Panda_bear

Any fans of his music? I only recently discovered him and I've been binging through his discography.  I really enjoyed Call Me When you're sober and appreciate all the other genres of music he combined with the rap/trap style. His passing was very unfortunate and sad on a number of levels. 

Same here. I'm more of a rock and metal guy, but appreciate some good hip-hop and rap, and his style instantly made me a fan of his. His music definitely pulls you in even if your not a rap fan. Definitely blast worthy with some emo but catchy vocal hooks.  His lyrics are also very relateable and a part of why I think he attracted a lot of fans. 

Any fans of his music? I only recently discovered him and I've been binging through his discography.  I really enjoyed Call Me When you're sober and appreciate all the other genres of music he combined with the rap/trap style. His passing was very unfortunate and sad on a number of levels. 

Super late on this, but I thought the Deluxe version of California was miles better than the standard version. I loved the 2nd disc more than I did the official version and I thought it was a stronger album as well. I agree last train home is probably one of the highlights of the deluxe version. I actually really loved  Misery,  Hey I'm sorry, Don't mean Anything, Last Train Home  Wildfire, 6/8 and Bottom of the Ocean.
 
To me the deluxe version sounds more Blink 182. A good mix of punk-rock/ alt rock,  creativity and a variety of moods.  
 
Hadn't heard this dark Blink since their self titled. 

With regular California there was way too much feldman influence. The songs are trying way too hard to be catchy, and commercial. They lose that special blink soul. Too many nana's shoved in almost every song, no real memorable guitar riffs,  and kinda weak verses and choruses.  Another thing I didn't like was the way feldman pushed the band to write songs fast, which unfortunately shows way too much on the regular version because they don't sound worked out. I did enjoy some songs , like Bored To death, Sober, rabbit hole, and the only thing that matters. The only good  thing that stands out about the regular version was the production, which is probably the best the band has ever had.
 
It's shame the band couldn't have taken the best out of  both discs and put out an actually strong album.
 
I really wish the band had done more songs like this on the regular version. 
 
All i can say about another future blink album is please no more feldman. 
 

Guys are crushing it with their new material. 
 
 

Currently Watching:
 
Masamune's Revenge - The plot is pretty intriguing. Boy is overweight, bullied and ostracized as a young child, goes away, and comes back as a super athletic, intelligent and  attractive school student, with the aim of taking revenge on a former crush/bully, who has no idea who they originally where.  This started off quite good. It was very interesting to see the main characters backstory and all the turmoil he went through that made him better himself. Yet he still retains obvious flaws in his personality. I feel like the main plot device, although obviously exaggerated, is something most people can relate to. However the series unfortunately goes downhill midway. There were so much potential, and instead of exploring that potential, a forced and out of nowhere turn was thrown in there.  It's so jarring and out of place it's stupid. It was barely able  to recover and  just when it is on the verge of recovering, another out of field and jarring twist is thrown in there.  There are 2 episodes left and I have no idea on how this series is going to end, but so far I've got mixed feelings. On the plus side, I am enjoying the actual animation and music selection. 

Paul wardingham is quite dope
 
 
Sithu Aye- His material ranges from metal inspired rock pieces to shreddy rock type stuff.
 
Can never go wrong with paul gilbert.  One of the original shredders.  Guy has some sick skills and inspired a ton of modern metal players for a reason
 
 
Might be cheating since not all of their album is instrumental, but nonetheless it's some great, epic and modern sounding metal. 
 
Might also be cheating but both of Shokrans albums have instrumental versions and they are just as amazing without vocals. Djenty, technical, Egyptian prog metal.
 

reminiscing2004 is correct on the technical aspects of what he's pointed out. Don't know where all the rest of the drama came from though.
 
- Of course Hi-Res sounds better than a 256kbps mp3. A 320kbps mp3 will sound better too, and a 44.1/16 file will too
- a 256 kbps mp3 (variable bit depth as inherent to mp3 codec) and an actual 16 bit 44.1khz CD rip: two very different things
- The whole point of 24 bit audio as a superior tool in the studio is you have a wider signal to noise ratio (144 db vs 96 db of a 16 bit file).
 X2
 
Also
 
x2
 
Would also like to point out that though theoretically DAC's shouldn't matter and therefore sound different, but they do. And the reason you don't see the wide use of 24bit/16bit releases is simply because I don't think lossless compression/uncompressed audio was ever meant for your average casual listener so no efforts were made to make that available.  There was obviously a very small base of people who actually knew what lossless compression/uncompressed audio was or had the equipment to take advantage of it when you compare it to the general population. Simply think of the hard drive space limitations as well. All of this has been changing over almost 2-3 decades now, which is why you do see bands and artists now giving the option to purchase higher quality files such as wav  44.1/24 bit or whatever the original recording/master was at. 
 
