“SAMURAIソードMAN” (Samurai Sword Man) is RAZOR’s 12th single in their ever-growing discography, and even though it was released in late June of last year I still want to take you on an exploration of this single today. In reality this article was supposed to be written and released last year already, but due to many different circumstances there was always something why it was pushed further down the list. The single, and mainly the title song, have always remained in the high area of my personal playlist, however. So today it’s finally time for “SAMURAIソードMAN” (Samurai Sword Man) to shine.
RAZOR’s lineup exists out of five members, but due to my past endeavors not including all former projects of all members I can’t use information that isn’t known to me. The previous bands of vocalist 猟牙 (Ryoga) and guitarist 剣 (Tsurugi) (BORN and Sadie respectively) have always been in my playlist, but I can’t say the same for the previous projects of guitarist 衍龍 (Kouryu), bassist IZA and drummer NIKKY. (Even though I will admit I do know some works of My BACTERIA HEAT IsLAND and ALSDEAD – however not enough to actually speak of anything in detail.)
While I did keep up with RAZOR’s releases, it wasn’t until “SAMURAIソードMAN” for me to say I was actually “into” their works. There is something about this single, and the MV for the title song, that just grabs my attention.
The single exists out of “SAMURAIソードMAN” (Samurai Sword Man), “睡蓮” (Suiren) and “nothing here”, as well as a music video. All of these materials are divided over two physical CDs, where Type A contains the first two tracks and a download code for the music video and Type B includes all three tracks and a download code for the music video’s offshot.
In this article we’ll be looking at all three songs and the MV, but I will not be discussing the offshot. I don’t think this is necessary, right?
So, with that (fairly lengthy, sorry!) introduction out of the way, let’s dive into the single!
Human nature remains unchanged
Starting with the title song, “SAMURAIソードMAN” (Samurai Sword Man) immediately begins with an electro intro which will continue throughout the entire song, giving the song a unique beat alongside the rhythm section of the band. While sounding upbeat and cheerful, 猟牙 (Ryoga)’s lyrics tell a completely different story. In his lyrics he very much embodies the vibe of a samurai looking down on his enemy in their final moments, mixing Japanese with English. And if you know 猟牙 (Ryoga), you know he’s not the most subtle person when it comes to his words. For example “You always do really stupid things” and “You will rot away and die!” are sung in English, which might suggest the English-speaking listeners that there is more to the story of the song behind this upbeat rhythm that implies it’s a much more cheerful song than it actually is.
These lines are easy to miss, however. 猟牙 (Ryoga)’s vocal style has always been very consistent, and this song isn’t an exception to that rhythm of his. Because of his style the English spoken words don’t stand out more than the Japanese ones do, even more so because of the use of autotune mixed with 猟牙 (Ryoga)’s natural accent when singing in English.
The MV doesn’t really convey the lyrics to a non-Japanese speaking audience either, but does embody the flashy visual style of RAZOR from start to finish. Recorded at what seems more like a Chinese temple (given guitarist 衍龍 (Kouryu)’s Chinese heritage, could this have been his influence, perhaps?), the video features the band in various locations of the building, usually playing their instruments or posing for the camera as it’s slowly zooming in on them, or 猟牙 (Ryoga) uh- to quote his own lyrics, doing really stupid things like licking a katana. (One can only hope that wasn’t a sharpened weapon…)
Moving on to the second track, “睡蓮” (Suiren). If you remember (and otherwise you know this exists now, at least!), in March of last year I discussed 葉月 (HAZUKI)’s solo single “蓮華鏡” (Rengekyou), where the first song was also titled “睡蓮” (Suiren). While that version was a ballad that made use of the tranquility of flowing water and water lilies, RAZOR’s version is the exact opposite in terms of sound.
With it’s powerful introduction it’s definitely the heaviest song found on the single, maintaining a powerful beat throughout the entire song while the bass from IZA and drums from NIKKY come forward more than they did in the title track. Unlike the previous track, “睡蓮” (Suiren) is sung entirely in Japanese, and has a completely different impact. The lyrics match the style of a music a lot more with their “aggression”, speaking in a similar theme as “SAMURAIソードMAN” (Samurai Sword Man) before it. Although this time it is not directed at one person, but at everyone on earth as a whole in an indirect way. “We who walk through the distant past with illusions (that) are more beautiful than anything.”
Although the song starts off as a powerful piece, towards the third part of the track it mixes with a more mellow, melodic style with a rough core, putting emphasis on the lyrics sung during this section and pulling in more of the water lily-aspect from the title as well.
Closing off the single is “nothing here”, which uhm, once again mixes Japanese and English in it’s lyrics. The reason I said “uhm” for this information is that the tone of both languages is vastly different. The English lyrics are far more short and direct while the Japanese lyrics are more poetic. (Which is understandable when using a foreign language you don’t master as much as you might have liked, I run into this problem myself more often than I’d like to admit.)
“nothing here” is more of a longing power ballad than anything else, mixing the melodic aspects with the rougher aspects of RAZOR – very reminiscent of what we heard from 猟牙 (Ryoga) when he was still the vocalist of BORN.
Much like the other two tracks, the lyrics of “nothing here” are more on the depressing side, this time from the perspective of the one telling the story, describing the loss of pride and exposing their emotions to the point where the meaning of wearing a mask is thrown away entirely. With the upbeat, fast-paced tracks before it this serves as a fitting ending to ground the single in it’s entirety, showcasing the diversity of RAZOR and confirming that they’re not limited to using a single style.
Conclusion
If there is a theme that can be pulled from these tracks, I would say it’s very much about human nature. It might take a little bit of digging to come to this conclusion, but this theme seems to return in a different form in each track.
Like I said in the beginning, I’ve never been as much of a fan of RAZOR as I was of BORN or Sadie, but the combination of the two members from these groups has intrigued me since the very start of the band. And it’s nice to see that there are still elements of these groups in returning RAZOR’s work. Like mentioned before, I don’t know how much elements or influences return in RAZOR from the previous projects of guitarist 衍龍 (Kouryu), bassist IZA and drummer NIKKY (who by the way is the newest member in the lineup, he joined in early 2020 after former drummer 哲也 (Tetsuya) left the group).
RAZOR continues to develop and evolve with each of their releases, which we can see more of in the single following this one in October last year: “エアレンデル” (Earendel). (This single is also on our list, so please look forward to it!)
This release is available for streaming via Spotify, but if you’d rather have a physical copy of (one of) the CDs then we’ve got you covered too. We’ve listed all of the information you need below:
 DAKTMZR-1001 // ¥2,000 |  DAKTMZR-1002 // ¥2,000 |
02. 睡蓮 (Suiren) 01. SAMURAIソードMAN MV (download code) | 02. 睡蓮 (Suiren) 03. nothing here 01. SAMURAIソードMAN MV (offshot download code) |
2023.06.27 Shop: CDJapan | Amazon | 2023.06.27 Shop: CDJapan | Amazon |
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雪 (Yuki) is the owner and driving force behind Arlequin.
She originally started the project in 2009 as a photographer under the name of Arlequin Photography, but developed an interest in journalism and translation ever since. Because of these interests interviews and reviews were added to the project, until it eventually hit the limits as a "photographer" in 2021, and Arlequin Magazine was added to the mix.
雪 (Yuki) is a native Dutch speaker with a graphic design degree, which means she is also the main person behind Arlequin Creations.
After all these years she is still the main person who does interviews the interviews and live photos that you see on Arlequin, but also a large chunk of the reviews and behind-the-scenes work and communication goes through her.
She speaks Dutch and English on a native level, but also understands Japanese and German.