Album Review
Title:  DIABOLOS
Artist:  Gackt
Release date:  September 21, 2005
gackt.com

    Sometimes the hype before a release is greater than the actual product.  This must have been Gackt's diabolical plan regarding the release of his latest album, DIABOLOS.  The intro opens up in a flurry of soft sounds and piano music.  Each note hesitates before being played and a violin crescendos in the background.  Just as you begin to drift off into a peaceful coma, the next song booms in a cacophony of sound and you remember that were listening to a Gackt album. 
     DIABOLOS plays like a mix of movie songs from Final Fantasy and makes about as much sense.  You listen and think, "that was pretty, but what's it all for?"  Take, for example,  the part in "Noesis" where he turns his voice into a mechanized robot from India.  Cher used it and her song became a dance anthem, but when Gackt uses that technique it just makes you cringe.
     DIABOLOS manages to redeem itself with a few beautiful tracks sprinkled in the sand like diamonds.  "Ash" is a rock ballad that Gackt has become famous for, the kind with quiet guitars that roar into despairing wails.  "Blackstone" is a throwback to "Another World," but refined and more original.  "Road" is just neat with it's happy beat and catchy vocals.
     These few gems, while great by themselves, only manage to heat the album to a lukewarm temperature.  The album lacks a certain symbiosis and cohesiveness that has more to do with production than the actual music.  I also can't shake the feeling that I've heard all these songs before.  If DIABOLOS is meant to signify a transformation, I'm not sure if a butterfly will be what emerges from the cocoon.