mean post reunion, which is somehow worse than SOTS). Radio-friendly song structures and choruses with some harsh vocals sprinkled in, lazy riffing, uninspired solos, all that jazz, Ryu somehow just decided to go with a stock standard melodic death metal riff that sounds like it came from a riff factory designed to mass produce basic riffs, soulless as hell. Another thing about the guitars here is that they are way too forward in the mix, which drowns out basically everything else besides the drums and the annoying ass vocals. This is a stark difference compared to their previous two albums, which had pretty balanced mixing for all the instruments. The bass sounds pretty standard for modern melodic death metal, not standing out too much and not being annoying at all, while the drums sound very good, which is a surprise considering how lacklustre the rest of the instruments are besides the EDM stuff (which I will explain later). Although the terrible production was somewhat justified since Tue Madsen is behind the wheel and everything he touches will become an audible mess.

The biggest culprit in this album's terrible sound is without a doubt the vocals. The harsh vocals sound annoying even for JP melodeath standards due to how much Ryo butchers the lyrics, it sounds too exaggerated and borders on sounding like an emo vocalist. But Ryu somehow makes his brother's vocals sound listenable. How? Ryu's cleans sounded like he wasn't even trying and was just half-assing his parts. It seriously sounds like a teenager trying to copy a cool baritone and failing miserably at it. The beginning of Truth is basically how it sounds at its worst.

"You gave this a 40, so there must be something good about it, right?" And you would be correct. Notice how I did not mention the EDM/synth elements earlier? That is because they are the glue that keeps the album listenable from start to finish. While they sound pretty meh in the first half, the EDM elements take on a more central role in carrying the song forward from Truth onwards, which is a nice change of pace because the guitar melodies sound really inoffensive and lack energy. This aspect is at its strongest in the latter half of the album, where the electronics are not as buried as they are in the first half. It is telling when the best song of the album is a song done entirely by keyboards and electronics, that being Nuclear Trance.

If you want to check out this album, I would recommend you start with Nuclear Trance and then finish the album from there while avoiding the Luna Sea cover, that cover is just plain garbage and has lost everything that made the original so good. Idolator is another cautionary tale regarding changing your sound to resemble Gothenburg's because it will never work out well barring some experimentation. The EDM elements also unintentionally sparked another annoying trend in the melodeath/metalcore scene, full of dumbasses who cannot even utilise them halfway as well as the EDM elements here. At least BSC manages to correct their mistakes and improve to make better albums, unlike ATG after SOTS.

Just listen to Epsilon and Amateras if you dig this style, and anything by MergingMoon. Those guys in MM took the EDM elements and cranked it up to 11, proving not all metalcore is garbage, even if it is just one example among a sea of cringe metalcore bands.

Highlights: Nuclear Trance, Ag2o, Life Story
Songs to avoid: The Luna Sea cover at the end, especially if you have heard the original

It May Not Be Their Best, But it is My Favorite - 85%

Xpyro125, July 29th, 2021

Looking at each release from Blood Stain Child is always incredibly fascinating to me. Each album, EP, and single are all incredibly distinct, with the only ones I'd say are rather similar being Amateras and 2045, and even then, there's a case to be made to the contrary. Each work from the band has its own appeal, and it's easy to see why one would be your favorite versus everything else. For me, Idolator is my favorite release from the band, and it's been rather daunting to make that case here, simply because I want to do the best job I can. It was the first album from the band that I ever heard, and it scratched that Gothenburg-style melodeath itch while having an eclectic side that can't quite be found in Western music. That, and the vocals really gripped me. But honestly, as time's gone on, I've come to accept just how flawed it is. This is an album that kinda falls apart in the second half, only being held up by the incredible songs it has. Sure, "Trial Spiral" and "True Blue" have really fucking cool riffs, and "Type-N" is rather neat, but I'd say that everything else on the second half of the Western version isn't nearly as good as the front half. As for me, I bought the album and made a sort of 'Frankenstein's Monster' version of it, with "Nuclear Trance" being before "Void" and "Life Story" being the closing track. I'd prefer "Nuclear Trance" to be after "Void", as to patch up pacing issues, but iTunes just didn't do that back when I still bought music.

