‘Confessions’ was a pretty divisive album among Mary’s Blood’s fan base. It saw the band moving towards modern hardrock in a significant number of songs with a production style focusing on the band’s biggest asset: the voice of singer Eye. Its follow-up, a self-titled release no less, takes a U-turn back to a more metallic direction, almost to a fault. It is heavier than ‘Confessions’, but it does not take the easy route by simply copying the ‘Bloody Palace’ formula. ‘Mary’s Blood’ combines the band’s trademark sound with contemporary metal touches like guitarist Saki explores more extensively in Nemophila and occasional AOR-isms.

‘Mary’s Blood’ is far more consistent than ‘Confessions’, because its lows aren’t as bad, but on the other hand, its highs aren’t as good. There is no song on ‘Mary’s Blood’ that I hate as passionately as ‘Hello’, but no songs I love quite as much as ‘Karma’ and ‘Laylah’ either. In addition, the band heavily borrows from its own past. The chorus to closing track ‘Starlight’ features a melody that must be public domain in Japan, as literally hundreds of J-rock and J-metal bands keep using it, while ‘Be Myself’ can be switched with ‘Nautical Star’ or ‘Chateau De Sable’ and I doubt anyone will notice.

Having said that, when ‘Mary’s Blood’ is good, it’s excellent. My favorite track is the hypermelodic ‘Let Me Out’, in which Saki’s love for Seikima-II is fairly obvious. Its combination of AOR-ish synths and impeccably arranged guitar parts brings tracks like ‘Stainless Night’ to mind. A perfect fit for the band’s interplay and Eye’s fantastic voice. The energetic, uptempo ‘Blow Up Your Fire’ is another highlight. ‘Mad Queen’ is borderline speed metal and built upon a handful of really cool riffs, while ‘Without A Crown’ is surprisingly vicious and modern. The latter took some time to sink in, but definitely became a highlight once it did.

And then there is the weird stuff, which isn’t necessarily as bad as it sounds. ‘Hunger’ would have fit the production style of ‘Confessions’ a lot better than it does here, with its reliance on simple, heavy riffs and almost trance-like synths. ‘Joker’ combines a sleazy rock ‘n’ roll vibe with downtuned modern metal guitars and Rio’s fat and ugly distorted bass sound stealing the show in the bottom end of the sonic spectrum. ‘Umbrella’ is one of the more interestingly structured ballads in the band’s discography, though it does sacrifice a bit of its memorability in the process.

Ultimately, ‘Mary’s Blood’ is a bit difficult to judge for me. It tends to overcompensate for the notably less metallic direction of ‘Confessions’ at times, there is quite a bit of self-plagiarism and a few songs around the middle of the album are in one ear, out the other. It is certainly nowhere near as good as ‘Bloody Palace’ or even ‘Confessions’. On the other hand, there are too many good songs to dismiss the album. The uncertainty Mary’s Blood retains about their direction might be the issue. With the riffs of ‘Mary’s Blood’ and the memorability of ‘Confessions’, they might have another incredible album in them.

Recommended tracks: ‘Let Me Out’, ‘Blow Up Your Fire’, ‘Mad Queen’

 

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