The ninth album from the Nagoya rockers celebrates their 13th anniversary (hence the title) and also the return to the fold of longtime bassist Akinori following his brief exile for drug possession. Rejuvenated by their reunion, the band have turned in one of the best albums they've made for some time. After 2015's scattershot D.A.R.K., 2016's Avantgarde was something of a return to form, but this effort really ups the stakes. While perhaps not as consistently brilliant as 2011's I Believe in Me, it's easily on par with 2014's excellent Gallows. Highlights abound: "Thirteen" is absolutely classic
Lynch with all their trademarks intact: dense, chaotic but controlled guitar work, a pile-driving rhythm, ringing chords with loads of space, Hazuki's impassioned vocals, an epic chorus, and an amazing guitar solo. "Renatus" is a dark ballad with a psychedelic guitar hook, a sinister bassline, and a rumbling baritone delivery from Hazuki; while "Amble" is one of the album's most pleasant surprises -- a cool, '80s-inspired, almost-mainstream-pop song with chiming guitar and synth motifs that are part new wave, part new romantic, and topped with Hazuki's smoky croon and a gorgeous, smooth guitar solo. Even for non-Japanese speakers, the emotion -- bittersweet melancholy, reaching for hope -- is palpable; this is one of the best things about
Lynch. "Sense of Emptiness" ramps up the energy again, a stadium epic that has, despite its title, a surprisingly hopeful feel. The single "Jøker" is a blatant
Marilyn Manson homage with a middle section lifted straight from "The Beautiful People," which marries oddly with its wildly swung verse but begins to grow on you after a couple of listens. "Obvious" is a fairly superfluous hardcore blast that sounds as if the band's thinking, "We're coming to the end of the album and we need to have something for the old-school fans!" -- but it does have a truly majestic final section that's well worth sticking around for. Album-finisher "A Fool" is a tragic, encompassing ballad with dueling shoegaze and tremolo guitar parts, wherein Hazuki croons "Save me" over and over before the whole thing fades out to a solitary piano. The album is marred somewhat by a really bizarre mix in which the guitars are tinny and scratchy while the drums have far too much bass and are muddy and muffled; but the ear becomes attuned to it after a few songs and it starts to sound not too bad, except for the annoying clicking bass sound filched from
Korn's Fieldy. Overall, however, this is a great album which should delight old fans, while hopefully drawing in some new ones. ~ John D. Buchanan