Then of course whether you hear a difference or not comes down to how well developed and trained your ears are, the files your comparing, the equipment you're using, and the room you are in. The first 2 are the most important in most cases IMO.  Really do doubt most self proclaimed audiophiles or avid listeners online have spent years training their ears to listen for changes in depth, width, compression, frequency curves and small changes in db, among other things. Doesn't help if your knowledge on audio is inaccurate in the first place and you're making assumptions on what you're hearing based on that incorrect information. 
 
But back to the original post, yes I do I hear a difference. Would the difference be big enough for me to buy the Hi res version over the itunes? Yes it would, but under these 2 conditions; the "hi res" is at a higher rate then one I could get from a cd rip, and I would have to truly enjoy the mix and master on the release. Otherwise it doesn't make sense for me to buy an amazing ultra sounding turd, if the mix/master is bad, or if I could simply obtain the same quality from a 16bit cd rip.  And since I rarely buy digital, and almost always buy CD's, this isn't really an issue for me. 
 
On sidenote, I had no idea this release was a re-recording and had a different mix and master. Went back to the original recordings and unfortunately I'm not liking some of the mix decisions on this new release. I.e, what's with up with the dark and weighty snare on most of the songs? Sound boxy and disjointed from the rest of the kit and doesn't fit in tone with the rest of the songs. Too much room mic or verb on it too. 
 
  

Hi-res sounds better than iTunes, using Audio Technica studio headphones, a Dragonfly DAC and correct playback settings.
 
24-bit does not sound any different to 16-bit.
 
This is because 24 or 16 bits refers to the bit depth, not the bit rate, and on the vast majority of recordings (excluding perhaps orchestral music) the only difference is 8 bits of noise. There is no way we could truly take in the full audio range of 24-bit music without turning up the volume so high it would essentially be fatal (because of course decibels refers to pressure). That's why when making CDs, the remaining bit depth is simply filled out with inaudible noise frequencies. And this is even before all kinds of filtering and editing that go on in the studio.
 
Simply, there is no such thing as a perfect digital representation of music recorded in analogue sound, which is why even the studio files will probably sound no different to the CD itself. So those extra 8 bits of depth are incomprehensible to the listener.
 
For recording music, go 24-bit. For listening, 16-bit is more than enough for 99.9% of listeners.

Of course Hi-Res sounds better than a 256kbps mp3. A 320kbps mp3 will sound better too, and a 44.1/16 file will too as @YuyoDrifthas mentioned. The real question should be does a Hi-res 24/96 file sound better than a cd quality 16/44.1 lossless rip. You're putting Hi-Res against a straw man to make yourself feel better about it, or you just don't actually realize how silly this is.
 
The fact that you made this thread after I pointed out how foolish you were in the Gazette thread (1 2 3) as some sort of attempt to prove yourself right (?) just further shows how little of your obsession with this is confounded in actual understanding.
 
Because you still don't seem to get it in the other thread, here is all the things wrong with your reply to me there @Aeolus:
>"And yes, depending on the vinyl they are the same"
 @Naaaaani tried to help you out – it doesn't matter what quality digital source you burn to vinyl, it doesn't quantize the information into steps like digital has to. You just can't physically write into a vinyl like that. Go read about the difference between digital and analogue. I don't see how can you be any semblance of an audiophile and not understand this basic distinction.
 
>"never said anything about mp3 haha."
Exactly the problem. Throughout your whole initial post you say what I have = 24 / 96, and what everyone else is itunes/cd quality (44/16). You were making no distinction between a 256kbps mp3 (variable bit depth as inherent to mp3 codec) and an actual 16 bit 44.1khz CD rip: two very different things. In that thread you were comparing your files to Himi like they were "CD quality", even calling them "16/44.1". I tried to point that problems in saying that, because while the sample rate is maintained the bit depth is severely reduced in an mp3 from a 16 bit lossless file. And yet again, you run off and make THIS thread where you are again seeming to confuse an iTunes store quality mp3 and a lossless CD rip (??).
 
