BLOOD STAIN CHILD - Mozaiq

Osaka isn’t exactly the place where you would expect to find a band with a music that is strongly influenced by the famous Gothenburg sound, but it seems the style can make proselytes in the most diverse and exotic corners of the world. Blood Stain Child was formed in 2000 and has launched so far 4 studio albums, the most recent of them called Mozaiq. As the title suggests, the Japanese combine Swedish death metal with electronica, trance and even dance music in places. As innovative as this may sound in theory, in reality things are not as good as they should. Instead of having the trance elements add interest to the metal side, the metal seems in fact to be added over a sea of electronic effects, beats and other rhythms that you’d probably expect from a Japanese disco. Furthermore, the guitar riffs seem facsimiled after In Flames, Soilwork or Dark Tranquillity, while the rhythm section totally fails to stand out with anything. Add a voice that oscillates between piercing and irritating when it uses screaming, and annoying when it uses a clean technique. Paradoxically, it is exactly the non metal influences that add a certain something to the music, however without managing to lift the album above mediocrity.
(+) interesting idea to combine metal and trance, production
(-) appalling voice, riffs “borrowed” from classics of the genre

Dragos P. Nota: 6.5