"Fifteen years in the making, five as one we stand aligned. Going nowhere, but straight up higher," were lines shouted in "Calling", the band's second single from the album that tells a whole story of where the band have come from to release their seventh studio album Nonnegative on 6th July 2022 to commemorate their fifteen years together as a band. An impressive feat for any band and Coldrain celebrate it in style.
Nonnegative breaks the mould and is a release like no other by the Nagoya heavyweights as it incorporates elements from everything else they've released prior and stirs it in a huge pot and this is the result. From Final Destination's raw punk rock energy to The Side Effects' nu-metal edge, Nonnegative is the perfect mixture of brooding metalcore, clean hard and alternative rock, to futuristic electronic rock and even pop-punk. The album breaks many cycles by the band previously set, such as the two-year album cycle and two records per producer, produced by Michael Baskette, who has previously worked with Coldrain on their previous efforts Fateless (2017) and The Side Effects (2019) and has also worked with such bands like Alter Bridge, Sevendust and Falling in Reverse.
The album opens with "Help Me Help You" which is an absolute belter with crushing guitar riffs that perfectly set the tone for the album. It's everything you expect from the Japanese rockers by mixing the poppy melodies and the devilish screams by frontman Masato Hayakawa's impressive vocal prowess in what is honestly his best performance on Nonnegative. The opener has an infectious arena rock chorus made for the live setting and ends with a shocking but very welcome TWELVE-second long scream held at the same note, the longest on any song by the band across their entire back catalogue. A feat which similarly reminds me of Chester Bennington's 17 seconds on Linkin Park's "Given Up" from Minutes to Midnight (2007).
It is followed up by the album's second single "Calling" which was revealed and showcased alongside Nonnegative's formal announcement on the band's fifteenth-anniversary live stream. It is a very good song that mixes the nostalgic early 2000's nu metal sound with a modern hard rock edge. It's a song that dedicates the whole idea to the band's journey so far, it's a neat concept but unfortunately isn't very accessible to newcomers who won't understand the references. The shouty rapping is sure to please any fans of Slipknot and Limp Bizkit nostalgia bones, but the song lacks the intended impact of the predecessor. As a result, it's one of the weaker tracks on the album.
The third song on the album and Nonnegative's fifth and latest single "Cut Me", released concurrently with the LP is a heavy-hitting riveting banger that goes full throttle with juicy riffs and a three-minute nugget that doesn't let up. "Cut Me" further highlights the excellent songwriting skills of lead guitarist Ryo Yokochi who delivers another barnstorming song by the Japanese natives.
The album's third single "Before I Go" was used in the promotional campaign for Sapporo Breweries latest product, Sapporo Beer Gold Star, and it's not hard to see why. The song is radio-friendly hard and alternative rock and feels like it was composed specifically for marketing. The verses are almost dance-rock-like in terms of grooviness, something I can imagine kids in Japan hearing today and reminiscing back on it in fifteen years' time and saying. "Oh, I remember that. I LOVED that song when I was a kid, it reminds me of the good times." The visuals for the music video also do it justice as pyro rockets into the sky as the band deliver the explosive choruses, which is a true testament to frontman Masato Hayakawa's vocals.
The fifth track "Bloody Power Fame" serves as the opening theme to the Bastard!! (Heavy Metal, Dark Fantasy) Netflix anime and it's not hard to see why. It plays up to their other J-rock influences while reminiscent of Bullet for My Valentine's Scream Aim Fire era with melodies akin to metalcore contemporaries such as Ice Nine Kills from their song "Rainy Day" which was only just released last year. The song, while throwing in vibes of different material all over the place sadly lacks originality and unfortunately feels very uninspired as a result. The band clearly opted for a repeat of the "Mayday" barnstormer from their previous outing The Side Effects but was unable to repeat the same magic that came previously.
"Here With You" plays nicely with the guitar licks and bass lines performed by Ryo Shimizu, ultimately giving the track a futuristic electronic rock sound that the band have not previously flirted with, which provides a breath of fresh air. "Boys and Girls" is an eyebrow-raiser as the song plays with the theme of tearjerking childhood memories, of which Masato Hayakawa, shows his versatility once more as it's reflected in vibes and the message is similar to "Heart of the Young" from the band's fourth studio effort Vena (2015). Drummer Katsuma Minatani delivers slamming stomps onto the toms like they are all in a marching band marching towards paradise.
That paradise is the lead single "Paradise (Kill the Silence)" which was released the previous year as a six-track EP; it surprisingly takes us eight songs on the album to get to this point which already is a nice change of pace from band's always releasing the first on the tracklist from the album as the lead single. "Paradise (Kill the Silence)" glorifies our freedom after the crushing impact of the COVID-19 lockdowns that makes us all glad that life is on its way back to normal. A hard rock anthem with an insanely catchy chorus as the band showcases why this song encompasses the record as a whole.
Speaking of pandemics, the following song "2020" is the namesake song of the same year from which COVID-19 originated where "one month in the whole world went silent" in the words of Masato Hayakawa himself during the song's minute-long intro monologue while it builds up into a fiery rage. The lyrics really delve into his thoughts as we see the song from his perspective. The following track sends us straight down the "Rabbit Hole" as we are introduced to the heaviest song on the album. Brutal killer riffs and guttural screams in deathcore verses that are beautifully contrasted by the synth-pop chorus which then leads into the heaviest and juiciest breakdown that the band have ever recorded. It borrows from the eponymous song from The Revelation (2013) but takes it a whole step further on what is easily the best song on the album.
The band then take the next step to follow up on their previous pattern of covering female pop/alternative artists from the late '90s and early 2000s; Stacie Orrico's 2003 teen-bopper "Stuck" on Nothing Lasts Forever (2010) and Alanis Morissette's 1998 haunting "Uninvited" from the City of Angels soundtrack off their fifth studio album Fateless (2017). Next up on their trend is the cover of No Doubt's 1996 smash hit "Don't Speak." A predictable but very serviceable cover, starting with the iconic acoustic intro and transitioning into the trademark post-hardcore style that the Nagoya quintet are known for. Gwen Stefani is sure to be proud of this one.
"From Yesterday" to "From Today", the final track on the album is very similar in vibe akin to the aforementioned single from 30 Seconds to Mars' A Beautiful Lie (2005). From the intro, the song never lets up as the band once again tinges into futuristic electronic rock riffs by rhythm guitarist Kazuya Sugiyama and blends this into a pop punkish oriented song as well with Masato Hayakawa's harsh bellowed vocals as the cherry on top for good measure making for one killer ending juggernaut.
4/5