Review Summary: Utsu-P does what he does best: make incredible Vocaloid metal
On July 3, 2009, a Vocaloid producer named Utsu-P uploaded a song named “Corpse Attack!!”, a curious little track that featured Hatsune Miku singing and unleashing metal screams of all things over screaming guitars and pummeling drums. The gimmicky-ness of it all instantly shot Utsu-P into popularity, the leader of the “VocaMetal” movement which has since become a far more popular subgenre of Vocaloid music and J-Rock for that matter.
Fast forward about 12 or so years, and Utsu-P has refined the sound to a mirror shine, his music going from a simple gimmick to legitimately enjoyable metal. He’s been constantly releasing new music and has even started a separate band project, The Ohayogozaimas, and produced for an idol group named Zsasz. All this to say, he’s been busy, and
UNIQUE is one of the latest products of his busy-ness. So, how does it stack up compared to the rest of his work? Well. Really, really well.
The album starts as it means to go on: with flaming energy and screaming Vocaloids. Opener “Harakiri” grabs you by the throat with fantastic drumming work and frantic electronic squeals as Kagamine Rin sings and screams about a perfect world where those who make mistakes will have to commit seppuku. It’s perfectly Utsu-P, and very reminiscent of his past work.
Over the next 10 songs (thankfully making this album much longer than previous album
RENAISSANCE), Utsu-P gives us earworm after earworm, not pausing to slow down until the very end. “Not Photogenic” introduces vocal fry to Utsu’s bag of Vocaloid tricks, creating one hell of a strong intro in the process, complete with a fantastic guitar solo (one of the few on this album, making it all the more memorable). Elsewhere, “Death of the Law” wraps in electronic elements to deliver social commentary from the perspective of aliens (roll with it), with a fun chorus, if not a bit repetitive, and a fantastic breakdown.
“dull” and “PEE PEE PRINCESS” feel like classic Utsu-P given a modern coat of paint, the former featuring some truly incredible vocal interplay between Hatsune Miku and Megurine Luka, and the latter bringing in vocal synth KAFU for what is probably the most fun track on the album, and “vivid” and “Root Rot” are the perfect closers for the album, bringing down the speed while keeping the intensity of the previous songs.
Special credit must be given to “OGRE” and “Unique Parade”, the standout two singles from this album that truly feel unique among the rest of the tracklist. The former is a fun, almost bouncy metal track with a horn section balancing out the guitars and bass, and what might be one of 2021’s greatest lead-ups to a breakdown. “Unique Parade” turns up the horn elements, so much so that they actually form the main melodic force for most of the song. The result for both songs are tracks that feel genuinely grand and big in their sound and ambition, and part of me really wishes Utsu had kept this sound for more than just a few tracks.
Now, for all the praise that I’ve been giving this album, there are a few sticking points that must be mentioned. Firstly, not every track is entirely memorable. “March 9, 2000” is the track that I find myself skipping the most. While not bad, something about it (probably the awkward chorus) just makes it feel like a bit of a slump to kick off the final stretch of the album, though it recovers very quickly.
Second, I really wish that there was a greater variety of Vocaloids on the album. I love how Utsu uses Miku, don’t get me wrong, but out of the 11 tracks presented here, only 4 feature other vocal synths, and 2 of those songs, the aforementioned “dull” and “vivid”, have Luka share the spotlight with Miku, probably a product of Utsu’s collaboration with fellow Vocaloid metal producer Yuyoyuppe. It sucks that Rin didn’t get more time to shine aside from her one appearance on “Harakiri”, especially since some of Utsu’s best works have featured Rin on lead vocals.
Despite these complaints,
UNIQUE is still a fantastic album, arguably the best one that Utsu-P has produced so far. While not necessarily unique like its title would imply, outside of maybe one or two songs, it’s still the best representation of his sound and output yet, and a must-listen, not just for anyone who enjoys Vocaloid metal, but for anyone who enjoys metal in general. It’s a fun listen through and through, and I can’t wait to see where Utsu-P goes next after this.
