Traxan

Maximum the Hormone have been on hiatus a few times because Nao got pregnant. She has to be up to her third kid at this point. Someone on JMF noticed this old post from Yoshi of Aldious. Former drummer Aruto had a girl in 2016. This is the happiest I've seen Yoshi look, ever. https://twitter.com/ALDIOUSYOSHI/status/874658461513953280/photo/1

the new Lovebites EP looks like crap. If they left the wolf out, it would be much better.

Most folks have already covered the major issues. Just to add a few things: 1) I don't think most bands want it. They can have a good career in Japan, making it in America and Europe would require a major effort that they don't want. And why bother? Japan is the size of California and most of the shows are around Tokyo. Why live out of a tour bus for 5-6 months when you can do a tour in 3 weeks and go home most nights? 2) I wonder if the lack of English is an issue. Look at Rammstein. They tour arenas in the US and they are singing in German. So a non-English band can make it. But in general the lack of English probably hurts. That's why Lovebites have gained so much momentum and blown past Mary's Blood to be the top girl metal band. They all speak English, their lyrics are in English, and they openly say they want to play the US and Europe. They said they wanted to play Wacken, the biggest metal festival in the world. And they are on the bill this year. I know Dir En Grey played WOA and one or two other bands have been on as well but I've seen no such ambition out of Aldious, who are supposed to be the leaders of the girls metal movement. 3) The labels are no help. Sony and Victor block their videos outside of Japan. You can get around it if you use the Opera browser with its built-in VPN turned on but that's a headache. Add to it the lack of promotional material in English, and you really have to make an effort to be a fan of JRock. And I'll tell you one of the biggest pissers to the guys on the Japanese Metal Forum: multiple versions of live DVDs. I've seen it several times. The basic DVD comes with X number of songs. Then there's the deluxe one, some times twice the price, with about a half dozen more songs. That's fucking greedy and no western band pulls that. 4) Japan's public image. Japan has a well-earned reputation for utter nutttiness. I think it was pro wrestling commentator Bobby Heenan who said of Japan "Either we bombed them too much or not enough." So then casual fans see a random VK band, or Babymetal, roll their eyes and think there's Japan being Japan. Channeled in the right direction and goofiness works. Maximum the Hormone have proved that. Gacharic Spin are sorta gaining traction as well and they are fucking nuts. 5) I hate to say it but I suspect that racial ignorance plays a part. The fact is this is a white, English-speaking country and it's not very good at accepting foreigners, especially non-Europeans. Look at the trouble KPop artists have, and they WANT to make it here. SNSD, Psy, HyunA and 2NE1 all tried. BTS are running into all kinds of headwinds. It's not just music. Look at all the Asian actors who tried their luck in Hollywood and returned to China. Hate to say it but America just isn't very Asian-friendly. 6) I can't claim to understand the VK scene very well but I do know that in the metal scene, the anti-image tends to dominate. Just plain looking guys in tees and jeans. VK emphasizes the visual when that's the area of least emphasized element of metal today

Fan footage of the KC show. Cool new look for Su, and definitely not a baby any more.

Babymetal kicked off a month-long US tour last night in Kansas City, MO but Yuimetal wasn't part of the tour. Instead there were two unnamed dancers in her place. Yui has been MIA since December, when she didn't appear at a Hiroshima show. The group's management said it was "health issues." I've read in the past she was considered the most frail member of the band but no specifics given. One member of the Japanese Metal Board speculated it might be an eating disorder because she looked very underweight the last time he saw her. That would be bad indeed, as Yui doesn't have weight to lose to begin with. And on goes the trend of young female Japanese musicians with health problems. Why can't they just have a drug or alcohol problem like their western counterparts? (I'm kidding)

