gekiai

DADAROMA is, by all accounts available to me, one of the handful of bands from the new crop that have skyrocketed in stature and popularity to the levels previously held by the mid 2000’s indie stalwarts, crashing the party with probably the best case of intuitive visual kei marketing since conditional disbandment by first releasing Oboreru Sakana on Youtube for all gaijins to easily enjoy. Immediate hit in the west relatively speaking, due to its accessibility both in sound and availability, they’ve been on a continual upward surge since. And now two DADAism’s later, the third in the series has just dropped coinciding with the third year into their run.
 
Having now amassed a decent amount of bulk into their discography one can finally make some observations what DADAROMA is, and what they are about. What to note specifically, is that the overall image of their sound is uniquely scattered, and yet aesthetically consistent. Ever since their debut a polarity has been attributed to them; a struggle between the metalcore influence against their wacky, almost The GazettE-esque light-heartedness and a tendency to stick to more traditional nu-metal visual kei riffs and vocal stylings. At this point, three years on from their debut, it can probably be said that this is a false observation. Out of a discography of 47 or so songs, only about 4 or 5 put on their striped deathcore socks, while the rest tread the line of either appropriating the odd stylistic trick from the style or settle comfortably into the visual kei ballad/mid-tempo song territory. What does remain consistent however is their imagery of clowns, sex, clichéd visual kei political commentary and a very loud production that’s as slick as it gets. Looking at the entirety of their output from the past three years one notices that they’ve always been kind of the same; looking, sounding and acting pretty much like they’ve always done and whatever had been mistakenly attributed as a stylistic shift was merely a case of someone being unfamiliar with them. The palette of DADAROMA just happens to be very broad, and they happen to divulge in all the different aspects of it cyclically.
 
What I do think is true however, is that they do some things better than others, and DADAISM 3 is a prime example of it. In the third release of their EP series we see a band distilling all their worst traits into 20-minute slog that’s everything I hope this band will not be about in the future.
 
In their prime DADAROMA uses the interplay of their ability to use metalcore and traditional visual kei’s melodramatic potency to a great effect. In their first PV tracks Oboreru Sakana and Ame no Waltz they bang out a Suicide Silence 101 knock-off and whispery vk vocals at exactly the right times, and climax like the sinking titanic with a lazy vk fade out for the centuries. If perfect 2010’s visual kei was engineered in a laboratory, it’d sound like these two songs did. Fucking tremendous.
 
While for some of the subsequent PV’s they’d showcase their knack for doing other things, I believe that even if they didn’t continue chugging like before, at least they always stayed fun and sexy. When in form, Yoshiatsu gives a degree of gravity to everything he is on and there is no denying what a technically able band there’s behind him; so even when appropriating INSIDE BEAST or being really tacky with Nightmare Before Christmas Tim Burtony jingles, they’re awesome. With DADAISM 3 being something which they haven’t been before: boring.
 
Oddly enough starting out with a high note, DADAROMA’s PV cut this time is MASTURBATION that horrified a segment of the people on this board, and here I’ll make a case for it: MASTURBATION is interesting, loud and very obnoxious. One valuable life lesson I’ve learned from a childhood of watching pro-wrestling is that any reaction is better than no reaction. There’s an inherent value to the over the topness, and especially when it’s quite fitting for a band that’s always been kind of carney, and most importantly sincerely self-aware. Could I do without another mid-period Marilyn Manson dance live song? Yes, but I don’t hate it either and I kind of appreciate it for what it is. Despite everything it still bangs hard and remains true to the band’s spirit.
 
