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It is announced that Develop One's Faculties will release a full album (release date not decided) and will hold a one man live on the 20th of December. Source : OHP

meth. will revive for one-day at their live at Nagoya ell.SIZE at 2015/10/12, at which various session will also perform meth. line-up at 2015/10/12: Vo.Akito (ex-404NOTFOUND-->Sevenlize) Gt.tomoya (Sacred Aeolia) Dr.sora (ex-cocklobin, now in Develop One's Faculties) support Ba.Seiya (ex-音影(otokage)-->Sevenlize) "ゆいぜファミリーズ": Vo.Toshiki (ex-SPELL BOX) Gt.希(nozomi) (カラット(carat)) Ba.Tetsu (Vent Croix) Dr.ゆいぜ(yuize) (ex-ASS'n'ARRow) "Art for Art's Sake": Vo.Tetsu (Vent Croix) Gt.K.O.H (ASTARIA) Gt.祐(hiro) (ex-FANG) Ba.Fumi (Viru's) Dr.拓未(takumi) (FANG, ヴィジュアルラボ(visual laboratory)) Yuga(Vent Croix) session

"Real" metalheads? Can we cut the elitist crap? So people like Leda who play in metal and visual bands aren't "real" metal heads? Please. There are a lot of vk bands who suck at metal, but there entire genres of metal that like visual imagery, too.

After @chemicalpictures' recent status, I thought it would make sense to have a topic about this: Is there any way to improve the search function? I think there are many of us who have encountered problems when searching for kanji/kana. For all intents and purposes, it doesn't work, at least not very well. I've been lucky in the past putting quotation marks (") around what I'm searching for and that somewhat helps, but not always. It's pretty unpredictable. Have you encountered any other issues, besides those with kanji/kana? If we see what concrete problems there are with searching, maybe the admins could let us know which ones could be dealt with/fixed within the confines of the forum software.

If I'm seeing things correctly, looks like THE NOVEMBERS are releasing something new this fall ; ) http://the-novembers.com/

