Leaderboard

dumb sis, I (and most of my clique) have been purchasing legal media (and concert tickets, if we're at it) since ~2004, when the only delivery option was DHL and it was expensive a.f. to ship shizzle alone I lost interest in ~supporting the scene~ almost completely many years ago and buy less than 3 CDs per year on average and I don't care if you're trying to buff your own ego by re-telling no1curr indiefag bandomen some distorted version of western fandom you're trying to invent for whom? for what? literally get a life and get off social media and let band management do their job deciding how and where to sell their products. oh and learn how to make coherent points, or something, for real, before u run amok screaming about muh filesharing gaijin pigguz

This is how I would describe all their albums. I figure you can start with what sounds appealing to you and make your way around. My personal favs are Macabre, Vulgar, and Arche. Gauze - Classic 80's/90's jrock with a bit of bite, a nice mix of pop songs and heavy metal Macabre - An evolution of Gauze with more experimentation Kisou - Crunchier, heavier, and more industrial than the previous two Vulgar - An evolution of Kisou, heavier, more industrial and refined. Still retains a fun upbeat atmosphere. Strong Western rock influence. Withering to Death - A stripped down form of Vulgar with less industrial sounds. Even stronger Western influences and a darker more vicious listening experience. Marrow of the Bone - Raw, violent, unrefined and dark. Very depressing and hopeless atmosphere. Uroboros - A change in direction. Injects strong oriental and spiritual vibes into their sound. The album is a journey. Dum Spiro Spero - It's like an exaggeration of Uroboros. Takes the sounds from previous album and intensifies everything. More spiritual vibes, heavier, more contemporary/avantegarde song writing. Arche - A return to form. You can hear a bit of all their past work mixed in with their current sound. Overall, a softer more tame listening experience.

The "not selling to overseas fans because it will end up online 99% of the time" just seems like rampant xenophobia tbh, and they don't deserve money if that's the case.

Hi, I'm new here. Brief intro, my nick derive from always using the 3rd stall in the restroom.

he's out x

Pitty will get his revenge one by one, slowly but surely.

the good sis realized how trash ha band was and is trying to #BreakFree mark my words

In summary everyone has their way of supporting a band. There are smaller bands I like that I know might not get shared online and in that case I often purchase their releases. But I can't ever see myself stopping downloading music illegally. I want to discover new bands and try out stuff and I'm not paying shipping + customs + CD price just to find out if this ~mysterious ~ band is worth it. Will I purchase gazette's NINTH if it isn't shared here? Not really. If it isn't here it'll be somewhere else eventually and I'm in no rush. I've supported them a lot over the years I've stanned them and I feel that they no longer need my money as much. Also I don't think the opinions of 25~ish people is enough to give a good sample of the western vk scene's mindset to a bandoman. Especially since a lot of the fans in MH are the older, more responsible kind of fan that is able to spend and we know that like 60% if not more of the scene are teens that think using a band's picture on their phone counts as legitimate support, so...

kinda here for rosette nebula tbh vampires-in-space-kei stans, rejoice!

Second track of "Narrow Escape" has been confirmed as "Rosette Nebula". Previews can be heard on the band's discography page. Limited edition CD & DVD Regular edition LIVE DVD cover

Being perfectly honest, choosing not to post the Gazette’s new album won’t affect much. Gazette fans will still pre-order the thing, regardless of download status (unless they’re underage, or broke) People who don’t really care about the Gazette that much won’t have their buying habits altered by a temporary unavailability. Bands that aren’t established *might* be able to sway overseas buying habits if they make an effort, and are willing to try ways to work with a diverse market (ex Vivarush). But as a whole, the Japanese music industry is more antagonistic than helpful regarding non-Japanese fans. They’ve never counted on our sales.

literally print this entire post and make it the new header for the forum also @ DW, you might wanna get this egomania and saviour behavior checked, all you're doing is harming a dying scene and an old community that's always been getting things around since way before you probably knew the internet existed. as much as you want to, you're not gonna control how an entire forum and group thinks and does things. thankfully not everything is or should be tailored to your own specific wishes.

I second this tbh. (Though I'd probably start with Vulgar.) I'd known Diru for a while but got into them right before Withering came out. Since it aligned with my music taste at the time it was easy to get into, and from there on they continued releasing things in a fairly logical diru-evolution (along with my own). I've always liked Vulgar as well but the ones before I've never been able to link with. Maybe if I'd gotten into them earlier.

Start from the beginning and work your way forward. It's a time investment but it's interesting to follow the bands evolution and as a new listener you have a chance to do it much faster than the rest of us could.

Ok, this sample nonsense is getting old. The band will release the samples very soon, so have some goddamn patience and chill the fuck out. If you really wanna stay updated, follow the band on social media or check up their website. It's not that hard. As for those trolling the samples, that's enough. Any more posts about this will be hidden and you may even receive a warning.

SHUT UP! THATS FUCKING BULLSHIT! BLOOD TASTES LIKE VANILLA!

Me and my sleepy pup.

