SethItari

"Core" sounds awesome! As a suggestion for future releases I would probably lower the guitars a little if it were me, but the singer still had the required space in the mix so it wasn't too bad, it's just that the guitar arrangement itself sounded great but felt grating to me at times just because of the volume. Awesome stuff though!

Should be a poll answer: "Youtube Recommendations OP".
 
Seriously though,  I am not even sure how I discover music. There are these chains of music discovery you can follow. Find radio stations of a genre you like, playlists on youtube, etc. It honestly feels more like if I stick to the music I like, the music I like will just keep coming.

It's short for my stage name, KEN Ochoa. K is simply for KEN, 8A is spanish for Ocho (8) A, which is my surname. My dad used to write his sig as 8A, so I stole it.

MY FIRST STORY
 
Current Members
Hiro -  Vocals
Teru - Guitars
Kid'z - Drums
Nob - Bass
 
Non-touring & Former Members
Sho - Guitars, Songwriter | Is no longer touring due to unspecified personal matters, but still acting as songwriter for the band.
Masack - Drums | Former Drummer, reasons for leaving unknown.
 
Releases
Albums
MY FIRST STORY (April 4, 2012) THE STORY IS MY LIFE (February 6, 2013) 虚言NEUROSE / KYOGEN NEUROSE (October 29, 2014) ANTITHESE (June 29, 2016) Singles
最終回STORY / Saishuukai STORY (July 3, 2013) Black Rail (July 16, 2014) 不可逆リプレイス / Fukagyaku Replace (September 24, 2014) ALONE (August 5, 2015)  
My First Story is a post-hardcore, melodic rock band originating from Shibuya, in Tokyo. Stylistically My First Story can be described as a post-hardcore act that emphasizes the rhythm section primarily to achieve a very heavy sound, while relying on leads often buried in the mix to add subtle melodic textures to their driving rock sound. The lyrics would appear to share a common theme, and seem to speak primarily of emotional struggles and various forms of anxiety. While the band takes after various tones depending on the song, a defining characteristic sound is their occasional use of country-pop inspired songwriting in a major key to a post-hardcore arrangement. (A style that typically makes use of more distortion on guitars and minor keys),  such is the case on songs like Gift, Someday & Missing You.
 
My Thoughts:
I primarily created this topic as I was surprised to see it didn't exist already, and I really wanted a place to vent my excitement that ANTITHESE is coming out tomorrow! 虚言NEUROSE was an amazing album from start to finish, the only song I was not particularly fond of therein was "Gravity", and even then it had it's appeal as a head-banger. Given the trend I am seeing with the 3 ANTITHESE singles already released, I can only expect this one will be just as amazing!

Saw them live in Japan on a surprisingly small stage. One of the best live bands around. Perhaps my favorite heavier metal band out there, on par with the great Slipknot. Their pits are INSANE,  and they have a ton of energy. Given they're getting to be more and more international what with opening for BMTH and doing a bunch of big stages at European festivals, I hope that if any of you ever get the chance that you grab tickets right away. Certainly worth it!

PS: they pull off their "softer" new material really well. Heck, the pits were as big if not bigger for some of those tracks.

実は、人々はよく「アニメの単語と日常会話は違う」と言っていますが、日本に行ったとき、すこし同じような話し方だと思ったからびっくりしてた。もちろん、日常会話なら声優のようなドラマチックの発声し方は違うんだけど、敬語を使わない会話の聞く練習ためにアニメは便利だと思います。でも、さまざまな日本語のドラマも好き。こんなドラマの方が、敬語とか、日常会話の言葉とか、もっと聴くのが出来るでしょう。
 
もしかしてブラジルの発音は日本語と同じようだろう？日本語を勉強し始める英語の母語の人は発音を学ぶことをもっと難しそうなんだけど、よく聴く練習をする人なら、難しくなくなるでしょう。私は発音は難しくないと思いますが、英語とフランス語が出来ます。二つの母語があれば発音はもっと難しくなくなるかもしれない。

You are certainly correct, these are not the same chords. This being said, all the chords (or at least the start of the song) appear to share the same function.
 
As you may or may not know, if you know the key of a song you can write a progression like 'E B C#m G#m' as 'I V vi iii'.
 
The reason the chords don't sound the same as what the tabs have you playing is their acoustic arrangement, as is shown in this video, is transposed a whole step down.
 