>"I'm not saying i can here 50khz, all I said was that I can hear a noticeable difference between the itunes store quality and Hi-Res,"
Ahh, I think I'm starting to understand that you either didn't read my initial post it all, or gave it 0 energy to understand, or maybe tried and still don't. But I don't think you tried at all really. The whole point of what I'm saying, what Yuuyo and Shmilly is saying, is that there is an argument to be had over a 44.1 or 48k 16 bit lossless WAV/ALAC/FLAC etc etc file  being superior to even a high quality 320 kbps mp3 encode, HOWEVER !!!! believing that the extra 24 or 32 bit audio or 96k (when you yourself admit your DAC can't play it back) is what makes it sound better is bullshit, petty semantics at best. How do you not understand this is what people are saying? Many things will be better than a itunes store quality mp3 that aren't a 24 bit 96k HI RES PLACEBO. If you seemed to have even the slightest knowledge on these subjects, I would respect and consider your insistence on the additional fidelity compared to a CD quality lossless codec – but you don't have that, so I think I should give up explaining any of this.
 
>"I can say I like this version of 絲, I'm not much of a fan of pre-NIL. (*gasp* I'm gonna get a lot of hate for this huh?)"
Again, your completely missing the point. When I referenced just how shit the first 15 seconds of Ito sound compared to the original, it has nothing to do with "the GazettE" changing and everything to do with how fucking awful the Guitar tone and mixing/mastering sound. It's the same exact riff!!! That's why I pointed it out. It's literally just to do with the engineering and the reason I emphasized it was that its so PAINFULLY obvious how much better the recording and frequency balance is on the original guitar tone. It doesn't matter whether your a fan of pre-NIL or post-NIL. Play the two intros side by side to a panel of industry professionals and they'd tell you the same story.
 
Regarding what was said in the thread, YuyoDrift's overall point is good, but also said some things I want to clarify.
 
>"8bit (Think Video Game Music), 16bit (FLAC Quality), and 24bit (HD, Hi-Res, SACD)"
The whole 8bit = video game music or chiptune quality is largely a myth and just poor understanding of the system. As I sort of went into in my initial reply to Aeolus , mp3's function outside of the domain of bit depth in the traditional sense, and are very often far below 8 bits!! Furthermore, a 16 bit audio file can be reduced in bit depth by processes that will make the file compression 100% transparently. And finally, as @Shmillyintelligently gathered, there is no audible difference between 16 bit and 24 bit of the same sample rate. Which leads me to:
 
>It is intended for Audio Engineers, who use low-pass filtering for master recording and/or editing (kinda like a graphic designer/photo editor using RAW formatted images)."
The RAW analogy doesn't make any sense as the systems can't really be compared. The whole point of 24 bit audio as a superior tool in the studio is you have a wider signal to noise ratio (144 db vs 96 db of a 16 bit file). On playback, what you're hearing in this release is slammed through a limiter at 0db the whole time anyway. The argument for 24 bit playback could only be made if you were listening to incredible dynamic music, something that had passages at like -50db, which is something you don't find in any music period these days. Also, low-pass filtering has 0 to do with why people use 24 bit.
 
 

Working my way through the mass effect series. Finished the 1st one and I'm on to the 2nd installment. 

Pro tip #1 Don't get someone pregnant, or be the one that gets preganant
Pro tip #2 Don't get married
Pro tip #3 Get some sort of education, be it formal, technical or vocational ( if this isn't possible skip to the next tip)
Pro tip #4 Get a job and aim to be the best at it.
Pro tip #5 Self educate. Read a ton of books, attend lectures or classes on a variety of subjects from health, to fiances, to social interaction, or anything that will help you with your current job.
 
Profit
 
You'll move from being a poor weeb who can barely afford your vk indie rarez, to a financially stable, possibly wealthy adult with built up confidence/self esteem and a good well of knowledge to get the best out of life and the know how on how to deal with all the bullshit people or crappy situations life will throw at you. From there you can snatch a waifu/husbando of your liking or choose whatever direction you want to go in life. Kinda hard to fuck up at that point. 

