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Blood Stain Child > εpsilon > Reviews
Blood Stain Child - εpsilon

Aki probably bribed Ettore to bury the instruments under his EDM stuff - 72%

LawrenceStillman, May 7th, 2023
Written based on this version: 2011, CD, Coroner Records (Digipak)

"How dare you diss Idolator while liking this?" I can already see the shitstorm brewing now. Oh well, at least I've written my fair share of terribly hot takes in the past, so I'm used to it. It's not like my music taste isn't already appealing to the obscure and extreme.

Epsilon marks the third album where BSC dabbles in this style of melodeath and trance, but this time they went too far in the trance direction and adopted a more uplifting and optimistic sound. Not only that, this marks the first (and only) time they have female vocals in a BSC full length (Nuclear Trance and Metropolis don't count). Suffice to say that this album will be alienating to those looking for a next step from the sound they have established in Idolator, and instead this album will be their most accessible, even when I'm writing this in 2023, full of elements that would not be out of place in a synth pop/trance album.

But first things first, let's talk about the production. While this is mixed by Ettore Rigotti of Disarmonia Mundi fame, this might be his weakest effort barring Mind Tricks and Cold Inferno. For one, the EDM elements are pushed too far forward into the mix, which causes the said elements to bury the other instruments. And as a direct consequence, the rest of the instruments sound really muddled, but not too muddled to the point where all the instruments blend together like one singular source of noise. You can still make out the guitars and drums (they sounded more creative here than in Idolator), they just don't sound as loud as they did during Idolator. The bass is unfortunately pretty inaudible here, typical modern melodeath/death metal stuff, and considering that this is Ettore after The Isolation Game, he went full Lars Ulrich and Newsteaded the basslines. What's with death metal/melodic death metal producers and their grudges with bassists?

Songwriting-wise, this might be their best since Mystic Your Heart. This time they did not take the Gothenburg melodeath approach to songwriting, and instead the songwriting here has a more minimalistic approach similar to trance music. The songs do not all follow the verse-chorus structure; they do what they have to, and once it's done, the song ends (kind of paraphrasing Jon Nodtveidt here, he's still a piece of shit, good riddance that he killed himself instead of wasting time killing gays or Jews). As a result, the songs here flow better because they do not have to deal with songwriting bloat. The guitars seemed to benefit from this too, for they have more creative riffs and solos that fit the songs and enhance them, unlike in Idolator, where the riffs sounded like they were taken from a Gothenburg riff factory. One example of this is the solo within Stargazer; after a small synth bridge, both guitars promptly picked up from where the bridge ends and did a back-to-back solo before Sophia took over from there. The album also has the closest thing BSC has to a full-on trance song, Electricity. The peculiarity of this song and how out of place it is makes it one of the best tracks in the album and solidifies this album as one of the most unique albums within metal music that has a major electronic influence, like Crossfaith and Crystal Lake. Regarding Sai-Ka-No, I heard the version with Royal Sky that comes after that so I treated Sai-Ka-No as an intro to Royal Sky, so that is why I did not complain about its inclusion.

Speaking of vocals, another thing that makes this album stand out is Sophia's vocals. Her vocals are unlike most female vocals in that they have a deeper, more soulful sound to them, while most female vocalists are trying to sound as operatic or poppy as possible. Besides fixing the Engrish lyrics and vocals that the band suffers from, her vocals also serve to stop Ryu from exerting his obnoxious cleans and instead give the band some good cleans for once, which really helped the songs, as now BSC has someone to contrast Ryo's harsh vocals with that actually sounds great. And as a lover of vocal contrasts, this can only be a good thing (I know Sadew did cleans in Neo Gothic Romance from Mozaiq, but that is just one song). One example of this is during the rerecorded version of Final Sky here (now named Royal Sky). While the song still has Ryo's harsh vocals as if it were not changed at all from the original, Sophia added a lot of impactful cleans into the song, replacing the half assed and ineffective cleans of the original courtesy of Ryu. This might be a hot take, but I actually like this better than the original Final Sky.

Despite losing a lot of metal elements compared to Idolator or Mozaiq, I still think this is their best effort after Mystic (I do not hold Amateras in high regard). Who cares if they have more trance than metal in this album? At least this is genuinely enjoyable from start to finish, unlike the terrible electronic metalcore and melodic death albums they influenced. But yeah, this album does not deserve the hype it has, nor does it deserve the hate it gets from fans of older material.

If you want something similar to Idolator, go listen to Kamikakushi by MergingMoon instead of complaining about Epsilon.

