On the surface, D’Erlanger is a fairly typical early visual kei band. The goth-inspired presentation, the gratuitous and frequently incorrect use of the French language and the overtly, sometimes laughably sexual lyrics point in that direction. However, apart from their earliest days as a speed metal band, D’Erlanger always leaned far more towards a British post-punk sound. Kyo’s vocal approach is clearly Japanese in nature, but the fact that the band doesn’t genre-hop as much sets them apart from their peers. Also fairly atypical for a visual kei band is the consistency of D’Erlanger’s output. Their first post-reunion album ‘Lazzaro’ is easily my favorite of theirs.

Despite a seventeen year break between sophomore D’Erlanger album ‘Basilisk’ and ‘Lazzaro’, most of which they were inactive, it is surprising how little the band’s sound changed in the meantime. Some of their peers changed radically, trying to chase different trends or simply maturing musically. The most notable difference is the brighter, harder-edged guitar sound of chief songwriter Cipher, though that might as well just be a result of technological developments. ‘Lazzaro’ sounds slightly more riffy and has a bit of a hardrock vibe because of that, but this is clearly the same band that recorded ‘La Vie En Rose’ and ‘Basilisk’.

What makes ‘Lazzaro’ better than any other D’Erlanger album is that it does not have a dropoff point about halfway through. In fact, the latter half of the album contains a few of the best songs, such as the catchy J-Rocker ‘Maria’, the intense ‘Alone’ and the surprisingly dark, biting diptych of ‘Noir – C’est La Vie’ and ‘Noir – D’Amour’. There isn’t a single song on ‘Lazzaro’ that I would skip and it would not surprise me if multiple track orders were tested before the band landed on this one, because the actual music – not counting the throwaway intro and outro – flows very pleasantly for just over forty minutes.

Other highlights include ‘XXX For You’, which probably contains Tetsu’s best drumming on the album. His rhythms are nothing too fancy, but his dynamic snare work really elevates the song to a higher level. The chorus is simply a slab of fantastic songwriting as well. ‘Beauty & Beast’ has some playful chord work courtesy of Cipher interacting fantastically with a haunting synth line, as well as an admirable use of dynamics within less than three minutes of playing time. ‘Divina Commedia’ clearly shows where a band like Merry gets its inspiration from and showcases what a creative bass player Seela is. His bass lines feel like a jazz player with the attitude of a punk bassist.

It is not often that I would recommend a post-reunion album to someone wanting to get acquainted with a classic visual kei band, but in case of D’Erlanger, ‘Lazzaro’ truly is the best entry point. There are no prolonged sequences of ballads or overly upbeat songs breaking the flow, the last couple of songs are every bit as good as the first few, while the overall sound is powerful and memorable. D’Erlanger is still making good albums these days, but they have never sounded as good as on ‘Lazzaro’ before or since. Highly recommended if post-punk and poppy hardrock are your thing.

Recommended tracks: ‘XXX For You’, ‘Maria’, ‘Alone’, ‘Beauty & Beast’

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Lazzard

D’ERLANGER