Envy - Recitation

After four long years, Envy's sixth full length album is here, and if there is one simple word to describe it, that word is "breathtaking."

I have to say that I was honestly a little worried about how Recitation would sound. I say that because their previous releases were absolutely great, and you could really hear the progression of Envy's sound through each album. After almost 20 years in the business and five great albums, where do you go? Do you really start experimenting, as was evident on their most recent split with Jesu? Do you start falling back to your original sound? These are questions every band would ask themselves, and where some strive and some fall behind.

Long story short, Envy is still Envy. They know their sound and have only grown with this album. Recitation really feels like the next album in progression, as every previous album has felt before. I have to say Recitation really contends with A Dead Sinking Story as my favorite Envy album.

Recitation starts slow and progresses smoothly. If you thought their previous albums has some great feeling and emotion to them, Recitation is going to make you feel ways about life. You don't need to know what lead vocalist Tetsuya Fukagawa is saying to understand these songs. Some are obvious of happier tone, playing around with major chords and resolving progressions very nicely. Other songs are heavy and deep, transitioning from ambient to distortion effortlessly, really drawing out certain sections. It also seems as if Envy took a page out of Explosions In The Sky's book here and there for some of their ambient parts, which is by no means a bad thing.

The album also comes with a nice booklet that translates the Japanese lyrics for you, so you finally get a little look at what Tetsuya Fukagawa is giving us in his songs. And I have to say, his lyrics are legit.

I have to recommend Recitation to everyone. Go. Buy. It. It truly is an amazing album from an amazing band. Envy's sound is simply put, beautiful. EGS had the honor of going to see Envy at the Ottobar on Saturday, Sept. 25th to kick off their current American tour. If they are coming through your town, make sure to go to this show. I promise you Envy and all the bands on the tour will not disappoint. Also, we should have some videos up on our YouTube channel of Envy's performance very soon, so make sure to look out for that!