Highlights: Sirius VI, Forever Free, Stargazer, Royal Sky, Electricity, LA+

I Just Don't Get The Hype - 45%

Xpyro125, January 11th, 2021

I'm going to get torn apart for this review, I'm aware. This is easily Blood Stain Child's most popular album, and I get why. It's a weeby electronic album first and a melodeath album second, and thus it's quite accessible. There are many things it does well, this is by no means a hit piece on the album. But my god, does its flaws just bug the hell out of me, and I really don't get how anyone (Mainly other metal and/or BSC fans) is fine with them.

Normally, I start with the vocals. Not this time. The production and mixing, which was done by Ettore Rigotti of Disarmonia Mundi, is quite possibly his worst yet. Aside from solos, the guitars are just macerated. Seriously, they not only chug most of the time (Which is by fault of the playing, to be fair), but it's exacerbated by the completely muddy sound they have. The drums don't have any sort of punch to them, and the cymbals sound thinner than a goddamn tambourine. The bass is also nonexistent. I know bass has never really been too apparent in BSC's discography, but there are usually a few moments where I can hear it, where it sounds amazing. There's nothing like that here. While it seems like Ryu and co. tried to strike a nice balance between the melodeath and trance elements, Ettore leans way too far in the direction of the latter, absolutely ruining any chance of the metal side having any weight. There are some great riffs in there, but they're mixed like shit, and they end up sounding horrible because of it. If you've listened to any Disarmonia Mundi record (Save for the first one), you know exactly what I mean. I will say, while the trance/EDM elements sound nice, they just go way overboard. I personally feel that Ryu and Aki should've had a bit of restraint, but then again, if the synths weren't always at the front of the mix, it'd be fine. Also, anything aside from the vocals and keys are at the far back of the mix. If you came here with the hopes of them continuing their sound from any prior albums, you'll be incredibly disappointed. I'd probably deduct at least 30% from the production and mixing alone. It's that horrible.

The other problem that I have with this album is that half of the songs in the tracklist are weak, and they flow into each other in a way to where two songs sound like one long, drawn-out song, and it's draining. Examples include "S.O.P.H.I.A." and "Unlimited Alchemist", as well as "Electricity" (Which isn't a bad song and in fact pulls off the trance style well) and "Eternal". I can only recommend half of the album, and I'll only recommend those five songs. In fact, aside from "Moon Light Wave", the entire back half of this album falls flat on its face. They put the three weakest songs at the end, with "La+" being the sole diamond in the rough over there. The closing track, which is supposed to be one of the best tracks if not the best, is in contention for the album's weakest track next to "Dedicated to Violator" (Their old drummer). I guess they were quite happy to see him go. Seriously, these two shouldn't have even made the cut. If "La+" was the closer and if "Dedicated to Violator" never saw the light of day, I wouldn't be complaining, and I'd probably bump the score up by an easy 10%. Epsilon is even more front-loaded than Idolator's Western release, as well as just every album I've ever listened to. Even then, two of the songs in the front half suck as well. It's just that four of the six good songs are in the first half. "S.O.P.H.I.A.", meanwhile, is simply okay, though if not for Claudio lending his vocals to it, I'd probably never listen to it again, even if it's serviceable.

Now to (finally) move on to the vocals. I actually quite like them. Although I feel that Kiki is more suited to BSC's main sound, Sophia complements the trance sound so well that I'm all for her inclusion here. If anything, I don't think Sadew, Saika, or Kiki would've worked nearly as well as her for it. She also works with Ryo quite well here, who is not only included more, but sounds even better than ever. They both, without a doubt, carry the album for me. Claudio and Ettore are also here too, and Claudio sounds great. As for Ettore... I can't hear him. I don't even know when he sings, so I'm going to guess he does something else here.

When it comes to the songs that work (I'll put them in my recommendations below), they're absolutely fantastic. They not only, for the most part, have better mixing and a better mix of their electronic and melodeath sounds, but they're also just written much better in general. Epsilon is such an inconsistent experience that, when it works well, is quite refreshing. But when it doesn't, and believe me, there's a lot of time when it doesn't, is a fucking trainwreck.

Also, yay, the third version of "Final Sky" is a bonus track. And it's, for some reason, absolutely beloved by fans. I don't get why, it just doesn't flow well at all, and unlike "Peacemaker" from Mozaiq, which at least had the decency to have completely original lyrics, "Royal Sky" has some of Ryo's parts from the original version. Luckily, it's a bonus track, so it won't be affecting the score. I just have to bitch about it because they've redone "Final Sky" *three* times. There are *four* versions of it. Please just let it rest. I'm begging you, Ryu.