In celebration of Monochrome-Heaven's 10th Anniversary, we've decided to hop in our musical time machine and take a look at some of the important, classic, and downright pivotal J-rock albums of 2007! Below you'll find albums that left a significant impression on us as fledgeling J-rock fans and albums that impacted the fandom at large. So let's put on our nostalgia-goggles and take a look, shall we!!?? 9mm Parabellum Bullet Termination Alongside the likes of ling tosite sigure, these guys were one of the most hyped bands amongst the J-indie fandom at the time - and with great reason. On this album, 9mm crafted the perfect blend of explosive indie rock with elements of punk, hardcore, and metal - creating a sound so dynamic and fresh that even their naysayers couldn't deny it! TERMINATION was only their first full-length album, but it's responsible for inspiring an entire generation of successive bands with an influence that's still palpable to this day. Sadly, 9mm descended into utter mediocrity after this release, but this remains one of the few albums that I'd consider flawless, and it's widely regarded as a classic by fans. -@CAT5 girugamesh girugämesh Few albums I have listened to in their entirety as much as girugamesh’s 2007 eponymous release. The 45-minute epic strips the soul bare - from the dynamic opener “Patchwork” to the heart wrenching “Kowarete Iku Sekai”, girugämesh brought out an unmatched explosion of creativeness from a group of friends that, despite barely breaking into their 20s, had given their all into music. It is a quality seldom heard in VK today as they channelled all of their aggression, elation, desperation, pain and longing, relishing the listener in girugamesh’s world of raw emotion where each song held meaning and every individual tune stuck to memory. This is certainly one of the albums that not only epitomized 2007, but defined girugamesh for me. For many of us, bands like girugamesh catered to our angst-ridden adolescence, as we threw away our childish inclinations while gravitating toward the darker side of VK. And it was partially thanks to this album that gave me the faith to continue following them throughout their tumultuous latter years and see their career to their end, finally gaining closure with their swansong “period” that took them back to their formative roots. -@helcchi bis Believe in Style If girugamesh represented the transition into the dark side of visual kei to the generation that were growing up in the 00s, bis held tight to that childhood naïveté as they remained frozen in time, echoing sounds of a bygone era of oshare kei. An ode to eternal youth, Believe in Style is an endearing Summer album that embodied all the stupid things we did when we were young and all the fun we had - free of consequences and responsibilities, as well as the bitterness we held towards growing up. “Start”, “DAYS” and “SEASONS” were the quintessential high school anthems that perhaps started many people's venture into j-rock, brimming with youthful energy, catchy tunes and an attitude ready to conquer the world. It certainly seemed that success would come easy with the bright-eyed popular young band shooting their way to the top of the indies charts, yet bis’ world was painted through rose-colored glasses. And like many young bands trying to gain their footing in an adult world, the fun was short-lived and they disbanded way too early. Believe in Style would be their first and only full-length album, however not before leaving us with heartwarming memories. -@helcchi D'espairsRay MIRROR Perhaps the only album I personally covered that sounds just as good today as it did ten years ago, MIRROR is one of the defining visual kei albums of the '00s. Every time I think of the mysterious cover, the riff to "Trickster" starts playing in my mind and Hizumi's crooning is like a harpoon that gets stuck in your head and can't be removed. It's funny to imagine how divisive this album was when it came out because it sounded nothing like [Coll:set], but in retrospect I might consider it the most approachable D'espairsRay album that still maintains the darkness I love them for. There's also bittersweet sentimentality talking, as this is the release which marks the point of no return for many fans. -@Zeus Eksperimentoj Eksperimentoj Having garnered a good amount of clout from the highly regarded band Dhal (a side-project formed by Aoki Robin of downy), vocalist Eugene Wakamikoto's first album with his own band Eksperimentoj was certainly a release of great interest back in 2007. In a lot of ways, Eksperimentoj sounded something like a spiritual successor to downy (who were on hiatus at the time and would remain as such for another 6 years). Eugene wrote and sung the album entirely in English, yet he sounded almost identical to Aoki Robin, and musically, the band played a gloomy, atmospheric style of post-rock that was aesthetically in line with downy as well. Though in spite of the similarities, Eksperimentoj still occupied a space of their own. Unfortunately, this was the only album they ever released, yet it's singular to this very day. -@CAT5 HIZAKI grace project Dignity of crest Released on New Year's Day of 2007, HIZAKI grace project's first album was significant for me as it ushered in the second wind of my VK fandom, which is still kickin' today. I was delighted to see an old face, Juka (ex-Moi dix Mois), combined with some great neoclassical guitarwork and subtle tinges of MALICE MIZER (dat harpsichord in "Philosopher") that brought me back to when I first learned of VK in 2002. Virtuoso guitarists HIZAKI and Teru went on to form Versailles and Jupiter, but I still come back to Dignity to crest fairly often, as it showcases some of their best riffing. -@fitear1590 Ling tosite sigure Inspiration is DEAD Ling tosite sigure (who were still being referred to as 'rin toshite shigure' by western fans at the time), had to be the most exciting band in Japanese indie at the time. Here you had a demure indie rock trio playing music with the technical prowess and ferocity of a death metal band, and their creativity seemed to know no bounds. Even if you found the vocals grating or annoying, you couldn't deny the Ling's ingenuity. Hell, before I grew to appreciate them, I found myself simply captivated by all of TK's insane riffage alone. Coming from a band so talented, and so obviously inspired, Inspiration is DEAD seemed like a statement - a dig against all of the bands