beni

Artist: VAMPS Album: BLOODSUCKERS Score: VAMPS make a good effort, but could use a little more bite. I'm a huge fan of KAZ's work with Oblivion Dust though I've never been big on L'Arc-en-Ciel or HYDE's solo ventures. Over the years I've come to realize that may have had more to do with my preference for aggressive music than the band's quality of songwriting. So, BLOODSUCKERS is only the second album I've ever heard all the way through with HYDE as the main vocalist, and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this album. It was naive of me not to have prepared myself for high levels of cheesiness, since the song titles on this album range from spooky undead to pirate themes, but there were a lot of shockingly good moments on this album too.

The first half of this album comes off a little weak. "ZERO" is a nice blend of KAZ and HYDE's styles but begins to grate on me after about 2 minutes in, where it felt like they ran out of ideas so they just dragged the song out as if it were a live situation. Only that answer works solely in a live setting. Otherwise, it's just a waste of time that should have been shortened to an intro. "LIPS" also becomes a little boring as well, even though I do appreciate a good 80s glam rock throwback, the song feels flat and lacks the raw vocal edge necessary to pull it off. HYDE stays in this middle space that never goes full grit or full soaring powerhouse. "AHEAD," "GHOST," and "VAMPIRE'S LOVE" all end up in similar bland categories. KAZ puts on a good show with "EVIL," and it's the one saving grace for the album's slow start. The song separates itself with a more industrial feel and a prominent drum beat. HYDE also sounds a little darker in his approach and doesn't try to overpower the music with belting too much just for the sake of it.

BLOODSUCKERS does finally kick into gear by the mid-way point, however. The first promising HYDE composition, "DAMNED" is a punch to the gut and has great dynamics; with a haunting verse that slowly swells to the point that the listener is itching for the chorus's outcry. The guitars really wail on the track and it kicks up to headbang-worthy levels of pounding drums. It's followed by "GET AWAY" and "REPLAY," which were strong singles for the album, but also a step into the pop-influenced side of VAMPS. While not bad songs, they feel lost in the track placement. The first half of the album could have certainly used these songs to beef it up instead of the slower numbers VAMPS opted for. The title interlude was a monster of a piece that I would have loved as a full song, "are you all bloodsuckers?!" the track asks, and the answer to that is a resounding, "yes!" If you ask with that beastly guitar riff backing you up. "THE JOLLY ROGER" doesn't skimp on crunchy guitar riffs either, though it's a slight letdown to have such a positive sounding song after such a dark teaser. But once you accept the song for it's change in theme, it's actually a great piece of work and you will find yourself singing along with the "whoo hoo" of the backing vocals all too easily. The album sends us off with the closing track, "INSIDE MYSELF." It's just as well composed as any of the singles and the album releases its grip on you with a song that really expresses what the band's sound is about. The guitar work is just as catchy as any of the vocal melodies and the production is well polished as you'd expect from industry veterans like this.

While some of the songs rest too much on clichéd writing tropes, it's hard to find anything unlistenable on BLOODSUCKERS. HYDE and KAZ have been writing music long enough to put out quality work that shows more of their strengths than weaknesses. But there is still a lot left to this project that they could explore and I'm looking forward to it in their future releases. I recommend rock fans to give this album a spin, VAMPS cover a lot of ground on BLOODSUCKERS so there's high likelihood they'll surprise you too.
 

[header]MERRY - NOnsenSe MARkeT[/header]
 


[header]Rating: | Who (or what) is MERRY? ... THIS is MERRY:[/header]






01. iNtO the mARkeT 08. Zombie Paradise ～地獄の舞踏曲～
02. NOnsenSe MARkeT 09. Carnival
03. 東京 10. Station 07
04. 自意識過剰型木偶人間 11. 千代田線デモクラシー
05. ZERO -ゼロ- 12. 梟
06. 暗闇にピンク 13. Unreachable Voice
07. Hide-and-seek 14. 群青




