Versailles -Philharmonic Quintet- – “Noble” – Album Review
Versailles - Noble - 2008
J-rock is an odd genre to look into. It is filled with many bands who would be categorized as Visual Kai. This sub-genre was popularized by the band X-Japan in the late80′s to early 90′s. The main aspect of it is the emphasis of the visual side of the band. Outrageous clothes and stage performances along with vibrant videos and album covers are some of what one will encounter in this sub-genre. The cool thing about it, is that it is not confined to one genre. Visual Kai artists come from all areas of rock and even some pop (see newer Miyavi). One of the newer artists is a neo-classical metal band by the name of Versailles, known as Versailles -Philharmonic Quintet- in America. The brainchild of Japanese guitarist Hizaki, they released their first full length, “Nobel” in 2008.Clocking in at a lengthy 66:01, this album is a nonstop onslaught of neo-classical shredding, brilliant operatic vocals, and beautifully crafted songs. To say neo-classical metal has been done to death is no longer a true statement. Versailles shows that you only need another countries take on the genre to freshen it up to be appealing again. Starting off with an intense, classical barouqe piece, the album kicks off well. The dynamics are great at the opening, starting out pretty quiet with some piano and the escalating to a full orchestra and choir. The song leads perfectly into the first real track “Aristocrat’s Symphony”. Here you get a perfect taste of what you are in for throughout the whole album. Blazing lead work throughout with a section for solo’s in between and great dynamic range throughout as well.
The next song has more of a 80′s glam metal feel to it at first, but that fades away as everything comes together. The bridge here is beautiful; syncopated guitar riff over a nice orchestrated piece that leads into a classical guitar solo. The song as a whole has pretty many parts but never gets too progressive nor too repetitive.
The main single off of the album, “The Revenant Choir”, is one of the best songs on the album. Lengthy, but not boring in the least bit. Two versions exist on the album, one from their previous EP and a new version recorded for “Noble”. As with most of the songs, the lyrics are mainly in Japanese, so I can’t comment on the meaning of them, but the video is still awesome. The song has a straightforward structure but has plenty of riff’s between parts to keep it interesting, the part before the second verse is one of my fav’s in the song. Soon a short piano solo comes in, and then the song changes feel a little right before the guitar solo’s come in and melt your face off, but in a beautiful way you could never hate.
-Video is not the album version but a previous version from their first DVD single “The Revenant Choir”.
Overall this album is brilliant. Versailles has a distinct sound to them that you will instantly fall in love with. As a whole the album fits together great, but as a downside some of the songs do retain similar feels. This is not a huge issue though as most of the songs are unique in themselves. The vocals are astoundingly brilliant, though some may feel them to be a little over the top at times. The orchestrated pieces behind the music fits well and never over shadows the other instruments. As in “The Revenant Choir”, sometimes piano may be the only orchestrated peice still playing, which shows the parts are put in only to add to the song, and never take away. My only complaint would be the drums sound a little light and not as tight or full as one may like on a metal album. Other than that everything else is superbly produced. Versailles has a unique baroque neo-classical metal sound that fans of most styles of metal can enjoy. There is plenty of heavy riffs and beautiful songs, along with shredtastic solo’s and astounding leads. In a genre that is full of terrible, cliche music, that has been done to death; Versailles brings about a near refreshing air.
Overall Rating – 4.5/5