Artist: 赤西仁 Album: Me 1. Let Me Talk To U 7. Christmas Morning (2015 Mix Ver.) 2. Good Time 8. Dayum 3. Miss California 9. Mi Amor 4. We The Party 10. What Happened 5. Baby 11. [bonus Track] Go Gitt'er 6. Lionheart 12. [bonus Track] Mi Amor (Spanish Ver.) Rating: | Westernized Japanese? Doing it right! Jin Akanishi is one of the lead vocalists of popular boy band KAT-TUN as well as a solo artist. Last month, Akanishi released his third studio album, and the majority of it is how Namie Amuro’s latest attempts at creating a Western sound should have sounded like. The album’s Western feel comes from its many dance floor sounds, from the feel good single ‘Good Time’ to the mighty track ‘Dayum.’ The album starts off strongly with these hard hitting dance/club numbers. With ‘Good Time,’ Akanishi noted that he "wrote this song with the image of summer,” and while this certainly comes across with its upbeat presentation (both in sound and PV), the repeated hand-claps and the EDM induced chorus give it more of a dance floor feel. It’s a nice follow-up after the opening PV song, ‘Let Me Talk To U.’ This has a soul feel with a rhythmic build, featuring acoustic guitar during the bridges and a heightened chorus with a dash of folky elements in it. I didn't know where this was going as it started with a baby giggling/speaking, but Akanishi’s whispery vocals kick in straight away and keep this an engaging listen. Visually, it’s a gorgeous contrast of monochrome imagery against colourful flowers which goes wonderfully with the change from quiet verses into the louder chorus. With the third song titled ‘Miss California,’ I was expecting this to sound extremely Western. I wasn’t wrong. Its rapping section as the bridge, albeit a small part, is both very well done and well placed. The highlight in this one is its chorus, with a rather cowboy like sound to it thanks to the whistles and the Latin-flavored instruments that tend to pop up now and again. The song is surprisingly bearable for one which sounds like it’s created for Ke$ha. What’s more, the song is sung entirely in English. Doing it right, Akanishi! ‘We The Party’ doesn’t let up with the American vibe – most noticeably with its grammatically wrong name, and more English to further highlight this Western sound. A tambourine features in this one, as well as taps and clicks of the finger. This is the best song to showcase how precise Akanishi is with his English, especially during the rapping. Autotune is also involved within this one, and it may sound like a lot to digest as a whole but it actually works surprisingly well and flows the best out of the dance-y tracks. ‘Dayum’ very much gets a "D-AYUM" from me. At track eight, this one can be grouped with the above dance numbers, thanks to its energetic and dance-encouraging sound. It’s another song that features a tambourine, and it’s highlighted gorgeously with its quick, repeated shakes during the chorus. There's a lot going on here, but the song has a certain charm with its unstructured sound. Little jingles and strums of guitar with the sound of clapping going off here and there spice up the track until that tambourine comes in to emphasise the chorus amongst it all. Everything mashes together into a flawless number, making this my favourite out of the four dance numbers. With a neat batch of previous dance tunes, ‘Baby’ is the first slow song on the album. While the previous two have demonstrated Akanishi’s ability to rap, this ballad highlights his smooth tone, very fitting to such a genre of music. While ‘Baby’ isn’t the best ballad song – with literally nothing being noteworthy about it - Akanishi’s vocals really make up for it. It’s your typical Japanese ballad. The following song is how ‘Baby’ should have sounded like. ‘Lionheart’ features the gentle vocals Akanishi exhibited previously, alongside a tribal-like drum instrument and soaring choir vocals gives it an African vibe. It’s a massive upgrade which leaves ‘Baby’ in the dust. Never have I listened to a supposed Christmas song which didn’t sound at all Christmassy. Apart from the English lyrics, ‘Christmas Morning (2015 Mix Ver.)’ is a needlessly dramatic track which starts with guitars, similar to the foreign sounds from ‘Lionheart,’ but that’s quickly lost. This is the first track I wouldn’t mind not seeing in the tracklist. At track nine comes the PV song ‘Mi Amor,’ which got me hooked to Akanishi. This one is a dash of David Guetta meets MIYAVI – let me explain before anyone throws their guitar at me – alongside Enrique Iglesias, the latter being a key factor throughout this. The opening has some neat guitar work that instantly grabs your attention, because it’s done with the skill and swiftness of MIYAVI. Even the PV will make you question who the guy playing guitar is. The Spanish element now smacks you right in the face with the final track being a Spanish version of this song. ‘Mi Amor’ has it all; a thrilling beat break, catchy guitar work, and splendid vocals in both versions. Seeing as ‘Mi Amor’ is the standout track on the album, whatever follows has to be at least four and a half stars. Unfortunately, the last couple tracks really pull this whole package down. It would have been near perfect without ‘What Happened’ and ‘Go Gitt’er.’ What DID happen, Akanishi? The first of the two start of promising, with nice little taps of a high pitched keyboard. I was enjoying his vocals until he started rapping, and it wasn't in the same way he had done before. Akanashi sounds like an amateur trying to freestyle to the beat. The mix of a boy band sounding bridge against a slow ballad rap doesn’t blend together at all. It doesn’t help how his rapping in this one sounds completely different than his singing. I usually like contrast, but here it’s unbearable. The first bonus track (the other one being 'Mi Amor (Spanish Ver.)) ‘Go Gitt’er’ fails harder than ‘What Happened.’ The last track shows how Akanishi’s attempt at the Western sound could’ve gone down if most of 'Me' sounded like this one. It’s best to avoid this song unless you can somehow dig a Japanese version of Chris Brown. It’s a “No Gitt’er" from me. Akanishi excels in staying loyal to Japan with the majority of the album being in Japanese, while also being extremely apt for the American audience of this day. The couple of songs which are completely English really do capture that Western vibe Akanishi was going for, and props to him for achieving that! All in all, the start and middle of the album are extremely strong, while the last part is a miserable flop. Hopefully the last couple of songs can be forgotten because the beats, the vocals and the instruments are all really Western sounding as a whole, while genuinely being enjoyable most of the time. Just goes to show Johnny’s do have a gem in the rough! Support the artist! CDJapan US iTunes Japanese Amazon

I feel like, especially for downloads, people should tag the artists' name both in kanji and romanji. That's what I do, and when I test it by using the search engine, it comes up easier.