Songs To Recommend: "Sirius VI", "Forever Free", "Stargazer", "Electricity", "Moon Light Wave", "La+". I'm iffy about putting "Electricity" and "La+" on here, but the former actually makes the electronic-focused sound work, while the latter does just well enough with the balance of both sounds to justify its place here. The other four songs, meanwhile, are fantastic, and they showcase the best aspects of Epsilon. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that they're some of the best songs in BSC's discography.
Songs to Avoid: The rest of the album, including the bonus tracks (Which aren't affecting the score).

Recently, I've been running out of things to say for each of the albums I review. This time, it's a different story. I'm trying to stay concise here, especially with skirting the line of writing a track-by-track review. I'd love to talk more about the songs I've recommended, as I love them so damn much. Thing is, I can't just talk about all the songs I love from Epsilon and slap a 45% on it. The problem is, I had to talk about everything I hated in this album. Sure, it's no Clayman 2020. Sure, it's no Limp Bizkit. Hell, it's not even as bad as Amaranthe's most recent outputs. But that doesn't make it exempt from criticism, and I have a lot to critique about it. Simply putting my problems with it into words make it sound not as bad as it actually is. Sure, BSC's earlier works may have Bodom written all over that, but I'll take those over Epsilon any day. Hell, I'd rather take Tri-Odyssey over Epsilon. At least the mixing of that is good and it's a consistent experience. I know, I'm sure every other BSC fan wants my head now. I'm fine with that.

The hype surrounding Epsilon, I'm sorry, is bullshit. If you like it, that's fine, but it's BSC's worst work objectively (Save for The Legend, which is a disaster). Subjectively, at least for me, it doesn't fare much better. I haven't listened to Silence of Northern Hells yet, and it beats of The Legend, but is that really saying much? I've seen so many people say that the Saika-era material "lacks the BSC feel that Sophia had", but she was only here for one album out of seven albums + one major EP. The core BSC sound resides more with Ryo and Sadew, as well as, you know, their melodeath sound. I know I sound bitter here, and I am, I'll admit that, but I just hate seeing people who claim to be fans of the band who have not only listened to Epsilon and that's it, but also deem this their core sound. It's their most popular, sure, but it isn't what they've mainly done. And no, I'm not saying they aren't fans of the band. I'm not about to gatekeep. I'd just like for these fans to not make such inaccurate, and frankly, incorrect claims as if it's fact. It's opinion, and that's it. This is the most "KVLT" I'll get, so I guess I'll savor it.

All in all, while I respect everyone's opinions here, this album really isn't nearly as good as you say it is.

I feel I shouldn't like this, but... - 87%

KalinaF, February 18th, 2016

I can't help it. Despite how tasteless and gimmicky this band comes off as, and despite how much I feel I ought to detest everything about this album, I can't help but like it. It took me nearly a whole year to put my finger on exactly what has caused me to keep coming back to this album, but I think I can finally explain what that special quality found in this album is that makes me ignore the part of myself that's telling me that Blood Stained Child is tasteless trite time after time.

As I racked my brain in hopes of finding what made this mish-mash of J-pop, trance, and melodic death metal so interesting, my first thought was that the music was simply catchy. It would be an accurate analysis: the fast-paced beats, solid synth, calming female vocals, and overall unique sound found on Epsilon are a perfect recipe for songs that will worm their way into your mind and stay there.

However, as time went on, and my enjoyment of the album did not wane, I realized that this could not be explained solely by the tendency of the songs to stick in your head. Music can gain my attention and admiration through catchiness alone, but the novelty wears off fast. After a few listens, I realize that beyond the catchy hooks, there lies little else to enjoy, and many flaws to push me away from the music. As I listened to the album more, I did begin to notice some problems. The album does suffer from some sub-par features in production. One example that might go unnoticed to someone who only listens to individual songs is the transition between tracks on the album. Epsilon provides decent variety in the tempo, intensity, and depth of songs, but often has trouble moving from one song to the next. The most jarring example is the transition between Forever Free and Stargazer, or more aptly, the lack thereof. The end of Forever Free features slow synth, which is then interrupted by fast, banging guitar riffs at the beginning of Stargazer. The abrupt shift between the two tracks without even so much as a pause or a fade-out to transition between them may cause the unsuspecting listener to jump in their seat when it happens, and I don't think that's what was intended.