Things halt to a standstill right afterwards however, when DADAROMA apparently decides to churn out a EP’s worth of mid-tempo ballads and nu-nu-visual kei bangers, channelling pop Lynch and the worm-eaten corpse of that version of Girugamesh nobody liked. I’m making it sound worse than it is, but for a band that’s been so consistent a lull like this is both alarming and a curious choice. Before in songs like Yume Tarareba and Zouka what worked in their favour is both their colourful concept and the contrast in the sound of all their elements. Things that were generic were made cool by their skill and unique character. When a band like this then slows down and makes a collection of energetic live songs and heartfelt bittersweet ballads, I become disaffected when they fall short of the grand theatre of what they could be. Romance Gray is immediately forgettable compared to other songs structured the same way with the sampled rainfall and everything; Itoshi teru doesn’t hold a candle to the songs they’ve made before in a similar style either, and in fact every other song on here can as well be categorised into “they’ve done it before, and they’ve done it better.” Sincerely it is the first time this band has done something twice, and now it’s an EP full of very matter of fact diddies that lack the edge of their prior material, aside from the PV cut that’s a Risley Circus B-side with crass lyrics as its saving grace.
 
When this band takes its foot off the pedal, they can start sounding very generic and tired. This can be circumvented by doing things different. Working with your unique concept, not ripping off Lynch and utilising the tools at your disposal in ways that hasn't been done in the scene before. DADAISM 3 is a paint by the numbers EP from a very professional band no matter how you look at it; it doesn’t hit even close to as hard as 1 or have the diversity of 2. If they’ll settle on treading the same ground like a DOGMA Gazette junior, then they’ll absolutely have to bring back the deathcore for some desperately needed flavour, or otherwise we are due for redux of NOW and GO era Girugamesh. If the history of this band is anything to go by then they'll rebound shortly, but there's always that doubt...
 
 

I've felt this too :/

Do you ever get the feeling that some things that seem to be essentials in life just aren't for you? For me it's meaningful relations of any kind. I just suck at making friends in all arenas, whether someone has similar interests or none at all. If I do get someone to become interested in me, they often seem to lose interest or become friends with someone else 'nearby' in said circle. Perhaps it's attributed to my social awkwardness or introvertedness or I just have really bad luck. And when I do try to be social, most times I'm shot down in some form or fashion. 
 
Sobby random thought (there's probably a thread for these kinda things), but it's just been on my mind the past few days. I'm really starting to think I won't be able to truly connect with anyone.

I really like this idea! Since I translate lyrics myself, I always like to see what others make of the lyrics, rather than just me making my own interpretations. I think this will help others gain interest in discussing more about them, even if only a little. But as @Zeus mentioned, having someone fluent in Japanese is essential for doing something like this as there's so much to discuss about how it's written in the original language before getting into the translation. But of course, that depends on how poetic the lyrics are. I think it's even better to have two people fluent in Japanese, or at least know a decent amount of Japanese, in analyzing lyrics just because there can be so many different interpretations. I think that'll help bring up interesting discussions.
 
I am honestly interested in starting up something like this, but am afraid that I can't offer too much time as I have so many other things currently going on in my life. Bi-weekly or monthly might be manageable though. Another thing is that I'm not SUPER fluent in Japanese (but i think i know a decent enough amount), which is why I think it's a good idea to have another person take part who's also knowledgeable in Japanese. Getting access to lyrics will certainly be an issue as not everybody will be interested in the lyrics I have in hand. And not everybody who DOES have access to them is willing to share them, etc. But we can still start somewhere with what we have.
 
Thinking more about this, I can also see how a lyric analysis can go hand in hand with a PV analysis, if the song has one, which might be really interesting as well~

Sorry but I don't know anybody in your playlist. However I did listen to the song in the video that you linked and I love it! I'll probably check out more of their tunes!
 
1. Gfriend - Fall in Love
2. The GazettE - Blemish
3. UNiTE. - 汚染
4. Red Velvet - Time Slip
5. アルルカン - Pandora
6. Kiryu - 悦ト鬱
7. DIAURA - TRIGGER
8. PHANTOM - Could you be Mine?
9. ペンタゴン ー アネモネ
 
10. 4Minute - Blind
 
Yeah, some of my kpop always gets in my shuffles (even though there isn't much on my iPod in comparison to Jrock??). And in comparison to some folks here, my taste is in dire need of an expansion.
Anyways, Anemone will still be my favorite song by Pentagon, hands down. It's sad that I can hardly stand what they're coming out with right now, but I still have hope for them. Also bring Chizuru's long hair back.
 