who were content to tread the status quo instead of breaking new ground. And that's exactly what Ling did with this album, as they continued to do for years to come. Inspiration is DEAD remains a fan-favorite to this day, and as the band's final indie release, it's one of the most raw and unkempt records they've put out - a far cry from the polished, formulaic, and generally diluted music they've been producing lately. -@CAT5 LOSTAGE DRAMA Just a year after LOSTAGE dropped the classic PLAY WITH ISOLATION, they returned again with this spectacular release. DRAMA took all of the emo-tinged indie rock of the previous album, but accentuated it with hard rock elements which resulted in a fresh and powerful new sound for the band. In fact, you could argue that this is the album that set the tone for the rest of the their career, as the style they crafted here is one that they've continued to hone throughout every album since. Truly a highlight in LOSTAGE's discography and the year 2007 alike. -@CAT5 MERRY M.E.R.R.Y. After ten years, M.E.R.R.Y. still remains as one of MERRY's most memorable albums due to the band's versatile sound, which consisted of distorted punk rock with jazzy elements, groovy melodies, and some tender ballads. The singles included are "Blind Romance", "Saihate no Parade (最果てのパレード)", and the tender "Komorebi ga Boku o Sagashi Teru (木洩れ日が僕を探してる・・・)", which all remain as fan-favorite tracks today. In fact, 2007 was around the time of MERRY's prime, as the band had already been signed with major label Victor Entertainment for 2 years, and they had already performed overseas for the first time a few months prior to the album's release. Personally, the album has some of my favorite MERRY tracks ever, including "Utagoe Kissa 『MODERN』 (歌声喫茶『モダン』)", the catchy and melodic "Hirahira Tonderu. (ひらひらとんでる。)" (whose PV was directed by FULL of GUNIW TOOLS), and dat sweet bass solo at the start of "Coq d'or mama (コックドール・ママ)". -@suji nayuta solar ribbon・solar children Never heard of this band? No worries - most people hadn't heard of this band ten years ago either! In fact, nayuta is so obscure that only some of the most hardcore J-indie enthusiasts that I know have come across them, as this album wasn't released widely and almost no information can be found on it today. Still, despite their stature, nayuta has to be one of the best kept secrets of the J-indie scene, and this album is one of the best that you've never heard. On Myspace (yes, Myspace was still a thing in 07), they used to describe themselves as 'Underground hardcore parade music', and while that's actually pretty apt in a weird way, it doesn't do them justice. There's a definitely a hardcore element to their music, which is further emphasized by the rough and noisy production quality, but the band makes creative use of melody while maintaining the beauty of it. Add in some sublime male/female vocals and you have a sound that's as chaotic as it is charming. solar ribbon・solar children may be a hidden gem, but it's well worth excavating to wrap your ears around. -@CAT5 OGRE YOU ASSHOLE AlphaBeta vs. Lambda If bands like Ling tosite sigure and 9mm Parabellum Bullet were dominating the aggressive side of Japanese indie in 2007, then on the opposite end of the spectrum, OGRE YOU ASSHOLE were the kings of slacker rock. The band already an album and a mini-album under their belts at the time, but Alpha Beta vs. Lambda truly solidified them as an indie rock force to be reckoned with. Characterized by laid-back grooves, smooth vocals, colorful riffs, and tight instrumentation, OYA carved out a delightful sound on this album that many younger bands like mitsume and siamese cats have aimed at, yet have never quite been able to hit. Hell, even the band themselves have never been able to live up to the sound they established here - and they've released eight albums since! -@CAT5 Plastic Tree Nega to Poji 2007 marked the 10th anniversary since Plastic Tree's major debut, and to pay all their efforts for making it that far, they decided to release the groundbreaking and jaw dropping album that is Nega to Poji. It was a major turning point for Plastic Tree, throwing away the old and bringing out new ideas. Nega to Poji as a whole laid out such a unique charm that if you listened to one song out of the album context you'd instantly recognize the Nega to Poji sound; the dreaminess, the grungy guitars, and Ryutaro's less childish to mesmerizing vocals. Honestly, there really is no bad track on the album as they all give it a perfect balance, except for old, but newer versions of tracks like "Spica", "Makka na Ito", and "hate red, dip it", that might feel like extras to some. I do admit however, that the new "hate red, dip it (loudest sound version)" flows well with the rest of the album. You've got the dreamy "Nemureru Mori" as a tranquil start, the pumping "Fujunbutsu" and "Elegy" to amp up the noise and energy, the heavy "Sabbath", which is possibly their heaviest track other than "Ghost", some impressive drumming in the melancholic "Kuroi Kasa", and the beautiful and heartbreaking "Andro Metamorphose" that received huge debate for copying Mew's song "Comforting Sounds", yet is still loved by most, if not all pura fans. I remember playing this album on heavy rotation the day it released. It was one of the best things I heard at the time and is still an absolute favorite of mine, which I'm sure many fans can agree with as well. Hell, there's even a whole studio version of the album on DVD from the limited edition. -@plastic_rainbow RENTRER EN SOI The bottom of chaos It's not the album that springs to mind when I think of classics, but THE BOTTOM OF CHAOS is the album I think of when I think of Rentrer en Soi. The sound of a band successfully reinventing themselves to fit the hype sound of the time while still retaining their defining features and simultaneously progressing is as difficult to pull off as it is to describe, but for the most part THE BOTTOM OF CHAOS does this successfully. The album hasn't aged as well as I would have hoped - the production sounds thin, the growls are weak, and the best moments are segments of tracks spread over the whole affair rather than one or two solid songs - but when the entire package is this consistent it's still fun for a spin. Give this one a try if you want to know what fans a decade ago thought the tops in heavy music was. -@Zeus school food punishment air feel, color swim school food punishment