Reviews list for Coldrain - Nonnegative (2022)

My interactions with coldrain have been limited due to the Gateway spheres I frequent being slightly more on the progressive side. But I have heard plenty of tunes from this band thanks to the many song recommendations for monthly playlists. And in all honesty, I might have liked this band more during the 2000s as opposed to discovering them in the late 2010s. Their brand of melodic metalcore is fairly generic and the alternative leanings such as melodic songwriting sounds formulaic.

Case in point, the bands newest album, Nonnegative. When coldrain isn't directly ripping off older bands such as Slipknot on "Cut Me", Parkway Drive/Shadows Fall with "From Today", and a laundry list of chug-chug-chug metalcore bands on "Rabbit Hole", these tunes just are not that interesting. The album might have a decent guitar melody from time to time, but the vocals just feel forced and lacking in emotive drive. Nowhere is that more apparent than on the No Doubt cover of "Don't Speak", which, while not a great song in its own right, Gwen's vocals were timid and hushed as the protagonist goes through a breakup. The vocalist of coldrain doesn't seem to have a problem singing like the lead singer of a power metal band here, creating a weird dichotomy; not just between the vocals and the lyrics, but the instrumentals as well.

It all leaves me with a feeling of nothingness because I've heard all of this before...twenty years ago. coldrain's newest album does not do anything interesting to its influences, and when it does it isn't very good. It's attempts at alternative metalcore are met with a resounding "meh" from me as I have heard plenty of newer artists (i.e. Spiritbox, Bad Omens) and even older groups like Northlane growing the sound beyond the Of Mice and Men and The Devil Wears Prada's of the world. At least when BABYMETAL came out of the new J-rock scene, it was something new and got people talking. Maybe coldrain don't want to be BABYMETAL and that's fine and they will find their audience. But a well oiled machine has to keep moving, and coldrain are still stuck on ten year old technology.

Best Songs: Before I Go, Boys And Girls, PARADISE (Kill The Silence)

2020 was the year when everything in the world slowed down due to a certain virus, and many bands were in a storm of plan changes, one of those bands being Japanese alt-metalcore rockers Coldrain. However, despite delaying album production by a year, they're still strong in creating their latest offering...

Coldrain is the kind of band that prefer to rise up and not stand down. Nonnegative marks the 7th full-length part of their discography filled with ups and downs. I'm probably one of the very few people in my homeland of Malaysia who knows and listens to this band, but I'm sure that by the possible chance of success for this album, more people here would hear about them too. Get ready for some massive surprises!

"Help Me Help You" (Is that a Jerry Maguire reference?) will make you rise up and clap along with the intro beat that's like Vena's "Gone" on steroids. The song kick-starts the top-notch power of vocalist Masato, and the rest is worth giving this song a perfect 5 stars. "Calling" keeps up the pace with more depth in the cool screamed vocals. They really enhance the music structure with sections stitched seamlessly well. The darker "Cut Me" has heavier metal guitars that sound nice. Growling verses lead to perfect clean choruses. Relentless guitars and great vocals make a real crystal gem out of that song. "Before I Go" sounds closer to the more poppy Senses Fail songs, but it's OK.

"Bloody Power Fame" is a thought-evoking anthem throwing back to their earlier alt-metal/post-hardcore roots of 10 years ago. It's certainly addictive with the tight guitar shredding and powerful clean choruses. No wonder it became another anime theme! Smoothly carrying on is "Here With You", with probably the best guitar solo from the band in their recent era. I wanna hear that shredding as long as DragonForce's solos. "Boys and Girls" is a nice beautiful rock ballad. It's different from the rest, yet a nice emo tune that also flashbacks to 10 years ago when the band also made a few ballads. "Paradise (Kill the Silence)" was the first single from the album, released a year before, starting ominous before throwing you into frustration and joy. Blending the drums, guitar, bass, and vocals altogether, we have the perfect rock-out anthem from Coldrain!

Moving on, "2020" reminds you of what happened to the world from March of that year onwards in an opening monologue. Emotional screams lead into the first chorus. Then gritty bridge riffing leads into the last chorus. I think I've done enough mentioning such an impactful song, let's go to the next... "Rabbit Hole" is so d*mn brutal, almost like a continuation of Code Orange's "Swallowing the Rabbit Hole", especially in the growling screams of metalcore. That's the heaviest track in the album and probably by the band, and it's good that they placed it towards the end of the album so you wouldn't get tired out from those growls too soon. Next up is, no doubt, a cover of "Don't Speak" of No Doubt, the former band of pop-star Gwen Stefani, and probably the most surprising of the bunch, a pretty good challenge. The guitars are heavy and rough as always for the band, but I wish they would've metalized that acoustic guitar solo. "From Today" closes the album on a fine note. Nothing bad at all, ending with excellent energy.

Nonnegative is very solid for an alt-metalcore album with barely anything worth harsh criticism. Calm sections with clean singing are mixed with heavy sections with harsh growls. The successful formula they've had in The Side Effects is still strong in this album. They're back on their path, and might be off to a golden future in J-rock/metal!

Favorites: "Help Me Help You", "Cut Me", "Bloody Power Fame", "Paradise (Kill the Silence)", "2020", "From Today"