Aggression proves to be the path towards emotional catharsis for Japanese artist TORIENA. The music on newest album MANIAC features buzzsaw production, stepping between floor-ready barrages and departures into moshing rock. Yet beneath the rush is a set finding the long-running electronic creator offering her most earnest work to date, allowing a full spectrum of feelings to spread out.
Musically, MANIAC marks the latest step in TORIENA’s embrace of dance sounds, with a few twists along the way. After first catching attention as an innovative chiptune tinkerer, she’s gradually moved deeper into the club, with recent albums finding her playing with rave, hardcore and jungle among others. She often sings over the clamoring sound, adding the human element to otherwise rattling digital creations.
She continues to dive into high-BPM styles over these just-under-30 minutes. Opener “UNLOCK” sets the pace, starting with a more dramatic intro before plunging ahead on a twinkling rave beat that refuses to take a breather. TORIENA often leaves some room amidst the rumbling for her singing to slip in on songs such as the slippery “CALL BACK PENDING” or speedy “COLD SLEEP,” but even with extra space her works never really slow down, instead letting this simplicity pound away. It’s pure energy, influenced by and built for a club atmosphere, save only for late cuts “HYDRO” and “WETFOOD” which play out at a slower speed for thematic effect.
The sharpest moments on MANIAC come when TORIENA welcomes electric guitar into her sonic palette. It’s an instrument that adds extra intensity to the chug of “COLD SLEEP” and jaggedness to the all-over-the-place romp of “OBEY.” It also proves to be central to TORIENA’s biggest surprise here on “14.” It’s the one moment she steps away from the dancefloor in favor of the pit, creating a surprisingly straight-ahead rock song with next to no electronic flair. Yet it is a style that fits her well, as it proves to be every bit as pulverizing as the hardcore electronic sounds she’s long gravitated towards.
It’s also a touch hinting at the emotional rawness pervading MANIAC. Musically, this album continues her trajectory from 2023’s BLOOD DEBUG and 2024’s Kengai, but what feels markedly different is her vocal and lyrical approach. She’s plumbing the person much more. That often comes in the form of metaphor-heavy reflections like the blown-out “PINK,” which draws from hyperpop for a song where TORIENA expresses longing and desire, or to something more cryptic on “CALL BACK PENDING,” with references to burnout and general overwhelm (relayed by references to using the internet too much). The aforementioned rock of “14” focuses on uncertainty and unease albeit blanketed by guitar chug.
Yet when TORIENA gets direct the album really goes up a level. The centerpiece of MANIAC is the defiant electro-churn of “KEYHOLDER,” a swaggering declaration of self-worth featuring brush offs and boasts. It isn’t what TORIENA sings but how she delivers it, bobbing and weaving her words for maximum impact as she tells off creeps and flaunts her toughness. That same confidence takes on a jauntier energy on “OBEY” as she jumps between pogoing beats and portions resembling bouncy jingle music, played slightly sarcastically but with its self-affirmation still pulsing through. By the end of “WETFOOD” she’s letting both the doubts and positive feelings mix together into something well-rounded, with the slower rock build of the closer underlining that complete emotion.
MANIAC presents every side of TORIENA’s inner self, taking time to showcase her bravado and her worries in equal measure. The heads-down charge of the music allows her to be fully herself across the album, resulting in her most intimate album to date without losing the energy that has always defined her sound.
