Customer Reviews

A Dead Sinking Story

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

last year, lovingly caressing my respectable collection of pretty rare records of this rather unconventional genre that i'd fallen in love with, i really thought that i owned the best of best, when i randomly came across this very vaguely known japanese band. i bought Dead Sinking Story on sheer impression from reviewers, though i'd never heard a single track of it before. i expected an alright record, and would never have dared to guess that the CD would change my view of life!
the very first listening of Dead Sinking Story i couldn't believe my ears! the incredible sincerity of emotion enducing an almost trance-like experience totally took my breath away for weeks!
now i simply can't understand why i'd spent so many years looking for the best band of this genre and never looked across the pacific ocean.
City Of Caterpillar is bliss, Isis is hypnotism, Balboa is redemption, but Envy? Envy is more than anything ever created or comprised.. Envy is GOD! - as someone mentioned before.

for those interested, here is the complete discography of Envy:

1.Breathing And Dying In This Place
2.From Here To Eternity
3.Angel's Curse Whispered In The Edge
4.The Eyes Of Single Eared Prophet
5.All The Footprints You've Ever Left And Fear Expecting Ahead
6.split with Iscariote
7.Dead Sinking Story
8.split with Yaphet Kotto and This Machine Kills

reviewed january 2005: after months of frustrating and desperate search in every possible and impossible source i finally managed to buy the nearly complete discography (except the debut, which is extremely rare even in Japan where i got the rest from), thus blessing my CD collection with the "best hardcore band that you never heard".
thanks to the japanese Amazon, although it really wasn't easy especially because most of the contents don't have an english translation :/ hehe..
the rest of their albums only confirmed and punched a period mark on the fact (..my jaw is still fallen in awe..), that Envy really are the best!

to finish this review, please allow me to recommend a couple of awesome bands in the genre: Funeral Diner, A Day In Black And White, Quantice Never Crashed, Yaphet Kotto, On The Might Of Princess (especially the debut album), The Assistant...

Envy is UNBELIEVABLE. I didn't know rock music could be this moving. If you like bands like Hopesfall, who fuse hardcore/metal brutality with the melodic guitars of prime smashing pumpkins, you need to hear this. Really, if you like emotional rock music at all and can deal with intense screaming, I guarantee this will touch you. This is an album that truly spans the spectrum of emotions, from the usual hardcore anger, despair, and claustrophobic fear, through serenity, hope, and ultimately heroic triumph (if you want to hear that last, listen to "A will remains in the ashes," or the album standout and one of my all-time favorite songs, "Go mad and mark." An almost entirely major key hardcore song!)
In closing, buy this record immediately: you'll be supporting true artists, giving yourself an amazing emotional experience, discovering a future classic, and changing the way you think about music, and probably life.

I read about envy somewhere and thought i'd take a chance on what the article described as 'Japanese avant-hardcore'.
This record had me from the off. The band vary from brutal hardcore to ambience with the the same song, punctuated by almost chanty Japanese vocals. Standout tracks include 'Color of fetters', 'go mad and mark', 'reasons and oblivion' and the closing 'a will remains in the ashes'. If you are looking for hardcore that's a little different and in Japanese, here you go.

This is an amazing record period. Probably the most orchestrated album from a band doing a genre, where screams can become annoying and repatative over distorted guitars. The lyrics are compelling and the melodic clean break downs are amazing. They do an awesome job of keeping you captivated to this record. Clocking in at an hour this is worth the buy and will be in your cd player for months.

Japanese Envy strikes gold with their third full-length release. Singer/screamer Tetsuya Fukagawa uses his voice like he's got the devil himself chasing him, and mirrors the complex but yet subtle hardcore guitarwalls a la Mogwai and Slint.
Please discover.

I was introduced by City of Caterpillar by a friend, which eventually led to pg. 99, Orchid, Saetia, Yaphet Kotto and most importantly Envy. The only way to listen to this CD is with the volume all the way up. Envy's beautiful melodies feel like water lapping at your feet, while their music resembles a wave hitting you full on when they take it up a notch. It really doesn't matter that Tetsu Fukagawa sings in Japanese, for reasons obvious to those who have listened to Envy. Envy is definitely in my top 10 favorite bands, along with the groups listed above. For those interested in these bands' often hard to find titles I would suggest checking out 29 North Records site.

To be honest, I'd never heard Envy before seeing them in New York City back in January, but after I heard their unique fusion of hardcore and post-rock, I was hooked. They really have their own, unique brand of hardcore, featuring moderate to slow paced riffing (almost Isis-like at parts) crushing you with a huge wall of sound, then slower, softer parts, accented by malleted drums and gentler keyboards. They've forged their own path throughout the jungle that is emotional heavy music, and hopefully will continue to do this in the future.

Post rock/metal influence ala Isis/Mogwai + amazingly raw vocals + Japan - whining - the horrible musicianship found in many emo bands = Envy = the greatest emotional hardcore band in the world.

This has been Envy 101. Homework due at the start of class tomorrow.

Envy are the realization of what so many other bands have tried to accomplish: excellent, majestic, melodic, thrashing harmonies composed with astonishing intelligence. What else could anyone want from their music?