Customer Reviews

Bara no Seidou

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Bara no Seidou has actually become my favorite MM album. A first-time listener of Japanese music would probably enjoy Mervilles much more, if not a more mainstream sounding band. And to be honest, I wasn't a Bara no Seidou fan at first myself. Dubbed "The Graveyard Album" by some, the tone sounds like it comes right out of a vampire flick. A die hard Gackt fan may think Malice Mizer isn't really Malice Mizer with Klaha as the lead singer, but his voice is amazing and incredibly sexy, sexy enough to eventually win over the most loyal Gackt fan. But make no mistake, this is not "Mervilles" Malice Mizer. The sound can seem repetative at first, but after a few listens, the destinctions are easily seen.

What has amazed me in previous Malice Mizer albums is still present in this cd. Above all, the elequence of the sound. While most American music is composed of straight "G" and "D" chords, Bara no Seidou is full of unique and intricate progressions. No ladies and gentlemen, this is not your American loud-and-dirty goth sound, this is classic, gothic beauty, in the style of classical. Despite the beauty, this cd does also have an edge. The third track is the best example. Though it starts off with beautiful piano solo, it quickly goes into a grittier guitar sound.

My favorite tracks are the second, third, fourth, and tenth tracks. Despite the very high price, buying this from Amazon does guarantee you won't get a bootleg, which are so rampant in the genre. It is kind of pricy though, so if you end up going in a different direction, try and get it with "Garnet," "Gardinia," and "Beast of Blood." These three songs have a different sound than the rest of the album, but are worth having.

So to sum it all up, this is a quality album, but probably should not be the first Malice Mizer album for a first time listener. If you are a fan of MM, this is definately a must have.

Growing up, my taste for music was influenced by what my classmates, friends, media etc defined as popular and quality music. Thinking of those days I must admit that growing up helped me to develop my own taste for what quality music is.
Ladies and gentlemen, let me say right from the beginning that Bara no Seidou is simply outstanding. From the moment you engage yourself in this journey, you will realize that sounds like that are worth every penny you have paid for.

Bara no Seidou, well it is hard to describe it, because one has to experience for him/herself to truly comprehend the meaning behind it. Take classical music, with modern music, mix some opera theme to it, as well as some true gothic tunes and the recipe is complete. The music that you will hear will transcend you towards a new plateau that has been unknown to your soul.

The whole cd has a feel to it. Even though I have no idea what the lyrics mean, it will not matter. Some songs do not even include lyrics, hence no singing either. The music speaks for itself. The feeling I receive from Bara no Seidou is from ones death, to being reborn and continuing this tragic cycle. Throughout my listening experience I felt a pain of a loss, which maybe was intended. Kami, the drummer of Malice Mizer, sadly died after Malice Mizer released Merveilles. Adding to that pain, the former lead singer Gackt, decided to start his solo career.

While Merveilles had a light theme, with "cute" songs, Bara no Seidou is dark. Dark in its melodies and singing. Many people with who I have spoken about Malice Mizer, told me how they liked MM when Gackt was the singer. Arguments such as MM without Gackt is not MM are completely ridiculous. If anything, in all fair honesty, I must state that I love Klaha's voice, the last vocalist of MM, over Gackt's. Klaha's ability to reach those high notes, and actually keeping them, similar to an opera singer, is quite astonishing. His ability to pitch those tones is out of this world
Plus Klaha has a beautiful "death" voice.

I purchased Merveilles and Bara no Seidou at the same time, in order for me to grasp fully the change that Malice Mizer went through. While I enjoyed both cd's whole heartily, if I had to choose between one of those two, I would definitely go with Bara no Seidou, not only because of its amazing composing, but also for its individuality that the music market is lacking so badly.

You may not be able to tell from the picture on this website, but the CD comes packaged in a nice hardback mini-book. Together with the track listing, lyrics, etc. is a collection of very nice photographs of the band in their meticulously gothic costumes and backdrops.