Pro tip #1 Don't get someone pregnant, or be the one that gets preganant
Pro tip #2 Don't get married
Pro tip #3 Get some sort of education, be it formal, technical or vocational ( if this isn't possible skip to the next tip)
Pro tip #4 Get a job and aim to be the best at it.
Pro tip #5 Self educate. Read a ton of books, attend lectures or classes on a variety of subjects from health, to fiances, to social interaction, or anything that will help you with your current job.
 
Profit
 
You'll move from being a poor weeb who can barely afford your vk indie rarez, to a financially stable, possibly wealthy adult with built up confidence/self esteem and a good well of knowledge to get the best out of life and the know how on how to deal with all the bullshit people or crappy situations life will throw at you. From there you can snatch a waifu/husbando of your liking or choose whatever direction you want to go in life. Kinda hard to fuck up at that point. 

Pro tip #1 Don't get someone pregnant, or be the one that gets preganant
Pro tip #2 Don't get married
Pro tip #3 Get some sort of education, be it formal, technical or vocational ( if this isn't possible skip to the next tip)
Pro tip #4 Get a job and aim to be the best at it.
Pro tip #5 Self educate. Read a ton of books, attend lectures or classes on a variety of subjects from health, to fiances, to social interaction, or anything that will help you with your current job.
 
Profit
 
You'll move from being a poor weeb who can barely afford your vk indie rarez, to a financially stable, possibly wealthy adult with built up confidence/self esteem and a good well of knowledge to get the best out of life and the know how on how to deal with all the bullshit people or crappy situations life will throw at you. From there you can snatch a waifu/husbando of your liking or choose whatever direction you want to go in life. Kinda hard to fuck up at that point. 

I listen to a ton of instrumental music, not just metal. But a good portion of it is instrumental metal. As guitarist I'm usually attracted to a lot of technical and guitar shred type material.
 
 
Really recommended Angle Vivaldi for technical, yet very emotional and melodic material.
 
Another of my favorites is Polyphia, They're recent material has toned down the metal for a more rock vibe but they're still incredibly amazing.
 
 
 Another great release was the recent solo album by Jason Richardson. The guy is an absolute monster on guitar. 
 
Gotta love early intervals for their djenty prog metal.
 
And of course anything by Keith marrow, or Jeff Loomis
 
 
Be back for round 2.

Pro tip #1 Don't get someone pregnant, or be the one that gets preganant
Pro tip #2 Don't get married
Pro tip #3 Get some sort of education, be it formal, technical or vocational ( if this isn't possible skip to the next tip)
Pro tip #4 Get a job and aim to be the best at it.
Pro tip #5 Self educate. Read a ton of books, attend lectures or classes on a variety of subjects from health, to fiances, to social interaction, or anything that will help you with your current job.
 
Profit
 
You'll move from being a poor weeb who can barely afford your vk indie rarez, to a financially stable, possibly wealthy adult with built up confidence/self esteem and a good well of knowledge to get the best out of life and the know how on how to deal with all the bullshit people or crappy situations life will throw at you. From there you can snatch a waifu/husbando of your liking or choose whatever direction you want to go in life. Kinda hard to fuck up at that point. 

Pro tip #1 Don't get someone pregnant, or be the one that gets preganant
Pro tip #2 Don't get married
Pro tip #3 Get some sort of education, be it formal, technical or vocational ( if this isn't possible skip to the next tip)
Pro tip #4 Get a job and aim to be the best at it.
Pro tip #5 Self educate. Read a ton of books, attend lectures or classes on a variety of subjects from health, to fiances, to social interaction, or anything that will help you with your current job.
 
Profit
 
You'll move from being a poor weeb who can barely afford your vk indie rarez, to a financially stable, possibly wealthy adult with built up confidence/self esteem and a good well of knowledge to get the best out of life and the know how on how to deal with all the bullshit people or crappy situations life will throw at you. From there you can snatch a waifu/husbando of your liking or choose whatever direction you want to go in life. Kinda hard to fuck up at that point. 

I listen to a ton of instrumental music, not just metal. But a good portion of it is instrumental metal. As guitarist I'm usually attracted to a lot of technical and guitar shred type material.
 
 
Really recommended Angle Vivaldi for technical, yet very emotional and melodic material.
 
