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I haven't come across a specific thread like this, but it feels like something people will enjoy. Feel free to share any pictures of yourself with Japanese artists. I'll start off with the few pictures I have (and leaving some out because they are too unflattering). With Masashi (Jupiter). I have one with the full band too but there's no telling what my face is doing on that exact photo so I'll leave that to your imaginations. Myself and Megaromania. None of them had time to do their hair because they were late, so they're all looking droopy, myself included. BLACK LINE. I still don't remember what came over me when I went here. It was enjoyable, to say the least. (I don't recall why I was wearing Kisaki's shirt to this show). Together with my ultimate heroes. Look how joyful they are. Kaya was lovely. He smelled nice too. Just two hours before this I was still dressed up in the muck from my Silent Hill nurse cosplay, and I dislocated my knee early on that day.

I hope not, that'd be really boring. I'm putting my bets on GACKT and Maria Cross.

Even Luna Sea ripped off my favorite japanse band Dir en grey, just compare Luna Sea's ''G.'' to my favorite japanese band Dir en grey's ''Unknown・・・Despair・・・a Lost'' and you'll see.... My favorite japanese band Dir en gr did it first

Many people don't know this but even famous western people are ripping off my favorite japanese band Dir en grey, such as Morgan Freeman

Nice band pic! Also, highly unlikely, but it would make me so happy if they were named after the (delicious) $3 wine from ALDI

this is relevant again

sux for ray, it was (allegedly) his last band he's one of my fav vk bassists, i hope he pulls a kisaki and comes back with a better band where he can show off his talents.

Limited edition A : 1944 yens CD : 01. RUDENESS RESORT 02. Marburg DVD : 01. RUDENESS RESORT MUSIC VIDEO 02. RUDENESS RESORT MUSIC VIDEO BTS Limited edition B : 1944 yens CD : 01. RUDENESS RESORT 02. プラスチック・ハート(Plastic Heart) DVD : 01.2016.1.7「名も無き明日はない」at TSUTAYA O-WEST LIVE映像 Regular edition : 1296 yens CD : 01. RUDENESS RESORT 02. GIFT 03. RUDENESS RESORT(KØULESS ver.)

as previously mentioned, it appears to be Sadie 真緒(mao) & 美月(mizuki), who have previously formed special unit "The MUMMY", especially today 2016/03/18 is Sadie 11th anniversary (Sadie first live was at Osaka BIG CAT at 2005/03/18)

my life aesthetic tbh

the unit of my dreams

So there seems to be only two members... who wants to start making guesses?

I am going to defend him here yet again, but you are aware that he is committed to everything he does, no? They broke up because of a lack of interest in their formation — the scene considers him to be 'too old' (this goes for Sui and Misery as well), and because they focus on a traditional melodic sound instead of chugging guitars and grunting, people grew tired of them because it's not what the current fanbase wants to hear. Their sales were terrible, event attendence less than scarce, and people generally bark every possible insult they can think of at Kisaki, so I can imagine why he doesn't want to pursue something people intensely dislike. Give the man a damn break. If you follow him as closely as I do you'd see the depression oozing from his comments on the band's disbandment, it's not something he or any of the other members wanted.

Hello! Where do I start... I’m from Poland. Actually, I wanted to join the forum years ago. Unfortunately, I’m slowly losing my interest in J-rock/visual kei and I’m more into J-pop now. But I still want to follow the scene. Nice to meet you!

^ Oi. *wink wink*

Nice band pic [2] I think I found their mascot, a winking owl

Stranger things have happened lol.

Happy birthday Mana-sama

Right now it's Yoshiki Chips. Thinking about the new X Japan album and then this, leaves a real taste in my mouth.

FINALLY!!!!! SOME REAL TALENT !!!

https://vine.co/v/iwKm6wppIIH amazing

^ wtf at CindyKate hate. You make me so sad =( I'm not entirely sure if this is supposed to be a VK-related thread or not. (only glanced at the first and last pages) but.. I seriously cannot stand Korean boy bands & girl bands. I hate the weird focus on the girls' legs. The way the guys wear makeup bothers me, too. The dark eyeshadow with short boyish haircuts is just not appealing to me. And I find it very odd that this type of Kpop has become so popular in Western countries. I know so many people who don't give a shit about non-English music BUT they somehow know all about BIG BANG etc and post that shit all over facebook/twitter. I cannot stand stuff like AKB48 and any group made of pre-pubescent children.