http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/marilyn-manson-to-join-x-japan-on-stage-at-coachella/ Marilyn Manson will make a special guest appearance at Coachella this coming weekend. The shock-rocker will join Japanese superstars X JAPAN during their second set of the festival. "I am happy to join my great friend @yoshikiofficial and X Japan at Coachella on Saturday the 21st for a special performance," Manson wrote on Instagram. Manson later took to his official Twitter account to say that he was actually once banned from Coachella, although he didn't provide any details as to how or why that happened. X JAPAN made its Coachella debut last weekend, playing a set that featured guest spots from Wes Borland of LIMP BIZKIT, Richard Fortus of GUNS N' ROSES and Miya of MUCC, along with holograms of X JAPAN's deceased members, bassist Taiji (who died in 2011) and guitarist Hide (who passed away in 1998). X JAPAN is the most successful rock group in Japanese history. Led by composer, drummer, and pianist Yoshiki, the band has sold more than 30 million albums, singles, and videos combined, sold out Japan's 55,000-seat Tokyo Dome 18 times. X JAPAN has also headlined major international stages such as London's Wembley Arena and New York City's Madison Square Garden.

Well... you guys certainly have a difference of opinion from some other reviewers. http://jrock247.com/2018/04/x-japan-makes-epic-debut-at-coachella/

Saki of Mary's Blood, multiple times. She speaks fluent English. Miho of Lovebites has yet to respond to my marriage proposals.

There's really a band called Bless This Mess? Oh that's hilarious.

Melodic all-girl metal band will release the EP "Helix" on 4/11 featuring new guitarist Misaki. Pretty bland cover. Tracklist: 01. HELIX 02. Reason For My Life 03. In The Labyrinth 04. G・A・M・E 05. DEAR BRIDE 06. cluster amaryllis 07. NEXUS Now for the new video, which hit today and is going over rather badly. Comparisons to Cyntia's "Woman" and Aldious's "Die For You." Those are not good comparisons for a metal band, but let's face it, this isn't a metal song. Some are waiting for the whole album before passing judgement. I don't dislike it and somewhat expected it with the loss of the metalcore girl. I find it funny that Misaki and Mitsuru are using 7 string guitars when the tone clearly indicates they are never going near that B string. A 7 string would indicate Nevermore-like heaviness, not this. Ok enough talk, the new track.

So are they named after the Star Trek character?

It just comes naturally. There is a live video of them playing "Kiss in the Dark" where she wears a tight little dress and she just couldn't sell it. Likewise, I once saw Hana from Gacharic Spin, who is almost as butch, try to look girly and it didn't work. Some women just have a masculine quality to them, just as Miko has a very feminine quality.

12 posts in and no mention of Exist Trace? Wow.

Let the bitching commence about how they lost it.

Except for Eye, they look like shit. How do you take someone as beautiful as Saki and make her look that bad? Someone on JMF said it best. It looks like Exist Trace wardrobe rejects.

You sure it wasn't with Armmy? She had a hell of a body. But it does look like Mai put on some badly needed weight. She was skeletal.

The loony toons are back. The baka girls of Gacharic Spin have announced a new album for April 11 release titled "G-Litter." It will feature 11 songs, including the 70s funk-infused single "Generation Gap" released late last year. The album will come in three versions, Type-A (CD+DVD), Type-B (2CD), Type-C (CD). Type-A DVD includes footage from last year's bigger concerts and the Generation Gap video, the Type-B CD will be a live CD of that Osaka show and include an old song called "Mukaikaze," an Armmy-era song they performed live but never released on CD. They also introduced a new look that is even more batshit crazy than ever. Apparently Tomo raided Kyary Pamyu Pamyu's closet and I have no idea WTF to make of Oreo's getup. Sadly they don't seem to be replacing dancer and backup keyboardist Nenne, who was forced to quit after suffering hearing problems last year. While she recovered, her doctor said she risked hearing loss if she continued to be exposed to loud noise, and not wanting to end up like Ayu, she decided to leave the band and music. The news in Japanese: http://www.jvcmusic.co.jp/-/Information/A024875.html?article=news90

I think this band is rapidly approaching the point where they need to drop the maid gimmick. The music more than stands on its own and they are a solid, tight unit.