A similar problem comes with the instrumentation, specifically with the synthesizer. The volume of the synthesizer can vary widely from track to track, ranging from barely audible on tracks such as Eternal, to so loud that it masks the sounds of all of the other instruments on tracks such as Electricity. Yet, even as I noticed more and more flaws, I could not step away. For every reason I found to abandon the album, I found another reason to keep listening.

As with many people, I originally thought mixing J-pop with metal was a disgusting idea and couldn't possibly result in anything but shallow, obnoxious tracks and a lack of anything of worth to be found beyond amusement at how spectacularly it could fail. Where I expected to find cringe-worthy lyrics, bland vocals, and generic instrumentals, though, I instead found an admirable album. Anyone who is able to get past the knee-jerk reaction of disgust when they first discover Blood Stain Child will find that beyond the gimmicks lies a group of musicians with amazing talent.

The stand-out of the bunch is the clean vocalist, Sophia. The band could have easily chosen the type of high-pitched soprano that is often associated with J-pop to be their vocalist, but they chose the deeper voiced Sophia, and their choice paid off. Her deeper voice provides excellent contrast to Ryo's harsh vocals, giving the band as a whole a more cohesive sound. She's clearly dedicated to her music, and it shows through in her performance. When I look at tracks like La+ and Dedicated to Violator, I hear in her vocals a level of involvement that can't be faked.

Recognition should also be given to the band's lead guitarist, Ryu, as well as Aki, who provides the keyboard and the synth. Ryu is the mastermind of the band behind the scenes, composing the music, as well as contributing his skills as a guitarist that could only have resulted from insane amounts of practice. Though not necessarily as active in the production of the album as Ryu, Aki consistently provides catchy beats and strong backing for the vocals and instrumentals, making the album that much more of a joy to listen to.

It is not each member alone that leads to the success of the album, though. It is the combination of all of them together. Epsilon features six musicians throwing their music at you, sometimes all at once, and it will completely overwhelm you.

Listening to Epsilon is a bit like visiting an art museum, but instead of casually going through and taking your time to examine each painting, you're flying through the museum on a roller coaster moving at 75 mph. It sounds like the dumbest gimmick ever, and possibly even contradictory to the purpose of the museum, but in a way it's clever. You move through the exhibits so fast, that you couldn't possibly analyze all the art in one trip. It gives you a reason to come back and see what you missed the last time.

Often I've felt the craving to listen to the song SOPHIA, despite how much I try to convince myself that I shouldn't be listening to something so tasteless, I almost always give in to my impulses and listen to it. And once I'm done, I want to listen to it again, and I hate myself for that even more. In the year since I discovered this album, I've listened to the song SOPHIA 227 times, according to iTunes, and I am still not sick of it.

It took me until recently to realize why I would keep coming back to this album, let alone that one specific song. It turned out what had initially repelled me was keeping me coming back time after time.

The overload of sound from intense vocals, guitar work, and synth may seem overwhelming and even detrimental to one's ability to enjoy the album, but in a way, it's the album's greatest strength. I can listen to a song one day and pay attention to the vocals, then listen the next day and pay attention to the guitar work, and listen the next day and pay attention to the synth. I have listened to the same song three times, three days in a row, but I got something different out of it on each listen.

The human brain is wired to only be able to focus on one thing at a time, and the album, whether intentionally or unintentionally, uses that to its advantage. You can't focus on the guitars and the synth at the same time, so you have to choose one. Whichever one you choose, you get a satisfying experience. It's a bit like getting multiple songs in one, giving each song more value on subsequent listens, and continually pulling me back.

I keep telling myself I'll get sick of this album, but it has not been happening, and I can't expect it to happen any time soon. Blood Stain Child, I tip my hat to you. You made a stupid, gimmicky, repulsive album that I wanted to hate with a passion, and made it so well that I can't help but abandon my presupposed standards of taste to enjoy it.

Curse you, and keep up the good work.

(Insert combination of "Anime" and "Metal" here) - 100%

RoarkTenjouin, December 3rd, 2014
Written based on this version: 2011, CD, Coroner Records (Digipak)

Normally, I generally give a listen to at least a few tracks off of an album if I've never heard of the band before. I almost never buy an album on the basis of the album cover and then listen to it. So far, this album is the only exception.

I stumbled upon this album at a "Used" section of a record store in my home city - and the cover art was what drew me in. The woman on the cover looked like something from either a Japanese Sci-Fi anime (I.E., Neon Genesis Evangelion, Witchblade, Gurren Lagann) or a JRPG. I bought it, thinking it was going to be a Asian Rammstein clone (which wouldn't have been a bad thing if it had actually been the case, since I enjoy listening to Rammstein). I was half right - the band is Japanese. The band's sound, on the other hand, is light years away from the type of music that Rammstein plays.