Can't wait for payday to come, so I can use all my money on CD's then complain about how I have no money.

yay finally some samples!! Nice to see they've polish the video presentation. Sounds good, can't wait to have my copy. Am I the only one who actually love THE BEGINNING??

To break it down: Rock vs. Pop Rock made the most profit when culturally it became a part of Pop culture. This started to die off in the 80's but hair metal became a sensation. Hair metal was then killed off for the next wave of acts that were assimilated into the record industries more reliable formulaic machine for hits. Record labels like Mercury began purposefully killing off hair metal bands. Eventually pop punk, grunge, nu metal and other genres were manipulated in the main stream to become represented by the producer controlled music making machine. Why have a band completely in control of their music and writing what they want when they want? Would you not make a lot more money having an inner circle of producers who have mastered making hits, and creating the mainstream landscape of what a hit is? Instead of investing in bands who may go any which direction, it is more lucrative to hire performers who will treat it as more of a job, and sing the songs written for them, dance to the choreography created for them, endorse the products your sponsors give to them, etc.. And if some kind of rock is popular, we'll study the trend with a focus group, then get the producer to hold their hand through a simple track, we'll get a director to come up with a topical video to get attention, the lyricist's will come up with a catchy provocative line that will be repeated until it gets into people's heads, then the people will repeat the lines and memes to advertise for us, for free. Wardrobe will get them something trendy, then we'll get PR to get some interviews, and create some kind of juicy scandal for the group. Then we'll pay stations a lot of money to play us often, iTunes to feature us heavily, Youtube to recommend our video, etc... Then we'll make a bunch of money, give a good chunk to execs, producers, lyricists, then pay off all the marketing, and other costs, and we'll throw a few bucks at the band. Oh wait, we 'advanced' the band all sorts of money when we paid for that new guitar, the gas in the tourbus, their catering, etc etc... Better cut down how much we gave them. Then compare that to moderately successful VK bands filming a PV in the parking garage a thousand other bands played in, in some flame retardant outfit that 99 percent of people would not be caught dead wearing, and a bass player who looks better than most girls, playing a song in a low drop C tuning, over vocals still high pitched as hell, in a style of music that is no longer popular or never has been popular in the mainstream. Then they take that PV, and include it as a bonus for the limited edition, cd only release not on iTunes, and not uploaded to Youtube unless somebody decides to do it against their wishes. And the majority of viewers are international viewers since Japanese have their own sites and ways of digesting media to choose from as well. And they compete in the second biggest music market in the world, with a huge amount of other independent visual kei artists, many of them producing their own music, and not having doors opened to them, no big funding, and a lot of bands still survive somehow, and bands like Royz, Kiryu, etc.... enter the top ten of the charts repeatedly beating tons of major produced and marketed acts, despite being the antithesis of worldwide pop culture and trends. Then you have bands like SID, and lots of older bands like X Japan, Luna Sea, Dir en grey, who have made more money than most pop artists, have been around longer than KPop was a 'thing', and will be referenced as long as there is VK. But in terms of Youtube and worldwide presence, Korean Pop has a very large presence, has several connections to worldwide pop culture where it isn't such a huge step, they are just rapping and twerking in a different language. The Korean government has also heavily funded Korean media on the global stage, from the Korean Wave of film that had a regrettably short life, to KPop now. Japanese individuals and companies have actually complained about not representing Japanese workson the worldwide stage, I even remember Gackt talking about how they are failing to promote Japanese work outside of Japan. But at the same time, Japan has a much more insulated subcultural make-up, and is not AS rapidly molded and influenced by Global and especially American trends. So I definitely think certain cultural exports from Japan are hard to find an audience for, while some others, like anime, games, manga, JDM, etc... have been some of the most influential things in pop culture and subculture history. Not sure if I answered the question or even tried to, but ah well.

