Thousand Memories And A Nameless Sword
(self-financed)
28:06min
I first thought the band’s name literally speaks for itself ’cause I neither had any idea what to expect from this five piece nor was I able to hear something from them prior to this release. So the NAMELESS ONE fits quite perfect here. But seriously: these Japanese Metalheads deliver a more than solid / descent debut entitled "Thousand Memories And A Nameless Sword". Especially the two axemen need to be mentioned as they are both without any doubt gifted with some talent and do an exceptional good job on this six tracker. I guess their fingers must glow like how fast they rush over the fretboard. Jaw and Koichang deliver some cool harmonies and melodies indeed – and of course some beefy riffs. They are supported by very tight drumming which pushes the tunes of this Kyoto based outfit always forward. Yamashu, the man behind the drumkit, uses a lot of double bass attacks as well which intensifies the power of the six featured tracks on this self released EP. As far as their musical direction is concerned NAMELESS ONE comes up with a kind of melodic Death Metal. A very melodic type I would say with a lot of traditional Heavy and Power Metal influences. I think if there wouldn’t be the harsh voice you could almost label them as extreme Power Metal. Unfortunately the vocals are also the weakest point in my opinion and singer NGT is not to able to hold a candle to his comrades on their instruments. The sound quality of this release is quite solid. It’s both heavy and transparent. You can hear every instrument rather clear and the production is able to unleash some power as well. Fans of melodic Death Metal, preferable from Sweden, should give these young Nippon warriors a try even if they are not able to provide something revolutionary new in this love or hate genre. But they put a lot of enthusiasm and passion in this roughly more than 28 minutes long ride and that is what counts. For sure it will be interesting to see how this quintet develops in the future. At least a promising start is made. In the meanwhile you can check out the band’s site at www.facebook.com/pages/nameless-one-band/585566414816512 for more information.
Michael Oelschlegel