The original song is in the key of E, this video seems to suggest the acoustic arrangement is in the key of D# (one fret down from E).  It would appear he is still playing the chords as though he is playing in E based on the video, so there are one of two possibilities: either the video has been pitched down a half-step, a common trick used to avoid automatic copyright strikes when uploading to youtube, which would mean on the original DVD it would sound like the chord sheet for the original song, or toru has tuned down a half step to D# standard for this arrangement. It is not uncommon for Toru to tune a half step down so that is just as likely. It would also make the high notes easier on Taka since they just won't be as high.
 
Either way: here are chords that would sound correct. How you use them is up to you, you can either tune your guitar down a half step (every string down half a note, D# standard tuning) and play the same chord shapes as on the tabs you linked, or you can learn the chords in standard (since he appears to be playing as though the guitar is in D# in the video, you may not be able to hit the low D# Major chord exactly as he does if you chose to go the E standard route).

 
 
 
I know this is very late so I'm sorry if it isn't helpful, but it was good fun to work this out either way.

I was surprised to see one of my favorite Japanese bands (probably my second  favorite active Japanese post-hardcore group behind SiM) was not yet up for discussion here (apologies if they are, I search 3 variants on their name including abbreviation).
 
Fear, & Loathing in Las Vegas
So - Vocals, Programming
Minami - Vocals, Keyboard, Programming
Sxun - Lead Guitars, Vocals
Taiki - Guitars, Vocals
Tomonori - Drums, Pitched Percussion
Kei - Bass
 
Stylistically the band has roots in post-hardcore, but have since further embraced the electronic elements brought in by Minami's sampling and synthesis to perform a wider array of different genres, incorporating strong elements of EDM, Jazz, Chiptune, and Pop-Punk and Deathcore in their more recent works. Vocalist So has been actively using hard tuning on his vocals since the band's first releases, but the band has since evolved to take full advantage of this sound, using less subtle hard tune and both mono and poly lead vocoders on his voice to achieve their signature sound today. Sxun, who typically has the least vocal processing live, does most of the talking and would appear to be the voice of the band between songs. So also programs and maintains his own vocoders live, seemingly through discreet midi signal controllers.
 
My opinions:

I won't lie, I initially started listening to Fear, & Loathing in Las Vegas as a bit of a joke, convincing myself that I was entertaining myself by listening to one of the weirdest rock bands out there. This outlook quickly evolve through repetition into genuine appreciation for the band, especially when I realized how they manage to pull off such a chaotic sound live (outside of the studio) and still make it sound fun, catchy, and not completely messy, which can be rare in their brand of chaotic post-hardcore, even without the hurdle of so much programming and the required punctuality that comes with it. Unfortunately I have never been to one of their live shows in person, though I have seen similar bands perform live and it leaves me no doubt that seeing Fear, & Loathing in Las Vegas' live set would be an amazing experience, and I've seen their Animals II DVD which only makes me dream of seeing their performance all that much more.
 

I was surprised to see one of my favorite Japanese bands (probably my second  favorite active Japanese post-hardcore group behind SiM) was not yet up for discussion here (apologies if they are, I search 3 variants on their name including abbreviation).
 
Fear, & Loathing in Las Vegas
So - Vocals, Programming
Minami - Vocals, Keyboard, Programming
Sxun - Lead Guitars, Vocals
Taiki - Guitars, Vocals
Tomonori - Drums, Pitched Percussion
Kei - Bass
 
Stylistically the band has roots in post-hardcore, but have since further embraced the electronic elements brought in by Minami's sampling and synthesis to perform a wider array of different genres, incorporating strong elements of EDM, Jazz, Chiptune, and Pop-Punk and Deathcore in their more recent works. Vocalist So has been actively using hard tuning on his vocals since the band's first releases, but the band has since evolved to take full advantage of this sound, using less subtle hard tune and both mono and poly lead vocoders on his voice to achieve their signature sound today. Sxun, who typically has the least vocal processing live, does most of the talking and would appear to be the voice of the band between songs. So also programs and maintains his own vocoders live, seemingly through discreet midi signal controllers.
 
My opinions:

I won't lie, I initially started listening to Fear, & Loathing in Las Vegas as a bit of a joke, convincing myself that I was entertaining myself by listening to one of the weirdest rock bands out there. This outlook quickly evolve through repetition into genuine appreciation for the band, especially when I realized how they manage to pull off such a chaotic sound live (outside of the studio) and still make it sound fun, catchy, and not completely messy, which can be rare in their brand of chaotic post-hardcore, even without the hurdle of so much programming and the required punctuality that comes with it. Unfortunately I have never been to one of their live shows in person, though I have seen similar bands perform live and it leaves me no doubt that seeing Fear, & Loathing in Las Vegas' live set would be an amazing experience, and I've seen their Animals II DVD which only makes me dream of seeing their performance all that much more.
 