BLOOMING is slotted for release May 11th and will cost ￥2700. Tracklist: 01. Open Up My Heart 02. This Is How We Riot 03. Bloom 04. Empty In The Crowd 05. Lust 06. Don't Kill My Melody 07. Here For You 08. Sparkle Light 09. Walk 10. Broken 11. Your World 12. Silver Linings

The easy listening J-rockers will be releasing their 2nd album entitled "SALE OF BROKEN DREAMS" on May 11th. Tracklist to be announced. News here Buy here

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c49/fitear1590/CD%20cover%20scans%20and%20band%20pics/aicle%20neko%20no%20kiza%20mairi%20group%202_zpsk00neimw.jpg" width="791" /> 愛狂います。 (Aicle.): 5 Levels of Crazy Vo. えみる (Emiru) Guitar: ルビ (Rubi) Guitar: けいた (Keita) Bass: さらん (Saran) Drums: 玲音 (Leon) If you were part of the VK fandom during the past 7 years or so, you may have come across 愛狂います。 (Aicle.). Depending on who you talk to, they’re known for being “that colorful oshare group” or “that band with helium vocals”. Peruse the YouTube comments of any of their PVs and the word “kawaii” is sure to pop up, regardless of how bizarre and growl-filled the song is. I’ve always said that 愛狂います。 is not “underrated,” but they are generally “rated” for the wrong thing. While the aforementioned elements might play a role to some degree in the band’s sound, I’m here to show you that 愛狂います。 should be remembered for so much more than their one-dimensional legacy! With a more comprehensive, analytical look at the band, I hope to stop feeling like I'm Mugatu on crazy pills and just maybe, 愛狂います。's true style will shine through for more listeners. Forming in late 2006 and debuting in early 2007, they emerged in the scene around the same time as bands like Versailles, キャンゼル (canzel), ゾロ (ZORO), and ClearVeil. However, unlike those bands, 愛狂います。 was practically a group of newcomers from no notable ex-bands. They dabbled in live-distributed songs, compilation tracks, and a series of singles for their first two years, including the summer 2008 consecutive single series of シドロモドロ(shidoro modoro), ネクロノミコン (nekuro nomikon), and トウメイニンゲン (toumei ningen). This followed with the release of their first album 心臓。 (shinzou.) in March 2009. Uniquely enough in the VK scene, this was a disc of entirely new songs— a complete anomaly in the scene! Two months after the release of the album, rhythm guitarist Keita retired from the band on amicable terms. Not letting Keita’s departure slow them down, they released 3 more singles between August 2009 and January 2010. Consecutive singles エキゾチック。 (exotic.), ドラマチック。 (dramatic.), and a split CD with R指定(R-Shitei) followed in late 2010 and in early 2011, they released their second album アルク (ark), this time featuring previously released singles and only 4 brand new tracks— see, that’s more like what we’re used to. Finishing out the year with one-coin single 東京スカイツリー (Tokyo sky tree) and the stylistic 180 that was maxi-single 皇帝ペンギン (koutei penguin), 愛狂います。 finally called it quits in early 2012. Upon disbanding, they released a anthology compilation (愛狂います。2006-2012), collecting all of their songs from before their second album and their final single. So how could one describe the special music that 愛狂います。 created? To help analyze their music, I came up with an unofficial scale that lends itself surprisingly well to categorizing their discography. Under the description for each level, I have provided my favorite exemplary songs, in chronological order of their release. Level 1: Fairly straightforward pop-rock. These songs would occur sporadically in the band’s earlier discography, but by 2010 with the release of consecutive singles エキゾチック。 and ドラマチック。, the style started to become alarmingly prominent; the nail in the coffin was when the band’s final single 皇帝ペンギン hovered exclusively around this level. Favorites: 心臓。 (shinzou.), ゴメンなさい (gomen nasai) [see mp3], ひらり。(hirari) Level 2: Think of this as an upgrade of level 1. While these songs are still fairly tame overall, there might be an alternative, math-rock, or other unique tinge in the music that amplifies the compositional prowess. Wacky lyrical content might also bump up on-the-fence songs to this level, such as “メルトダウン (meltdown)”. There aren’t too many tracks at this in-between level. Favorites:, メルトダウン, 相対性【秘密】理論～タイムマシン２～ (Soutaisei [Himitsu] Riron ~Time Machine 2~), オーバードライヴ (overdrive), あおいろ1号 (aoiro 1 gou), 春夏秋冬 (shunkashuutou) [see mp3] Level 3: The first level of what I’d call 愛狂います。’