Envy
The Fallen Crimson

Autumn arrived, and it was fierce. The beginning was pleasant, actually; the sun still retained some of the warmth inherited from the summer, the trees had already started showing off their best attire, those red, yellow, and orange leaves that warm you with a warmth perceivable only by the heart and eyes. Then, suddenly, November fell upon me armed with a scythe and dark cloak, hitting me where I least expected and taking away part of my soul. November left me limping and bewildered, naked in the cold of the winter it brought along. Despite the people around me, the love of friends, wife, and family, it was a difficult, hard winter, full of tears and exhausting.
The cycle of life, however, is well known, and the cold of long and short days soon gave way to spring, and with it (re)birth. The first sign of change was the new house, a long-pursued goal, nearly abandoned due to poor results, and then achieved just like that, almost by chance. With it came maturity, made of responsibilities, investments of physical, economic, and mental energies, but also the satisfaction and peace that the sight of a living room overlooking a garden lit by a beautiful sun and shaded by a centuries-old oak can transmit.

The birth, as mentioned, announced on a warm August evening, amidst a chat before falling asleep. From there, nothing was the same: the seasons hurried, began to rush towards a seemingly distant goal, but today it seems closer than ever. Once again, maturity; you thought you had grown, overcome many difficulties, only to find yourself facing a perspective you've always cherished but never knew how to realize, perhaps because you weren't ready.

And then you start seeing yourself holding your child, taking him for a drive while listening to your favorite music, talking about everything and nothing. You dream of playing "arm wrestling" with him, letting him win not to disappoint him, or you see yourself sitting in the woods eating a sandwich while listening to games on the radio. Then you realize that child is you, that those are the memories of a life ago, when you were small and spent time with the person whom the cold winter took away. But it's nice to have the confirmation that life renews itself, and that those who are no longer with you live on within you, and that you will have the opportunity to be the protagonist of a second life, retracing what you have lived, only through another perspective.

"The Fallen Crimson" by Envy is a vital river, a concentrate of emotions that, in its ups and downs and climaxes, made me think about how the seasons change and how their passage has marked some phases of my recent life. It is an album that strikes for its immediacy, which in my opinion is not a given when talking about the Japanese band. Envy's albums are often cryptic upon first listen, requiring patience and calm to be assimilated and appreciated, they do not reveal themselves immediately but need a certain rituality, like many aspects of Japanese culture. This latest work, however, strikes straight to the heart, immediately highlighting the many souls of Envy: their hardcore past has never blended so well with the harmonious and sunny escapes of post-rock, further emphasized here and enriched by female choirs. It is a warm/cold, slow/fast, sun/rain that reaches its maximum exemplification in "A Step in the Morning Glow", a piece of rare beauty chosen as the opening single.

A truly overwhelming sensory experience, a return to the scene in great style for Envy, an album to listen to in one breath to lose oneself.