I stumbled upon Presence of Soul after reading a recommendation on some music blog and was more than a little glad to uncover this band. Blinds is their second album released sometime in 2008. The album is eight tracks long, each one distinct from the next but carrying the same sort of style; a perfect blend of guitars, synth, and ethereal female vocals that evokes an extreme sense of sadness, regret and loss. Their music is sorrowful, at times angry, but it doesn’t leave you feeling depressed; instead it wraps itself around you and leaves you feeling calmed and comforted.

“Japanese group PRESENCE OF SOUL is led by female singer and composer YUKI, who also handles guitars, keyboards and Mellotron. She’s accompanied by a guitar player, a bass player and a drummer. [...] From the very beginning, PRESENCE OF SOUL proves to be absolutely innovative and mature at the same time: ethereal female vocals create a sharp contrast with guitars fury and drumming power. Sad atmospheres, often enhanced by Mellotron and a great sense of slowliness (Without mentioning softness) evolve step by step, with an increasing violence, reaching its climax in an overwhelming maelstrom. It’s a kind of “Progressive post-rock”, and one cannot imagine a more intense musical world. You’ll surely be haunted a long time after listening…” (xx)

Opening with Seven Mortal Sins and Seven Doors- a dark and tense track that blends the slow rock with foreboding synth. The song builds up slowly, retaining a heavy feeling throughout. Finally right at the end it changes tone completely, but remaining dark and threatening. It is one of the shortest tracks on the album although you’ll never realise. It is followed by one of the longer tracks, Sink Low which is over 10 minutes long. Sink Low is the first on the album to feature Yuki’s haunting, sorrowful vocals sounding pure and ethereal over gentle guitar parts. Just like the track before it builds up slowly, calmly. I love how soft and sorrowful this song is- it’s so quiet and gentle which only makes the build-up to the frenzied end all the more powerful. Then there is complete silence before a sudden, harsh and furious and LOUD, ending that is all the more shocking after the rest of the song has lulled you into a calm state of mind. Although the first time you hear the track the changes surprise you, but once you familiarise yourself with it it lends a tension to the song- you sort of left waiting for the next change, the next change in emotion and that final explosion of noise. Much like Dir en Grey’s NAMAMEKASHIKI ANSOKU, TAMERAI NI HOHOEMI it still never fails to affect you, but it makes the song all the more tense and dramatic for knowing what will come next (which is true for a lot of the tracks on the album). It is interesting to note the use of complete silence to lend tension to this song, something not many bands or singers do.

The third track is Lost. This track doesn’t have the same build-up as the others, it is loud from the beginning but has that same overwhelming sorrowful feeling and it changes throughout in a more subtle way. Lost has something extremely bittersweet about it- gentle and ethereal on one hand, frenzied and repetitive on the other. It’s beautiful and haunting nonetheless. Track 4 Whitenoise Snowfall opens with a simple piano part and quiet synth. It builds up grandly, introducing the trembling guitars and sluggish drums that gives it a similar (literal) heavy feeling as Seven sins. This is admittedly one of my least favourite songs on the album, it’s slow and sluggish and doesn’t get anywhere anytime fast and washed over me completly.

The next track on the other hand is one of my favourites. Ephemera starts with dark synth: threatening and contrasting to the gentle guitar parts that overlays it quietly. Yuki vocals are slightly deeper; sounding almost angry, then float effortlessly to her usual high register now sounding sorrowful. It gives the song an intense feeling of regret and longing. As soon as Yuki lifts her voice to the higher pitches the song changes, the dark synth becomes quiet in the background and the song becoming less harsh and more gentle. It moves between this dark looming atmosphere, and this light surreal one. I just love the ending especially, the emotion is so powerful: tying those feelings together and creating a complete sense of loss. It’s really beautiful and evokes so many feelings.

Rule is a wake up call after being lulled by Ephemera- it is loud and furious. Then forgiven is another quiet track that builds up slowly. Forgiven has a rather sweet feeling to it, the guitar part is really cute in a way. The drum fills the track with anticipation though- and sure enough it begins to build up, slowly becoming more and more bittersweet. Yuki’s vocals also manage to make things sound just that little bit sadder, and the song certainly becomes sorrowful around the time she comes in. It is 10 minutes long so there is room for it to shift and change which is does. From that sweetness in the beginning, to that sadness and then to bitter anger. It’s a powerful track- another epic number like Sink Low.

Lastly is Tightrope. This is the song that made me fall in love with this group. Starting with gentle guitar and a flute it builds up to that soft rock instrumentation. Then Yuki’s vocals come in and that sense of sadness just…overwhelms you. The song is soft and gentle, yet filled with a raw emotion. The gorgeous high vocals contrasting to the rougher rock instrumentation is really what makes this so unique and so beautiful, too. The flute only adds to the haunting, forlorn atmosphere. I just love the dynamics of the song, how it builds up then fades away again. It’s just a REALLY GOOD SONG. Its indescribable all the emotions it makes me feel.

Overall rating: 838938982/10 (Incredibly. Awesomeness)
Favourite tracks: Sink Low, Ephemera, Tightrope

This is an incredible album. It is the sort of intensely beautiful, comforting sort of music that relaxes and calms you. It is haunting and easy to lose yourself in it, making you anxious at times whilst you wait for that one moment within it when you know it will all break down and get loud and powerful and heavy. It is so unique, so soft yet so powerful. Really this has quickly become a favourite album of mine. I love listening to this when I want to relax, or when I’m not feeling well. It just makes me feel so calm and sleepy and just…better. It’s incredibly comforting. I guess you could say it is a flaw that it demands your attention, and doesn’t make the best background music because you want to listen to it, but I like it. I like how if I just don’t want to think for a moment I can put this on and just am lost in it for a while.

[They also get extra love for having their album on amazon XD]