s “sweet spot.” If people think about the band, I would hope that songs from this tier (or higher) are the ones that immediately come to mind. Most of the songs here are approximately half-pop and half-crazy—that was the band’s signature style after all! Many of the band’s singles fall under this category. Favorites: 僕は魔王 (boku wa maou), 猫の刻参り (neko no kiza mairi), トウメイニンゲン (toumei ningen) [or see mp3], 骸骨のうた (gaikotsu no uta), オカルト・キラー (occult killer), サイコ×レタア (psycho x letter) [see PV above] Level 4: This forms the second half of the “sweet spot.” These songs tend to do without the poppy choruses of level 3 and/or they ramp up the craziness in the rest of the song. As such, this level is mostly relegated to b-sides and other miscellaneous tracks, although their very first single (the first song in this list) was just wild enough to edge into level 4! Favorites: 球形無限連鎖～ミズタマ～ (kyuukei mugen rensa ~mizutama~), くるくる。と胎児は廻る (kuru kuru. to taiji mawaru) [see PV below], デスロリ調ポップス (death lolli-chou-pops) [see mp3], 裏姫 (urahime), 【d2b2】, 暗殺 -ANSATSU-, チョコサンドビスケットクリーム (choco sand biscuit cream) Level 5: This is reserved for 愛狂います。’s sole craziest venture: 豚の王様「ニトログリセリン」(buta no ousama “NITROGLYCERIN”). With squeals, frenetic guitar work, grunts, and literal oinking, this song is in a tier of its own! Disclaimer: the “levels” do not necessarily refer to quality, so much as the “crazy” factor. While I tend to prefer songs at levels 3 and 4, there are still a handful of level 1 and 2 songs that I’ll listen to any day over certain level 3 and 4 tracks. Now that we have an idea of my hopefully not-so-arbitrary tier system, let’s talk about the actual music! With due respect to all the members, it’s clear that vocalist/composer Emiru and guitarist Rubi form the brunt of the band’s unique sound. Back in the day, a lot of people would stan bassist Saran, but he’s not so notable to me, other than looking like a VK version of April Ludgate. I will say the drummer occasionally caught my attention, because of his affinity for punchy toms. Anyway, let’s start with Emiru. If there’s one sticking point about this band for a lot of people, it’s likely Emiru’s “special” vocals. Admittedly, he started off quite rough. If you listen to early singles like 記念日。 (kinenbi.) or 球形無限連鎖～ミズタマ～, you can definitely hear him straining to reach higher notes, but hey, that’s always been part of the charm of VK, right? He legitimately sounds like Cartman in "シドロモドロ (shidoro modoro)". Fortunately, his general vocal quality improves over time and becomes much smoother (this is most obvious by comparing the original and rerecordings of songs like "ゴメンなさい" and "チョコサンドビスケットクリーム"). It would be easy to write Emiru off as a “bad” singer, but that would mean ignoring how commendably he “compensates” in all the other things he does with his voice. What really contributes to Emiru’s success as a vocalist is his variety. In any given song (especially levels 3 and higher), you might hear any combo of the following: growling, oldschool Madeth Gray’ll-esque “fast talking”, shrieking, maniacal cackling, whispering, and more. Some absolute highlights include Emiru chanting off the number sequence of π (pi) in the punky "球形無限連鎖～ミズタマ～", the demonically adorable alter-ego he takes on in "まみむめモンスター君 (mamimume monster-kun)", or the sheer fuckery that is level 5 track "豚の王様「ニトログリセリン」" [see mp3 above]. What also takes the band over the top are the strange lyrics. Emiru has a knack for writing in a way that is paradoxically blunt, yet impenetrable in meaning, with a healthy sprinkling of kookiness. One of my favorite songs (vocally, musically, as well as lyrically) is “くるくる。と胎児は廻る (Round and Round. The Fetus Turns)”, which can be viewed below; thanks to moonwalkingpenguin for the translation! But the vocals are just half of the fun when it comes to 愛狂います。—let’s not forget about Rubi, the guitarist obsessed with apple imagery! As I mentioned, Rubi was essentially a rookie upon joining the band; his only previous known endeavor was with the short-lived 愛狂います。