A bit late but here is my review of S.S.H.'s second latest album
This And That. But before I do, and as implied by my previous sentence, a new S.S.H. album called
YABLE was announced yesterday on his website and a previous announcement the week before via Twitter and Soundcloud.
Here are my thoughts and opinions on This And That. Any interesting/relevant information from S.S.H.'s song-by-song liner notes will also be translated/paraphrased.
My ratings logic:
0/5 (Little to no musical value)
1/5 (I understand the artist's intentions with this song but it's not for me)
2/5 (Might give it a chance every once in a while/bit of an acquired taste)
3/5 (Average/not amazing, but not bad/mainly just background music/non-active listening)
4/5 (Pretty special, will revisit often)
5/5 (Can't stop listening)
Note: The above ratings are relative to other S.S.H.'s works. They are not being compared with other metal music or other video game music in general.
01. Smog And Searchlight
My rating: 3/5
My thoughts: Similar to "Abyss", the first song from the N.A.V.E. album, it's more of an intro song.
S.S.H.'s liner notes: The first song. It has a unsettling and eerie feel to it, like the first song from the previous album.
02. Last Resort '94
My rating: 4/5
My thoughts: A chiptune song. Feels a bit Sega Mega Drive or something from that era. Maybe that's what the 1994 is implying? Actually the instrumentals remind me of Yuzo Koshiro's chiptune music from the Sekaijuu no Meikyuu (AKA Etrian Odyssey) series. Reasonably catchy.
S.S.H.'s liner notes: It is the same as the full song called "Last Resort" that was already released on my SoundCloud. It uses the FM and PCM sound source at the same time and I imagine as being an Arcade shooting game BGM. I think I captured the '94 era spirit somewhat.
03. Speedster
My rating: 4/5
My thoughts: Now we're talking! I like the dark-sounding bass coming at 0:10 and throughout and the guitar solo.
S.S.H.'s liner notes: The loud guitar finally makes its appearance. A song I created from nothing/an empty head, part 1. (layzee's note: I think that's what he meant - he composed a song without using anything as a base/foundation or as inspiration).
04. Washing
My rating: 3/5
My thoughts: Overall a pretty groovy tune with nice bass.
S.S.H.'s liner notes: Shredding the guitar, funky version. The wah wah effects are good, but difficult to handle...
05. Take It Easy
My rating: 2/5
My thoughts: Accurate track title. Hard to explain but it sounds a bit ethnic/folkish to me.
S.S.H.'s liner notes: The unique song in this album. It sounds clear/fresh and might conjure an image of some kind of winter town. I wanted to make a "typical" or "archetypal" BGM so I did. Anyway, when composing the song, I was conscious about not making it flashy. It is difficult to not be flashy... and to not fill the solo with 16th notes... (layzee's note: hah)
06. Highball
My rating: 2/5
My thoughts: Highball is a type of drink (and S.S.H.'s favourite). Naturally, this is a relaxing bar-sounding tune.
S.S.H.'s liner notes: I am wonder if this song is the most different one out of all them? The image is of the Showa era (layzee's note: Showa is a specific period of time in Japan. See wikipedia for more details). "Show-Wa" was a candidate for title of this song. Somehow, I imagined Showa drinking establishment in the city (I have never been to one). The drink's name is Highball. I just like Highballs.
07. Bullseye
My rating: 4/5
My thoughts: The second of the pure metal songs. Not bad but I think it repeats itself a bit and the guitar solo isn't very long.
S.S.H.'s liner notes: A song I created from nothing/an empty head, part 2. Apparently when I compose songs out of nothing, they generally become shooting game BGMs (layzee's note: is Cave hiring?).
08. Chasing
My rating: 2/5
My thoughts: An electronica/techno-ish song.
S.S.H.'s liner notes: Although you can't hear it in the demo, I like the "cracked xylophone" sounds at the beginning of the song so I made a phrase using it and spread it round. In the demo, the arpeggio continues goes from left to right. It was very hard to decide on the title.
09. Hazy Moon
My rating: 3/5
My thoughts: A song that leans toward the sadder side. Decent shredding.
S.S.H.'s liner notes: Shredding the guitar, slightly crying guitar version. I wanted to made the lead guitar sound more "dry" but as I proceeded to do so, the guitar suddenly [layzee's note: dunno] so I abandoned it.
10. 3x4
My rating: 4/5
My thoughts: This is the first song that gives me Yngwie feels (probably the trills).
S.S.H.'s liner notes: Shredding the guitar, shuffle version. I like high-speed shuffling so included one song as such. I think I have done particularly well with the strong neoclassical style guitar and sound creation.
11. Rainy Afternoon
My rating: 3/5
My thoughts: Pretty chill.
S.S.H.'s liner notes: I intended the next song as a bonus track so this song rounds it all off.
12. Last Resort '17
My rating: 4/5
My thoughts: Metal version of Last Resort '94 and a bit more shreddy in parts where there was no shred in the original chiptune. Nice.
S.S.H.'s liner notes: The concept of this song was to arrange "Last Resort '94" using my most recently used sound sources. I thought about extra tracks but it took a terribly long time...
Final thoughts: Out of all his albums so far and possibly his entire career, this is probably the most diverse one yet (in terms of style and instruments) and one most suitable for use as an RPG soundtrack, for example. If you follow S.S.H.'s soundcloud, you would know that he is always experimenting with new things so this album is a result of that.
Of course, we as S.S.H. fans would naturally gravitate towards the guitar tracks and in this regard, it does not disappoint. Note that I have not rated any tracks 5/5. Unfortunately, there hasn't been a standout track to me so far (Moonlit Showdown from the previous album was my standout track). The guitar tracks are nice and consistent but just doesn't seem to have that secret ingredient I feel. My favourite moment is the beginning of the solo in "Speedster". There's nothing wrong with the other tracks and they do their job.
I think I mentioned this before but, like his previous works, the sound quality is quite high considering this is technically a doujin album that does not have the backing, knowledge or equipment of music companies/publishers. It doesn't even have disc label art (like previous albums). It is simply burnt CD and he admits as such.
Overall, I give this album a 3/5.
Finally, turning our attention back to the upcoming release of the mini-album "YABLE", expect the return of vocals (both female and male death metal vocals as heard in N.A.V.E.). As usual, thoughts and opinions will provided when available.