LAYA

A major lineup change for this their second album as one of the keyboard players has left and the band has replaced him with violinist extroadinaire Akihisa Tsuboy from the great fusion band KBB. This is major because the violin was absent from their debut record, and on this album the violin is the main focus. Huge change really. Yes the music is still dark with heavy bass and drums, but the Zeuhl flavour is not nearly as obvious. I do prefer the debut better but this one comes close. Interesting that Ogino (keys, piano) from GHOST composed most of the songs on the debut, but on this record every band member composes at least one track, with bassist Kuwahara composing 5 of the 9 songs.

"Laya" is the only song to feature some vocals and they come and go briefly each time. After a short percussion / vocal intro, violin and drums take over. Some ripping violin 2 minutes in before piano arrives and a lot of bottom end as bass and drums pound away."Death By Hanging" opens with piano and violin before a bass and drums join in. A slight jazz flavour to this one as violin and piano are prominant throughout,although it would be better described as heavy fusion perhaps.Great tune regardless. Check out the violin 4 1/2 minutes in ! And what's even more incredible is that the violin sounds like a lead guitar 5 minutes in.This guy is fantastic ! "Cristao-Peasant Revolt" opens with a heavy pulsating sound as mellotron and other sounds come and go in this atmospheric intro. Piano comes in and then violin as the heavy pulse comes to an end when the tempo picks up. Intense scorching violin 3 minutes in as the tempo continues to shift. "Hallelujah" opens with an instrument called an Oud. Drums sound outstanding and violin follows. Love the drumming here and heavy bass lines as violin solos overtop. Oud is back after the piano comes in 2 1/2 minutes in. Then back to the incredible drum / violin / bass melody. The violin smokes during the final minute of the song. "Frozen Shoulder" opens with more great drumming as flute and violin come in. This song has a Celtic feel to it surprisingly.

"Meat Powdered Bones" opens with a violin / piano melody. Drums and bass before a minute create a great sound. Check out the drumming before 4 minutes ! This is followed by some chunky bass. Nice. "It Came From..." opens with piano as drums and then violin come in. This has some intricate melodies that are impressive. Very cool song. "Somewhere In Time" is an uptempo, frantic piece at times. The bass player is quite active and then drops some heavy lines when the song slows down 4 minutes in, we're talking Zeuhl-like heavy bass as organ comes in. Wondrous section. Perhaps the best on the album and it reminds me of their debut. "D.N.A." is the final and longest song at over 11 minutes. It opens with dark piano melodies as cymbals and bass can be heard. Violin is added to the mix before a minute, and it become quite mournful before 2 minutes. After 3 1/2 minutes the sound gets a lot louder for a minute before settling back down and then blasting off again to a dark and heavy passage. The violin is scorching. Piano and a calm 6 1/2 minutes in before a sinister sound starts to creep back in. It's back ! Piano takes off and a bombastic sound returns including more sizzling violin. A violin shred-fest ! Check out the drumming 9 minutes in. The song ends in a pastoral fashion with piano. What a ride !

First of all i'm going to seek out some KBB music, and also POCHAKAITE MALKO's latest EP. Easily a 4 star release. I'm so impressed with this band.