This is obviously a melodeath album...with trance leanings. But instead of the end product sounding like a dubstep butchery of Children of Bodom, you get a result that sounds like what would happen if Daft Punk collaborated with the Steelbath Suicide-era Soilwork - and got a female J-Rock singer to participate. A female J-Rock singer with an awesome voice.

The riffs are actually really unique - I would come up with a comparison here, but I can't think of a single guitarist whose riffs sound close to this (that isn't a member of this band). I didn't notice the drumming at first, but after a couple listens, I was able to make it out - and it's really impressive. I don't have anything to say about the bass, so I'm not going to talk about it.

The vocals are the second best part of this album. They manage to blend harsh vocals with clean female vocals - in fact, they blend them so well that I honestly thought that the band had a single, female singer who handled both clean and harsh vocals the first time I listened to this. I was shocked when I learned that not only does the band have 2 vocalists, but the harsh vocalist is male and is also the bassist (disclaimer: I'm friends with him on Facebook, but I friended him AFTER I bought and listened to this album).

If the vocals are the second best part of this album, then what part is the best? The lyrics. There are some anime that I think should have songs written about them. I think that there should be an anime based on the lyrics of this album - or at the very least, someone should make a bunch of AMVs for the songs on this album. The fact that none of the members speak English as their first language makes it even more impressive that the song lyrics are awesome.

My eyes see differently. - 80%

Diamhea, December 31st, 2013

I can honestly state that I didn't expect εpsilon to turn out as good as it did. The exact reason I initially dismissed this album (the inclusion of a full-time female vocalist) turns out to be one of its greater strengths. I prefer to separate Blood Stain Child's career into two polarizing camps. I consider Mystic Your Heart the culmination of their melodic death appeal, and now εpsilon appears to embody the best of what the band has had to offer since they started flirting with the whole "trance metal" concept.

I really can't even appraise this as a proper metal album, because the heavier end of the spectrum makes such fleeting appearances. The first track "Sirius IV" features a lot of stop-start riffing syncopated with the drums akin to All That Remains that coexists marginally well with the female vocals. This style persists, teasing with bouts of heavier riffing, until "Stargazer". This is one of the least metal songs on here but also the best, the keyboards evoke great atmosphere and the chorus is infectious. Sophia's vocals, while perhaps not technically mind blowing, fit quite well within the confines of the music. For a female vocalist, her inflection is deeper than most, and she handles the lion's share of εpsilon quite well. I'm not even kidding, there are more female vocals than Ryo's parched scream here. "Merry-Go-Round" even features some near-acapella moments which probably feature the female vocals at their most impressive in isolated environs. The infamous Engrish lyrics also seem to be rectified for the most part here, which is a relief with the clearer vocal delivery.

The keyboards deliver a performance that runs parallel to Mozaíq in most respects, if not even more brazen. There are no keyboard solos, or really any leads of any kind. The keyboards are all programmed, sequenced, throbbing trance backings that help lay the groundwork for most of the melodies. The new drummer, Gami, fills the void left from Violator's departure, but doesn't do a whole lot to separate himself from Blood Stain Child's earlier material. There are some near-blistering double bass passages and blasting but again, this only surfaces in sporadic bursts depending on what track the listener is on. The guitars sound better than ever sonically, but tend to devolve into the aforementioned stop-start riffing pattern which can grow stale on it's own. In fact, there is only one full, proper metal track: "La+"; featuring more of the riffing style that hearkens back to the group's earlier material. It isn't nearly as big of a hurdle as one would imagine, however, as the vocals and keyboards dominate the bulk of εpsilon, making the guitars actually something of an afterthought.

The album features one amazing highpoint and a handful of really good tracks, with only "Unlimited Alchemist" and "Electricity" failing to make a strong case for their existence. It remains something of a shame that the band parted ways with Sophia shortly after εpsilon's release, as she really added a great counterpoint to Blood Stain Child's present sound. I am not embarrassed to admit that I really enjoy this album, it is easily their best since Mystic Your Heart.

Lost case - 38%

DiSoRdErBitcH, March 29th, 2013

As much as I like Blood Stain Child, I have to admit that this album isn't so good and it is mostly because the female vocals ruin it for me. Their earlier release was my favorite and this could be nice as well musically, but I don't enjoy the male vocals, especially the screams that are reduced. Electro influences are much more audible now, but that would have been okay if the singer didn't sound so poppy. If the vocals were replaced by growling, this album would get at least 70% from me.

