COLDRAINreleases new album “nonnegative”
Hailing from Nagoya, Japan in 2007 Coldrain has been touring the world for the better half of a decade, including Vans Warped Tour in 2016. Although they are from Japan, their vocalist Masato speaks and sings in English, making their barrier for entry easier than other foreign artists. Since 2007 they have released numerous records and even held their own major festival in their hometown of Nagoya, “BLARE FEST. 2020” playing to 40,000 people over two days. Now they bring us their 7th studio record “Nonnegative”.
The album begins with a straightforward rock song “Help Me Help You”, preparing you for the fast paced energetic sound that is this record. The production of this record is flawless, with really even guitars, drums, and vocals which this track really shows off. There is a heavier section later in the song featuring some harsh vocals bringing in the metal influences and solidifying how hard they can really get. This is followed by “CALLING”, one of the band's singles, a hard hitting rock song that really gets your head banging with a bit more metal influences throughout.
The record takes a heavier turn with “Cut Me” with much more aggressive guitar riffs and drums pushed even further with more harsh vocals. The verse really hits hard leading into a very catchy chorus that compliments the heavier parts of the song. Another single “Before I Go” starts much lighter than the first few tracks, but picks up quickly during the chorus and keeps this back and forth throughout, giving it a nice dynamic between the ups and downs. What follows is “Bloody Power Fame” which sounds very reminiscent of bands such as The Plot in You and Bring Me the Horizon, in which this could easily find itself amongst them on a Spotify or Apple Music playlist for “Top Rock Songs”. This song has some of the widest array of production on it between vocal effects and instrumental decay that really pushes the sound of Coldrain as one to be on the lookout for.
The next track “Here With You” very much follows the same sound as “Bloody Power Fame” in its ‘top rock’ flavor. These both are probably the lightest rock songs on the record, which is what gives them that radio song feel. This track in particular also has a really fun solo at the climax. “Boys and Girls' is a beautiful ballad about growing up and wanting to remain youthful. The song starts off the slowest on the record and slowly picks up as each chorus returns, becoming more and more bombastic every time.
One of the band's singles “Paradise (Kill The Silence)” brings back the energy and aggression from the first half of the record. The energy continues with “2020”, a very metal influenced sound about the world's state of panic and disarray during the pandemic. This track has one of the heavier breakdowns of the record. This carries perfectly into the following track “Rabbit Hole”, starting with a brutal scream and fast paced riffs this is a straight up metal song. As a metal head myself this is my favorite track on the record, between the smooth and catchy chorus to the hard hitting verses this song pulls no punches.
Bringing the sound back around “Don’t Speak” starts with clean guitars and killer vocals, going right into a classic rock sounding chorus, really rounding out Coldrain’s sound. There is even an acoustic guitar solo half way through the track really showing off the skills that this group has to offer. The record ends with “From Today”, an absolute power trip full of energy and excitement. This sends the record off with a bang fully encompassing everything this record has all in a single track to bring it all to a satisfying closure.
This record is an absolute banger I highly recommend any rock fan to check out!
You can check out their website here: https://coldrain.jp
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Nonnegative Tracklisting:
1. Help Me Help You
2. CALLING
3. Cut Me
4. Before I Go
5. Bloody Power Fame
6. Here With You
7. Boys And Girls
8. Paradise (Kill The Silence)
9. 2020
10. Rabbit Hole
11. Don’t Speak
12. From Today