“My blood, my flesh, my corpse.”
In the metalcore scene, there are few frontmen as well-known and loved as Ryo Kinoshita. Kinoshita came to be known for his involvement in the popular Japanese metalcore outfit, Crystal Lake, which gained worldwide recognition for their masterful blend of bruising metalcore riffs and breakdowns atop soaring progressive metal melodies that were only further boosted by the sheer power of Kinoshita‘s voice. Unfortunately, due to mental and physical wear, as well as constant international touring, Kinoshita would leave the band in 2021 to focus on his health for a while before finally forming his current project, Knosis, at the end of 2022, who are now set to release their debut album, Genknosis.
Genknosis sees the band focusing a lot more on the experimental side of Kinoshita‘s songwriting capabilities. Each song on Genknosis favors more of the nu metal elements of Crystal Lake cuts, such as “+81” and “Just Confusing”. Shades of the melodic choruses of “Sanctuary” and “Waves” are also present, indicating Genknosis is meant to be more of an exploratory iteration in Knosis‘s short bibliography.
This increased focus on the more experimental side of the sound Kinoshita has been cultivating in his career isn’t inherently a bad thing, but it does show some flaws in the way the band wrote the songs for this album. Take, for example, the first full-length track, “SHINMON“. It opens on a heavy section that’s continued from the titular intro, and while its edge certainly makes the album begin on a rousing note, this momentum is immediately lost part way into the song as things go quiet for a split second and then return with a rather dull chorus overtop a melodic backing that is carried to the end. Unfortunately, even the songs on the album that have guest features, such as “FUHAI”, are not safe from losing velocity either, as things once again start on a compelling enough nu metal styled beat that soon switches into a brutal breakdown before switching back to a nu metal portion with some electronic bits. This trend of building momentum in one part of the song, only to switch to a different sound that hinders the other, more interesting parts, is repeated on enough parts of the album that it will leave the listener wondering what could have been, had the band taken a bit more time to write a cohesive record.
Not every facet of the album suffers from this rather unorthodox way of writing, as Genknosis is at its best when the songs stick to one extreme on the spectrum, sound-wise, rather than trying to jam-pack differing styles into an uninteresting, bloated song. “YAKUSAI” sees the band mostly sticking to the heavier nu metalcore side of their sound throughout most of the runtime, save for a brief chorus towards the end. When Knosis decides to keep the song’s focus on a singular parition, they are capable of writing music that manages to keep the listener’s attention for the entirety of the track. Even the song “IMIONI” sees them defaulting to a more chill rap sound, which, compared to several other aspects, will keep listeners engaged rather than boring them due to sensory overload.
For all of the album’s many faults, it is well worth mentioning that there are no outright terrible songs contained within Genknosis. Each track has at least one genuinely interesting part that shows the band is comprised of capable songwriters. However, it seems that Knosis as a band tried too hard to stand out from the often crowded world of modern metalcore by cramming too many elements into each song, such that no part truly has enough time to have a sustainable impact.
While Genknosis is an album that had potential, the lack of polish on the songwriting front bogs down what could’ve otherwise been a home run for a band of Ryo Kinoshita‘s renown.
6/10
Genknosis releases this Friday, August 1st, via SharpTone Records, and you can pre-order it here.