-predecessor known as モノもの (monomono), which also featured Emiru and bassist Saran. That’s why it’s all the more exciting that Rubi rose to such enigmatic, virtuosic playing! While Emiru is credited with composition, I find it difficult to believe that Rubi was simply his guitar-brandishing puppet—there is some real magic in his riffs and it’s not just guitar solos. In fact, his most impressive guitar work is just what he’s doing in the background. Let’s have a look at some specific examples. Listen from the second verse of “デスロリ調ポップス”. Then, check out the second verse and bridge of “ハンマー≦ヘッド (hammer≦head)”. Finally, in the first 1:20 of the above PV, Rubi provides a nice selection of his guitar offerings in “サイコ×レタア“. In all three songs, we hear Rubi’s non-stop efforts, whether it’s creepy-crawly riffs or progressive noodling not too far off from something indie-favorites 八十八ヶ所巡礼 (88kasyo junrei) might do. But beyond his extremely technical showcases, there is also plenty to enjoy in the “lower-level” tracks, like the pop-punk/math-rock influenced “あおいろ1号” or the buoyant fret-tapping of ”春夏秋冬” [see level 2 mp3]. Another aspect that helped to emphasize the band’s paradoxical sound was their bubbly arrangements, always democratically attributed to ”愛狂います。” as a whole. Sounding almost anachronistic compared to current VK’s overly electronic arrangements, the band often opted for simple synth beats or chimes, which produced a disarming effect, making it all the more surprising when the band jumped from a bouncy chorus into a growling, proggy chug fest. The icing on the arrangement cake was the band’s fun use of sound effects, such as the cartoony munching of cookies in “チョコサンドビスケットクリーム“, the vivid tentacle (?) noise at the beginning of “文化≠包丁 (bunka≠houchou)”, or the ambiguous animal roar that uncannily resembles the click-clack of a roller coaster in “オカルト・キラー”. Towards the end of 愛狂います。’s career, long-time fans unsurprisingly started to turn on the band. With singles like ”スターマイン (star mine)” and ”皇帝ペンギン”, the band started to settle down in level 1. Prior to that, the only PV track at this level was ”心臓。”, from their first album and while it was a saccharine pop-rock number, the rest of the album satisfied the kind of craziness fans craved through the aforementioned level 5 track or the many spooky, Halloween-inspired tunes. And therein lies the problem for the last leg of the band’s career. There was no longer a balance of the levels. The band’s most successful releases were those in which they displayed variety. For instance, the maxi-single 怪体新書。 (kaitai shinsho.), my personal favorite release, had two songs at level 3 (“眼球ワルツ(gankyuu waltz)” and “猫の刻参り”) and one at level 4 (“デスロリ調ポップス“). Singles サイコ×レタア and ケセラ:セラ (que sera:sera) both had title tracks at level 3, coupled with a level 2 and level 4 b-side. It’s unclear whether 愛狂います。 really was this methodical in constructing their release tracklists, but it undoubtedly worked in their favor. Although the final releases left fans with a sour aftertaste, we shouldn't let them spoil the entire 愛狂います。 experience. While vocalist Emiru (now “Suzuki Satoshi”) has since moved on to Yeti, an outlet where his softer, indie rock composition style is really thriving (let’s just say I like Yeti’s output more than late level 1 愛狂います。), it’s an absolute shame that Rubi hasn’t resurfaced in another band yet. To this day, he remains one of my favorite VK guitarists and it pains me greatly that his return to music seems so unlikely at this point. Still, there’s plenty of great music to remember him (and the whole band) by! And forget about caveats. 愛狂います。 was not crazy for a pop/"oshare" band; they were just crazy, period. If you’re new to 愛狂います。, be sure to check out all of the links/PVs! Hopefully, you can use this as a guide! For any seasoned fans out there, let me know what you think of the 5 level system. Does it make sense? Do you agree with the categorization? What are your favorite songs at each level? Do you agree that 愛狂います。 tends to be remembered superficially (i.e. only referencing their appearance)? Whatever you have to share about 愛狂います。, let’s discuss it!