私は日本語の三年くらい勉強してる人なんだから、大丈夫ですよ。難しすぎる単語を使う時、たぶん言葉を捜してたことがある。 (笑)
 
普通の日本語を勉強している人に知り合うときには「どうして日本語を勉強していますか？」と言っているけど、このサイトで知り合ったら人なんだから、私と同じ「日本語の音楽が好き」の理由でしょう。

I was surprised to see one of my favorite Japanese bands (probably my second  favorite active Japanese post-hardcore group behind SiM) was not yet up for discussion here (apologies if they are, I search 3 variants on their name including abbreviation).
 
Fear, & Loathing in Las Vegas
So - Vocals, Programming
Minami - Vocals, Keyboard, Programming
Sxun - Lead Guitars, Vocals
Taiki - Guitars, Vocals
Tomonori - Drums, Pitched Percussion
Kei - Bass
 
Stylistically the band has roots in post-hardcore, but have since further embraced the electronic elements brought in by Minami's sampling and synthesis to perform a wider array of different genres, incorporating strong elements of EDM, Jazz, Chiptune, and Pop-Punk and Deathcore in their more recent works. Vocalist So has been actively using hard tuning on his vocals since the band's first releases, but the band has since evolved to take full advantage of this sound, using less subtle hard tune and both mono and poly lead vocoders on his voice to achieve their signature sound today. Sxun, who typically has the least vocal processing live, does most of the talking and would appear to be the voice of the band between songs. So also programs and maintains his own vocoders live, seemingly through discreet midi signal controllers.
 
My opinions:

I won't lie, I initially started listening to Fear, & Loathing in Las Vegas as a bit of a joke, convincing myself that I was entertaining myself by listening to one of the weirdest rock bands out there. This outlook quickly evolve through repetition into genuine appreciation for the band, especially when I realized how they manage to pull off such a chaotic sound live (outside of the studio) and still make it sound fun, catchy, and not completely messy, which can be rare in their brand of chaotic post-hardcore, even without the hurdle of so much programming and the required punctuality that comes with it. Unfortunately I have never been to one of their live shows in person, though I have seen similar bands perform live and it leaves me no doubt that seeing Fear, & Loathing in Las Vegas' live set would be an amazing experience, and I've seen their Animals II DVD which only makes me dream of seeing their performance all that much more.
 

woohoo im from ontario too, welcome and enjoy your time here!

Is it still pronounced heart though, just visually reversed? It's not uncommon for bands to stylize their names in interesting ways for certain album releases and such.  So I am kinda questioning whether or not this is a name change or just that. BMPCHKN on the new Bump of Chicken album, for example.

No worries, I knew what you meant. Though I'll admit when I read the first few words I immediately thought the same thing: "Lies, I know a Swedish person and a Canadian" (from my hometown actually). But don't worry, it was easy to tell what you mean by the context of your message.

Is it still pronounced heart though, just visually reversed? It's not uncommon for bands to stylize their names in interesting ways for certain album releases and such.  So I am kinda questioning whether or not this is a name change or just that. BMPCHKN on the new Bump of Chicken album, for example.

Wow, the new 04LS is not what I was expecting from them at all! It's nice that they always seem to know when it's time to mix things up. Wasn't feeling climb that much, but this is pretty cool.
 
 

The fact is that these bitches are killing it, so we should forget all the haters and enjoy our fake music produced by sellout businessmen and performed by fame whore puppets
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSCRT7sDyWA 

It was a very good discussion (as a reader). In fact, it was one of the most interesting music duscussions I've seen on this forum for a long while.

There are quite a few problems here:
 
 
1. "This is a broad description, but it brings with it serious doubts about anything I said being entirely wrong" - This does not logically follow in regards to your previous comment. Now you're arguing about the Japanese Idol Culture and its existence, where as previously you were making arguments about "sincere", "authentic", and "famewhoring" artists (buzzwords that have 0 meaning when in consideration of their musical context -- i.e. the music they're making). I can see what you're trying to do; but it doesn't follow because there is a disconnect between the two points you're trying to tie together. Being an Idol =/= someone isn't sincere about what they're doing (remember: The Music Industry is a business at the end of the day, and these are people that WANT to get into this business, regardless of its musical merits, or lack thereof). "Sincerity" is not only a buzzword in this context; but it involves someone's motives which you have no clue of. Thus, that can't be argued. Second, notice the lack of citation in the long description regarding Japanese Idol Culture. Are we to accept a source for its lack of citation? To do so would be fallacious, but what's worse is:
 
