EP REVIEW: Coldrain - Optimize

Earlier in the year, Nagoya rock titans Coldrain signed to German-based label Century Media Records, making a stamp by ambitiously parting ways with Warner Music Japan to start anew on a global scale. The band emphasized that this was a new era, a defining one that would course the trajectory for their future. As part of the quintet's new journey, the Japanese outfit released three new singles from the now newly released Optimize, a five-track EP that came out on 24th October 2025.

So far this decade, we have seen the consequences and aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the persistent rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the past couple of years. Previously, one of the biggest talking points from Coldrain's seventh studio album Nonnegative (2022) was the brewing storm of frustrations and the effect of the lockdowns from the pandemic. Now, with their longest ever gap between new releases, the band tackles themes of the potential drawbacks of a world being consumed by AI on Optimize, longing for being imperfect and living as ourselves in a world increasingly reliant on machines that go against our very human nature.

Optimize acts as the Nagoya native's first EP in four years, since the band's lead single "Paradise (Kill the Silence)" from their seventh studio album Nonnegative was released as a six-track instrumental EP on digital formats. However, it is their first proper EP in eleven years since their third Japanese exclusive Until the End (2014), which similarly only recently received a digital worldwide release for the first time on the same day as Optimize's scheduled release last month.

Optimize (2025) cover art.

The EP starts off with the titular track "Optimize" that begins with an electronically laced synth riff, contrasted by a consistent factory machine-like sound loop that echoes throughout the entire song. With lyrics such as "I want to be more than a machine" sung beautifully during the song's infectious hook, it is clear that it is all about technological sentience and the contrasting oxymoronic allegory of finding an identity in the era of people becoming more like machines. It's a strong opener that is defined by strong lyrical content with deeper layers, among the electronic synths and alternative metal instrumentals that coat the entire song and the rest of the EP.

Released as the second single, "Chasing Shadows" is also the EP's second track. From start to finish, it's an unrelenting spark of energy that shoots to the stars, complemented by the ecliptic backdrop of the accompanying music video. It's the most radio-friendly track among the new songs, featuring a thunderously powerful chorus. It is hands down the best performance by drummer Katsuma Minatani on the EP, who leathers it down behind the kit like lightning hitting power lines, creating an electrical current of doom echoed by the nasty guitar work by lead guitarist Ryo Yokochi (who also produced the entire EP. Nice job, Yoko!). This all combusts into what the band does best, constructing pop hooks that stick in our heads for years, becoming an instant fan favorite, which memorably also includes the first ever time frontman Masato Hayakawa sings in Japanese on a Coldrain song, serving as a beautiful Easter egg for longtime fans.

Last year, the Japanese heavyweights joined the German electronicore band Electric Callboy on their European tour in February 2024, as well as being recently announced as support for their Australian tour leg in September 2026. It has been shown that their influence has rubbed off on them in the best way possible on the following track "Digitoll." It has proved to be a divisive song among critics and fans, who either call this the best or the worst song on the EP for its experimentation that strays far beyond the band's formula. It's ambitious, but in my opinion, I agree with the former, as it's a monstrous electronic juggernaut, carried by the bass grooves by bassist Ryo Shimizu. Feeling like it's made for the dancefloor, it grooves the dancy riffs with a belter of a refrain sung by Hayakawa, before it unleashes into a full-blown instrumental in the final third that I can only appropriately call a technodown [techno breakdown]. While the song's themes of distrust in technology remain ironic with the fact Optimize is yet to be given a physical release, it is one that will continue to defy expectations for years to come and will hope to provide a unique atmosphere during their live shows, as I'd be disappointed if I don't see dancing and headbanging during the song's climax within the pits.

Contrasted by the monster of "Digitoll", we get to the song that ironically makes me feel the most "Incomplete" when I listen to the EP as a whole. It's not to look down on it negatively; the EP's lead single is good, and it was promoted as such for a reason. However, when compared to everything that came before it, the fourth track feels so deflating and is the worst song on Optimize as a result. "Incomplete" holds a powerful hook, one which carries a strong message against the industrial consequences of human-induced climate change. It resonates strongly but lacks some form of conviction, as it perhaps needed more time in the oven. The "care" gang vocals are smart and should provide for great crowd interaction live. There are solid ideas, but it doesn't quite fully hit the landing for me.

When it was dropped as Optimize's third and final single, it also served as the culmination of their fifth EP. To quote Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story (1995), they aren't flying, but rather falling with style as "Free Fall" crashes into the studio with metalcore awesomeness. While the heavier parts sound rather cookie-cutter for the genre, being more on the generic side, the enormous stadium-sized chorus more than makes up for it. The track is so instrumentally tight, welded together by the guitar licks by guitarist Kazuya Sugiyama, making it feel so jam-packed for the chaotic clash in styles as the anthemic refrain is possibly the most addictive on the record, and a song that is destined to live in the Japanese rockers' live repertoire for yonks to come.

To conclude, Optimize serves as an exciting prelude for what is likely to come from the band's highly anticipated eighth studio album on the horizon. Being their most electronically driven record to date, their fifth EP balances their signature post-hardcore sound with new electronicore influences, blending further alternative metal, nostalgic nu metal, futuristic electronic rock, and even more hard-hitting rock infused directly with pop in one large stirred-up cauldron.

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