Saishu

They're doing what DEG does when they tour overseas, which is play all the heavy stuff because they think that appeals more to Western audiences.

Funny. The email I got from CDJapan even called it "Utabumi".

Yeah, that performance doesn't exactly paint Shinya in a positive light. Any brutality that song could have had is missing because of Shinya's weak fills and patterns. He leaves too much space open! Why does he even have two kick drums?!

So how many other jrocknyc-ers do we have here?

Yeah, it's kind of strange there's nothing from DIM on there.

I linked to a YouTube video elsewhere on the forum (DEG thread?) where a woman suggested it was supposed to be a clever play on "suge Kyo", or "awesome Kyo."

God I hate the position of those two chinas up there. It looks ridiculous.

The only reason I said that about world recognition is because of the way Arche was released. It got an iTunes release in America, and that was it. And then Arche is the first DEG album in, like, ten years that doesn't have English translations in the lyrics booklet. (It still amuses me that Macabre finally got an official translation when The Unraveling came out, and there was still no translation for the phrase "barari gurari bara bara no kimi")

Biggest problem I have with Undying is the chorus. I like that its structurally along the same lines as Dogma's title track, but the chorus melody is really boring.

My wife and I often refer to him as the angry imp.

Man, and you know what? I watched the Persuasio Blu-ray last night and Sukekiyo is SUCH a tight band. Even when Kyo's voice occasionally falters during all his vocal acrobatics, the guys behind him are just super tight and on point, and that's really not something I could say for Dir en grey. The key here is Yuuchi and Mika; those dudes are LOCKED into that groove and they're both superb musicians. Mika is probably one of my top 10 favorite drummers ever. So that also plays into my frustrations with properly obtaining Sukekiyo material. I want it all in the best quality possible while simultaneously supporting these guys, but I also understand Kyo isn't particularly interested in worldwide recognition. At least not anymore. Oh well.

Actually, I take it all back. It's ¥6,000 in Kyo's online store, which is reasonable for a single + Blu-ray in special packaging. The higher prices you're seeing are from other shops that are ordering directly from Kyo's store and then making up for the expense by jacking up the price. That said, though, I'm still kind of upset that I can't just go to CDJapan and get this without paying an exorbitant amount of money. Does Pennyoyo Zebracakes even ship outside of Japan? Why you gotta alienate your overseas fan base, Kyo?!

I've reached a point where learning the names of VK band members isn't important.

I don't even know who Koichi is, but I'm talking about those two head shots that kyoselflove posted.

Make up artists and hair stylists can work wonders.

I know it's totally possible, but the thing is Kyo would spit out this thick and bright red blood. Didn't seem real at all.

Uuyu no Sora is also an entirely different beast when played live. Sukekiyo's shows are very much about being a visual experience, so Uuyu no Sora becomes this artsy performance piece. But as for the actual track itself, it's a bore to listen to. However, I also look at it as an album divider, as the songs before and after it are very different in terms of mood. It's almost like flipping over an LP. That said, "Mama" is on the wrong side of the album. While "Zephyr" is poppy, there's still a great sense of melancholy. "Mama" is almost dance-like, the sort of happy, bouncy thing VK bands end their live set with. Again, not a bad song, but weirdly out of place.

THATS MORE THAN FOUR!!!

But there's a Blu-ray with them performing like 5 songs on it!!!

Well... Undying is better than Ugly.

There are blast beats in Rage.

It's not even just Kyo, Japan is just super expensive. Like why the FUCK is the Blu-ray version of the Arche live $100? It's one Blu-ray Disc and one CD!!! Just NAH!

That price is bullshit too. Japan is on crack.

Wow, this is honestly only available for purchase thru Kyo's website? That's some bullshit, man.

Mama might be the only track on Immortalis that I could do without. It's not a bad song, but it totally doesn't fit with the rest of the album.