 
2. "You can also take the numerous scandal reports into account..." No, you can't, because said information is incredibly suspect, and based off of internet rumors that (I'm guessing) are found on Tumblr, MH, and various other sites where gossip on this topic is readily available. Do we have certainty that ALL of this is true? No. We don't even have a guarantee that half of it is true. The problem with making assertions from such sources, is that they tend not to hold up. Though, I'm not willing to go to the extreme to disregard ALL of it, because that oddly enough, supports what I said from the start:
 
 
3. You're making arguments based on an image, and not based on the merits of the music itself. I find it appalling that someone who stresses "authentic" music and artists is so hung-up on the image a band portrays, and not the very music that they make. You're upset that it infringes on your belief of what "true" metal is, when you don't even bother to talk about the music and what "true metal" is in the first place. Instead, you glossed over it in one sentence and called it "fine" -- if I recall correctly. This is the part of your argument you're failing to unite. You are trying to discredit BABYMETAL as artists without touching their music. Instead, you are critiquing their image based on what you think you know from Internet Articles and rumors, and trying to draw it into a musical context of "well, this is bad Metal, because it's not AUTHENTIC". If we are to even BEGIN talking about something being "authentic" or not, then you will have to develop heavily-scrutinized criteria to begin the conversation. If you can define this, we can perhaps go from there.
 
 
Sadly, when discussing music and its merits, the music needs to be discussed, not the "image" and stage gimmick of a band. But, you are unable to do so, so you attempt to make this idealized (and heavily Romanticized) argument that there is this magical (yet to be defined by you) difference between a "true" artist and an "inauthentic" one. Are Japanese Idols as skilled as someone who is a professional Opera singer? No (as the Wiki page mentions these are inexperienced kids being signed); but the lack of experience =/= a lack of authenticity, or a lack of sincerity. After all, Japanese Idols fall under their own niche of appreciation.
 
 
4. "As to your pop music description..gosh you're a smartass. Creating an issue where there isn't one." You seem to have missed the point I was making. You are arguing that BABYMETAL are not authentic because of the whole list of buzzwords you have mentioned up to this point. The problem is, by your logic, if you take those words ("famewhoring, pop idol machinery, sincere, authentic artists, puppets, sellout, and fabricated") you can just as easily slap that onto Metal, another Popular genre, that revolves around Marketability, and the music industry (i.e. labels) for distribution, to make a similar point that it's not "authentic" music when in consideration of Art Music. The reason why I refuse to do so, is because not only is that argument just as baseless; but it doesn't logically follow.
 
 
 
 
tl;dr: Attaching your problem with an image of a band to their music is detrimental, and irrational, because it says nothing about the music even though it's trying to make a critique on it as a whole. You have Romanticized ideals as to what music "should" be (though music should never be anything other than "art for art's sake"), and are unable to discuss the merits of the music to unite and better define your argument. Don't like the band? Fine, I don't either; but don't let your terrible idea as to what makes music "authentic" try to make comments on the music that you are unable to argue against (based on your inability to write a Pop composition).
 
 
 
 
"there is more in music than famewhoring and pure instrumentals...."
 
JS Bach would be rolling in his grave right now.

With the exception of not liking pop singers fronting a metal band, none of your complaints have anything to do with the merits of the compositions and are criticizing: image, how metal "should" be, how metal "shouldn't" be, and the same excuse about "sell outs" and "fabricatiing" that is only brought up as a means to try and discredit a band. It's fine not to like them because they're fronted by young pop singers; but stop trying to draw it into some greater argument that revolves around "Metal Purity" when Metal thrives off of marketability and gimmicks in the first place (in addition to the "oh so serious" bands).
 
 
 
 
Also, in regards to: "Every little idiot nowadays is able to write catchy melodies. Especially in pop genre, which it basically is"
 
If you can, I would like you to write a Pop composition that follows all of the conventions of a pop song that has a "catchy" verse, chorus, and bridge. Afterwards, post it here so we can assess how good of a composition it is.

ok, i think i need to adress this.
i read that kind of argument a LOT and the hypocrisy behind it is just staggering.
 
when in a band the guitarist writes all of the music you don't hate on the other members for playing songs they didn't write, you don't hate on actors who perform in movies/theatre that they didn't write the piece they perform, you don't hate on classical orchestras that perform music by guys already dead for hundreds of years, but somehow it is "lame" and for some not really apparent reason without "soul" when 3 teenage girls perform a series of high-energy metal-gigs all over the world?
 
on top of that these tracks are so wildly creative, new and fresh, but apparently only the concept of a selling-machine?
u-huh, because death-core-powermetal tracks about chocolate with reggae parts and dragonforce guitar-solos are a failproof combination for big bucks. sure thing...
 
i can totally understand having a disliking for the cutesy high-pitched voices, or the riddicculous genre-mish-mash that is going on, or just the tracks in general for their complexity or whatever. 
but listening to those tracks it is painstakingly clear, that a LOT of creativity, thought, work and heart went into creating something truly interesting here
(and the amount of controversy they stir up is probably the most solid proof of that)
 
if now the second guitarist from the right is the writer of the tracks or not, how would that make any difference?