If anyone asked me about MERRY, I would show them “NOnsenSe MARkeT.” This is the definitive MERRY album! Not only is this album representative of MERRY as a whole, it pulls off quite a few things that don’t commonly work in Visual Kei. From the very first tracks, “iNtO the MARkeT” and “NOnsenSe MARkeT,” we have: an introduction that segues beautifully into the second track, beautiful acoustic guitars that don’t sound too poppy and in fact, add to the atmosphere (You’ll hear more in “Unreachable Voice”), and we get some fine-tuning and maturing of their previous sound from (the less than stellar received) “Beautiful Freaks.”
This album is full of throwbacks to their past styles, giving us some “現代ストイック” (Generation Stoic) vibes, a few “M.E.R.R.Y.” vibes, a little bit from “nuケミカルレトリック” (nu chemical rhetoric), and so on, while ultimately refining the sound of their previous effort. In Visual Kei, it’s not uncommon for a throwback or continuation to yield something stale, or perhaps “uninspired,” and perhaps that continued sound becomes another on the long list of (unwritten) definitions for that… “G” word (generic). But on this album, MERRY manages to show remnants of their past while keeping things fresh.
In Visual Kei, it also seems uncommon for bands to modify a recent sound for the better. If you didn’t like “Beautiful Freaks,” do not turn away from this album. The songs on this album are much more interesting and engaging, and the overall “package” is more cohesive.
One thing that contributes to the greatness of each song is the flow of the tracklist, and hearing each song in the midst of another. When I first heard “ZERO -ゼロ-” in late 2013, I completely dismissed it, despite instantly falling in love with the previous single “梟” (Owl), but hearing that song on this album made it a more enjoyable one. Although I will say, that pseudo-reggae break in the middle of the song had me cringing.
Let’s talk about Hide-and-Seek for a bit. It’s got a ‘surf-meets-’60’s jazz club’ kind of vibe, with emphasis on the jazz club, all the way down to the way all the instruments were equalised in production (just for this song); it sounds a bit like a live recording that took place at a jazz club. The song is also a rare example of how you can create one song, that can remind the listener of another (SID’s “妄想日記”), without it sounding like a carbon copy or ripoff.
Some more honourable mentions include the segment of the album from “暗闇にピンク” (Pink in the Dark) to “Carnival.” These are just damn fun songs, and overall give a similar kind of vibe. These songs are essentially the party of the album, especially “Zombie Paradise ～地獄の舞踏曲～” (Tango from Hell). After the party ends, you go to “Station 07” and take a train home… the rest of the album still has some energy, but it effectively winds down. And “千代田線デモクラシー” (Chiyoda Line Democracy) is just catchy as fuck, with the melody and that accordion.
I am about to eat my words about one song…
I thought that the album ending with “群青” (Aquamarine) was going to be bizarre, and leave the album unfinished. But when I read @*littlelamb’s comment about the song having a strong message to stay positive and hopeful, I kept an open mind. “群青” as an ending is not as bizarre as you may think. It does give you that sort of “to be continued…?” feeling, but it doesn’t feel wrong. It doesn’t leave you frustratingly thinking “where’s the last track??!!,” but instead, it leaves you anticipating MERRY’s next chapter. It’s saying, “this is where we’ll stop… for now. In the mean time, keep your head up!”
Every time I listen to the album, it doesn’t feel all that “experimental,” but in hindsight after listening, there are quite a few things that I can think of that would count as “experimental.” So maybe this album does have those moments, such as the Halloween dance track “Zombie Paradise ～地獄の舞踏曲～,” and the vintage sounding “Station 07” - “千代田線デモクラシー,” but the album isn’t scattered, or disjointed. The album is very cohesive and the tracklist flows quite nicely.
Honestly, I am highly impressed by this album, and am already considering it my favourite MERRY album. While I can’t say I’ve listened to a single album in their back catalogue as much as I have this one, I see this turning out to be their most memorable. If you want some material from a band that’s been around for awhile that can say “yeah, we still got it!,” listen to this album! If you’ve heard of MERRY, but haven’t really been engaged into their sound, listen to this album! If you’re new to Visual Kei, and wanna try out another cool band, listen to this album!
 

Merry - Nonsense Market
                                          Is the nonsense worth going to the market to buy the album?            
 
 
 
Hello everyone! My name is Miku and I love Japanese music! I don't have time to write much about this release but I will say a couple thing's, I really like Merry, I think they do an amazing job of keeping thing's interesting without overdoing it too much. This album is very diverse in my opinion and I like that very much, there is allot on this album that I love but one thing I would like to point out and  shine some light on is the fantastic guitar work on this album, I have stated in previous review's that one of the thing's I look for when finding something to listen to and one of the thing's that keep's me interested in the band and album is the guitar work. Merry hasn't slouched on interesting guitar melodies in any of their releases and this album is no exception, they really have some amazing and catchy guitar hook's. The vocalist is always very good and on this album he is amazing as usual, he has a very nice vocal range and he show's it throughout this album! The bass and drum work is also done very well on this album! All in all I really enjoyed Nonsense Market and would highly recommend the album to anyone who is into Japanese rock but like's some flare in their music!  
 
