Traxan

heh oops. But the second one is from her blog so I know it's genuine.

Nana-A of The Leaps has come to my attention since she began working as a fill-in drummer for Aldious. Damn she's beautiful.

That's Reona for you. She's the oddest duck of the bunch.

Can't embed. http://www.jpopsuki.tv/video/Gacharic-Spin---Sekira-Liar/c719a09186828e0a20f5674f0dd01756 Hyperactive as always, why I love em.

He is.

New music video. Rami has definitely learned how to sing in her time off, it's not just wailing at the top of her lungs. BTW, I figured out who her guitarist is. He was the producer who butchered the last Aldious album. I don't know if he produced Raglaia but if he did he got his act together. It sounds good. Kind of American metal influenced in its sound. And he is one hell of a guitarist. Yoshi and Toki never came close to that solo.

That guitarist is huge.

Rami's band unveiled. Not all-girl this time, only the bassist is a chick. Anyone recognize them from previous bands? http://ameblo.jp/rami-vocal/entry-11998553261.html RAMI (Vocals) K-A-Z (Guitars) YOUTH-K! (Drums) ERY (Bass)

My translator comes through again: 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.

Well, the ice has been broken. Toki blogged about it here: http://ameblo.jp/tokidious/entry-11999612594.html

Well this is undoubtedly rushed. She only came back in November and she's got a record deal, band, making music videos, etc. You'd think she'd take her time and, you know, gel with her band and become a cohesive unit. That first Aldious EP in 2009 was pretty lame, especially since they used a drum machine. As for her voice, well, maybe she's just learned to control it. With Aldious she was a screamer. She might be slowing down and trying to be a singer now. BTW, this site seems to have gotten an early listen to her 4 song EP. http://www.barks.jp/news/?id=1000113004

This is an incredible string of health problems for young women who should be in the primes of their lives. So far we have: Mina Haruna, Destrose (ear problem, also got married) Armmy, Gacharic Spin (autoimmune disease, I believe) Rami, Aldious (brain disease) Is this Fukushima's doing or just really, really bad luck? Because it's disturbing to see so many women in their 20s go down like this.

No problem.

Her words, not mine. Does she look mixed to you?

From Japan, Shadow. Melodic death metal, not VK. From the US, Nevermore.

http://loudwire.com/iron-maiden-bruce-dickinson-treatment-cancerous-tumor/ Startling news from Iron Maiden today (Feb. 19), as it has been revealed that singer Bruce Dickinson has undergone a seven-week treatment for a cancerous tumor on the back of his tongue. The news was revealed in a statement posted on the band’s official website. The good news is that the cancerous tumor was caught early while Dickinson was visiting a doctor for a routine check-up. However, the singer will need a few months to recover from his treatment, and the band is asking for fans to respect the legendary vocalist’s privacy until they issue a new update in late May. Here’s the full statement as it appears on Iron Maiden’s official website: Just before Christmas, Maiden vocalist Bruce Dickinson visited his doctor for a routine check-up. This led to tests and biopsies which revealed a small cancerous tumour at the back of his tongue. A seven week course of chemotherapy and radiology treatment was completed yesterday. As the tumour was caught in the early stages, the prognosis thankfully is extremely good. Bruce’s medical team fully expect him to make a complete recovery with the all clear envisaged by late May. It will then take a further few months for Bruce to get back to full fitness. In the meantime we would ask for your patience, understanding and respect for Bruce and his family’s privacy until we update everyone by the end of May. Bruce is doing very well considering the circumstances and the whole team are very positive. We’d like to send our best wishes to Bruce Dickinson during this difficult time, and here’s hoping for a speedy and full recovery.

I don't discount your theory. Doctors have been wrong before. When she said no chance of permanent recovery, I believed her, that's all. Anyway, in a blog update I found out where her unusual band name comes from. Raglaia is a combination of R, as in Rami, and the Greek goddess Aglaia, the goddess of beauty and splendor. Also found this: an autobiography of sorts she did for MusicJapanPlus. She described herself as "American and Okinawa mixed breed." I never would have guessed.

Ugh, that Auto-Tune...

Someone needs to ask her this, but as I said, the Japanese press isn't terribly aggressive (at least what I have seen on NHK World). But you are right, things don't add up. I provided the translations to her posts in the Rumors section and it was kinda clear: brain disease, no complete cure, and her doctor told her never to perform again. Now 2.5 years later she has a band, an EP in a few weeks and live performances in 2 months, and no one from Aldious has said boo to her on Twitter. This does not compute.

It is rather convenient that they had Re:NO literally one month after Rami left. Then again, I think they made a huge mistake. But boy, to lie to the public like that? That would be a major loss of face on both sides.

She's playing her first shows in May. http://ameblo.jp/rami-vocal/entry-11988281741.html That was the reason as well. I posted a message from her on the Rumors board, where she said she had a brain condition that could not be fully cured. Now she's back saying she's fully recovered. Someone really needs to press her on this, but my impression of the Japanese press is they don't push for answers at all. They strike me as very softball.

Every genre goes through that. At best you get repetition with the subsequent generations, at worst, it goes down hill. There's a lot of steps between Metallica of 1983 and metalcore of today. Unfortunately, that path goes right through At The Gates, who are pretty much ground zero for metalcore even though they weren't. They were melodic death metal. The first generation to follow them, In Flames, Soilwork, Dark Tranquility, etc., were fantastic. Then came Killswitch Engage, then All That Remains and the rest of that musical diarrhea. I guess as the generations pass, they miss out on what made the innovator so good in the first place.

Well I know I can't judge the genre by 3 bands, but three things stuck out at me when i saw the VK episode of J-MELO: 1) These guys look ridiculous, 2) They are excellent musicians who have clearly studied with a teacher, as opposed to self-taught players who are more sloppy, and 3) the music was nothing out of the ordinary. Good, well played, nothing as shocking as their look. Marty Friedman made a great observation in the "Global Metal" documentary about X Japan. He said they were the first to put together albums where you had a Megadeth-like thrash song and the next was a sappy Barry Manilow ballad, and no one in metal did anything like that. Now it's kinda standard. So while my knowledge of the genre is limited compared to people here, it seems to me there aren't a lot of people shaking things up the way X Japan did years ago. Since someone will ask... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wu1GM9IR2G0

It's curious that so many all-girl bands are going soft. Cyntia, ET and Aldious, although I blame Aldious on Re:NO. She's a good singer but wrong for that band. They needed a screamer like Rami. Wish to God she'd rejoin the band but they haven't even acknowledged each other on Twitter.

They are not considered VK. It was a case of discussion drift. This discussion came from a Cyntia video where someone brought up how much they changed their sound, then someone mentioned how Exist Trace have radically changed and that VK discussion thread broke out, irrelevant to Cyntia. And boy have ET changed. I just listened to their most recent single and couldn't believe it was the same band. Seriously, WTF is that? BTW, I love the song "Resonance". So which ET albums should I check out for more material like that? As for Cyntia being Babymetal for adults, I've heard Americans call them Sailor Moon Metal. I think they are actually closer to Katy Perry. Count the boob shots on the singer in this clip. And if what those guys say that VK is picking up on that horrendous American trend that is metalcore, that's really unfortunate. I was drawn to JMetal because it's NOT metalcore, which to me is just nu metal with more tattoos and Taliban beards.