Honestly my pick for a band to introduce as a nice overview of what J-Rock is all about would probably be Girugamesh. They were the band that really got me into Japanese music (or re-kindled my interest really, given I was really into Gackt and a bunch of anime openings from my youth).  To me their style is kind of all encompassing, especially with the recent string of albums utilizing electronics / pop infused passages. They've got a bit of Visual Kei, mainstream "One Ok Rock" vibe, Japan's underground post-hardcore scene, classic X-Japan type J-Rock, and I dare say even a bit of an anime opening sound on occasion (though they haven't done any anime tie-ups, I maintain at least some of their catalogue could have made good openings. Notably INCOMPLETE has the right song structure for it, in my opinion). A very well rounded band that I think portrays J-Rock very well, objectively speaking, in a variety of ways.

Hello everyone,
My name, or at least the one I go by, is Seth.
I'm a student and musician from Ontario, Canada. I love all sorts of Japanese music, but particularly J-Rock hence my interest in joining this community to hopefully stay current and discuss the music I love with other fans.
While I study computer science in school, with a minor in Japanese, my dream is to become a musician or composer, particularly, as unrealistic a dream as that may be for a Canadian, in the realm of J-Rock / J-Pop.
I play sing, play guitar, drums,  Saxophone, and a bit of violin which I may or may not have picked up as a result of my infatuation with TK's use of strings in tracks like Unravel.
Though I am more familiar with what I would consider "mainstream" J-Rock, I do enjoy Visual Kei bands such as The GazettE, DIV and MEJIBRAY. I get the impression a lot of you are particularly Visual Kei savvy, which is fine as I'd love to improve my knowledge of the genre, though I like that all the same I do see a lot of variety around the site and hope that you'll accept my musical openness. (I'll try not to profess my love for Nishino Kana and FLOWER  as openly to stay on topic with the rock music. Can't make any promises for Eir Aoi  and LiSA though. They rock hard enough for me.)
 

Hello everyone,
My name, or at least the one I go by, is Seth.
I'm a student and musician from Ontario, Canada. I love all sorts of Japanese music, but particularly J-Rock hence my interest in joining this community to hopefully stay current and discuss the music I love with other fans.
While I study computer science in school, with a minor in Japanese, my dream is to become a musician or composer, particularly, as unrealistic a dream as that may be for a Canadian, in the realm of J-Rock / J-Pop.
I play sing, play guitar, drums,  Saxophone, and a bit of violin which I may or may not have picked up as a result of my infatuation with TK's use of strings in tracks like Unravel.
Though I am more familiar with what I would consider "mainstream" J-Rock, I do enjoy Visual Kei bands such as The GazettE, DIV and MEJIBRAY. I get the impression a lot of you are particularly Visual Kei savvy, which is fine as I'd love to improve my knowledge of the genre, though I like that all the same I do see a lot of variety around the site and hope that you'll accept my musical openness. (I'll try not to profess my love for Nishino Kana and FLOWER  as openly to stay on topic with the rock music. Can't make any promises for Eir Aoi  and LiSA though. They rock hard enough for me.)
 

Hello everyone,
My name, or at least the one I go by, is Seth.
I'm a student and musician from Ontario, Canada. I love all sorts of Japanese music, but particularly J-Rock hence my interest in joining this community to hopefully stay current and discuss the music I love with other fans.
While I study computer science in school, with a minor in Japanese, my dream is to become a musician or composer, particularly, as unrealistic a dream as that may be for a Canadian, in the realm of J-Rock / J-Pop.
I play sing, play guitar, drums,  Saxophone, and a bit of violin which I may or may not have picked up as a result of my infatuation with TK's use of strings in tracks like Unravel.
Though I am more familiar with what I would consider "mainstream" J-Rock, I do enjoy Visual Kei bands such as The GazettE, DIV and MEJIBRAY. I get the impression a lot of you are particularly Visual Kei savvy, which is fine as I'd love to improve my knowledge of the genre, though I like that all the same I do see a lot of variety around the site and hope that you'll accept my musical openness. (I'll try not to profess my love for Nishino Kana and FLOWER  as openly to stay on topic with the rock music. Can't make any promises for Eir Aoi  and LiSA though. They rock hard enough for me.)