NIVRAYM

I came into this album after hearing ANGHERR SHISSPA first. I was amused at the (slightly) more accessible tone of the music and various RIO moments in the songs; those that travel in the other direction will wonder where the guitars went and where the fusion elements came in.

Koenjihyakkei is a band that is not easy to get into; I remember spouting on my ANGHERR SHISSPA review of how this album should be the first Koenjihyakkei one acquire should you be interested in the band. If you don't have much affinity for fusion, then that could be true. However, one must have a little leniency towards some avant-garde things; otherwise the effort is futile.

This band can be a novelty of sorts; in fact, after about a year of intense listening, I feel that the novelty of NIVRAYM has somewhat worn out. There's only so much crazy riffing, superfluous keyboard lines, over-the-top drumming, furious polyrhythms and bizarre words that I can take. Hearing the first two Koenjihyakkei albums after this put this point in perspective; NIVRAYM introduces little new things into the Koenjihyakkei sound.

There are some ''classics'' here that are worth listening to like the title track, ''Axall Hasck'', ''Vallczeremdoss'' and ''Lussesoggi Zomn''. It's still great for a Koenjihyakkei introduction, but once other albums enter the library, NIVRAYM is nothing more than a backburner album, even if it's still awesome.