The first band that I claimed was my favorite was Vidoll, despite the fact that I got into them after they had disbanded (this was in 2013), but the first ONGOING band that i felt was my favorite was GOTCHAROCKA around the time they released Poisonous Berry...I can't say they're my favorites now tho :') no matter how much I love Jui

Do you ever get the feeling that some things that seem to be essentials in life just aren't for you? For me it's meaningful relations of any kind. I just suck at making friends in all arenas, whether someone has similar interests or none at all. If I do get someone to become interested in me, they often seem to lose interest or become friends with someone else 'nearby' in said circle. Perhaps it's attributed to my social awkwardness or introvertedness or I just have really bad luck. And when I do try to be social, most times I'm shot down in some form or fashion. 
 
Sobby random thought (there's probably a thread for these kinda things), but it's just been on my mind the past few days. I'm really starting to think I won't be able to truly connect with anyone.

I’ve been lurking for quite a while but finally decided to make an account. I just hope that I’ll actually get around to posting, I’m pretty shy.
 
I’ve been listening to VKei for over a decade (eleven years, to be technical), but my tastes as of late seemed to have jumped into a time machine; I used to be very diligent about keeping up with new or modern bands, but over the last couple years or so, I’ve been backtracking into more ~*old school*~ artists and I have a hard time keeping up with everything going on now. Which isn’t necessarily bad, I love what I listen to, but I’m hoping to find new stuff and expand my horizons yay etc. I found out about DADAROMA and MORRIGAN, bands I'm loving, from lurking around here, so I'm hopeful. 
 
Off the top of my head, some stuff I dig: Malice Mizer (because of course), AMADEUS, CANARY, Eliphas Levi, RENTRER EN SOI, NOi’X, Sleep My Dear, L’eprica, sibilebashir, Grieva, Madeth Gray'll, MIRAGE, UnsraW (RIP my sons), Gallo, MORE, sukekiyo, etc.
 
Outside of that, I like a lot of Japanese indie (new and old), v a p o r w a v e, metalcore and djent, hip-hop, jrock in general… it’s a mixed bag. 
 
But yeah! I look forward to seeing you guys around and actually interacting. 

Hello people!
 
I've always thought japanese lyrics are under explored by us western fans. So I thought of a  little fun way of incentivizing the community on giving their 2 cents and analysis on a weekly chosen song, like:
 
The week song + lyric is posted;
people give their analysis/thoughts on its meanings and intricacies;
other people like the comments they think are more accurate, or what they think is the best interpretation;
the person with the most well received analysis gets to choose the song for the next week;
 
Of course what is described above can be changed to better fit the board or the mods, which I believe would be ideal to handle the thread creation and such (maybe the ORZ could take turns on, or smh like that)
 
one barrier I can see is that, if the song does not have a translation available, could be hard for non speakers to be part of it... what do you guys think? any thoughts?

artwork and a band pic have been revealed:
 

 

Do you ever get the feeling that some things that seem to be essentials in life just aren't for you? For me it's meaningful relations of any kind. I just suck at making friends in all arenas, whether someone has similar interests or none at all. If I do get someone to become interested in me, they often seem to lose interest or become friends with someone else 'nearby' in said circle. Perhaps it's attributed to my social awkwardness or introvertedness or I just have really bad luck. And when I do try to be social, most times I'm shot down in some form or fashion. 
 
Sobby random thought (there's probably a thread for these kinda things), but it's just been on my mind the past few days. I'm really starting to think I won't be able to truly connect with anyone.

now my heart is gonna hurt every time I look at their flyer on my wall..