Former Aldious singer Rami is releasing her second "solo" album (I put it in quotes because unless you play every instrument, you aren't really solo), "Reloaded" on January 31. Her band consists of ex-Disqualia guitarists Narumi and Hazumi, bassist Fin, and ex-Disqualia drummer Risa Risa. Track list: 01． Reloaded 02． Black Symphony 03． Moonlight 04． After History 05． Never Say Never　 06． Realize 07． Plunder 　　　　 08． Riding the World 　　 　 09． Get Freedom　 10． Reloaded ～Crystal Memory First audio clip. Damn Fin is loud in the mix. https://ramimusic.net/movies/19181 Basic CD cover. Damn she looks good. CD/DVD combo. Her tour is up to four days. Wow! 2018 /2/3 Aichi / Nagoya 2018 2/4 Osaka · Shinsaibashi 2018/2/10 Chiba · Kashiwa 2018/3/18 Tokyo · Daikanyama

http://www.jpopasia.com/feed/22754/cynthia-goes-on-indefinite-hiatus-as-guitarist-seeks-treatment-for-dystonia/ The all-female band CYNTHIA is going on indefinite hiatus after its guitarist YUI was diagnosed with focal dystonia in her right arm. YUI has been experiencing a slow deterioration in her ability to control her right arm. She was diagnosed with focal dystonia about 1 1/2 years ago. Focal dystonia is a neurological condition that causes involuntary movements to certain parts of one's body. In YUI's case, her dystonia causes her arm, wrist and fingers to stiffen unexpectedly. Despite her diagnosis, YUI did not want to give up performing. She hid the condition instead in hopes that no one would notice. "I didn't want anyone in my life to know. I was afraid that of anyone knowing, so I've kept this a secret until today. I wanted to continue living my life and playing the guitar. I won't act so selfishly anymore and will be resting," she said. When YUI initially talked to her band mates about her condition, she expected to be replaced by a new guitarist. Instead, the band decided to pause its activities while YUI seeks treatment and recovers from the condition. Once she recovers, the band intends to resume its activities. "I will do my best to make that day come sooner rather than later, and this will all just be a funny story that we look back at. Thank you for you continued and unchanging support! Thank you," she said.

Well I read it's treatable with botox. It's not painful, just the nerves are firing when they should not. Wiki lists a lot of musicians who had it and recovered. And it can't be that bad. Yui appeared at NaonYaon this past summer. So cute seeing little Li-Sa X there and getting an encouraging push from Saki at the end.

The all-girl power metal band Cyntia announced an "indefinite hiatus," which is basically another way of saying they are breaking up. https://natalie.mu/music/news/262817 It seems guitarist and band leader Yui has suffered from focal dystonia, a neurological condition, in her arm. That's about the last place a guitarist needs a problem. If she can't recover, then the band is definitely toast. As it is the band has been largely inactive, mostly due to Yui's condition. Some bad career decisions didn't help. They made a great metal album in 2014, called Limit Break. Then they went total pop in 2015 with Woman, a total misfire. They tried to bounce back last year with Urban Night but the damage appeared to be done. They have yet to replace drummer Kanoko, who left in 2015. I just can't get over the terrible health of jrockers. So many musicians stepping down from bands due to one health problem or another. Seems we have an announcement every week here.

Well if you are going to be in Tokyo next April, this will be the show to see. There will be a double headliner show with Gacharic Spin and Doll$boxx both doing a full set next year at the Tokyo Dome City Hall on April 15th, the same location as the last GS live DVD. That's two two-hour sets, although one set is at 2 pm and the other is at 7 pm. But if anyone has the stamina for it, it's the GS girls. I hope by then GS has found a replacement for Nenne. Mai looks lost without her.

All 5 videos for the songs on High $pec are available online through their European label. https://dollsboxx.sliptrickrecords.com/ I swear if I didn't know Fuki was the vocalist I'd think Reona is singing. They sound so much alike.

The EP is out on iTunes in the U.S. for $4.95. Well worth the money.