εpsilon is an album that could be assumed is played in some clubs, but not in a metal bar. It has the same problems as Amaranthe's newest album, The Nexus. It is unbalanced and too soft to even count as metal anymore and it is more core metal than death metal. There are metal elements still present and some death metal elements, but those are such a little part of the album that it doesn't make it metal enough for me.

Good things about this album are that Ryo's vocals are better than ever. The mixing is nice, but it is hard to enjoy it since there are lot of parts where Ryo sings and then Sophia and again Ryo and Sophia moments later. It would be better if Ryo would scream one half of the song and then Sophia + Ryo in the chorus. The guitars are almost absent in some verses and should have guitars there and Ryo screaming and using his talent.

This album is nice to listen sometimes, but there aren't too many memorable songs here. "Forever Free" and "Electricity" are the only songs that I remember from this album. They are okay.

Overall, I would recommend this album only to those who really like dance and rock/metal fused together with female vocals. Maybe for E-type and Amaranthe fans.

Blood Stain Child - Epsilon - 55%

tcgjarhead, November 4th, 2011

The Japanese are known for being really out there when it comes to most things, their music included. If anyone was wondering what happens when you throw electronic music/melodic death metal/metalcore and bits and pieces of what seems like J pop in a blender Blood Stain Child have given you Epsilon. I had heard a song or two previously but I was in for a strange ride when I decided to review this album.

So there is some bad news. A number of the songs on Epsilon are extremely unbalanced when it comes to how much of one style or another they put in a song. Like Dedicated to Violator. Sure it has a cool name but the electronic portion totally pushes all the other instruments to the back of the mix. I mean I wouldn't be surprised to hear this playing in a club somewhere. The same goes for tracks like SOPHIA, Electricity, and the aforementioned Dedicated to Violator. In all these songs the band takes a back seat to the female vocalist and the electronic music.

There are other tracks as well which are more in the vein of proper melodic death metal but with electronic bits present throughout, just not to the degree that the others possess. These types of songs can be put into two camps, the melodic death songs with mostly clean vocals, and with mostly harsh vocals. With female vocals the woman actually has a pretty strong voice and coupled with the heavier music it works completely. La+ is catchy throughout, and Stargazer, and Moon Light Wave all play to the strengths I mentioned before. Catchy music, good vocals, all with strong pop sensibilities.

While growler Ryo is allowed to take part in most of the songs i've mentioned its in very much a back seat kind of way. He can be heard though his screams are usually muffled in order to give the female singer, Sophia, priority over him. Luckily there are a few heavier songs where both he and the music turn it up a few notches. This is pretty much when the band is at their best too, Sirius VI, Forever Free, and for the most part Unlimited Alchemist are all pretty much just good melodic death metal. The band seems to have adopted some of the metalcore riffing start stop kind of thing though which I personally have gotten tired of. Most every band in that genre and way too many melodeath bands do it already.

There are also some songs that just plain suck as well. Sai-Ka-No is a slow boring bit that sounds completely like a pop ballad. Merry-Go-Round is about the same though there is more use of guitars through most of it the over all electronic sounds they use are just yawn inducing. Dedicated to Violator is almost embarrassing to listen to. There are guitars way in the background and screams here and there but its just screaming for effect rather than anything intelligible.

One of the biggest issues I have with Epsilon and BSC is that the album does not flow well. The styles are so jumbled that the album is incredibly disjointed. You could probably separate the songs by what style dominates them and have 3 different EPs worth of music and each would sound rather different. This makes it really hard to listen to. And while the female vocals are good, she is given way too much time over the harsh vox. Sometimes it actually works well like on La+ where the woman does 90% of the singing but its so hit and miss on Epsilon as a whole. They also need to tone down the techno stuff a little, on some songs it overwhelms all the other instruments and even at times the growls its almost like there is no point having the band play when they are washed out by computerized garbage.

Epsilon has a few good songs (La+, Sirius VI, Moon Light Wave, Eternal) but the rest is challenging to listen to because it skips from domineering genres from song to song. The vocals also follows this same pattern. The good stuff here is really good, but the rest is forgettable and mostly annoying and weak. I guess at least BSC can say they tried something new, though it is a moderate failure.

Originally reviewed @ http://abaddonsmetalshop.blogspot.com/

Blood Stain Child - εpsilon - 85%

High_Glucose, August 25th, 2011

Before I start my review I would like to state that I cannot stand techno by itself, or most everything else that comes out of Japan for that matter. By itself, hearing techno is like knives going into my ears, and hearing about anime and the supposed amazing horror movies Japan has to offer makes me wish harm inflicted upon the vast majority of weeaboos in the United States.

