Traxan

Just found this. A guy from France traveled to Japan just to see the band. Not sure how this TV show caught up with him. He seems a little obsessed with Sawa. Can't help but feel the Japanese had a laugh at his expense, though.

This is the one really good song on the album. The fact Re:no wrote it drives me nuts. How could someone who came up with the turd that is "Die for you" come up with this brilliance? The girl sure runs hot and cold.

Yoshiki sent out this tweet earlier. YES! I'll be @sxsw doing a VIDEO Q&A tomorrow 3/13 at 6:40pmCST https://twitter.com/YoshikiOfficial/status/708831402414878725/photo/1

Funny this thread came up. A while back i found this very old picture of Aldious, pasting the link to spare you a giant image. http://www.last.fm/zh/music/Aldious/+images/cea0290deb9c448f83ce3a4de5cb0b8e Has to be from 2009. Their CD-R debut featured an embarrassingly obvious drum machine (Aruto came in 2010) and they had a different bassist (veeeery different). Looking at Toki and Rami I can't help but wonder if they had some work done. Their faces are much rounder in this picture than they are now. But also, this picture is 7 years old and they were pretty young. It could just be maturity brought about changes to their faces. Hard to tell some times if it's just changes with age or a doctor's work. There's no question though, that both Rami and Re:no had the eye rounding surgery, and probably Toki, too. They look like anime characters in some pictures.

Nightwish. I was obsessed with them for a while, but taking too long between albums, I just drifted away.

Miko maybe. But Jyou?

Well THAT's sure different from Galmet.

Yeah that jumped out at me too. It looks like a generic K-Pop video. Compare it to the creepy, dark atmosphere of "Resonance." Big change.

Rami/Raglaia, "Outer Dark" I have to live on with never drying tears wounds that I won't be able to tell anyone and a wounded soul (and that isn't the only morose song from her)

guess you did watch it. I should have said so. If you compare that video to live clips from Dazed and Delight, clearly a lot has changed. Aldious is slower but much more polished. Rami era was fast, furious and a little messy, which I liked. It reminds me of Def Leppard's change from High n Dry to Pyromania. They made a deliberate change in direction, and brought in Phil Collen, and went for a more produced, polished and softer sound. (it didn't help that their drummer lost an arm. he used to do some nice fills) I liked the rough around the edges essence of HnD and still listen to it. "Let it go" and "Lady Strange" are great rock n roll that has held up well. "Foolin'?" Not so much. Some bands just take that course. It just sucks when it's a band I like. And while Marina is a good drummer, I'll really miss Aruto sitting behind her kit making funny faces while playing. BTW Katy Perry would be a big improvement for Aldious. Have you ever seen her live videos? That girl has some serious vocal power.

There goes their fan base.

SB, with Rami.

Glad you got the reference. Re:No's problems are highs, not lows. She butchers "Mermaid," which has some serious high notes at the end. And "Re:Fire" is so damn odd. It's the best thing they've done since she joined, and re:no wrote it, music and lyrics. Then again, she also wrote "Die for you," and the less said about that the better.

A reviewer on Encyclopedia Metallum had a better analogy: Metallica fronted by Sade. Don't know if you know who she is but she's an African woman who had these really soft soul hits like "Smooth Operator" and "Sweetest Taboo" back in the 90s. If you know who she is the joke is funny as hell. I found a message board with a post from her and had a Japanese-speaking friend translate it. Here's what he came up with: HPでは「体調不良」と簡潔に書かせて頂いておりますが 実際は重く、完治が見込めない脳の病気です。 世の中には沢山同じ病名の方がいらっしゃいますが 私には私だけの症状があります。 病名は身内にしか知られたくないので、お察し下さい。 "Even though on our official homepage, it is simply stated as 'not feeling well', but the truth is it is a severe/serious condition of the brain that can not be completely cured. There are many people out there that has the same disease as me, but I have symptoms that are specific to me. As to the exact name and detail of the disease, that is something that I want to keep within my family and I, thank you for your understanding." Therefore, it is indeed a disease related to the brain, but I don't know if it is either physical or mentally, but it is very serious and might even be life threatening. She also wrote this paragraph afterwards ブログで、命に関する内容のものを沢山書くようになりました。 それは、私が死の淵に直面した出来事があったからです。 "I started writing entries in my blog regarding life. The reason I started was because I have to deal with the possibility of death directly" ------ If I had to guess, I'd say some kind of seizure disorder. The stimulus overload of being on stage is tremendous. Loud music, lights, etc. But she looks just fine in the live DVD from that tour. When she came back in 2014, she said everything was fine: [Hi, it's been a long time. In the two years I was away, I received a lot of encouragement and well wishes from you guys, but what made me the happiest was the message "we are still waiting for you to return". The reason why I decided to come back and is standing in front of you right now is because of those messages. I have recovered both physically and mentally and is feeling great right now. From now on, I will do my best and please continue to cheer me on. Thank you] Toki was the first member of Aldious to reconnect with her and made a lengthy blog post after the two went to dinner. Here's Toki's post: I went to dinner with former member Rami. She is starting a new band named Raguraia and they will be releasing a CD soon. Rami is working really hard. I really feel happy for her!! When she had to leave Aldious, her doctor said that she won't be able to perform live anymore. In the three years since then, she has worked real hard to overcome her condition and also did a lot of singing practice, so now she is able to sing again. I am just so happy. To me, music and my band are the most important part of my life; so when I think about the possibility of losing them, it would be like losing hope and dream. It would probably be more painful than dying. Rami feels the same way as I do, that is why she worked super hard to get back to where she is now, I am so proud of her and I am really happy for her. Congratulations Even though she is not part of our band anymore, we will continue to push and encourage each other, together we will show the world just how wonderful metal and music is. I'll be rooting for her and please everyone check them out. Since we haven't seen each other in a while now, so it was nice to catch up and it brought back a lot of good memories. ----- Note the bolded comment. I noticed when Raglaia music first came out that she had much more control. She wasn't just shrieking at the top of her lungs any more and was more of a singer. Also, IIRC, when Rami came back she made a statement on Twitter to the effect of I don't want my old job back, Re:No is the singer of Aldious now, or something to that effect. Given all the pictures I've seen of her with Toki, Yoshi and Re:No, and how many times she has attended Aldious shows and blogged about it, I'd say she's on good terms with them. I don't think her health is 100% either but for other reasons. The Raglaia "tour" was a joke. Three dates? And six months after releasing the album? Also, in a blog post she said her blood pressure dropped to 86/60, which is dangerously low. So I suspect she may not be fully healthy. After Armmy's sudden death, yeah, I'm worried for her.