Ok last post here probably (sorry not sorry)
 
masaya's blog post today:
 
 
http://ameblo.jp/blesscode-masaya/entry-12269792347.html

Setlist of their last live:
 

 
 

 
i will fucking love them forever.

and avril
 
 
 
lets be real this is basically a sug song

give visual kei back to the whites, where it belong's

I'm surprised there hasn't been a mention of Jui (ex-Vidoll) here yet. He had a really good range and multi-faceted voice to me, and admittingly so, I believe that he sounds a little different and more limited now after his throat surgery in 2010.
 
Overall, he still has a unique voice. I have yet to find anyone that sounds even remotely similar to him.

I, accidentally, followed a western visual kei group on FB and I came across a gem of a quote "if you judge Western vkei, then you're directly judging the work of Japanese visual kei musicians" or something like that and I had a good laugh. That's not how it works, buddy. Like many have already said here, many of the western bands I've listened to are like sad rip offs of the real thing.  Saying what you do is exactly like the Japanese visual kei bands is arrogant af. 
 
I don't have anything against Westerners attempting to make a visual kei band, but honestly, all the stuff I've seen has been haughty white dudes who think they're really going to be the ones that'll make visual kei big in the West. Sorry, dude, you're not. It was never big over here, or in Japan, in the first place.
 
Do holler at me if anyone finds a Western visual kei group with some diversity tho.

I, accidentally, followed a western visual kei group on FB and I came across a gem of a quote "if you judge Western vkei, then you're directly judging the work of Japanese visual kei musicians" or something like that and I had a good laugh. That's not how it works, buddy. Like many have already said here, many of the western bands I've listened to are like sad rip offs of the real thing.  Saying what you do is exactly like the Japanese visual kei bands is arrogant af. 
 
I don't have anything against Westerners attempting to make a visual kei band, but honestly, all the stuff I've seen has been haughty white dudes who think they're really going to be the ones that'll make visual kei big in the West. Sorry, dude, you're not. It was never big over here, or in Japan, in the first place.
 
Do holler at me if anyone finds a Western visual kei group with some diversity tho.

Ugggghhh I saw this guy's videos on FB this morning and was about to go awf on him but remembered that 90% of the people in the vkei facebook group use Yohio as a reason to not kill themselves.
 
Plus there's a few people who are still bitter from when I told Bataar they had bad makeup.
 

Something about the visual kei aesthetic is lost in translation when Westerners try to do it. Let the scene influence you but to be derivative of a derivative scene is just copycat at that point. Come up with your own fashions. Set your own trends. Learn photoshop. Try not to look like a $5 Five Below reject. Small things would help me to take his opinion even slightly more seriously than I do now.

The end of 2016 and the beginning of 2017 has seen a lot of arrests of visual kei members. While band members skirting the law - and sometimes even breaking it - is nothing new, it is rather unusual to see so many high-profile cases in such a short time span. So today, let's indulge in some visual kei drama both past and present and look at some other famous cases and arrests. Grab some tea, because this topic is going to get delicious.
 
Disclaimer: While the title says "Bad Boys" of visual kei, some of the stuff covered here is particularly heinous. It's one thing to be a "bad boy" and it's another thing to be a rapist. Please don't read into the title too much.
 

Sakura (The Madcap Laughs, ex-L'arc~en~ciel)
 

Dai (Himitsu Kessha Kodomo A (秘密結社コドモA))
 

 
Kisaki (Lin, Phantasmagoria)
 

SHINTARO (ex-アイヲロスト)
 

Miyawaki Wataru (ex-12012)
 

Tomioka Hiroshi / Dynamite Tommy (Free Will president)
 

Manew (ex-The♡Valentine)
 

Akinori (ex. lynch.)
 

TAKAHIRO (ex-FAZ)
 

RIO (ex--LONDBOY)
 

shia (chanty)
 

Daishi (ex-Psycho le Cemu)
 

Just going to push this thread up again because I'm a very recent listener to PLASTICZOOMS and I love them! unfortunately, I have a pretty bad crush on Sho too, oops.
 