Cheesecake is one of the best things in the world. Jesus, can't get enough of it.

Beat me to it, Kels. x'D I'm very excited in giving this a listen, they're so lovable.

He's doing support drums for Piglow in Gloomy last time I heard.

There's not enough interest or market for it. Remember Tofu records? It folded almost immediately. Things like Babymetal and Psy are novelty acts; they're exceptions, not the rule. There's no market for music performed in non-English languages in America unless you're, say, targeting the ethnic population of a foreign bands home country (like Mexican rock band Mana touring in America and playing the southwest and west coast). There aren't enough Japanese-Americans, let alone Japanese Americans that listen to visual kei, to bother spending the money to push that stuff over here. You'd lose your shirt, guaranteed. Anime con gigs work because you have every weaboo in an X-mile radius packed together already. It wouldn't be profitable to come to America and tour and hit the 5-10 major cities in the region playing to smaller crowds, but it IS profitable to play the con. The market is not there naturally, but in this circumstance there is an opportunity to make a quick buck. Rammstein had a global hit with Du Haust and still do really well when they come to America, but did that mean there was a market for German-language rock in America? Clearly there wasn't. The market itself has sorted all this out already: there were some visual kei fans and they purchased imports, someone like Tofu records thought there might be an opportunity to make some money, there wasn't enough interest and Tofu records folded, and fans are back to buying imports. Guys in Visual Kei bands know that if they want to make it in America they'd have to relocate here, learn to sing in English, and work their way up from the very bottom. Chance of success is virtually zero, so they're smart enough to stay in Tokyo where there is an interest in what they do.

nice song

The singer from Dog in the Parallel World Orchestra is what I imagine a soulless vessel for the devil would look and sound like. He has dead eyes.

Yeah, I can't listen to An Cafe, Blu-Billion, RonoCro.. well, RonoCro had maybe 1 song that I found listenable. .. I don't like the vocalists from Moran, yazzmad, D=OUT, D, Dir en grey. I might have liked some of their songs but the vocals ruined it.

Practically the kind of response I wanted to throw in, thank you tetora. You'd have to take into account the dominant ethos of Japan regarding making music "for the certain group" rather than "for everyone" (see: K-music - and regarding my earlier statements about frills and approaches in K-music, even acts in the vein of Jambinai take many hints from Western alternative (especially post-music) to gain this platform of "international relevance"). This could be truly witnessed in VK where they still try to keep their loyalty towards the (small) visual image-endorsing group intact while forgetting about actually extending their scope! I am pretty sure that there's a certain bunch of VK acts who could go for the latter but the overall progress is so sluggish (hence almost everyone admitting that VK is "way far behind"). The jury is still out on when will most Japanese scenes finally find a way to overcome this idea of "for the certain group" and promote flexibility towards widespread recognition and eventual acceptance. For now it merely seems like they are intentionally trying to stay inside this "shell of PR isolation".

their 4th one-coin single "Hexenprozess" (Re-recording ver.) will be released through their official web-shop since 2016/03/22 and at their live at Shinsaibashi JUZA at 2016/03/19 (500yen)

They put a skull fucking revolver up to other band's heads

video for KARATE. not sure if you need to be registered to watch. it's a Russian social network, VK. no longer needed.

Nanase Aikawa is forever bae. Bad girls for the fuckin' win.