debuted with their first mini-album school food is good food back in the spring of 2007, instantly turning heads as one of the new, promising indie bands on the block. Some people were even quick to compare them to Spangle call Lilli line - one of the most prominent female-fronted indie bands of the time. However, It wasn't until later that year with the release of this album that sfp really began to come into their own. The groovy, upbeat power-pop of the tracks like "you may crawl" and "art line" were basically the prototypes for what would become sfp's signature sound later on in their major label years. While the moody and dramatic "loop, share" was like a precursor to the band's 3rd mini-album Riff-rain, which came to be widely regarded as their best work when it dropped the next year. Still air feel, color swim is an important release that marks the development of a band that later grew to become iconic in their own right. -@CAT5 Shiina Ringo Heisei Fuzoku Shiina Ringo is a legendary figure in Japanese music, hands down. With her gigantic and diverse discography, it can be quite overwhelming to start digging in. While I started with her most famous albums 勝訴ストリップ (Shouso Strip) and 加爾基 精液 栗ノ花 (Kalk Semen Chestnut Flower), I wasn't officially 'sold' on her until heisei fuuzoku. The album, which was arranged with the help of Neko Saito and served as a film OST, is a collection of self-covers and new tracks (like "Gamble"), all with a sumptuous orchestral/jazz/big band sound. The reinterpretation of "茎 (kuki)" as a sultry jazz number is particularly unreal. For anyone not quite ready for Shiina's pop-rock or more experimental side, heisei fuuzoku is another great entry point to her oeuvre. -@fitear1590 the GazettE STACKED RUBBISH 2007 might have been the last year I was flat-out head-over-heels in love with visual kei. Great albums and band debuts were happening left and right, its popularity was growing, bands were touring internationally, and people were still allowed to post fan-made content on YouTube (or am I the only one missing hilarious fanvids?). One of my most played albums that year, and probably my most played GazettE album ever, was STACKED RUBBISH. Not only did the singles leading up to the album kick ass, but just about every B-side from them was just as good in their own right, and it's no surprise some ended up making it to the final cut. The album enveloped the singles perfectly too, with just the right amount of variety between upbeat clap-alongs like "ガンジスに紅い薔薇(ganges ni akai bara)" and "SWALLOWTAIL ON THE DEATH VALLEY" and GazettE's classic, bitter aggression in tracks like "BURIAL APPLICANT", "MOB 136 BARS" and "CIRCLE OF SWINDLER". A light sprinkling of Ruki's new-found 'hip hop' influence also gave the album a dose of intrigue, as it opened with the questionably titled and unintentionally hilarious "ART DRAWN BY VOMIT" as well as the unforgettable did-he-really-just-say-fuckboy? engrish in "AGONY". Whether it's for a good laugh or a good headbang, STACKED RUBBISH's epic-ness needs to live on forever in VK infamy. Yes I did probably link the entire album, fight me. -@doombox Tokyo Jihen Variety Let's take a trip back to the past when Tokyo Jihen was saving jazz and Shiina Ringo was still relevant. Believe it or not, Tokyo Jihen's third full-length 娯楽(バラエティ), pronounced Goraku, turns ten this year! Feel old yet? I would consider 娯楽 to be the black sheep of their discography, mostly due to everyone but Ringo composing music for this release. 娯楽 includes seven tracks from guitarist Ukigumo, five tracks from keyboard player Ichiyo Izawa and one composed by bassist Seiji Kameda. Drummer Toshiki Hata was also asked to contribute, but he declined. There's nothing wrong with it, but when it comes time to name drop Tokyo Jihen tracks, my mind often does not wander here. 娯楽 is best known for lead singles "O.S.C.A." and "キラーチューン" (Killer-tune), and "金魚の箱" (Kingyo no Hako) which became the theme for the film 魍魎の匣 (Mouryou no Hako), but my personal favorite song is "黒猫道" (Kuroneko-do). It ended up selling 175,000 copies and was certified Gold by the RIAJ. -@Zeus trico MUSICS Sometimes brilliance goes overlooked because it's found in the most unexpected places, or in trico's case - a place that wasn't even on the radar for most. 2006 saw the release of the band's first album, but it was just humdrum enough to be negligible. They hadn't become a band that you'd hear readily flying off the lips of J-indie fans, so it made sense that Musics went by barely detected when it dropped the next year. I'm not sure what transpired in the time between these two releases, but trico had clearly become inspired in the interim. As opposed to downy, who were far left-field, and sleepy.ab, who were perhaps a bit too poppy, trico managed to hit the perfect stride of Radiohead-inspired rock, while also forging their own identity. With Musics, the band remained highly accessible while keeping things interesting. They took some interesting creative liberties, employing unusual sounds and subtly progressive arrangements, yet never became overly-experimental or self-indulgent. This was a short but fantastic mini-album, and it's a shame that this was trico's last proper release. I would have LOVED to hear what else they could have gone on to produce! -@CAT5 Versailles Lyrical Sympathy Many of these tracks have been revisited and re-recorded in many releases by Versailles, which should indicate just how influential this release is. The Revenant Choir was the first release, but Lyrical Sympathy is what opened the door and introduced the band to the world. Classics such as "The Love from a Dead Orchestra" and "Sympathia" are among many fan favorites, and it's always refreshing to hear a power-metal band take a few trends and buck them. Actually, there are only one or two tracks here which haven't made a reappearance because they've even recycled the intro track! A decade ago when I first stumbled across Versailles, I never thought I'd have the opportunity to see them grow and come this far. Lyrical Sympathy holds up if you approach it from an ideas perspective, but as far as execution goes it's a diamond in the rough that I enjoy with the thickest rose-tinted glasses I can find. -@Zeus - Liked our list? Disagree with our list? Did we miss anything? Feel free to leave your comments below, let us know what you think, and let us know what albums you found remarkable that have turned 10 this year!

