The first full album from explosive visual band Lycaon is a winner.
Royal Order is the first full album of young visual band Lycaon. Predatory, raging and beautiful, this album offers songs that are firmly situated in the visual kei mode, but some of them happen to be quite exceptional.
The instrumental howling starts with a wolf howl and becomes a quiet but interesting song of digital sound and new age chanting vocals. Following the intro is Lily, which is one of the gems on the album. Not quite a ballad, the focus of this number is its bewitching melody. The melodies in the chorus are easy to drown blissfully in. The bridge features some interesting, deranged guitars from Rito and Satoshi, and a classic piano brings the song to a trickling conclusion.
Next is the track after which the album is named, Royal Order. Not the best song on the album, it’s one of the more aggressive numbers, full of shouted death vocals and some impressive rhythms from drummer Eve, which keep the intensity high. The chorus melody sung by Yuuki is optimistic and cheerful, though the vocals come across as a little too saccharine. Nevertheless, it’s a solid track, if not outstanding.
Track four, Declaration of War, appears to be another fast paced raging number with nothing to really distinguish it until we arrive at the bass heavy chorus. The atmosphere transforms completely as the song takes us to a world only Lycaon can access. The melody is enchanting and Yuuki slides masterfully into falsetto. All the while, the rapid pace continues, keeping the energy high.
The next two are very strong songs on the album. Cordyseps sinensis is a beautiful love song about a failed and painful romance, though despite the song’s romantic nature, there is plenty of rocking aggression in the composition in addition to the wrenching melodies. Track six, A Box In Beautiful, opens beautifully with Yuuki singing in a high register. Following a break-neck pace the whole time, the song races into segments of death vocals and a catchy chorus that will play in your head long after the song ends.
Chains of collar has a lot of melodic segments throughout and a good showing of bass from Mio, but overall it is a relatively typical, commercial pop rock song with mere traces of the edginess that better exemplifies the group. It's still an enjoyable number, though not necessarily the most representative of the band's talent.
The eighth track is one of the great stand-out tracks on the album. Due to its live energy but relatively relaxed pace, pAIN KILLER sounds unusual from the start. Overall it has a sexy groove that climbs into a feel-good, jump-in-place chorus with a throbbing rhythm that will pound in your bones. Following is Hi ame, a fun, beautiful and fast paced live song with an obvious emphasis on melody. Track ten, Kesshouka, opens quietly with a vaguely Asian melody on piano, soon complemented by heavy drums and angsty guitars. Overall it’s a slow, dark and less than exciting number when compared to their other songs, but it has its moments of beauty.
In contrast, 88 is stunning from start to finish. Fast and intense with catchy death vocal chants, the drums and shouts are used to great effect throughout. The chorus features a striking rambling guitar and rhythmic shouts over the melody. The combination of melodies and rhythms overall make for an exquisite live-atmosphere song and a must-hear. The album finishes with the album version of the generic Red Rum, which is a disappointing end - but perhaps fans who have followed the band from the beginning will be glad to see Lycaon's first single in the line-up.
Overall, Royal Order should really be welcomed by fans of visual kei, and the album will no doubt inspire you to see them live. Unfortunately they haven't played outside of Japan yet, but we'll keep hoping. We look forward to more releases from this exciting group.
