With ‘Mutsu no Hana‘ pleasantly surprising me with its almost non-stop power metal majesty a year and a half ago, expectations were fairly high for its follow-up ‘Cinematographe’. But while Matenrou Opera is equally guitar-heavy as on its two predecessors here, ‘Cinematographe’ is neither as power metal-focused nor as good. However, whenever the band gets out of their identity crisis or switches off the auto-pilot, and instead focuses on their strengths, ‘Cinematographe’ is actually quite impressive. By the end of the album, they have it all figured out, and go out with a bang that frankly the entire album could have been.

J-metal bands that take their sound in various directions tend to have one or two that they truly excel at. In case of Matenrou Opera, that would be the bombastic, quasi-symphonic power metal of the likes of ‘Avalon‘, and the lighter, somewhat poppy J-rock songs that appear on nearly every album. The latter are in short supply on ‘Cinematographe’, in favor of a more modern hard rock and metal sound. Occasionally, that approach works wonders, but there are also moments like the downtuned bullshit of ‘Sanzensekai’. And it’s a shame in that specific song as well, with Hibiki Shiraishi delivering a drum performance for the ages.

‘Cinematographe’ starts out reasonably well. Opening track ‘Scar’ did not make much of an impression on me when it was released as a single, and its opening still doesn’t, but the way it unfolds is quite subtle and clever. The following ‘Embryo’ is classic Matenrou Opera, and while ‘Solitude’ isn’t anything special, it simply is the band doing what they do well. Then, the album comes to a grinding halt with the aforementioned ‘Sanzensekai’ and ‘Ego’, which would have profited from rhythm guitars that aren’t quite as heavy. After that, the album never quite reaches those depths again, but it takes time for it to find its footing back.

Fortunately, the highlights are still to come after that. ‘Enemy’ comes packed with great melodies and riffs that have a bite to them that Matenrou Opera barely offers. That one and the last four songs truly elevate ‘Cinematographe’. ‘Kyōshu no Cinematographe’ is probably the best of the bunch. It’s a dramatic power metal epic that pushes Sono to his best vocal performance on the album, although the dark, theatrical ‘Agony’ is tailor-made for him as well. ‘Anata ga Ita Hibi’ is vintage, ‘Justice’-era Matenrou Opera, while the upbeat and breezy power metal of the appropriately titled ‘Endroll’ finishes the album on a particularly high note.

Although the opening minutes of ‘Cinematographe’ are too good to say it’s an album that gets good eventually, its main issue is the fact that it fails to gain any momentum until it’s nearly over. And given the quality of the songwriting later on the album, it would not have required more than removing one song. The album would even have been more or less the exact length of an average latter-day Matenrou Opera album in that case. Because honestly: when ‘Cinematographe’ is good, it is fantastic. That incredible finale alone already proves as much.

Recommended tracks: ‘Enemy’, ‘Kyōshu no Cinematographe’, ‘Embryo’

Order ‘Cinematographe’ from nearly anywhere in the world at CD Japan below

Cinematographe

Matenrou Opera