That being said and out of the way, something magical happened to my ears with this album. Alone techno sounds like a bunch of annoying sounds crudely meshed together by a zit-faced nerd sitting at his computer, but combined with my favorite thing in the world; metal, it somehow becomes far more than tolerable, it becomes what I can only describe as "electric ear crack". Though this feeling is not new to me, Blood Stain Child's previous album, "Mozaiq" gave me the same feeling, but not nearly as much.

"Mozaiq" was the runt of the BSC album litter, mostly due to the absence of Ryo's death vocals (which have thankfully returned on this release) and secondly, due to their change to more or less "metalcore with trance elements". "εpsilon" is to me, a mesh of everything BSC was before "Mozaiq" and after. The sections with Ryo's vocals bring you right back to "Idolator", and while you may be disappointed that his vocals are merely secondary and are in no way lead here, they are used to such great effect, you can't help but be pleased to hear it. New singer Sophia replaces Sadew (or "Japanders" as I have nicknamed him, for his eerily similar vocal style to Anders of In Flames) on this release and while her voice is quite amazing, I can't help but have mixed feelings about the album as a whole. On one hand, the songs are for the most part, all very catchy, and this is due to Sophia's clean vocals and the very pop/techno oriented sound. On the other hand, it does not feel much like Blood Stain Child any more, except where Ryo is growling, which is rare, sadly.

Also, without knowing before hand that this is more a techno album than a metal album, you could be tricked into an album you won't like (If you can't justify techno with the addition of guitars, and death vocals like I can). By this I mean, the first two tracks of the album "Sirius VI" and "Forever Free" give you a false message; that message being that this is a half-and-half type deal, with both vocalists giving equal performance. After these two tracks the albums vocal duties are mostly dominated by Sophia. This is were many metalheads might give up on the album; and I really don't blame them for doing so, being tricked isn't very fun is it?

Instrumentally, this album still borderlines between melodic death metal and metalcore. Some of the songs are heavier, some are not heavy at all (And then there's the track "SAI-KA-NO" which contains no metal influence and is almost always skipped when I played through this album). Any one seeking true "heavy" music should give "Moon Light Wave" and "Sirius VI" a listen. My complaint about "Mozaiq" was mostly that the guitar was very downplayed to the trance, which has been somewhat fixed on "εpsilon", while they still don't dominate every song, they are more audible and the solos are far better on this release than the ones found in "Mozaiq". Now, I explained earlier that I am no fan of techno, and while this album contains a lot of trance, it isn't really overdone... You know, like flooding my ears with unnecessary noises. It is tastefully done and I actually enjoy hearing it on this album, and it's predecessor.

Another complaint I had about "Mozaiq" that has been fixed on this release is structure. On the aforementioned album, the death and clean vocals were terribly meshed together and almost colliding with each other. On this album, they have fixed this by using Ryo's vocals mostly to back up Sophia's. If they are both singing at the same time, Ryo's voice is played down, which to me, amplifies the feeling of Sophia's singing. Another time this album gave me chill is on the song "MERRY-GO-ROUND", when the verses are very slow and pop sounding, then the metal just kicks in with Ryo's screaming, creating the most epic change of sound I've ever heard.

To summarize my feelings of this album, I would have to say that this is the trance album for metalheads, or that... this is a metal album for weeaboos. I like the first summary better. As I finished up this review, I looked and saw that every song on this album (Minus the terrible "SAI-KA-NO") have over 60 plays each on my Winamp, leading me to believe this album is truly laced with LSD and injected into my ears.

"Extreme Trance Metal" - 70%

dromennolamort, June 27th, 2011

(WRITER’S NOTE: I have done this review days beforehand. Even before I got hooked on watching Bleach.)

I remembered checking a YouTube video before, featuring recommended melodeath (that’s “melodic death” for you fools out there) bands… and I saw Blood Stain Child (which will be referred to as “BSC” for the following times I’m going to say it), with their song “Truth” (from “Idolator”, their third album), if I’m not mistaken. From that day on, the band has earned them a fan in me. What’s with them, you say? Obsolete people like you might not know this but as far as I know, they’re the only melodeath metal band that incorporated elements of techno. Yes, “melodeath trance metal”. You should hear it for yourself (and you don’t need to like it, but I do like it, at least).