The music is equally good. Pipe organs, strings, harpsicords and opera style vocals mixed with electric guitars and the occasional electronic sounds. My favourite is track 9 (Shiroi Hada / Rondo of Sadness and Love) where two guitars are played independantly to sound like twin harpsicords. Written and recorded after the death of their former drummer, there is a distinct dark feel to the album. For those of you who know about Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, you can think of this as an alternative soundtrack for it.

When I first got this album, I wasn't sure what to expect.. I'd listened to Beast of Blood and Gardenia, and also merveilles (although that's not from the Klaha era). And I was.. Well, only word I could think of was "..Wow".

If you're expecting another merveilles, you'll be let down in that aspect, but quite honestly Bara no Seidou is quite a bit better than it. This album is a lot darker, and not near quite as poppy as merveilles.

There are really no stand-out songs on this album for me, they are all equally fantastic and Bara no Seidou is best listened to all the way through. This album kind of reminds me of a sort of dark cathedral music.

Over-all, if you've listened to anything by Malice Mizer and enjoyed it, you need to buy this album. It is their best stuff I've heard.

Klaha's superb singing, the wailing violins, the harpsichords, the organs, the choir singing, seamlessly combined with the synthesizers and other instruments, delivers a treat for your ears. A pity that Malice Mizer broke up after this album.

After buying this album, it was the only cd that I listened to for a long time. So, I can say that this album is really worth it! ... And support the artistes and get the original album! Even if the album is expensive, at least you won't get a crappy cd that probably won't last too long as pirated cds are usually of inferior quality and the music is sometimes distorted.

About those who wondered why Klaha said he wouldn't go back to the group even if Malice Mizer re-groups in the future, it is because he's left the Visual Kei genre for the Pop genre and evidence of this can be proved by his latest cd: Nostal Lab.

For those who're still clueless on what Mana is doing now, well, he's producing Schwarz Stein and is in a band called Moi dix Mois.

Kozi is in Eve of Destiny, a goth group, and sadly, this group has yet to release a cd although some of their songs or remixes are said to be fantastic. The only exception was that one of their songs called Desperado was included a few years ago in a compilation cd called V.A-the Black Bible by Cleopatra Records.

Where-abouts of Yu~ki are not known except that he was last seen at Klaha's birthday party.

This is a really fantastic album, maybe MM's best. Though it's not quite as varied and exciting as "Merveilles", you have to be impressed that it got made at all. It's remarkable that after the death of one member and the departure of another, the band was able to regroup and make an album completely different from what they had done before. It's dark, it's mysterious, it's a wonderful way to kick off the all-too-brief Klaha era.

My only complaint, and it's a major one, is with the production. If there is one defining element to MM's best songs, it's the guitar work. Songs like "Tsuioku no Kakera," "Shi no Buto," and above all, "Bel Air" were all marked by Mana and Kozi's incredible interlocking leads. There are songs like this on Bara no Seidou, yet the guitars are often buried in the mix, and are usually overpowered by the strings. The worst example of this is "Shiroi Hada ni Kuruu Ai to Kanashimi no Rondo", which had the potential to be a truly classic MM song (and is when performed live) yet on the album you can barely tell the guitars are present. Nor is it the only example--"Seinaru Kiza Eien no Inori" is incredibly powerful live, yet the album version's guitars are anemic.

It's still a great album by a great band that broke up too soon, yet it could have been even better. I have to recommend it, though, even at the insane import price. It would only get better from here, with the singles "Beast of Blood", "Gardenia", and "Garnet" all classics, as well as the B-sides.

Well there is not much to argue about this album....
Sound is awesome and the lyrics ... well their lyrics hehe
They have a harmony in their lyrics that makes your bone freeze and the marrow vibrate

Go Malize Mizer !

This album is downright amazing. Tracks 3 and 6 are my personal favorites. Now that Malice is essentially Mana's solo career, it's nice to see he can still show off.

this album of malice mizer is totally kick ass... the music sounds great.. overall this cd is incredible and i think malice mizer should be appreciated for giving us incredible music!

I just started to listen to Malice Mizer about a month or so ago. And I just love these guys. The best Japanese Black Metal I ever heard. It's very victorian, and gothic. Great album, you will love it!!

-Emperor Balkoth