A Little Less Pop, A Little More VK in DaizyStripper’s New Album Siren

Hot on the heels of their third album Bless, DaizyStripper’s fourth album, Siren, delivers a solid ten songs that will please fans looking for a DaizyStripper that is a little less pop and a little more standard visual kei.

The album opens with “Zero Crysis,” a bass and guitar heavy number, which follows through in “5×STARZ,” a blend of rap and deep singing by Yu-Giri. Still on the harder side,“Dictator” features a trick jazzy intro, leading into more heavy rocking. The interesting instrumental bridge comes with a scratchy synthesizer layered over guitar and base. Finally, “Become A Beast” is up tempo with cheerful lyrics and blends into the first three tracks, but has sections designed for heavy headbanging and relentless guitar.

“Twilight,” the moody piano solo with violin accompaniment in the middle, comes as an audio shock but a welcome respite after the heavy songs. It segues nicely into “Sajuu no roukaku,” a song that is a bit more typical Daizy, sweet and easy on the ears with a bouncy chorus and a hint of acoustic guitar.

But that’s all the respite fans of DaizyStripper’s lighter side will get as the album dives back into heavier fare with “PSYCHEDELIC HEAVEN.” The song is a rapid anthem laced with drums, bass, barking, and a somewhat disjointed bridge. “AWAKE ME!” is more of the same, but better produced, with screaming and rapping leading into a fun chorus of love and hate. The middle section is capped off by “Know Future,” which is straight, hard visual kei without any of the rap or electronic accoutrements and the album ends on a big ballad note with “36.5℃”. You can picture audiences waving their arms across a stadium to the sound of guitar and piano.

Overall, Siren is more aggressive than previous albums, perhaps because it’s an attempt to win over fans who consider DaizyStripper a pop-visual act and push the band in a new direction. Despite that, at times Siren feels a little too safe, which is a surprise as with songs from past albums like “Black Dropper” and “White Butterfly,” prove DaizyStripper can do hard as well as anyone and still maintain their unique sound.

It’s unfortunate that when played in a stretch, Siren suffers from the problem of too much homogeny, but the album sounds better when the songs are listened to one or two at a time, so they can be appreciated for their individual merits and not drowned in the flood of bass and guitar. The tunes may play well to the live crowd, however, as Daizy’s charisma and energetic furi can put a personal stamp on even the more generic songs, which may mix smoothly into a set list and add an extra dose of hard rock to the shows.

Regular Edition (1o track CD.)

 Limited Edition A (1o track CD + Music clip + off Shot.)

 Limited Edition B (1o track CD + KISS THE FUTURE Live.)

Track List

1. Zero Crysis
2. 5×STARZ
3. Dictator
4. Become A Beast
5. Twilight
6. Sajuu no roukaku
7. PSYCHEDELIC HEAVEN
8. AWAKE ME!
9. Know Future
10. 36.5℃