Album Review: Kalafina - Seventh Heaven

Kalafina is the product of producer and composer Yuki Kajiura, along with a bevvy of vocalists, currently Keiko Kubota, Wakana Ootaki, Maya and Hikaru. Kajiura's massive back catalog is a bit daunting to try and sum up. The highlights? The Xenosaga III OST, the Noir, .hack//Sign and My Hime anime OSTs (among many others), as well as being a member of See Saw and FictionJunction. All of these (and much more) easily puts her on-par with the great Yoko Kanno. But let's not get distracted.

Kalafina have just released their first full-length album unto the world. It centers around the animated film series Kara no Kyoukai. As someone with no prior exposure to the series, I can't speak on how well the music fits the series. So, anime aside, I'll focus on the music (which is why we're here, after all.)

Hit up the full review after the jump!


Oblivious (live)


The album opens with a brief ambient "Overture" before kicking straight into "Oblivious," also the debut single from the band. It sets the tone for the rest of the album well. Most of Seventh Heaven is decidedly electronic, yet organic and thrumming with life. The album art presents an apt visual equivalent to the music inside. Darkly elegant without being overly gothic, covered in lace and exotic bird feathers. "Oblivious" is all of that presented with almost tribal trance beats, spaced out synths and almost operatic harmonies from the singers.

Aria (live)


"Love Come Down" is a much more upbeat track featuring squealing violins and guitars along with the same sort of burbling, pillowy synths. "Natsu no ringo" takes a hard turn towrd down-tempo folk themes with a Celtic feel, complete with folksy drums, flutes and acoustic guitars. It's Lord of the Rings run through an even more fantastical kaleidoscope. "Fairytale" and "Aria" keep things calm with a more traditional anime style sound. You can almost visualize the closing credits rolling over rippling waves, girls riding bicycles into the sunset, trees blowing in the wind etc etc. All the while the vocals present many layers of harmonies and an almost angelic choir of voices.

Sprinter


Things get back to serious business with "Mata Kaze ga Tsuyokunatta," one of the few songs original to this album. It's a track much like "Love Come Down," this time featuring a lead cello along with the more aggressive singing and some really rocking drums. In fact the album stick close to the format of a few light, calm and fantastical song bookended by stomping, intense dance tracks. With the exception of "Sprinter," a rock rock song almost on-par with that of Abingdon Boys School in terms of its sheer epicness, Kalafina does one thing very well, but perhaps relies on this style a little too much. At least for a lengthy album like the fourteen track Seventh Heaven. Calling them a one-trick pony would be a grievous error. All of the material on the album is expertly crafted and produced. All of the performance are presented with everything the musicians and vocalists have got. In fact it's all almost too well maintained and controlled. Crafted to fit too well into a specific musical and emotional realm which causes the later tracks to begin running together. Yet for fans, Seventh Heaven is indeed the most perfect offering they could ask for. It never once wavers in its vision or high quality.

Seventh Heaven


Kalafina will be performing at Anime Boston later this month. Also, don't forget to enter the contest running right now on Japanator to win some signed Kalafina merch from the show!

You can buy Seventh Heaven at various on-line shops like Amazon and iTunes, as well as in physical form at CDJapan.