I always saw Sho in photos with Kobayashi-san and I figured, why not check out PLASTICZOOMS. So I did...bouncing from video to video on YouTube, but I wasn't too into them at first. I think the only songs I really felt were memorable were Highway and P A R A D E.
 
Then for some strange reason, I felt the urge to listen through PLASTICZOOMS and Critical Factor because I wasn't gonna give up on them so easily! After a couple listens, I reviewed PLASTICZOOMS (found here) and I regret that I did so...early on. After just 2 listens! From then, I have grown very attached to that album, along with Critical Factor, and have, overall, fallen in love with PLASTICZOOMS. I appreciate how versatile their style is, and I feel like even if something I hear from them doesn't pull me in initially, I will find myself rocking to it on the second listen...it's weird.
 
Well that's my mini journey of how I came to love PLASTICZOOMS, and I hope there are many more years to come. (Now come to America purease)

Top 10 - Song Edition
If you're new to an artist, you might want some recommendations before you dive into their whole discography, and what better way to help you out on that than to present to you a handful of favourite songs from across a band/artist's whole work? You might be wanting a heads up, especially those with a hefty discography, or just a starting point to lead you to the best spot and work your way down from there. Whatever the case, here's a personal list of my favourites by Gothic rockers PLASTICZOOMS.
 
This list is ranked, so the numbers are meant as a specific order in this case. I hope this proves to be helpful for any members who are interested in trying them out, or even encourage other fans to make their own lists in response on whatever PLASTICZOOMS related they might want to also do.
PLASTICZOOMS
Vocalist Sho Asakawa, guitarist Taiyo Ikeda, bassist Jun Yokoe, drummer Yuta Kurata, and keyboardist Shinpei Morishige make up the band. Their style can be described as alternative, shoegaze rock, but they touch upon many different sounds with each release ranging from post punk to electronic. They also have just as much of a focus on their appearance as they do sound. They're well known for their Gothic appearance, and are more popular overseas than in Japan due to this and their almost Visual Kei-esque attire. They have even collaborated with fashion label Discovered, had a photo shoot exhibited by professional photographer Nao Takeda, and appeared in "The Reality Show", a magazine where they worked with photographer Nobuyoshi Akari and designer Jill Sander. Sho himself has a brand called Venus Eccentric and is a DJ. PLASTICZOOMS are a very active band that are constantly evolving as musicians. In an interview, Sho has even compared the band to a chameleon in that they change "color from time to time" with each release. While this is certainly true, as evident with their first album (Charm) being especially punk influenced while their second (Starbow) has more of a pop sound, they continue to get better and better in my eyes. 
 

10. SWAN
 
9. SAVAGE
 
8. THE MORNING SUN
 
7. Witch
 
6. WOODS UNDER THE MOOD IN THE LOOP
 
5. P A R A D E
 
4. ILLUMINATION
 
3. PINK SNOW
 
2. Cry. Distance.
 
 
1. Sleepwalker
 
 
It was difficult just picking out ten PLASTICZOOMS tracks, who admittedly don't have that big of a discography compared to most, but even so there were two specific songs that unfortunately couldn't make it in that still deserves mentions.
"MONOCHROME" really can be the only reason you need to check out their second album CRITICAL FACTOR just because of how perfect it is of an opening to the release. The messy yet grungy execution and overall dark sound makes this one an instantly repeatable tune all on its own."The Shadow" is a fine example of how the band used to sound early one, and easily my firm favourite from their early discography. It's a hauntingly beautiful yet quite simple post-rock tune compared to their recent output.
 
So, do we have any other PLASTICZOOMS lovers in the house? Anything you'd like to add, or change, or comment on? Give us your thoughts below! Also feel free to suggest other artists you might want to see be ranked like so: song wise, release wise, PV wise, you name it! I hope you enjoyed!