Ladies and gentlement, a new star is born, called Blood Stain Child, this amazingly talented band are coming from Japan, but that you couldn't really tell from the sound of their killer European debut album, Idolator ! In Japan they have release another 2 albums (which I will hunt down quickly).

Imagine In Flames, Clayman era, and on that add another double-dose of melody, some clean vocals a la Luna Sea (J-Rock band), and a pinch of dance here and there. The result is an explosive mix that's soon to explode your metal heads for hours of listening pleasure my friends. Though BSC have English lyrics its difficult to make them out, as the Japanese (born in Japan) that will speak a picture perfect English isn't born yet, and if he is, obviously he's not singing in a band :). I've always loved Japanese bands, like X-Japan, Luna Sea, Siam Shade and many many others, but I must admit that they all have a more a less strong accent... that can deter some, but not me. If you're one of these people you might not like the second track Truth where the singer talks clearly... Japanese or English ? I can't really tell. Lyrics have never been very important for me anyway, vocal melody though is always very important (again for me), and both BSG vocal and amazing guitar melodies are simply awesome, imho superior that what you can find on any In Flames (I hear people shouting at me already :) ) album, and I AM an In Flames fan here (Whoracle to today). But while In Flames pretty much invented the genre (thanks the gods for that ;)), it is clear that Blood Stain Child is obviously furiously inspired by the Clayman era. The vocals are absolutely AWESOME, the growling, the aggressive vocals, and the nice J-Rock choirs then and there... only the clean clean voice and talk part on Truth can sound a tad silly. But the sheer power and waves of melodic agression this band can unleash will soon make you forget this little detail.

Idolator isn't new per say, its actually an 2005 album, but it was just release in Europe through Dockyard, and believe me when I got the promo, with the simple black cover and the red symbol in the middle, I was like : yep well this will surely disappoint me... one more lesson of "Don't ever judge a book, or in this case CD, by its cover". With Idolator you would make the biggest mistake of all. As much as I don't like the cover (I really dont :)), I love that album ! The guitar riffs are strong and will carve pits if not trenches into your neuronal net, the vocals are aggresssion-perfect, growling just the right amount, and will haunt you for days after you stopped listening the album (if that's even possible, as I get cranky if I can't listen to Idolator at least once every 24 hours). The singer Ryo (also the bass player) has mastered the vocals of Gotenburg Melodeath to the perfection, and the truly amazing production brings his voice perfectly in the mix. Speaking of production its been a while since I heard such a good production, powerful in every way ! A big bravo to Mr. Tue Madsen (The Haunted, Raunchy), for the co-prod, mix and master of the album.

This album contains no filler, 10 killer songs start to end; the last one one being a cover of the amazing Dance-like Rock song True Blue, from Luna Sea. This song as one of the best melodies ever, and it was a real pleasure to see it covered by a melodeath album. The vocal melody speed is cut in half on that song, as the original goes at lightspeed and you can't growl at that speed, its humanly impossible :), hence the slow down. Key arrangements are omnipresent and complete the amazing guitar work throughout this album to the perfection, they add a more vibrant sound to band and is definitily where the band distinct themselves from clayman, by being more melodic and by using more keyboards. Some of the solo are mind-numbing, with some melodies you can only find in Japan (like the solo of Final Sky). You will also find some HIM in the song Embrace Me, in the arrangement mainly, but the wink is there; this song also bears an incredible guitar work and strong rhythm section. Speaking of rhyhtm, the drumming agression of Violator is also to be noted, it feels like the ground is gonna split in two with each of his drum attacks.

If you like J-Rock bands AND melodeath, then probably your reaction to Idolator will be the same as mine : jumping up and down while headbanging and rebounding against the walls :D, which I of course didn't but is merely the way I feel inside. To sum up BSC in a nutshell : agressive riffs, melodic guitars to blow your mind away, agressive perfect melodeath vocals, strong arrangements and perfect (imho) use of keys and last but not least Earth shattering rhythms are the recipee for Blood Stain Child.

On the promo it says : " ... one thing is absolutely clear; Blood Stain Child don't merely sound like a European Metal band, they are poised to give the bands that inspired them some serious competition.". Well I couldn't agree more ! This is my favorite album for 2006, and I already can't wait to see what Blood Stain Child have in store, because Idolator was definitely the mega-surprise of the year for me. Hail Blood Stain Child, welcome to the show guys !

You can listen to BSC on their myspace page : http://www.myspace.com/bloodstainchildmusic