exist†trace - Twin Gate 3 November 2010
Exist Trace, whose name appears as ‘exist†trace’ on everything official, is an oddity among an odd genre. When I think of ‘visual kei’ my mind turns to rock, but that is a broad spectrum itself, and even then there are exceptions. I also immediately think of guys dressed up in flamboyant costumes and mind-baffling doses of androgyny that force you to do a double-take when you realize that ‘hot chick’ playing the drums was actually a guy—great memories of the 90’s….Exist Trace is strange for being an all-female visual-kei band in a genre that male groups have dominated since its inception. In an odd way this originally made Exist Trace visually reminiscent of early 90’s visual-kei bands like Pierrot and Kuroyume. Since Exist Trace’s formation in 2003 they have followed the typical mold of successful visual-kei groups that I’ve been watching for a couple of decades now:1. First they garner attention with their looks while their music is still rough, abrasive, and unrefined. It’s not like the word ‘visual’ is in the term ‘visual-kei’ for no reason. For Exist Trace see Annuciation—The Heretic Elegy 12 December 2006.2. Then rarely the band hits their stride in musical form and demonstrates they have a talent that supersedes their initial visual gimmick. C.f. Ambivalent Symphony 21 October 2009.3. The group achieves mainstream success and begins experimenting with the inclusion of different genres while sometimes downplaying their on-stage, visual appearance. C.f. every Exist Trace album since 2010.I enjoyed following Exist Trace’s gradual improvement but I’ll be honest and admit that I did not expect their level of success. I chose to upload Twin Gate because that album addressed what I felt were the two remaining weaknesses in the band: Jyou’s quality as a vocalist and the band’s comfort to step outside of their usual dark, brooding metal routine. Jyou’s vocal range on their earlier work is limited and after six active years their music was starting to sound stagnant. But then out came Twin Gate and erased those critiques of mine.Twin Gate is a great introductory album to Exist Trace and just a great rock album overall. Going backward from here through their discography is interesting to see the band’s evolution, but if you do that then you ought to lower your expectations somewhat, to be fair. Because they’ve certainly become a lot better over time and their success is well-deserved.