When it comes to the vocals, I'd say that this is when Ryo began to hit his stride. His harsh vocals are excellent, and I absolutely love them. Listening to this album reminds me why he's my favorite vocalist that the band's ever had. Sure, his spoken word isn't great (Though it isn't bad either), but it reveals just how broken the English is in the lyrics. Still, that much isn't a huge flaw for me. Ryu does some clean vocals here, but they don't sound nearly as awful as they do in Mozaiq. If anything, they work in songs like "Final Sky", "Ag2o", and "Embrace Me". Sure, they're still not exactly good, but I'll take them here any day over his vocals on Mozaiq. I think Ryo has some clean vocals on "Truth", since they don't quite sound like Ryu's, but I could be wrong. Either way, they actually also don't sound bad, but they're only marginally better than Ryu's.

There are some nice riffs here and there, and some decently good solos that are even sparser, but aside from those, this is probably Ryu's weakest performance guitar-wise. The rhythm section ranges from doing nothing in the song to actually being really good, and trust me when I say that the quality there really does vary. Meanwhile, Violator does a pretty good job on the drums. They sound out of sync on occasion, though for some reason, I only hear that on certain songs sometimes. Maybe it's just something about the kit that doesn't sit right with me. Speaking of the kit, it sounds pretty damn good aside from one thing: The snare drum. Jesus, the fucking snare sounds awful on this album, and it seriously takes away a ton of power from the drum sound. Sometimes I think the album would sound that much better with a good snare, but sometimes I think that the way it is was intentional and actually works. As for the bass... I can't hear it much, what else is there to say? Standard fare for the band, I suppose. When it comes to the electronics, this is probably the most subdued they've been aside from their debut and Amateras, and honestly, I love the balance of melodeath and electronics on this album. So many people think Epsilon had the perfect balance, but there was such little melodeath goodness (That could be heard, anyways) that it became pretty unsatisfying. This is the album that began the injection of EDM into their music, and it actually does work here.

It's so tough to narrow down highlights here, simply out of fear of making a track-by-track review. I really don't want to do that, so... "Truth" is a really cool song that plays a bit with what you'd expect from the verses. They're spoken word with electronics in the background, but they build up to the chorus and the second half of the song, and goddamn is it awesome to finally reach the chorus, where they just go all out. "Final Sky" is *the* Gothenburg melodeath song of the album, though with a bit of EDM flare here, and it works really well. This became the big song the band had (Probably aside from "Freedom"), which they would remake *three fucking times*. And trust me when I say that *none of them* came even close to matching up to the original, and showcased a decline in quality with each subsequent attempt. On one hand, I'd love a studio version with Sadew and the new crew, but on the other hand, just let this fucking song rest. It's awesome, we know that, but you don't need to try to keep recapturing that lightning in a bottle with the same damn song. "Embrace Me" is an emotional-sounding song that focuses around beautiful piano and string work, particularly in the choruses, damn good guitar parts in the verses, and pounding drums all around that give the song the piece of intensity needed to round it out. The electronic parts also help to breathe in some energy which might be otherwise lost to some. It's a really good song. "Life Story" is pretty much the precursor to "Neo-Gothic Romance". It's pretty good, but I think "Neo-Gothic Romance" would come along and do its eccentric, non-conforming style a lot better. "Nuclear Trance" is also just the most awesome track on the album (And probably from the band overall), and it's a fucking crime that it didn't make it across the ocean. It blends EDM and melodeath in a way that simply hasn't been replicated, and it's the most intense, yet sublime track that the band's ever put out. Every element on the track is done perfectly, and that perfection just hasn't been replicated before or after with the band's works. It's a fucking experience to listen to, that's all I can say about it.