That's true, I am mostly exposed to Osaka and Hiroshima bands at this point. Still, kansai rock summit isn't just kansai bands. And there are plenty of darker Tokyo bands that floated to the surface and get a lot more attention--METEOROID swithced to MeteoroiD, AvelCain is super popular, DADAROMA formed and is doing so well, etc. Every time I saw any kirakira band in Tokyo it was at hole in the walls like REX. side note: Lig was quite good! I'd like to see them again. To be fair kirakira≠osare/oshare kei. Osare kei is pretty much dead and the ~kei terminology is quite outdated, lol. But kirakira is quite commonly used as a term. I can't count how many times I've heard it used or if I've been asked "is ~ kirakira?" or told "I can't stand kirakira" because my friends all assume that all of my bands are kirakira for some reason. Kirakira and abare (暴れ/暴れ盤) are the two terms I hear the most often but that doesn't necessarily mean they are exclusive of each other. And as you mentioned, the terms more describe the live experience than anything now!

thanks There's no live experience quite like kirakira bands. But yeah the Japanese girls are even talking about the 解散ラッシュ or "rush to break up" recently and I don't normally hear the Japanese fans talking about it as much as foreign fans ? ...unfortunately with kirakira (for me, at least) there aren't really new kirakira ones coming in right now. It's all ~dark~~ bands that are being made.

I feel so antisocial these days. I just want to build a house in the mountains and live in isolated peace. Just allow me to eat, sleep, listen to music, and make art. Real life has too much drama.

D free magazine "Mad Tea Party MAGAZINE FREE Vol.1" will be distributed since 2015/07/21 [artists] ◆D ◆GOTCHAROCKA ◆DIAURA ◆MEJIBRAY ◆Sadie ◆Moran ◆己龍(kiryu) ◆Royz ◆Black Gene For the Next Scene ◆DaizyStripper ◆FEST VAINQUEUR ◆The LEGENDARY SIX NINE ◆KAMIJO ◆摩天楼オペラ(matenrou opera) ◆lynch. ◆Mix Speaker's,Inc ◆DuelJewel ◆アルルカン(arlequin) ◆ペンタゴン(pentagon) ◆BLESSCODE

Trying to control my hype levels. Failing miserably.

I'm definitely excited to hear this.

it is announced at Black Gene For the Next Scene one-man live tour "生まれ直し(umarenaoshi)" tour final "新生(shinsei)-born again-" at Shinjuku ReNY at 2015/07/11 that their new maxi single "逆卍より、愛をこめて(gyakumanji yori ai wo komete)" will be released at 2015/09/02 (3 TYPE) limited edition (1,944yen) will include CD (2 songs)+DVD (including "逆卍より、愛をこめて(gyakumanji yori ai wo komete)" PV), and regular edition TYPE A & B (1,620yen each) will include CD (3 songs with different track 3) only btw they will hold their one-man live tour "逆卍解放システム(gyakumanji kaihou system)" since Kanazawa AZ at 2015/09/12 and up to tour final 4th anniversary one-man live "卍解(manjikai)" at TSUTAYA O-East at 2015/11/01

Juri(ex-DELUHI)×酒井洋明(sakai hiroaki)(12012) will perform at More presents live "the Banquet of Energeia" at Takadanobaba AREA at 2015/10/02

LOST ASH new maxi single "STAY GOLD / UNDER THE SKIN" will be released at 2015/08/19 (2 TYPE) live-limited edition (1,600yen, limited quantities) will include CD+take-out live (3 songs), and regular edition (1,200yen) will include CD only [CD track list] 01.STAY GOLD 02.UNDER THE SKIN 03.piano solo op1 "prelude"

This is the main reason I try to romanize everything. Also use the name in the tags for band names 3 letters or less. (just in case people are looking for a workaround in the meantime) It would be nice to search in japanese, though.

I knew they weren't going to go a year without releasing something, though my guess is that this one may be an EP.

meth. permanent revival would be better but i'll take what i can get.

Checked out "Mi Amor" and the sample for "Let Me Talk To U" and wow... way better than I was thinking it'd be. I agree that it has a very western-influenced sound. It's really good. I may just have to buy this haha. Thanks for the review!

This is probably why I have an aversion to all things heavier visual kei now. I wasn't aware that there was any large-scale change occurring in the scene though. I just figured bands started adding more influences and actually built identities for themselves instead of being the newest nameless -core band of the week (which is a very good thing).

When did sound jpop japanese? I don't think you can say something sounds more like the west.. ]sometimes jpop is just a bit more crazy but.. still for me the only difference is that japanse pop is sung in Japanese.. just no more differences. I think the MV's are a bit more Japanese. But crazyness also happens inside western pop.