From “Silence of Northern Hell”, when they sounded a la Bodom; to “Mystic Your Heart”, which sounded much like Western melodeath copycat dashed with trance; to “Idolator” and “Mozaiq”, both of which sounded as if they have an entirely different identity, I listened to (and I liked those albums). Even though “Mozaiq” is an inferior knock-off compared to “Idolator”. Now with their new album, “εpsilon” (NOTE: never spelt with a regular ‘E’, remember that!), I would call this new shift in sound as:

“extreme trance metal”

Yes, I know there’s no such thing/word/term, so I made up my own. Got a problem with that?

“You’re nothing but a poseur now, La:morT. Can’t you see that they have sold out, and in a very bad way? Just the thought of ‘extreme trance metal’ makes me puke my guts… bleagh!!!” Heard me say that I only listen to metal and nothing else? No, so screw yourself. Oh, and by the way, BSC did a good job in making this (although not that exceptional).

Let’s see what’s with their new album now… hmm…

Clear production? Check.
BSC melodeath riffs? Check, albeit in reduced amounts (not to mention that some of them are “recycled”).
Ryo’s screams? They’re back, since Sadew’s in the band no more. Besides, I liked Ryo’s more.
Techno-ness? BIG CHECK. Actually, most of the songs here are keyboard-driven, like “SIRIUS VI” and “STARGAZER” although songs like “Unlimited Alchemy” and “MOON LIGHT WAVE” still have more melodeath that BSC used to play a lot of.

What’s really new is something very obvious. ‘Cause if it ain’t, it’s either you haven’t heard of their old stuff, or you’re just totally deaf, and in that case you shouldn’t be reading my review anymore.
Muttering words aside, the new thing that I was talking about a while ago is Sophia’s singing. What else could be obviously new here?! Her alto singing complements BSC’s new direction. It’s just wonderful, in a very sweet way or something.

“How about the songs, La:morT!? Get on to them already!” Sheesh, as if I don’t know that. Just stop hurrying me and you better read instead of babbling gibberish around.

Hmm, songs in the album, eh? Let’s start with the songs I don’t like much, three of them, if that’s alright, which I’m sure will be alright with you people since you’re the ones reading (and I’m the one writing). It’s not that I really dislike these songs. It’s just that they sound totally out of place. First off is “Dedicated to VIOLATOR”, which has a happy pop-techno-rock feel slathered all over it featuring Sophia’s vocals all over (if you won’t count the backing vocals done by Ryo). We have “Merry-Go-Round” as the next song. A less cheerful version of the previous song infected with a bit of the usual BSC elements (melodeath elements), which is the very reason why I don’t know what I really feel about this song.

“I thought there’s a third song?” Of course there is, you’re just hurrying me up. Again.

The last one is (obviously) “SAI-KA-NO”, a soft and slow outro to the album. Again, no songs (except “Merry-Go-Round”, which I have mixed feelings about) are necessarily bad, just out of place, for most part.

“How about the songs you like, La:morT?” Yes, yes… as if I don’t know that…

What I really like in this album are the first three songs. “SIRIUS VI” shows the band’s new direction, probably the way they want it, resulting to “extreme trance metal”, and the same I could also say to “FOREVER FREE”. Although it sounds more melancholic and more guitar-driven, I think that both songs are great songs of their own right. “STARGAZER” meanwhile, is not only the first song devoid of any “metallisms” (or whatever you would call “metal elements” in just one word), but it is also the first solo performance by Sophia on the lead vocals. Hearing it for the first time, I thought that it was epic, although I think it’s just cool now. Not as epic, but still awesome.

Other awesome songs include “Unlimited Alchemist” and “ETERNAL”. With a vibe akin to their former albums (especially “Idolator”), it again highlights “extreme trance metal”, with (more or less) both the guitars and keyboards driving the song together. Another one is “ELECTRICITY”, which is also devoid of any “metallisms” (almost), though one can’t deny it has rock elements dashed over it, and although less epic than “STARGAZER”, it still is undeniably cool. Last one probably is “La+”, which, again, has a vibe close to their former albums (although this one has a sound closer to “Mozaiq”). Moreover, it displays BSC’s new sound (prolly no need to mention it repeatedly), just like “Unlimited Alchemist” and “ETERNAL”, with more guitar play this time.

This album really gave me a hard time. It’s been very hard to review and decide upon their new material. Anyway, it’s been fun listening to “εpsilon” (again, never spelt with a regular ‘E’), minus a few recycled riffs and poppy-ness. I don’t want to say who should listen to their new album or what, just give the album a try if… my description of it appeals you. Otherwise, you’re a hopeless prick. Get outta here, then.

Written for my blog. lamortisdeath.blogspot.com