Dark Phoenix

There's a particular brand of metal reserved just for Japanese soil. It's a kind of electro-metal, defined by very synthetic strings, organs and drums, along with (usually) real guitars and the occasional fleshly singer. With the advent of the singer in a box Vocaloid software, the need for real people to sing along to these bedroom metal masterpieces has shrunk to almost nill, though this has also had the added effect of sapping the last bastion of originality out of the genre. Much more common are completely instrumental songs.

Take, for instance, the music of Dark Phoenix. The duo of 姫川紫音 and ゆう blend very melodic and symphonic instrumentation with elegant piano breaks and downplayed guitars. While obviously coming from a metal world, the songs are more like the sort of watered down rock songs you'd hear playing in the background of a classic video games like Contra or Doom, or, in this case, various doujin games. Sonically, they sound like glorified Casio and Roland keyboard demos with added guitars which are so heavily processed as to make them indistinguishable to their synthetic counterparts. It's a good thing that the quality and originally of the sonic pallet isn't what fans of the genre are looking for. Rather, it's that very sense of artificiality that's appealing, that feel as if the listener is in the middle of some fantastical boss fight near the end of a classic RPG.

Dark Phoenix hits that mark dead center and with considerable style and substance. While their two albums Arrow Rain and Arrow Revolver, released almost back to back in 2008, are virtually interchangeable, they would also be an almost perfect fit in any of the mid-numbered Final Fantasy games. In fact, they even give the metalized Black Mages a run for their money, at least in the epic rock-out category. Most of their songs are speedy and grand, focusing far more on the organs and synths than the guitars, adding to the video game feel. Their songs put on a virtuoso display of frantic pianos and strings, complimented by the fuzzed out guitars and complex drum parts. While they never really hit on very memorable themes, they nevertheless fill the void for anyone looking for their specific brand of ornate and flowery cyber metal.

フラワリングナイト



Official Site

Members:
姫川紫音
ゆう

Albums:
Arrow Rain - 2008
Arrow Revolver - 2008



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