A Barking Dog Never Bites (ABDNB) new single "∀NDER" will be released at 2018/04/15. TrackList: 1. 咆哮 2. Welcome to the “W∀NDERLAND”

"OBSCURE" is one of the most graphic and notorious music videos ever crafted within visual kei, catapulting the band back into the spotlight after a sudden stylistic shift sent their fans into a frenzy. It's famous for both its shock value and its strong anti-abortion stance. Abortion isn't a dinner table conversation in any country, but I've always sensed that there's an extra level of taboo attached to this topic in Japanese circles. So naturally, Dir en grey went the extra mile with some of the best CGI 2004 could buy. Is there some actual meaning behind this imagery, or is it all shock value? Watching it back now, this video isn't as extreme as a younger, more impressionable me thought. I discovered that there's mostly memorable segments, but most of the video is the band rocking out in a dingy room with bodies hanging from the ceiling. These also are the least offensive parts of the video too, unless you have a particular hate for vomit, leather, or white contact lenses. And if you do, how are you a visual kei fan? Anyway, the room resembles a hospital or a jail, although it's probably the back of an old fishing warehouse. There's nothing else to really discuss here. I tried my hardest to weave together a story that makes sense. The closest I can get is depictions of their anguish over this topic and how it's treated, which could be all they were going for. The main scenes cycle throughout the course of the video, and each of these scenes seem unconnected to the others. To sum it up: there's a demon orgy, robot cocks, a monk ripping a baby's head apart covered in ofuda screaming to the Lord of Light, a dissected half robot/woman creation on a table with a mad doctor, circus performers, depictions of the band as monsters mutilating themselves, and of course the infamous demon geisha eating the apple baby head. The meaning of some scenes are obvious: the orgy depicts sexual irresponsibility, the circus is about how the topic is treated as a joke, and the doctor and robot is supposed to resemble abortion and the act of playing god. Several elements appear in different contexts, such as the geisha and baby heads. The woman on the table is shown as not in control of her body, the doctor with the huge forceps symbolizes the invasiveness of the procedure, the ofuda which covers the monk is meant to ward off evil, and the constant depiction of monsters and demons is meant to associate abortion with bad omens. The rest of this music video is pure shock value and there's no real meaning to anything. One thing I should mention before wrapping this up is that Dir en grey threw some serious shade at men in this music video. During the orgy scenes, the women have bare faces but the men are all covered with masks. I have several interpretations of this. One parallel I immediately noticed was to (surprisingly) porn, where it's all too common for the woman's face to be visible but the man is a secondary figure, and videos are associated with the woman and not the man. On a deeper level, it's also commentary on the unequal burden pregnancy puts on women. The men literally "don't see" what happens when they orgasm (hint: the women stop enjoying the orgy and start bleeding out their mouths with pained expressions on their faces), they don't have to deal with it, and they can carry on not caring, mouths transfixed in a smile. I dug deeper into the whole mask angle, and discovered that in Japanese mythology, oni masks refer to the belief in a spirit world in which demons carry out their roles of punishing the unjust and evil, as well as spreading disease. Double dip on the whole "spreading disease" = "venereal disease" bit if you want, but I don't think it goes that far. I think Dir en grey feel that men who do this and don't care are literally demons and worse than the women, but clearly the whole eating the baby's head idea also associates certain kinds of women with demons too. The band themselves aren't exactly human either, with Shinya's deformed body and Kyo's lovely tentacle mouth, so perhaps the band thinks everyone is a demon and that everyone is responsible? As far as PV's go for visual kei bands, this one is near the top in terms of effort and production values, even for today's standards. I'm sure there's more left to be discussed. What do you think?