Another of my favorites is Polyphia, They're recent material has toned down the metal for a more rock vibe but they're still incredibly amazing.
 
 
 Another great release was the recent solo album by Jason Richardson. The guy is an absolute monster on guitar. 
 
Gotta love early intervals for their djenty prog metal.
 
And of course anything by Keith marrow, or Jeff Loomis
 
 
Be back for round 2.

I couldn't care less about Pitchfork's music reviews but this little classics TV thing they do is nice.
 
It has interviews with the group's members who talk about the beginnings of Slowdive as well. It's not just on Souvlaki.
50 minutes duration. Slowdive fans got to see this!

Emmure

 
 
 
(Ughh, can't get the videos to center)
 
  A Gift A Curse
 
 
Demons With Ryu
 
MDMA
 
 
Any fans here?
 
I actually really like this band. I accidentally found out about them a few years back because of all the hate I would see some of the metal community throw their way. Most of which was greatly exaggerated. Unfortunately I think they became one of those bands that was trendy to hate on like BMTH or AA back in the day.  Their style of metalcore isn't really anything groundbreaking or technical, but I like the emotion, raw lyrics and creativity behind their music.  You get a good mix of downtuned guitars, sick double bass and breakdowns,  with the occasional altmetal/numetal influenced or deftonish sounding songs. 
 
My fav albums by them are Speaker of the Dead, Nemesis, and probably Take A Look At Yourself. I'm still waiting for my copy to come in the mail. But from the previews I've heard, it sounds like it's their sickest release yet. 
 

Slowdive - Dagger 

That's funny I've had quite the opposite experience. I've owned the same pair of BOSE speakers for  years, and they're great. Good bass, mids and treble.  Great overall quality and really good clarity for what they are.  Don't know about their headphones though. 
 
 
I would recommend something with an ear-cup shape for headphones rather than earphone shaped, especially for that price. Unless you are specifically looking for that shape. You can't go wrong with any studio headphones nowadays. Would definitely stay away from gaming, or consumer grade devices like apple or beats. They're overpriced and don't come close to a fraction of what studio grade headphones can do. Consumer headphones do have more features, like bluetooth, leds, or whatever else, but it comes at the expensive of sound quality. 
 
Would recommend looking into the following brands
Sennheiser
Beyerdynamic
AKG
AudioTechnia
 
I also find noise cancelling to be gimmicky most of the time. Unless you're listening to music in a super noisy environment, or demand hyper immersion,  regular headphones at a normal volume level will keep all but the loudest sounds out. 

GANTZ:O is now available on Blu-ray! You can also watch it on Netflix!!!!
I just watched it on netflix (cuz i'm too impatient to order the dvd) and ughhh I can't explain how amazing it looks! If you like Gantz you NEED to watch this. Seriously, everything looks so amazing animated. Watching the H-gun in action is also something you don't wanna miss. All the yokai and gory special effects look awesome too. Even though a lot of the cool characters from the manga (i totally wanted to see muscle rider and the kid!! and the vampires too) didn't make it in the movie I still really liked it. And actually, I think I might order the dvd now too lol.
 
 

This is my view from the decade of being involved in the J-rock /vk scene.
 
I think the current slowdown of VK over the last few years has a number of factors behind it.
    
The first is the over saturation of bands in the scene. Not only did there seem to be more bands than ever in the VK scene but they more or less all sounded the same. It kinda makes sense that following the rise in the number of VK bands, there would be a huge number of disbandment's with the competition being so stiff, and very few bands actually innovating or at the very least making decent music. A vast increase of bands with the same cookie cutter sound and low quality output is a brickwall for any genre. This also has the effect of making labels and even fans, tired of VK bands, thus further ensuring a downward trend. 
 
Another reason is that VK is usually horribly promoted either by the labels or the bands themselves. They make such dumb decisions that end up costing them a ton of money, either by squandering it on ventures with very little to no returns, or over looking untapped but very potentially rich opportunities. This has always been a problem with the scene, but it becomes magnified on an even greater scale when you have a whole bunch of vk bands rise up and almost simultaneously implode back to back, month after month, year after year.
 