 
     All in all I personally give this album a   (Highly recommended)
      Merry Nonsense Market is a very good album, try downloading the album and see what you think, I personally really enjoyed the album and would highly recommend you give it a try! 
 
    This has been Miku thank you for reading!
     -MikuKun

Hello everyone, i'm Zombie.
 
Some of you already know me from plug.dj, but for everyone else it's nice to meet you all. I haven't really been active on a forum ever, so this will be a new experience for me. I've dabbled in Japanese music for a while, but haven't really explored it until the past year or so. I don't really know much about VK, but some of what i've heard people play on Plug was enjoyable. My tastes tend to lean towards pop/electronic/indie, but I try to be open about most types.
 
Some of my favorite Japanese artists: girugamesh, Itsue, Scandal, The Gazette, Suiyoubi no Campanella, Gackt, Backdrop Cinderella, Charisma.com, Perfume, Charan Po Rantan, Kana Boon, Tofubeats, Mondo Grosso, Gesu No Kiwami Otome
 
I also like a lot of korean pop/hip hop, but have too many favorites to list.
 
Here is my last.fm if you are interested.
http://www.last.fm/user/DiminishCap

Needs to teach me how to cook. x)

NSFW (wtf you doing on here at work?)
 

Since I took some photos today to show a friend a couple of dresses I purchased, I thought I could put up those since my hair is done in them unlike my original picture. Took forever positioning the mirror (had to be on bed hah) even though I couldn't get a full body image! >.< And the 'selfie' looks a bit weird, I think I was in the middle of blinking. xD A bit too much lipstick too lol, doing your own makeup is difficult.. I hope the dress design/details shows, sorry if it doesn't! Being someone who does a photography course, I am SHOCKING with the lighting and camera use. Apologies.

i send you a friend request xD

I put Agato up because, as noodle has pointed out, it's his vibrato. It can be pretty overused and exaggerated, don't you think? Obviously we all have our preferences, and as I said above, most of my favs are ones mentioned in the 'bad' section lol. I see no problem in any of these guys, I just think others might so that's my contribution. I love the band and his voice because of this anyway, it's different but it can surely be called bad by others. It's a good and bad one for me personally, haha.
And good gravy, noodle, ESIE is epic! x'D

Very long time listener indeed, and that's awesome. I see you like the classics, wow. I'm a bit of a modern listener, I must admit, but I know these guys are hella loved here. I love Kiyoharu's and GACKT's solo works, but like all your other listened muscians, I have so much old classics to listen to, aha. Thank you for sharing, including your Last.fm link! I've sent you a friend request~ Interesting and awesome library! Hope to see you around, take care and enjoy.
 
Ah, that's his name! Fails at even thinking to use Google xD My sis loves drawing his works, they're ever so interesting. Awesome movies at that too, yes! Everything about it deserves all the recognition and love it has.

I've known about this place for a long while, but finally decided to join because I thought this would be the place to keep in mind when I start trying to get rid of some of my more obscure Japanese CD's. 
 
I'm not gonna say how old I am, but let's just say that I was just out of high school when I got into jrock (waaaay back in 1998).

Thanks, and yes, I've been listening for quite a while. Hard to believe it'll be 20 years in a few years time.  Anyway as for favorite artists...wow that's a long list. If they were big in the mid to late 90's-early 00's, I was probably listening to them. Short list: kuroyume, Luna Sea, Buck-Tick, Malice Mizer etc etc. I obviously have more than that (including non-VK), but those are just off the top of my head. Hah, maybe I should include a link to my last.fm profile.
 
As for my avi, thanks. I'm a big fan of Giger and the Alien films.

Been playing the 3DS most of the time since Christmas thanks to being addicted to Fire Emblem. This game is now my life, no joke. And because my actual shipping of my own character and other characters in the game can be official, I am having a great time being married and having kids with my video game crush. x')
Also, the game Catherine I had got as a late Christmas present I've finally given a go at playing. Just as addicted to this as my 3DS, lol. I must say, this has been my finest choices in Christmas presents in a while!

... I can accept this. You get a pass.

#traitor xD

This song features one of the girls from SISTAR and I must say, this is beautiful....
 

This is new religion dedicated to the almighty gods Nekkichi and Jrockdrama
 
 

 
 

^ U must praise nekkichi or Zeus will ban you and your unborn bastard children
 
You must also Praise Jrockdrama 
 

 
 
 

 
THIS STEP IS CRUCIAL, YOU MUST OFFER YOUR PATHETIC MORTAL SOUL UP TO THESE IDOLS OF SUPREME RULE
 
THERE IS NO BIBLE, NO TORAH, NO WHATEVER THE FUCK PEOPLE GO TO CHURCH FOR
 
 
THERE IS ONLY PRAISING, AND LOTS OF IT MUST BE DONE

OR ELSE..