Both his family and the band have not been able to contact him and he has not answered any of their messages. Setsuna hopes that he will be found rapidly. https://twitter.com/setsu_morrigan/status/982259725063544834

You mean when he actually had a band?

Both the CD and the DVD will be released on 2018.04.12.

"you yell" as a vocalist alias is the most ingenious thing VK has delivered in the past forty years tho, nothing but respeck 4 my king

☕☕☕

omg I love that she included a black girl in the photoshoot, queen of representation & ending xenophobia

I honestly promote sharing toward rare releases. Otherwise its your decision at the end day to care about sharing or not and also to buy or not/support the official band. Also concerts are a thing too as much as people pray for world tours. Personally i wanna buy as much stuff as i can of one thing before it becomes rare of course when i get the money. This kinda leads off topic to economic stuffs which is kinda a bore. Besides that Ive been in situations where ive known about a band for a while but never really took the time to invest then it became rare [Examples: OZ, Dio distraught overlord etc..] It feels more right in owning a release. Overall my opinion wait for a release you don't want it rushed to have it end up being crap at the end and support the band as much as you can when you can.

Dark Funeral - I was looking forward to Dark Funeral considering their latest album, Where Shadows Forever Reign, is by far their best release since Diabolis Interium, but this was one hell of a disappointing gig. They're known for poor, muddy sound live, but the overall sound wasn't really too bad. The setlist was disappointing with only three tracks off Dark Funeral, The Secrets of the Black Arts and Vobiscum Satanas (and album that should have been in the focus considering it's 20 years old this year), the new frontman, Heljarmadr of Domgård and Grá, was too slick, too boring. But the main problem was the sound of the bass drums. Made it unbearable really. Napalm Death - The band, with Mitch Harris in the front, made one hell of an energic and fun show . The sound was top notch, Mitch Harris moved around like he was on some strong, scary fucking drugs and the setlist was alright. Great gig! Covered fucking Anti Cimex as well. Top notch! Fleshgod Apocalypse - I've already written about these guys, but let me add that I've seen them two times and both gigs are among the 5 worst gigs I've ever seen. Maybe even among the 3 worst. Fans of these shitheads should be executed right away. Fuck off! Origin - I'm not fan of this kind of brutal and technical death metal, and I didn't like the music a lot. But it was a really fucking fascinating gig and I am glad I saw them. I was just standing there with my mouth open and watching their bassist for the entire gig really. Holy cow. The speed, technicality and precision, man. Wow! It was both fun and interesting watching him. The thing I did not like was the vocalist. Jason Keyser acted and sounded like he belonged in a shitty deathcore band, not a death metal band. Grave - Grave is among the classic death metal bands from sweden that helped form the classic swedish death metal sound, and I was looking forward to this gig. But I did expect to be let down by a setlist with too many new songs. They played one song from Out of Respect for the Dead and Dominion VIII, and the rest of the tracks, which was 10, was from 1993 and backwards. Six songs from Into the Grave, two songs from You'll Never See..., one song from ...and Here I Die...Satisfied and one song from their third demo Anatomia Corporis Humani. That is a truly amazing setlist. All respect to the band who seem smart enough to understand what their audience wants. Fantastic! Ahab - I'm not the biggest fan and when I want funeral doom I tend to go for something else, but this gig was so fucking good. Dark, heavy and crushing. It was like being taken on a trip over the seas in the boat of Captain Ahab. Superb! Earth Electric - Earth Electric is the new band of Rune "Blasphemer" Eriksen and his wife Carmen. We're talking 70's inspired prog rock meets heavy metal, and I was surprised. Had never heard the band, but the gig was really damn good. And Carmen Susana Simões, the female vocalist, brought something really special to the gig and she gave off a very traditional Louisiana Voodoo-feeling. It was really cool! Liked it a lot. So did my friend who isn't really into this type of music.

this video quality is truly amazing

Went to Inferno last week like usual and like previous years I missed out on a lot of good bands because they played too early, John Dee was full or because I was hungry or something, but I got to see some very good bands too.Right now I can't really remember everything that played, so I might miss out on a few ones. But let's try anyway: Emperor - Emperor were, to my huge surprise, not a headliner, but they played Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk in its entirety, before they ended the gig with Curse You All Men!, The Majesty of the Nightsky, I Am The Black Wizards and Inno A Satana. I have never really been a big fan of the album but the concert was amazing and completely changed my view of the album. Been playing it several times since I got home and I am really enjoying it now. Like really, really diggin' it. The magic of live gigs, folks! They don't look very black metal and I do wish they'd done a bit more image-wise, but the sound was fantastic, they had superb stage pressence and was really good. By far the best I've ever seen them. Satyricon - My first time seeing them, and I will not be seeing them again. Awful setlist with only 5 tracks being off Volcano and the albums before it. But it just didn't sound good. Towards the end of the gig I told my friend they were gonna play Mother North soon, and then he just told me they had just played it. I was not able to recognize one of the most iconic black metal tracks ever. Was not able to recognize Walk the Path of Sorrow either. Which kinda sums up how bad this was. Obituary - Obituary played a mix of new and old tracks, but as they don't have a single bad album that's not a problem. Of course I would love more old, but it wasn't a problem. Great, groovy death metal gig. Was real good! Electric Wizard - With sleazy horror films with a lot of torture of naked girls, occultism and nudity playing in the background Electric played through a set mostly of newer songs, but also made sure to play a couple of classic tracks from their older albums. The sound was good with the vocals buried beneath the instruments which, unless you already knew the tracks, made it impossible to hear what he was actually singing. But there was nothing wrong with it. Made it even more hazy and smokey. I've heard much negative about ElWiz live, but this was great with The Chosen Few as the highlight. One of the best doom metal songs ever. Carpathian Forest - These guys were to my huge surprise headlines for one of the evenings. The reason I was surprised is because they hadn't released a full-lenght since 2006 and their upcoming EP is not yet released. But this was a great gig with tracks taken from all their albums (with the exception of the poor Fuck You All!!!! as far as I know), as well as a demo and old EP track and a few cover songs of Turbonegro and The Cure. Played a lot of good songs, but the highlight was when Nattefrost suddenly picked out a harmonica from his backpocket and played the worst piece of music I have ever heard. But it was bad and ugly in a beautiful and fun way. I also have to admit that he did a lot better than expected, and he delivered a very mature gig. Very good! Too be continued...