So, we got a Japanese actor on the cast. Beat Takeshi will play Aramaki. http://en.rocketnews24.com/2016/03/04/live-action-ghost-in-the-shell-movie-casts-its-first-japanese-actor-beat-takeshi/

They were Japanese but not VK. Shadow, a melodic death metal band from Osaka, was a better In Flames than In Flames was post-2000. Just amazing melo-death, both albums were genius. But they never caught fire for whatever reason, probably because that style of melo-death is huge in Europe and not so much in Japan. That's why I've said in other threads that Japanese bands really need to get out of Japan and expand their fan base. Galmet, who are also melo-death, are touring Europe for a second time and it's a bigger tour than the first, because their style will go over well in Europe. If Shadow had done that, they might still be going.

Rush (my all-time favorite) - "Roll the Bones." Proof that white men SHOULD. NOT. RAP. Nightwish - "Song of Myself." I can tolerate Tuomas's self-indulgent lyrics but this was beyond the pale. I have not listened to it all the way through once. Children of Bodom - "Hate Crew Deathroll." Utterly embarrassing lyrics but the music is awesome. Nevermore - "Medicated Nation." Falls short of their usual excellence Shinedown - "Bully." Lame attempt to jump on the anti-bullying bandwagon Aldious - "Die For You." That was the end of them for me.

In Japan, this supergroup of young ladies. Rie, Shinri Kawaguchi, Miyuki and Shoko Nagasaki on keys. It's like a female Return to Forever (legendary 70s jazz fusion band). I wish it was a permanent thing and not a one-off, and really wish a full length DVD would be released. Non-Japan: Hell. That's the name of the band. Equal parts Judas Priest and Mercyful Fate. Very distinctive old school British metal sound. They formed in 1982, broke up in 88, and got back together in 2008. I may be off by a year here or there. One of their guitarists is a very popular metal album producer named Andy Sneap. And the singer is an actor, hence the headset and excessive use of his hands.

I held that belief for a while. Now, I don't think it will happen even if Re:no quits tomorrow. I think Yoshi made a conscious decision to change direction to a softer sound and would pick a singer who reflects it. Of course I could be wrong, but Yoshi is the leader, and this change in Aldious was her call, not Re:no's.

So is she disbanding Raglaia and starting over?

I can't see me ever getting bored with Shadow. 15 years after that debut album I still love it. Such a shame they never went anywhere.

Too djnet. The appeal of Japanese metal to me is they haven't embraced djent monotony. But I guess the girls want global appeal.

Excellent news.

Released on Valentine's Day. Not sure if the girls have a sense of irony or not. Also, drummer Akane made her return to the band after two months off to recover from some injuries suffered while playing. Fans sent her sticks as a different kind of get-well card. She needs to be careful. The drummer for The Donnas was forced to quit drumming at the age of 29 from injuries piled up from playing. (she's currently attending Harvard Law School, so don't cry for her. She'll be fine.)

I don't get it, I search for Ghost in the Shell and GITS and did not see this thread. Typical of me, I guess. Edge of Tomorrow was unfortunate. Everyone was saying it was great but the movie just never got a chance by the public. Some people felt it was due to the title, which really doesn't tell you much. It's pretty annoying to all the screaming of white washing over the casting of Scarlet. It is really ignorant of business reality. Anime otakus and Japan-o-philes may know the movie but the vast majority of Americans do not. It's a cult film.This production will be a major summer release. Its budget will be over $100 million. It needs a major star to carry it. The studio is not going to put an unknown to the American public like Rinko Kikuchi as the lead. Scarlet is one of maybe 3 women who can "open" a movie, meaning she can be the lead and doesn't need a male counterpart who is a box office draw. The others are Jennifer Lawrence (too young) and Angelina Jolie (not acting any more, and she looks like death warmed over). Scarlet made a piece of crap movie "Lucy" a $400 million success. She is a draw and the burden of the movie's success is on her. After the first Underworld movie came out, I thought Kate Beckinsale was perfect for the role of the Major. But she was given a chance to lead movies and they flopped. That's why she's making a fourth Underworld sequel. For pure athleticism, which the role demands, Jessica Biel would be a good choice (you saw "Blade 3" right?) but she stinks as an actress. The casting of Batou was really uninspired, and I think Takei would make a great Aramaki.