It's too early to point out that A9 became a "better" band after witnessing merely a small bunch of post-PSC repertoire. As much as many monochromiums like to project their contempt/disgust towards anything PSC, we need to acknowledge that a tremendous number of brilliant records have been produced under Tomomi's (President of PSC) wing - in Alice Nine's case it would be obviously Gemini (produced during Gazette's eventual "demise" in 2011) and "9" (palatable continuation to Gemini's otherwise "innovative" soundscape, produced when it became all the rage in MH to call PSC "totalitarian music regime" or in any similarish slurring manner). I used to feel cozy on this bandwagon of usual PSC bashing but at the same time - I learned to question my preference towards this company when I understood PSC's input having a positive side as well (obvious but this seems to be skimmed over). After all, I have to feel happy about PSC actually granting A9 chances (back in 2010) to collaborate with one of the most prominent producers in Japan, Hajime Okano (the lead guy behind e.g. Laruku's pop era, incl. Ark/Ray and Kiss) in order to redefine their sound as something more airplay-worthier, but at the same time "nostalgically creative" (since "nostalgic" is the adjective of success in '10s after all). Until someone actually manages to go hunting in Wikileaks-ish fashion and prove that Tomomi and Co. DO bear hindering regime-like control (i.e. lack of flexibility on songwriters' part has nothing to do with the process) over bandomen's deeds, I would suggest looking into the positive efforts of PSC-era A9. PS. I find it appalling that GEMINI gets little love here, really. Oh, and SUPERNOVA singles weren't bad at all either! On-topic: I cannot see any significant changes behind this move either - D=Out transformed into one-of-a-kind-ish VK act under PSC's wing too, right?

love hate nimbly~ love hate nimbly~ the fortune flower told me that I should care about you - one-sided love

their new album "HYSTERIA" will be released at 2016/04/20 (12 songs, 3,240yen)

Morrrrre recorrrrds. Janelle Monae - Metropolis: The Chase Suite (Cherry Red Vinyl, signed and w/ CD)

Shitposting is the only way I can get off anymore

I have never noticed anything of that huge following here on the forum, at least — most people I have heard about them on here either have no opinion or despise Kouki's voice entirely. Their last full album has barely been received here, or at least that's what I have witnessed (or rather, failed to witness). They have always been one of those bands I preferred staying quiet about even while I completely adore them, and even I am not quite sure why. I have no opinion on them departing from PS Company either, to me it seemed like they were already off doing their own thing with their latest single and album because it did not quite seem to fit in the label's regime.