my first DIR song was Hotarubi. I fell in love with it but never bothered to look for anything else from them. Then i randomly saw that Child Prey PV. That's when i decided to look for them on MySpace. This was at the time when Ryoujoku no Ame was released. Decided to buy one of their live dvds and got what i think it's their worst live dvd ever It Withers and Withers. I decided to give them another change and bought the 5 Ugly Kingdom dvd and then i was hooked. Still my favorite dvd.

While it's nothing ground-breaking, it's miles better than their 1st album (...damn, that shit was bad), and I have some hope in them, now, after this and their last release.

Coincidentally "Grief" is also the title of the photograph (taken during WW2) they used for the album's cover art.

They won’t be up for long.

Before/After: There isn't a huge amount to say about either of these, they're some short ethereal electronic pieces which are both nice and pad the album out a bit but that's about it, worth noting that After is the same as Before just with vocals. Rontgen: What a way to start the album, it's the kind of song that hits you with a big impact, it's punchy and aggressive but offers such tight and fine rhythms which are ever changing without disrupting the flow of the song from verse to chorus to bridge no part ever feels stale or that they were running out of ideas. Throughout the song you'll find the switching between raw and shouted vocals and grandiose vocals blends nicely and matching each part. This is the type of the song that really encapsulates the bands sound and although on the short side this is arguably one of their best songs. 正常とは: Well this is the beginning of a disappointing trend throughout the album in that it's just so average and a previously released single. I've listened to this multiple times and it's just so laboured that there isn't a huge amount I can praise it for or mark it down for. So what can I say that's good about the song? Well the opening riff is nice and the guitar solo highlights the progression Rui has made, Yuya's falsetto in the bridge at 0:50 is almost heavenly and really is the only redeeming feature. The song itself just doesn't offer enough in any of it's instrumentation to make it stand out it lacks any real melodies and this is reflected in how forgettable the song is. アンインテリジブル: I'm sure a few people weren't surprised that the boys are experimenting with time signatures, given how open they've been to trying to new things in their music in B-sides and this is one of the better tracks in the album, another one that pays strict attention to rhythmic sections and goes with a 'less-is-more' view with instrumentation, the first two verses relying on just drums and vocals whilst this later progresses to the same verse with a breakdown akin to the likes of metalcore coupled with distorted vocals expected in digital hardcore only to entirely breakdown to a quick sweeping piano section then transitioning in to a seriously funky bridge where Detto finally gets some time to shine. 伝えるということ 交わるということ: I'm having an inner conflict as to whether this opening riff is a sped up stage from the original Sonic The Hedgehog or I've just played too much of the game, regardless it's catchy. This is the kind of song 正常とは should've been, whilst nothing amazing it's got memorable parts, a toe-tapping chorus, refreshing ends to sections and with every listen I find myself noticing more and more of Johannes tight drumming, this is the backbone of the song and the individual hits are fascinating without it ever going over the top and this is only complimented by Rui's guitar work in the chorus, it's so common for bands to rely on chords in the chorus' and let the vocals lead but in this case the melodies match the drums in that they're not obtrusive but offer another dynamic. 相対的思念: The standard ballad but when you compare this to 'Ettad' this is such a disappointment, it's a fairly decent tune with some warm chords and nice melodic counter rhythms in the verses before breaking in to a booming distorted chorus coupled with Yuya's passionate vocals but you can tell the song is relying mostly on the vocals and the inherent problem with this is the lack of dynamics in the song. This track shares the same problems as 正常とは, there isn't enough happening and it has the predictable pattern of light verse, single chord strum bridge and big chorus. Fortunately this song does have a couple of nice parts with such a sweet and soft guitar piece at 2:50 that transitions in a build up filled with Johanne's drum work before dropping the build and stumbling in to an out-of-nowhere bridge we've heard before. Furthermore the ending is gold, a raw redone chorus with crashing drums and Yuya's grandiose singing and soft backing vocals. Unfortunately, the few nice parts this song has aren't long enough and can't save it from sounding like filler. 無礼王: A song that offers more of an synth based approach, whilst the opening riff may have the generic neo VK sound and melody don't let this fool you, the verses are filled with sci-fi influenced sounds and funky bass lines that you wouldn't expect given it's intro. Every verse builds on the previous one, adding a new synth or rhythm and this drives home the funky electronic sound whilst keeping you enthralled. There isn't much singing in this (nor that much guitar) but everything comes together at the end with the whole song acting as a build up to another toe-tapping ending. Short but sweet, not content with finishing the song with the chorus we get a shortened verse as the outro, very clever. this is 芸術 Reincarnation vibes from this and the guitar delivers a lot of what the first album offered, high delayed melodies and funky slap guitars with another melodic approach to the chorus and beautiful booming epic vocals in the chorus. A couple of repeated verses with the guitar following a similar line to the vocals and Johannes adding in a few hits, not the best but far from bad although the bridge makes up for it, I love this part, the guitar, bass and vocals all making a descending movement together flows really well and it retains the sharp change in chorus contrasts so well to it. Third verse and more funk, that bass line is irresistible with another less is more view followed by an immensely catchy harmonized guitar piece. The song trails off a bit towards the end with a somewhat disjointed bridge that just sounds empty but none the less one of the best songs on the album 斑 Another single but this is one of the better one's, this has that funky but aggressive slap guitar that really would've become a core of the bands sound and hearing this song will probably leave you wanting more. Everything is so on point in this song, Johanne's drum remain ever interesting and rhythmic switch's in the bridges keep the flow and build up to the chorus nicely, verses switch between rough vocals with guitar scratching and smooth singing with sprinkles of light guitar melodies whilst the guitar and vocals matching each other in a descending melody during the chorus is wonderful. Another breakdown? in one word, perfect, the drum work is spot on and the harmonizing at the end of every bar just makes it all the better. The final bridge between chorus and outro, the ascending vibrato dual vocals with almost an opera feel is one of the high points in the whole album A highly melodic song with an interesting structure and refreshing sections 四五四六 This song is pretty much a reflection of the whole album, some interesting parts but not enough sustenance. The opening riff and drumming are another unique part and the entirety of drumming is once again one of the best parts but other than that the song is so forgettable. You could pretty much skip this entire song except for 2:50 (funnily enough the same time 相対的思念 brought something good to the table) because there's an amazing answer and call between the bass and guitar that works it's way into funky little slap guitar piece My World: The first single that came out and this is a classic purely because of how well the instrumentation works, the small synth line backs up the slap guitar intro nicely and leads to the climax of the chorus which although may have some flat singing has great bass work. This is a really high quality chorus, it's good enough with the flute based synth but the way the backing vocals come in to offering such a big sound is so impressive. The song may be more on the simple side with it's liberal use of the chorus but it's just so good and addictive that it's not an issue. Finally, the key change in the post-chorus, unexpected but fits and transitions the song nicely. Final Thoughts: A mixed bag, it feels like they've dropped a lot of their style from 'Reincarnation' which can be put down to the band maturing and whilst I may be a bit biased because of how much I enjoyed that album, 不恰好な街と僕と君 is underwhelming, the album lacks the unique edge that 'Reincarnation' had and it feels like a step down, I put this down to how much of an impressive debut 'Reincarnation' and how much potential the band have. Fans will enjoy this and there are some great songs on this but it's noticeable that some parts that made DOF shine above other bands are missing.

