Style: Synthwave, darksynth
Primary Emotions/Themes: Second verse same as the first: kick ass synthwave
Thoughts: Sequels are such a curious thing aren't they? Sometimes they go in a completely different direction, other times they aspire to one up everything that the original did. Lucky for me, Akuma II is the later of those two options - it takes everything that Akuma did and makes it better.
Everything about Akuma can be said about Akuma II. This album is undeniably the evolution of the style started with Akuma. This time though the album shows more maturity, better grooves, and stronger songs all around.
Right off the bat with 3 AM the album shows it's true colors. The synths have a wonderful phase on them that makes the melody seem like it's panning around you. This combined with a subtle, almost trap like beat gives the mellow track a sense of urgency through nothing else but production values. It ends up sounding like someone who is desperately searching for something, anything and is running out of time.
This is the crux of most if not all of Akuma II. The album is objectively softer than the first entry in the series, but through better instrumentation, song writing, and production values the album takes on a more dynamic tone than the first album ever could achieve.
There are less songs on here than on the debut, but that ultimately works in it's favor. The songs are a bit longer, and allow for concepts to develop and mature. Melodies are played with in creative ways and beats are layered in ways that were never even thought of before. This is synthwave at it's best.
I love it when albums sound better than you expect them to. Akuma was a killer album, and Akuma II takes that formula and amps every single aspect up. The samples, the vocals, the instrumentation, the production, the beats... everything here is better than the first album. This is how you do a sequel.
Written May 1st 2024
No comments:
Post a Comment