Animetal Marathon V

[areaseven]

Animetal Marathon V

VAP Records, 2003

Produced by Yorimasa Hisatake.

Eizo Sakamoto - Lead Vocals

Syu - Guitars

Masaki - Bass

Katsuji - Guest Drums (from Gargoyle)

Track Listing

1. 殺戮ã®å字架 - Cruciform Rack of Slaughter

2. Pegasus Fantasy (Saint Seiya)

3. Toshi Gordian

4. Choujin Sentai Baratack

5. Tri-Attack! Mechander Robo (Gasshin Sentai Mechander Robo)

6. Starzinger no Uta (SF Saiyuki Starzinger)

7. Roller Hero Muteking (Tondemo Senshi Muteking)

8. Midnight Submarine (Mirai Keisatsu Urashiman)

9. 夢ã®èˆ¹ä¹—ã‚Š (Captain Future)

10. Kinnikuman Go Fight! (Kinnikuman)

11. Honoo no Kinnikuman (Kinnikuman)

12. Tough Boy (Hokuto no Ken 2)

13. Yoroshiku Tuning (Yoroshiku Mechadock)

14. Burning Hero (Captain Tsubasa)

15. Touch

16. The Chanbara (Manga Mitokomon)

17. Lupin III Theme (Lupin Sansei)

18. Battle Fever J

19. Ah Ah Denshi Sentai Denjiman (Denshi Sentai Denjiman)

20. Taiyou Sentai Sunvulcan

21. Daisentai Goggle V

22. Choudenshi Bioman

23. Choujuu Sentai Liveman

24. Red Baron

25. Mach Baron

26. ç”·ã®æ“～é’春一期一会～ (優雅貴æ—マサキãƒãƒ­ãƒ³ï¼šã‚¦ã‚½)

27. Gunbaron '77 (Chiisana Super-Man Gunbaron)

28. Ikuzo! BD7 (Shounen Tantei Dan BD7)

29. Tatakae! Dragon

30. 駆ã‘ã‚ãƒãƒ³ã‚­ãƒƒãƒ‰ (Enban Sensou Ban Kid)

31. Ryuusei Ningen Zone

32. Kamen Rider Super-1

33. Kamen Rider BLACK

34. Kamen Rider BLACK RX

35. Gyakuten Ippatsuman

36. Yattodetaman no Uta (Yattodetaman)

37. Otasukeman no Uta (Otasukeman)

38. Zendaman no Uta (Zendaman)

39. Yatterman no Uta (Yatterman)

40. Zankoku na Tenshi no Te-ze (Shin Seiki Evangelion)

41. Tomorrow Never Die

Track 13 contains a sample of "Panama" by Van Halen

Track 23 contains a sample of "Breaking the Law" by Judas Priest

Lowdown

New guitarist, new record label, same attitude. That's what Animetal Marathon V is about. After nearly seven years, guitarist Sheja leaves the band; he's replaced by newcomer Syu (who also works with the bands Galneryus and Aushvitz). Animetal also signs with VAP for this release (their first three Marathon CDs were under Sony Music; Marathon IV was under Cutting Edge/avex). Does all this change affect the way the band covers old-school anime and tokusatsu themes?

The CD itself is a proverbial roller-coaster ride (especially if you have this playing in your car stereo). Shortly after the intro track, Animetal Marathon V starts with a thunderous rendition of the Saint Seiya theme "Pegasus Fantasy" and leaves you headbanging for the next 10 minutes with songs from Choujin Sentai Baratack, Gasshin Sentai Mechander Robo ("Mechander! Mechander! Mechander Robo! Ra-ra-ra rararara! Tri-Attack!) and Kinnikuman ("M-U-S-C-L-E Muscle! M-U-S-C-L-E Muscle!"). The Marathon then switches gears to slamdancing renditions of sentai, tokusatsu and Kamen Rider themes from the '70s and '80s. Shortly after that, you're taken into a spin cycle of songs from the Time Bokan series until it stops. Animetal then ends the Marathon with their rendition of the Neon Genesis Evangelion theme "Zankoku na Tenshi no Te-ze."

While this CD covers songs I'm more familiar with than the last one, Animetal Marathon V has its faults. Marathon CDs are all about non-stop medleys; this one has a lot of noticeable gaps between the different sets of songs. As a result, "Zankoku na Tenshi no Te-ze" feels a bit left out of the entire group, though still powerful on its own. Perhaps given time, Syu can fully adjust with the band and they'll come up with a livelier Marathon in the near future.

Animetal Marathon V may not be as potent as the other Marathons, but it's still enough to give any otaku a headbanging experience.

Rating: B+

Special thanks to CDJapan.

Links

Animetal Official Page (Japanese)

VAP's Animetal Page (Japanese)

Reference

Anime News Network

Japan Hero

Edited February 17, 2006 by areaseven