When talking about shirts, i wanna thank Elias for selling these amazing prints through his shop Necrosphere!

img

Went ahead and translated this addicting song by request from @platy. Although I work in translation I don't have much experience translating lyrics but I hope you guys enjoy. Just a couple of notes. For anyone that doesn't know, "ojamashimasu" doesn't really have a direct translation. It literally translates to "I'm going to be a nuisance/bother" and is usually used when entering someone's house in Japan to acknowledge that your host is allowing you to "intrude" (enter) their house. Although "ojamashimasu" is said multiple times throughout the song I tried to translate it in various ways that I personally believe conveys the meaning of their usage in the song better. The whole song is one big perverted metaphor for intruding on, or more specifically violating a girl. Note: "Chome" is one part of Japan's crazy address system and denotes districts of a town. The song basically travels through different districts (district 1, district 2 etc) which are also metaphorical. He's going to ojamashimasu every part of the girl. English translation is my own and I wrote up the romaji myself. Kanji taken from Batsu's official Twitter (https://twitter.com/BATSUmamire). Any feedback/suggestions welcome! --- Kanji Romaji English

somehow that hand is actually mine and not a stranger's

That crisp mountain air.

Been a while since I showed my ugly visage around here. Just got back from an awesome gig, and got this new beanie, it's so comfy & warm <3

This reminds me! I recently found these pictures on my old photobucket account of my hand sewn Merry shirts. It was impossible for me to get legit merch in America back then (around 2007) so I finally decided to just make my own. Attempt 1 Front and back design: Yeah, not great f(^^;) I do really like how the umbrella came out though! I am much more pleased with the second one, which is cross stitch (I am way more confident with cross stitch than embroidery) and I drafted the pattern by hand over the course of a month. The long blood drip in the logo has gotten a little crooked over the years so I think I'll redo that part when I go back to the US next week.