This uninspiringly titled ninth album from the Japanese rockers -- the biggest-selling visual kei band in the world -- sees them in control of themselves for the first time, having split with their longtime management, PS Company. They're still signed to Sony, but are clearly enjoying a newfound sense of creative control. This album is at times shockingly raw, with a decided industrial metal influence. After a grinding, dissonant intro, we get straight down to business with the single "Falling." By this point the Gazette have an instantly recognizable sound, but also a significant back catalog of styles to pick and choose from, and this song is a perfect example of this, melding their mid-period big balladry with their later metalcore and dubstep influences for a satisfyingly dark-yet-catchy pop-metal anthem. Other highlights include "Utsusemi" ("Emptiness") and album closer "Unfinished," two of the album's best tracks, which hark back to the band's Stacked Rubbish days with a funky, raw, uptempo pop/rock sound and tragic, yearning lyrics. "Sono Koe wa Moroku" ("That Voice Is Brittle") is this album's obligatory big ballad: a great track, driving and epic with an amazing '80s-style guitar solo, it manages to sound somehow optimistic despite its melancholy subject matter. Elsewhere, there's a wealth of ideas, some of which are more successful than others. "Uragiru Bero" ("Betraying Tongue") is a lightning-speed punk-thrash workout powered by some fantastic drum work and juxtaposing harsh screams with falsetto croons. "The Mortal" has another big, balladic vocal performance from Ruki, but, intriguingly, has almost no melodic instrumental parts, letting his voice carry the melody largely unaided over grinding riffage and gothic electronic elements. Some tracks sound oddly bolted-together. The strangely titled "Ninth Odd Smell" goes back in time with punky, industrial riffage that almost sounds like Ministry or Nine Inch Nails and a growled refrain of "This soul can never die!," but also with a classicist, melodic chorus. "Two of a Kind" segues from a fairly paint-by-numbers metalcore verse topped with guttural roars into one of the album's best choruses. Then there's the interesting but flawed experiment that is "Babylon's Taboo," a funk-metal Frankenstein's monster of a track that sounds like Marilyn Manson covering Jane's Addiction. A couple of points are lost for production; in addition to being compressed almost out of existence, the album is also strangely bass-heavy and muffled. But musically it's fine, and a far superior effort to its predecessor, the monochrome, bludgeoning Dogma. The Gazette are not exactly going back to their roots, but there's a nice pick-and-mix of earlier styles, and Ruki's lyrics are morbid and baroque as ever (the Euro version of the CD contains a translation booklet). While it doesn't attain the upper echelons, this is still a solid entry in their discography. ~ John D. Buchanan, Rovi

1		99.999
2		Falling -NINTH MIX-
3		NINTH ODD SMELL
4		GUSH
5		THE MORTAL
6		utsusemi
7		sonokoe wa moroku
8		BABYLON`S TABOO
9		uragiru bero
10		TWO OF A KIND
11		ABHOR GOD
12		UNFINISHED