Sadie have recently released their debut album “MASTER OF ROMANCE” and being close to my favorite band, I felt I’d write the first review on here about their album.

imaginary creature

This introduction song begins off with a soothing yet harrowing synth intro that is soon accompanied by a chillingly beautiful piano. This is the perfect start to the album as it definitely sets the mood from the very beginning. Mao’s vocals are soon brought in and seem to almost whisper lyrics. The timing of instruments and vocals are spot on, the construction is gorgeous. Later, the song features a few seconds of higher pitched vocals and a higher pitched piano. I feel that Mao has definitely had a great deal of improvement. The piano at the end gets fast and Mao’s screams can be heard behind him speaking. This creates a dramatic end to the song and a fantastic opening to Ice Romancer.
9/10

Ice Romancer

This single after imaginary creature feels like a totally new song for a few seconds. After those few seconds it’s back to normal really. The heavy guitar is such a contrast to the piano and it fits amazingly well. There’s a reason Sadie picked this as their single before MASTER OF ROMANCE and for the reason that it’s just fantastic and unique. Definite single material. The harmonizing guitars through the versus and Mao’s screams in the chorus are nothing short of Godly. For the main part, this song follows its template but now and again has small sections that have obviously been thought about pretty well.
8/10

心眼

This song has a vast difference from the songs before it. Starting off fairly heavy, it leads into a pretty funky but heavy riff that continues through Mao and the bands vocals. I’m still getting to grips with 心眼 as crazy heavy songs aren’t my favorite even though Sadie seem to be awfully partial to them. The guitars for the most part play the same thing and it usually consists of heavy chords. However being kind of repetitive, it is still good work from the band.
6/10

VIRTUAL FAKEMAN

VIRTUAL FAKEMAN begins with an incredible intro. The guitar and Mao’s rapping that you could totally dance to are definitely it’s strong points. VIRTUAL FAKEMAN, I won’t hide it, is one of my favorites on the album. The bass is clear and extremely good. It’s good to see Aki getting some attention. The guitars are also pretty damn nice and heavy with a hint of love. The chorus in this song is incredible and Mao’s vocals that often end up high pitched are vital. The solo is also pretty sweet, it reminds me of recent nightmare in songs such as ‘DIRTY’. All signs point to good for the album so far as Sadie from the start have structured amazing to good songs into it.
8/10

Scarlet

Nothing wrong with an intro resembling that of Abingdon Boys School – Via Dolorosa’s intro. (Their best song in my opinion.)
Anyway, back to Scarlet. It’s a beautiful intro to an epic song. Scarlet follows the selection of unique songs so far. The pre-chorus and chorus however, are what makes it. Mao’s vocals in these parts are beautiful and high and the guitars differ from their usual heavy sound as they go from distorted to clear in a split second to accompany Mao. A late interlude of clear guitars and Mao’s vocals also set the bar for the songs to come as it straight up makes a great song. Thumbs up.
8/10

アゲハの亡骸

In my opinion, their best intro ever. The guitar and sound effects in the back are astounding. Something about it really makes it deep and sorrowful and while it doesn’t last for too long, it leads into heavy guitars that Tsurugi and Mizuki seem to adore. The verse however changes to a quiet setting. The clear guitar is brought back and Mao’s vocals and lyrics harmonize with it very effectively. At 2:10, the song seems to change but stay the same. I kinda suck with explaining stuff. The guitar is again beautiful and Mao’s speaking fits well. After this, it returns to the powerful chorus and after that, a progressing heavy section that leads to another chorus. This continues to the end of the song and ends in a pretty funky beat.
9/10

CRIMSON TEAR

After the terrible PV, it’s really hard to take this song seriously….amazing as it is. I really really want to though and I’m almost there. It’s just, astounding and another key piece of Sadie’s uniqueness and straight up, that’s why I love them.
Mao’s screams, oh God, just, <333333. That may not follow my attempt in this review to stay serious, but his screams are <333333. The chorus is also amazing with strong vocals and guitars. *Imagines Mao as a big ass dragon chasing fat guys.* No, I just can’t do it. It’s a great song, but the PV leaves a bitter taste. If you haven’t watched the pv, DON’T.
9/10 but 2/10 when I think about that PV.

陽炎

A song after CRIMSON TEAR that isn’t ‘Payment of Vomiter’ just doesn’t seem right to me (God I love that song), but I have to get over that.
陽炎 is heavy but pretty funky as times with some pretty sweet guitar riffs. However not being one of the main songs on the album, I feel it keeps up pretty well. The drums and percussion are fantastic, ranging from fast to pretty normal it keeps the tempo of the song constant and very positive. Although, if someone said, you can listen to 陽炎 or you can listen to アゲハの亡骸, I’d have to go with the latter. HOWEVER, at 1.19, the guitar changes to a palm muted section that sounds totally Uruha’ish, and I love it. Just wish they used it more in the song. Probably wouldn’t sound right, but it’s just such a sexy sound. It does get used again though. <3 The echo in Mao’s vocals in the focus for that one big is also pretty cool. Good song that keeps a positive feel in the album that Sadie are definitely going places.
6.5/10

Parasite Scene

Okay, so, I don’t get the elevator music. I just don’t. It just seems really out of place from the previous stuff. Thankfully, the song gets slightly better. The weird vocals follow the title of the song. With “parasite”, I kinda think…bug? And Mao to and extent fulfills this idea. The percussion obviously follows the theme of the song and is pretty hard to notice at times. I’m going to put my hands up and say I don’t like this song much just now. Maybe it will grow on me but something about it just doesn’t appeal to me.
5/10

Grieving the dead soul

What more can I say? It’s Grieving the dead soul, it’s Godly. In all respects.
The song starts off with such an amazing intro. It totally gets my hyped for the sweet love that’s about to enter the holes in my head. Serious eargasm at this. From the rapping before the chorus to the guitars, it’s just a work of art. It really is. The slap bass is so good. The chorus is also pretty mean. There’s just so much in this song that I love. The percussion is just incredible, Kei does a fantastic job. One of the best songs on the album and it’s clear why it was released as a single. Fantastic.
10/10

Swallow Rain

Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Swallow Rain is what I have been waiting for. It is perfect. As fleeting a remark as that may be, it really is. The guitars, bass, drums and vocals are all absolutely orgasmic. The structure of the song is beyond beautiful and the feeling you receive from this song is most definitely one that leaves a lasting impression. What better could you hope for from the last song on the album? Swallow Rain is what I needed to hear in this album along with ‘VIRTUAL FAKEMAN’. It is absolutely incredible, I could go on about this song for hours. I’m gonna try and stay short about it though because I’ll just bore you all with constant compliments. The only details needed are, it’s perfect, it’s perfect and of course, it’s perfect. The outro is much the same as the intro and just makes you sit there after listening to the album and repeat the word “Jesus.” in your head.
100/10
No mistake on that 100 by the way.

Overall

MASTER OF ROMANCE has left a sweet taste in my mouth. I guess the artwork’s sugar coated or something. A strong selection of fantastic songs makes this album what it is. Sadie have always been promising to me and people who have known myself for a long time know that I have been a huge fan of theirs from the early days. Since then however, Sadie have improved a great deal and I feel have much more to promise us.

Thanks for reading guys.

Nihility