I need to listen to this release, I remember being amazed by some songs from JAPONICANA. +, really love the artwork.

"Mi Amor" is extremely well done, especially for mainstream Japanese pop. That song alone is more compelling than any of the EDM stuff on Namie's latest album. I also agree that the ghost-guitarist in the video brings to mind Miyavi! Also seconding your thoughts on "Dayum". It's a cool track but also pretty amusing in that I'd more readily associate that sound with America or Korea. The production on it reminds of Timbaland for some reason.

I don't care for this current wave. There's a few great bands here and there. BUT it is better than the Nu-Metal wave. Omg, that was full of the WORST vk has ever produced and people would wank over it because of teenage angst, had gawd awful vocals almost overall, and shit on the osa/koteosa/kirakira bands for being musically better than knowing just power chords. Sorry not sorry, 05s-09s indie vk heavier(dark) bands sucked ass. If you were in the scene long enough to remember, you know what I'm talking about.

"G:K" SET-LIST at 2015/07/08: 01.DEAR JUNK 02.ROUND AND FATE 03.What's 04.NO MORE TO SAY 05.LONELY 06.笑ってごらんよ(waratte goran yo) 07.HYSTERIC 08.PEOPLE PURPLE 09.華麗(karei)

amazing album,

Awesome, thanks Kyoself! I can always count on you as the resident Diru collector <3

100% Agreed

New band photo and track list. 1:SPEAK OUT 2:ワイヤード 3:FIGHT IN TOKYO 4:who we r 5:HIDE AWAY 6:LIFE 7:Hands feat.hamaken(AIR SWELL) 8:CALL ME LAZY 9:DAY BY DAY 10:LAST ONE 11:リーリヤ-never again- 12:in your mind

The artwork cover is really cool! Too bad this is live-limited >_<

Dog sitting

I guess this isn't a ripoff or anything because the melody/chords sound like anyone could make them up, it's just something I recently noticed and it amused the hell out of me. Okay, so I was browsing Youtube for random Public Image Ltd videos (the band of Johnny Rotten after Sex Pistols), and I came across this: As soon as it got to 0:29 I had a weird feeling... I totally know this melody from somewhere... then it hit me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bk6k5p0unJI Well, it sounds pretty much exactly the same, except it's played lower. Okay, so BOOWY obviously took a bit too much inspiration from Public Image Ltd, right? This is where it gets interesting. PiL's song was released as a single in September 1983 (and later on an album in 1984). BOOWY released their track on their self-titled album in 1985, however it seems their song goes way back! In 1979, a few years before the formation of BOOWY, singer Kyosuke Himuro was in a band called デスペナルティー (Death Penalty) who wrote a song titled ブルー・シガレット・ラブ (Blue Cigarette Love)... which provided the basis for what later became BOOWY's song CHU-RU-LU! Check it out (sorry, you have to go to YT cuz they didn't allow embedding): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HQydZioArQ Also note how the melody is slightly different here, while BOOWY's later reworking is a lot more like the PiL song. A mixture of coincidence, (un)conscious inspiration, telepathy, whatever, who knows. XD

lol

What I think of Visual Kei in its current state? Fairly little, as most people are aware of how my cognizant thoughts form on these ongoing circumstances. Of course I am acquainted with the realization of how music scenes go through transformations and adjustments, but this never necessarily means that someone has to approve of it. It is true, I am fond of a number of newer acts, but I have made peace with how none of those will ever grow on me, and how slim their periods of existence are, and how quickly I forget they were ever functioning groups after their disappearances. There are but few risen bands in the past five years that last longer than half a decade, and with this they simply do not give their audience the chance to grow attached to them. This scene is unstable and a borderline helter-skelter of irresoluteness and indecisiveness. Musicians come together just because they are available and currently not in any project, therefore most members have no relationship with each other, other than being co-workers. Oftentimes there is no chemistry that pulls these musicians together, they are opposite poles and there is no magnetism that would really form a bond of musicianship, thus resulting in quick moves of disbandments and break-ups (hence the reason 'musical differences', for most splits). I am no longer awaiting a revolution in this scene. Bands become younger, and legends grow older which causes them to be overlooked, or no longer listened to. It is disheartening to not see big names like Kamijo, Kaya (thus Femme Fatale), Kisaki (thus 凛 -the end of corruption world-), D, 摩天楼オペラ, cali≠gari, DIR EN GREY, Moi Dix Mois, Creature Creature and DEAD END, D'ERLANGER, KA.F.KA, Sugizo and LUNA SEA, Yoshiki and X JAPAN, BUCK-TICK or even GACKT in this thread. People only mention new names and forget about the foundations of this scene, foundations who are still very much active and alive, deep-rooted and fundamental sources who have given birth to this baby in the first place. With this rise of this newly founded interest in metalcore that —in my very honest and personal opinion— has no place in Visual Kei, I can assume for myself that in a year or two, I am done with Visual Kei. My favourites who still remain active to this day will have vanished as they are simply pushed out of existence because their form and sound are no longer welcomed and essential, and I'll merely be left with memories.

