This album made me buy Umineko. Congratulations... This is because I've heard some songs from it be compared to the Umineko OST, but also "eternally tormented by a witch" is one of the best ways to describe what listening to this album feels like. I've listened through it a few times, and concluded that it's really past time for church organs to be considered weapons in need of federal regulation - This indicates that It Was Good.
The thing about this is that, relating to the earlier statement on church organs, I am so easy to impress (freak out) with certain instruments. Bells get me every single time, it trolls for thee basically! So I'm quite biased. I haven't listened to a lot of harpsichord, and my feelings on this thing are: I find it kind of annoying, but it's definitely contributing to the eternal torment. Also, the strings on Zetsu make me feel like crying!!
Frankly, the harpsichord is what separates this from other artcore albums for me, which is kind of stupid - I really don't like that instrumental tone can change things so much for me. I think it should get more appreciation in artcore; let's get Baroque with ittt (guy who looked up differences between Baroque and Neoclassical art and music YESTERDAY for an essay and still doesn't really get it). Harpsichord being more common would also mean that this album would be less unsettling to me, which may or may not be good.
My favorites of this album change every time I listen to them. Zetsu stood out to me on the first listen, but now I REALLY enjoy The encounter of heaven and earth. It's so deliciously understated. Generally, this album is less overwhelming and grand than a lot of artcore (though it certainly still has a Lot going on) which contributes to that personal feeling of bewitchment - you're in a candlelit corridor, not an orchestra hall. The encounter of heaven and earth pulls this off perfectly!!! It's so slow and deliberate and has interestingly delineated sections. More variation in dynamics could make this delineation cooler, but whatever - I have to say again that I have no idea what I'm talking about and that very well might also take away from the understatedness...
This is probably my favorite Grimoire Of [x] album that I've listened to, but it would be fun to go back through all of them and compile a little ranking list - I am almost certainly not going to do this.
--------
P.S. I have this album on shuffle right now as I typically do when writing these, and Librum clausi makes me feel like I'm going to die but I forgot to mention it, so that's cool. Also, I cannot fucking figure out how to get my post links to display in reverse chronological order on my home page. Please help me.