UNCHAIN – departure

1. make it glow
2. Movin’ my soul
3. one word
4. Perfect Moment
5. departure

After dishing out all that praise for UNCHAIN’s rapture, I was curious to find out whether I had really discovered a new — and favourite — band or whether I just got lucky. After all, with rapture being their first full-length album after 3 mini-albums and a collaboration with ala, they had plenty of songs to choose from and the advantage of weeding out the not-so-good ones.

Fortunately, it turns out my first instinct was right. UNCHAIN is definitely a solid band. Although I was initially a little disappointed with departure on my first listening, I grew to like it — a lot. I feel this is typical of all their songs, even the ones from my beloved rapture. The first reason is that, with all their genre blending, their sound may not mesh well with your expectations — or your ears for that matter. But with repeated listenings, their songs really grow on you. While I found nothing special on my first listen, I’m now officially addicted to “departure” and “Movin’ my body”.

I especially love “departure”, which, for no particular reason, seems to remind me of a lazy summer afternoon. Disregard my strange connotation if you will, but perhaps this is why I’m so attracted to UNCHAIN’s music — for being able to evoke images and sway moods. That, of course, and their lyrics. Like previously mentioned, their lyrics are fantastic, original, and at times richly symbolic. Of course, it takes a few listens to discern the meaning from the Engrish, but it’s definitely worth the effort.

YouTube samples after the jump!

UNCHAIN – rapture

1. Signs Of Spring
2. Let Me Be The One
3. Don’t Need Your Love
4. Precious
5. Light Your Shadow
6. Mother Earth
7. Life Is Wonder
8. You Over You
9. Show Me Your Height
10. Always Shining
11. Quarter
12. make it glow
13. Dear My Friend
14. Rapture

Well, school’s kept me away from this blog for almost a month, but luckily UNCHAIN’s latest album, rapture, has been keeping me sane. A fusion of rock, jazz, and blues, this album is absolutely terrific. I know it’s still too early to tell, but this may be one of — if not the — album of the year for me.

Known for their exclusive use of English lyrics, the band’s been together since 1996 and have released 3 mini-albums in the past. As far as I know, rapture marks their first full-length album. And what an album it is. While each track retains its unique sound, they all flow together harmoniously, making for easy listening. This is probably one of the few albums I can listen to all the way through without feeling the urge to skip a track. Of course, I might repeat one or two — specifically “Quarter” and “Dear My Friend”. “Quarter” is the first track I fell in love with, mainly for its symbolic lyrics. Although there are grammatical errors, as with many of their other songs, they hardly detract from the meaning.“Dear My Friend” initially won me over with its melody, but after reading up on the lyrics, my view of the song completely changed. A tribute to a deceased friend, the song carries a certain nostalgic and sorrowful feeling which penetrates into your very being.

However, don’t be discouraged by the more somber tracks. Most of the songs are rather lighthearted and catchy, such as the ones shown after the jump. So please, check them out. I can’t recommend them/this album enough.