Sid may become the leaders of the new J-rock generation at some point, but whether they'll qualify is unclear at the point of Sentimental Macchiato, because the band's obviously in transition here.

Sid's songwriting craft is top-notch -- the album could sustain half a dozen anime series, providing them with polished rock songs for their credits.

At the same time the band pulls off a neat trick of establishing an identity while conforming to all the requirements of traditional J-rock.

All bases are covered: the strong male singing, some strings doing backup ("Mascara"), the unwavering melodicism -- but Sid are certainly able to move from being influenced to being an influence, especially because of the fado/flamenco elements that are understated but still present on the best songs of the album.

But this is not to say all the tracks are good; rather, some of them are confusing.

The band sets an uplifting mood and even throws in some disco, only to slip into a blastbeat-madness that is within a hair's breadth of hardcore or black metal -- and then shift back to a frenetic jazz-rock number with a brass section and a general Cowboy Bebop OST feel.

Sid are actually reformed visual kei devotees, and this shows, but it seems like an annoyance on an album with all this delicious acoustic playing and even some bongo drums.

Folk influences can go well with a hard rock guitar, as "Yuuwaku Collection" brilliantly demonstrates, but the extremes for Sentimental Macchiato are Slipknot and Boney M., and those just don't mix.

Still, in this case, tolerating some eclectic playing is a reasonable price for a set of strong songs.