However, my favorite song from the band (Not just the album) would have to be "Ag2o". Man, this is a criminally underrated song with phenomenally beautiful clean guitar parts, pounding drums that dictate the pace and intensity incredibly well, and tinges of EDM-styled electronics in the chorus which are surprisingly really pleasant to the ear, at least to me. There's a really cool electronic solo, which was unprecedented for the band at the time (This would later become rather common) before a simple, yet effective guitar solo. Although the song is the whole package for me, it's the clean guitar parts which really do it for me. Hearing those clean guitar parts, in a similar vein to "Glint" by Deafheaven, is one of my favorite pieces of music that I've ever heard, as the melodies are just that wonderful and pleasant to the ear. I really do wish they'd give the song some attention, as it was pretty much lost to time, even in a time when Idolator and Mozaiq tracks were being brought back more than any other album for The Legend and for live performances with Sadew. Don't get me wrong, I'm so incredibly glad that it wasn't bastardized on The Legend, but I'd love to hear it again with the modern lineup, even if it's just in a live performance. I can dream, right?

I don't want to speak too much about the back half of the album, as I fear that I may have already broken the rule of doing a track-by-track review. I may have to cut out a piece or two on some of the songs I love, though I really hope I don't have to do that. With that being said, yeah, the second half of the album doesn't hold up quite as well as the first, and the two best songs on this half, being "Nuclear Trance" and "Life Story" are cut out on the North American and European releases. It's already strange that the album was rearranged, but the second half was left relatively untouched. While the pacing in the back half is pretty good, maybe even better than the pacing of the front half in the Japanese release, the songs are somewhat forgettable, especially compared to the heavy hitters in the first half of the album. They have splashes of really creative writing here, sure, but when you're not getting those or a fantastic riff, you're left pretty much dry, and that's why I don't have this rated higher. If anything, the 85% I've given the album is incredibly subjective, with my objective feeling being an 80% and my own bias screaming 90% or higher.

Idolator carries a variety of moods in it, and that's something I don't see done quite as well with the other Blood Stain Child albums, save for Amateras. I love the album, to the point where it heavily inspired many of my creative endeavors since listening to it. It's also *the* album I listen to whenever I travel, be it on a train or if I'm flying, along with Mozaiq. I have a ton of memories with this album that's caused me to love it for so much more than just the music itself. There's so much more I'd love to say here, but I feel like that would bloat the review with unnecessary information. There's a lot of creative writing here, even if it doesn't quite hold a candle to Mystic Your Heart's incredible creativity. After this, I'm pretty sure that the only album I have left to review is Mystic. Even listening to the entirety of that album is extremely intimidating, so it'll probably be a while until I review it. It may very well be, at least objectively, the best album the band's ever put out, though I go back and forth with myself on Mystic versus Amateras quite a lot. Either way, Idolator is my favorite album from the band. The album's biggest weakness is that it just seems like the band was running out of fresh ideas by this point. After an album like Mystic Your Heart, I can't really blame them. That, and Daiki's departure was very clearly a huge blow to the guitarwork. If they came into it with the same fire that they had during Mystic or Amateras, I think that this would've been their best album hands down. For me, it showcases my favorite sound from them, though I am a pretty big sucker for the classic Gothenburg sound.

Songs To Recommend: "Truth", "Final Sky", "Live Inside", "Ag2o", "Embrace Me", "Nuclear Trance"
Songs To Avoid: None, though I think "Void" and "True Blue" are probably the weakest tracks here. "Trial Spiral" is a song that's really fucking good at some parts and completely forgettable at others, so I guess it's with those two as well.

Yeah, the Western release of the album really does suffer from the removal of the two best tracks from the back half, even if the pacing is so much better in the front half. I don't think it's worth the tradeoff, personally.

Void. - 65%

Diamhea, January 25th, 2014

This is what many consider Blood Stain Child's finest hour. While there is a concerted effort on the band's part to mirror the approach and quality present on Mystic Your Heart, Idolator inadvertently ends up introducing many of the pitfalls that doomed Mozaíq two years later. I suspect this was primarily due to the departure of Daiki, as Shiromasa is just not an apt replacement. This puts added pressure on Ryu to deliver the goods, which really starts to damage the lasting power of the riffs as the album drags on.

