PALEDUSK – Palehell

vote
7.5

• Bands:
  PALEDUSK
• Duration: 00:21:44
• Available from: 02/21/2024
• Label:

• Sharptone Records

Even in 2024 Bring Me The Horizon are destined for yet another step forward that will only be understood and copied in the years to come. There has been a lot of talk about the separation from Jordan Fish and the hyperpop influences, combined with the antics of all kinds that “Post Human: Nex Gen” brought to thousands of listeners. Not everyone knows that, behind the innovations that marked the album in question, there is a very specific name: we are talking about Daisuke 'Daidai' Ehara, guitarist, producer and composer of the Japanese band Paledusk, who contributed heavily to the writing of the album .
But who are the Paledusk? The Fukuoka band has been active since 2015 and got noticed with the EP “Happy Talk” in 2020. With a very contemporary publishing strategy, made up of singles released at random times subsequently collected in EPs of different lengths, over the years they have always remained fresh on the market and available for tours together with the most prominent artists on the scene, winking in particular at nearby Australia and associating with bands Alpha Wolf, Polaris and The Amity Affliction.
In 2024 “Palehell” arrives, which with its seven songs is the most pulpy EP in the quartet's young history, yet another crazy and hilarious tornado of genres, moods and emotions. Basically the Japanese play metalcore, but the main mission is to destroy every type of construction formulated with the most unexpected twists, making the fusion of musical genres its own stylistic signature: it seems like a statement made and heard several times, but it is good to know that the formation pushes on madness and diversification, in full Japanese style, like no one else around, so much so that for many the result will be almost unlistenable.
In the crackling creative jubilation one can come across songs with easy choruses such as the pop punk ones of “Palehell” or the stadium rock closing of “Q2”, although it will easily be the rock/rap/pop crossover megasingle “I'm Ready To Die For My Friends” to represent the lowest earworm.
Even when it comes to beatings, the Japanese know what they're doing, delving into deathcore territory in “No!” and “Tranquilo!”, with a formula that uses electronics to strange and give depth to the sound.
Obviously, Paledusk give their best with full rein, so it's a lot of fun to get slapped by the total madness of the hurricane “Super Pale Horse”, a super fast and very technical song with bombastic electronics infused in metal, or by the manic schizophrenia of “Rumble ”, which sounds like a Bring Me The Horizon album concentrated in four minutes, between “arf arf”intrusions of sax and piano, the featuring of Masato from Coldrain and Faith No More vibrations.
In the midst of the chaos, DaiDai's talent manages to shine both as a producer but also as a real guitarist, capable of concise but exhilarating and shining carvings, with the charisma of a true guitar hero.
Colorful, unpredictable, experimental, eccentric: Paledusk are aware of their exaggeration, seen both as a quality and as a limit, but they are confident that their fun approach to music will destroy the potential alienation of listeners. If you're curious at this point, “Palehell” is the perfect entrance ticket to their world.