The Side Effects is the sixth studio album by Japanese rock band Coldrain. Recorded at Studio Barbarosa in Orlando, Florida with producerMichael 'Elvis' Baskette, it was released on August 28, 2019 by Warner Music Japan. The Side Effects is the second Coldrain album to be released by Warner Music Japan, the first being Fateless. This would be the follow-up to 2017's Fateless and the last album by the band to be released in the 2010s. It would be their lowest charted album on the Oricon Albums Chart since the release of The Enemy Inside, which debuted and peaked at number 21, for which The Side Effects would just barely scrape into the top ten at number 10. The Revelation, Vena and Fateless fairing much better at number 7, 9 and 8 respectively. However, The Side Effects would fair much better on the Japanese Billboard Album Charts, as it would debut and peak at number 8, selling over 8,600 copies in its first week. The album would produce seven singles, four of which were released before the release of The Side Effects. "Revolution" being the only one to be released the year prior to the release of The Side Effects, which first got showcased in September 2018 as the main theme for , but not being released as a single until December 2018. "Coexist", "January 1st" and the title track "The Side Effects" all being released in 2019 and before the release date of The Side Effects. "Coexist" would be unveiled in July 2019, with both "January 1st" and "The Side Effects" being released the following month in August, the title track being released the day before the release of the album. The Side Effects currently has three singles released since the release of the album. "Mayday" on November 2, the last single to be released by the band in the 2010s. The track would feature Ryo Kinoshita from Japanese metalcore band Crystal Lake, of which would also be featured as the second opening theme for the popular anime, Fire Force. "See You" and "Speak" would be released during the new decade. "See You" was released on January 17, while "Speak", currently the final single from the record, which was released on March 21, 2020. The Side Effects features a more experimental sound which incorporates vocal elements of rapping and electronica backgrounds which is heard in songs like "Revolution", "The Side Effects", "Speak" and "Coexist" of which is typically heard in the metal subgenre nu metal.
Background and promotion
Teasers for the album dated all the way back to 29 September 2018, where Coldrain announced a new song to be the theme song for which was titled "Revolution". The song later was released as a single on December 12. This included a music video to complement its release the following month, which helped the song climb the charts to peak at number 76 on the Japanese Weekly Top 100. A few days after, Masato Hayakawa announced on his Instagram that he was entering the studio with the rest of the band to record new material which would be released later on in the year. Circulation quickly spread hype and buzz among fans and critics alike, to where the silence was broken with multiple photos and videos being shared on the band members social media accounts of them in the studio. They finished recording at the end of February, and announced a new one man tour a few weeks later, as well as the title for the new album to be named "The Side Effects". Another teaser video, used the second lead-single "Coexist" which got released on July 4 on digital formats and as a music video, garnering over 370K views within the first month on YouTube. They would go on to tour Europe in June to continue to promote the upcoming record by playing various festivals such as Download, Pinkpop, Rock am Ring and Rock im Park. Three of which, Coldrain previously played in 2014 upon making their worldwide debut with The Revelation. Alongside this, they would play several headline shows in small venues around the UK and France. In the month of August, with the forthcoming album releasing soon. The band released two more music videos such as "January 1st" and "The Side Effects", both getting released on the 8th and 27 August respectively.
The album debuted at No. 10 on the Oricon Album Charts, where it would stay on the charts for the following 7 weeks. The album also charted on the BillboardAlbum Charts, where it peaked at No. 8, selling over 8,600 physical copies in its first week nationwide. It would drop to No. 43 the following week by a whopping 35 positions, but still selling over 1,200 copies in that timeframe.
Track listing
All lyrics written by Masato Hayakawa, all music composed by Masato Hayakawa and Ryo Yokochi
Personnel
Credits retrieved from album's liner notes. Coldrain