To go positive first, the keyboard performance is similar in approach to Mystic Your Heart, but also hints at Idolator's electronic-drenched successor through the inclusion of an instrumental trance/electronica track in "Nuclear Trance". There are a few moments where everything comes together effectively, such as on "Trial Spiral" and "Life Story". These are good songs that wouldn't sound out of place at all on Mystic Your Heart. This is also Violator's most impressive isolated performance on the drums, with some impressive dexterity regarding the top end of the kit. The snare sounds a bit weak and lacks staying power, but the rest of the drums rumble with a clarity at least equal to Blood Stain Child's best-produced albums.

Regardless, very little of this sticks. Ryu seems content to devolve into stock melodeath riffing patterns for most of these tracks, desperately requiring a competent second mind to spark variation in the guitar proceedings. It definitely isn't to Idolator's advantage that the guitar tone sounds like shit this time around as well. The previous album had a masterful, consistent sheen to its sonic palette. Here, the guitars sound way too overdriven and dominate the mix when they are present. They fight for the spotlight with the brazen keyboards, resulting in an aural conflict that never lets up. Ryo's bass sounds alright, but it is laid on top of the rest of the instruments like a wet rag. The bass sounds very natural and flat, not poppy, clangy, or in the case of the group's first album: buzzing.

The vocals can be pretty embarrassing. The harsh screams are okay, but sound so exaggerated at times it is nearly laughter inducing. It almost sounds like a parody of extreme vocals. The band started introducing clean vocals here, but they sound pretty amateur. Blood Stain Child had the same problem with Sadew on Mozaíq, but it isn't as offensive here. The lyrics are rubbish, but to be honest if you try to keep up with them you realize that Ryo is skipping half of the words anyway and probably making most of it up on the spot.

A special mention has to be made of "Life Story". It contains an amazing, sublime keyboard performance and features some of the more unconventional songwriting present here. Nearly all of the rest, save for "Trial Spiral" and "Nuclear Trance", goes in one ear and out the other. Keen ears can discern that Blood Stain Child was entering a period of identity crisis here, and it would take them two full albums including this one to fully rectify the problem. Better late than never.

One of the best albums of all time - 100%

shaolin_swordsman, December 9th, 2005

As a huge fan of both melo-death and of Japanese music in general, BSC are exactly what I'm looking for in music. I enjoyed both of their previous releases quite intensely, but idolator is on a whole different level.
The quality of the song writing is incredible (seriously every track is awesome) and the quality of both the instruments and the vocals is absolutely un-paralleled. The album is fairly heavy, uses copious amounts of keyboards and synthesisers, and regularly makes use of techno dropout sections in several of the tracks. The guitar work is excellent and there are regular solos in pretty much every song, the drums are fast and powerful, blast beats are used quite frequently, however they don’t overpower the rest of the instruments. The bass is loud, fast and complements the drums very well. The vocals, are a point of interest, anyone familiar with BSC’s earlier stuff will know that growled vocals were essentially the only type used, on Idolator clean vocals have been introduced, with the vocalist singing in a similar style to the current In Flames vocalist. Please note however, that the vocals are on the whole are very unique and fit well with the style of music, and that I only use such a comparison to give a rough idea of the sound.
Another extremely interesting aspect is the last track on the album which is a Luna Sea cover, I’m a huge fan of Luna Sea and the song in question, 'True Blue', this track is an awesome homage and uses the keyboard and vocals together to retain the original melody while ensuring the end product is heavy as fuk. My other favourites on the album include ‘Final Sky’ and ‘Life Story’, both really catchy songs with great clean vocal parts and raging keyboard sections.

Overall this album is one of the greatest of all time, It can be listened to several times in quick succession and still give you goose bumps, I implore every fan of melodic metal to check it out as soon as possible.
Long live BSC.