Stuff people suck.

A lot of bands are breaking up and we haven't had a proper influx of bands that are particularly interesting, in my opinion. It's generally a pretty boring year for me. Unfortunately Develop One's Faculties and The Benjamin failed to hold my interest. Bands I'm still in VK for: XAA-XAA is the main thing holding my interest right now. Their attention to detail is wonderful too. Glad to see they were mentioned before too. They are the only new band that's really kept me interested. Minus Jin-Say Orchestra is always phenomenal but the pitfall with them is their recording quality is pretty shit. I think most people that I know who got into them saw them first--it was the same with me. Their release this year has some great songs on it but... the recording quality ruins some of it. Ensoku is also great and consistent. But that's also the thing like you know exactly what to expect with Ensoku--and while it will be done well I don't think Ensoku would keep me interested if I didn't have the other two bands I listed above. Bands that I'm interested in Reirei was surprisingly fun live Hiz was also a lot better live than recorded Shellmy is also a lot better live than recorded BLESSCODE ..also, a lot better live than recorded GAGA also has me mildly interested ViV oh my god RayJi is the best bassist he blows my mind but you see a pattern? For me at least this is an era of bands that you need to see live rather than listen to recorded. Bands that have gone down in quality heavily imo GIGAMOUS -- what happened? ??? ???? Souiumono -- what happened???????? Everything is so generic and boring now and what's with the autotune. They've lost a lot of fans (including their jouren--the girls who went to EVERYTHING and were basically the ones paying their salary due to how much money they poured into the band). I've been waiting for a break up announcement since Christmas. RUVISH -- from last year there was a marked drop in quality and live is so forced now too A lot of Osaka (and Shikoku and Hiroshima) bands are bands you just need to see live, rather than listen to recorded, to be honest. XAA-XAA is one of the few that I enjoy listening to recorded as much as seeing live.. On the other hand Tokyo bands, in general, are really stale for me. Also kirakira bands (what you guys would label as "oshare kei" but that's another topic) are dying out. Personally, I need like at least one kirakira band in my life because the live experience is almost always just so fun (unless it's Sick2). Anyway, 2015 has been a lot of fun for me in seeing bands live, but as far as releases/new bands goes it's pretty meh (besides XAA-XAA).

^ Oh, I didn't know that! I always thought it was only Ryosuke composing (at least that's what they wrote in the booklets iirc).

yasss COME THRU asagi! WERK!!! YAS GAWD!!!!! SLAY HUNNY!!!!! *death drops* OKRRRRRRR

"DECAYS" members: Vo.&Gt.Die (DIR EN GREY) Dr.樫山圭(koshiyama kei) (MOON CHILD) guest Vo.&Gt.小林祐介(kobayashi yuusuke) (THE NOVEMBERS) Ba.G.Terrence ☆.チドニー(chidony) they are mainly live-oriented band at this moment

their new single "IKAROS" will be released at 2015/07/29 (TYPE α 1620 yens, TYPE β 1840 yens)

When browsing through some older files, I remembered this song. You know, Grieva get flak for ripping off Dir en grey, but these guys here pretty much just took "The Final" and gave it different lyrics. Most blatant rip-off I have ever seen in vk. XD For comparison, here's the original again:

FUTURISM・BOYZ SET-LIST at 2014/07/20: 01.micron 02.無数の均衡(Drums 'n' Bass ver.) 03.チキンLock 04.13歳人形 05.SPICY(Soul Dance ver.) 06.生きるとは闘いであれ 07.If feat.Kitera Akio(ballad ver.) FUTURISM・BOYZ will have announcement about their Vo. in mid-2014/08

Phantasmagoria for me. I like Lin also. I love Riku's voice.