Memories of Cynthia A diamond in the rough that brings together all the qualities we love about 90's visual-kei. Every age of music has a few standout acts, and the visual-kei scene is absolutely no exception. When looking at somewhat official sources of information on the subject (think Wikipedia or something of that nature), you’re almost guaranteed to find a few notable examples of acts that have irrefutably left their mark: X, Luna Sea, Kuroyume, Shazna, Malice Mizer, Penicillin, Color, Glay—the list could go on and on. However, there are also other examples of lesser-known names who were equally as enjoyable, but may did not have achieved the same amount of financial success as the greats. While the phrase “fringe acts are fringe for a reason” holds quite a bit of merit, intrinsic artistic value cannot always been measured by number of CDs sold. To me, Cynthia is a prime example of a hidden gem that goes unremembered except by a very small few. As an official reviewer, I feel that part of my duties is to preserve their memory and ensure that such a great band does not get lost in the sands of time. On the surface, Cynthia were a fairly typical late 90’s visual band; band—gaudy outfits that were probably hand-made, long, flowing hair in a variety of unnatural colors, and heavy handed makeup. This was a time in visual-kei in which the scene was transitioning into its third era — softer, melodic bands were quite common and successful, but a new wave of darker and more flamboyant bands were was beginning to arise on popular labels like Matina and Key Party - where visual-kei started to branch out and really experiment with costumes as a result of bands like Malice Mizer and Lareine, and seek different forms of music that weren’t necessarily trying to be Kuroyume or Luna Sea. In this ecosystem, Cynthia was formed and produced quite colorful music that unfortunately has fallen to the wayside. Before their demise, the band released a collection album called Memories of Cynthia that contains the vast majority of their output in one location. While collection albums today are somewhat redundant, as most material is very easy to come be either digitally or in a store, the songs here are guaranteed to be better quality than their original tape forms and it seems like some of them have also been rerecorded too. Having only tried them relatively recently, what drew me to Cynthia was their ability to take the popular melodic rock, mix it with some metallic influences, and add in symphonic orchestration. While most of the instrumental aspects to their music were undeniably artificial, such as canned background pipe organ and choirs a la Malice Mizer, the way in which they were used really caught my attention. Take for example, their song “in solitude.” This song makes fantastic use of melancholic vocal melodies and clever guitar work that is perfectly accented by both background pipe organ runs, ominous choir harmonies, and super dramatic tension and resolutions in their melodic progression of the whole song. This was the first track I had ever heard by Cynthia and was immediately hooked — the way that it is structured was so much better than a generic late 90’s song, coupled with their well placed guitar arpeggios that transition so well from section to section, made me know that this wasn’t just another faceless band (don’t get me wrong—no-name bands are my bread and butter) who was just cashing in on the eins zwei dreis of the time. While this song does have technical flaws in its composition and delivery, it makes up for them in its passion and capacity to really drive home a feeling of solitude, even if it is behind a thick veil of ridiculous campiness that I’ve grown to love. From hearing this album numerous times, what draws me to Cynthia is exactly that—a solid sense of musicianship that isn’t afraid to not take itself so seriously. This band is prone to delivering bombastic guitar solos, super cheesy (in a loving way!) symphonic elements, and vocals that glue it all together with its raw charm that I can only seem to find in visual-kei. A perfect example of what I mean is track 9 – “Breathless Tears.” This song is a conglomeration of everything I love about the scene and all of its hallmarks: acoustic support guitar, ultra melodic bridges, English that isn’t quite audible, arpeggios accented by a completely artificial chorus, and a killer guitar solo to show that they can still play even if they did up the cheesiness to level 10. The ritardando (slight slowing down of tempo) towards the end of the song before the last rehash of the chorus also really drives the song home for me, as does the clearly classically-inspired ending phrase that surprisingly ends in a major key. Whoever their main composer was clearly did their homework and drew influence from more sources than just “Hall of the Mountain King.” While I regrettably do not know too much of Cynthia’s history and their relation to other ~friend bands~, it was pretty interesting to hear that they often used guest vocalists to cameo on a few songs. While I do not recognize most of them, it’s a super call effect that I wish happened more often (Versailles’ “Princess” that used Kaya, allegedly, doesn’t really count). For example, in the industrial-influenced “Manipulate,” the core lyric during the chorus is “Crazy for you!” blurted out in between each line. Towards the end of the song you are able to hear several special guests chime in. While this song is fun in its own right for its very mechanically sounding guitar work and relentlessly obsessive melodic structure, the addition of random people really makes the song so much cooler. Special guests are featured again in another track on Memory of Cynthia, entitled “Rain~Rain by the name of Desperation~.” While this song is much faster paced and more organic sounding than the previous example, cameos are made towards the end in a similar you-each-get-one-line between phrases in the chorus fashion. In spite of its ridiculous name, “Rain” is probably my second favorite song by Cynthia. It’s super pretty, yet spunky, and with a name like that you can expect the most music-video-full-of-face-touchingly-fun melodramatic cheese possible (side note: I’m both bewildered and happy that I’m sure people will know exactly what I mean by that). If a random reggae breakdown doesn’t peak your interest, then I’m sure the barrage of vocalist exchanges will. I do not think that they used the same special guests in this song they did in “Manipulate,” but then again I can only recognize one because he has an incredibly distinctive voice, and that is Yayoi (of Vice Risk / Deadly Sanctuary / Angel+Dust, etc and current owner of Rockstar Records). Fair warning: towards the end of this song, the very last sung part is a very big “for mmeeeeeee!!” that isn’t quite…the right note. He damn well tried, though. In spite of their flaws, Cynthia were a pretty phenomenal band. I truly appreciate the intricacies they placed in their compositions and their out-of-the-box approach to typical song archetypes of the time. While I can see their success being limited by their somewhat strange quality of their vocalist’s voice, they definitely deserve more credit today than they currently get. If you check out this album and like what you hear, I also recommend checking out their contemporary partner L,Dear, another symphonic band that had some great guitar work but had fairly long songs similar to how X wrote their classics like “Jealousy” and “Dhalia.”