So you praise nekkichi and you praise Jrockdrama but you don't praise the actual god Zeus? And you expect me to smite your foes? Hah!

All aboard the hype train~ I am as excited as my dog chasing the air when the hair dryer is on. And that is when the always hyperactive dog is most excited. It's gonna be brill!

Welcome to MH~ I do hope you enjoy your stay here! 
I noticed your English is actually very good! No worries at all. I only speak English and fair warning to you; typos/misspellings everywhere~ xD 
Plastic Tree is one of my favourite bands too!! Awesome knowing what you like. My goodness, all your favs are most of mine, haha. GACKT, HYDE and Utada were the first lot of my first Japanese music listens and still up at the top for me.
The community is amazing with all the news updates and such from everyone, yes! Glad it can be beneficial and I hope you can find what you're looking for or find new interesting news~
Also, dat avi!! <3 Beautiful. ;w;
Ah, 'a hug?' :'3

I am a fan of hugs, you have been warned on that too~ xD

I am catborja. From Spain. My English is bad, notice. I like bands like Plastic Tree, ZIZ, Kamijo, Hyde, Utada, The GazettE, Gackt and more. My twitter is: @invasoroxidado (in Spanish). I come here because this site are very updated with the music I like. A hug ~

All aboard the hype train~ I am as excited as my dog chasing the air when the hair dryer is on. And that is when the always hyperactive dog is most excited. It's gonna be brill!

As Aoi Mochi said, brilliant writing and response to an album you didn't even enjoy all that much. Quality reading!
 
Well, even as I type this, I'm re-listening to CLASSICAL ELEMENT. I had already guessed I'd favour this one over THE HISTORY OF GENESIS and I'm not surprised I guessed that personal preference rightly. I was honestly not expecting to hear and see how well received KAMIJO's solo work was in contrast to Jupiter's at the start of these two releasing their works. But now, having given them both a good and fair listen, I can see what everyone means. As said much better by CAT5 and Zeus, I felt the album sounded rather samey. Sure, it has that epic and majestic sound to it, but it ultimately falls flat to me. Others might find that surprising in itself because I also think this album of theirs has more going on in it but, for some reason, I didn't feel tired or distracted with their first album unlike this one. This is not a complaint on ZIN though. I actually like his vocals, so that'd probably the one point I'll have to disagree with. It's not as misfitting than a certain band which comes to mind... Just give AREA51 a listen! ZIN's vocals are actually quite fitting, clear and strong, even if it's not as captivating as KAMIJO's or portrays any sort of emotions most of the time. But I guess, this is also why I felt the album kept at the same sort of mood and tempo throughout. I do have one request of ZIN; please do more high vocals!
 
There's no outstanding point I personally heard when listening to it in one sitting. The only actual thing that stood out to me was the female vocals in 'Red Carnation,' which was pretty attention grabbing after 7 tracks beforehand which didn't really have any sort of climax at all. And even ending the album, that was my highlight of listening to it. I'd like to say though, 'Luminous' at track 12 might be my favourite song by them at the moment. It caught my wavered attention towards the end at least, and definitely reassures me of why ballads are my favourite sort of music. So in the end, even comparing to KAMIJO's Heart album, the contrast and dissimilarities are pretty large. I enjoyed KAMIJO's debut solo album because of how many directions it took in sound and style, and while THE HISTORY OF GENESIS sounds like it did a better job in this department then their first album, I just couldn't feel as attached to it due to its exhausting length and similar sounding and all too familiar instrumental playing throughout. This is one album I know I'll probably keep at the back of my mind when wanting to revisit already listened to albums.

Just putting it out here: I'd be totally up for a 90s and 80s night. Because, you know, I'm old and stuff. XD

I have to admit, while I do like cocklobin and give them a listen from time to time, I first heard of Develop one's faculties thanks to the draft of your review Zeus! I've just read the band member connections, such as Chemical Pictures. Awesome! It's rare I'll give a new band a listen if I'm totally honest with you now. I prefer waiting for an album release or, at the very least, a mini-album. Singles end way too quickly!!
 
I'm listening to the single right now and I'm loving the opening beat and progression throughout the first track. I might actually have to spin this on repeat some time! The second track is just as chill sounding, and I'm digging yuya's vocals. Your review is brilliantly done and I agree with the rating. I think I'll have to look out for more releases from these guys, and also, new bands in general. I need to give singles more chances and first listens.