A big part of what I believe plays a major role for those outside of Japan is the accessibility to VK, and music in general. To an extent this has always been a problem with VK, but with a ton of file sharing sites, music blogs, and forums getting axed in the last couple of years, it is harder to find access to VK or Japanese music in general. There used to be a time where you could literally google some obscure Japanese band and get your hands on their releases without much effort. Today that’s rarely the case. Not only is the quantity of releases down, but it’s a lot harder to actually access them.  And while there has been good strides for Japanese music to be obtained legally for foreigners, it still leaves a lot to be desired.
 
As others have pointed out, the erosion of the VK community is another contributing factor for the decline of VK. I’m specifically talking about the online community outside of japan. I believe the online VK community is what kept the scene invigorated with interest and a steady supply of new bands. As to why the community has been drastically reduced I’ll point to the first reason I made and the one written above. This along with the fact that many listeners probably either outgrew the scene, and those that remained retreated to refugees like MH. So you’ve gone from a widespread but scattered ardent community, to a centralized but much smaller passionate community.  
 
VK was always a niche market, and I don’t think that will change anytime soon. I do think it has reached it’s critical mass and what we’re seeing now is the implosion of the scene. It’s not it’s death, but a remission after being over saturated, and with no new bands pushing forward, it’s established bands retiring and it’s community mostly gone and unable to keep it relevant and interesting as it once was. I don’t believe  EDM, or K-pop or whatever killed VK, or even affected it. I believe this was the inevitable direction VK was always heading in, and those genres just happened to coincide with it’s downfall. 
 
I do think there are less people getting into rock and metal but that has to do with an age difference. I believe the majority of us here grew up and were exposed to some sort of rock, metal or genre that used actual instruments. While most of the newer generation today is primarily exposed to electronica or mainstream pop and thus they end up heading down that route and have less of a chance of discovering rock, or something like VK. This wouldn’t be so bad if the electronica or pop they listened to weren’t soulless vapid unoriginal turds. It’s not impossible, but a lot harder for younger generations to get exposed to rock music in general.
 
I don’t think VK is dead or that it ever will be. Yes genres and styles fade into obscurity, some much more than others, but I think VK will definitely always stick around. Part of the reason is because bands like Luna Sea , and X  Japan, among a few others,  have made enough of a significant impact on the Japanese music scene to remain relevant and inspire younger generations, either directly, or indirectly.  The other part is that VK is super diverse in terms of  aesthetic appearance and in terms of genres, so it allows a ton of creative freedom, and makes it more likely and appealing for musicians to take part in it.
 
Another benefit from that genre diversity is that it keeps the door open for VK to enter different realms. While a strictly metal band would only have certain paths or opportunities in which to grow, just like pop would only have certain paths, VK has the advantage of covering a wide base of opportunities. Of course you still need a band that can actually makes good music and can play.  
 
On a side note I do think EDM and electronica get’s a bad rep. Like everything else there’s a lot of good and bad  in every genre and electronica is no exception. There’ s a ton of mainstream crap, but a lot of amazing stuff that has come in recent years too. And although it may be a different skillset , it still takes lots of skill and talent. You’ve got to synthesize lead synths, and sound design elements,  select or create your drum tones, know about music theory since everything is still based on chords, notes, and rhythms, be good with programming and on top of that do your own mixing and mastering. Kinda dislike this idea that electronica is just pushing one button, or that it requires no music theory or talent at all.   
 
Then again there's always those exceptions.
 
 

This is my view from the decade of being involved in the J-rock /vk scene.
 
I think the current slowdown of VK over the last few years has a number of factors behind it.
    
The first is the over saturation of bands in the scene. Not only did there seem to be more bands than ever in the VK scene but they more or less all sounded the same. It kinda makes sense that following the rise in the number of VK bands, there would be a huge number of disbandment's with the competition being so stiff, and very few bands actually innovating or at the very least making decent music. A vast increase of bands with the same cookie cutter sound and low quality output is a brickwall for any genre. This also has the effect of making labels and even fans, tired of VK bands, thus further ensuring a downward trend. 
 
Another reason is that VK is usually horribly promoted either by the labels or the bands themselves. They make such dumb decisions that end up costing them a ton of money, either by squandering it on ventures with very little to no returns, or over looking untapped but very potentially rich opportunities. This has always been a problem with the scene, but it becomes magnified on an even greater scale when you have a whole bunch of vk bands rise up and almost simultaneously implode back to back, month after month, year after year.
 
A big part of what I believe plays a major role for those outside of Japan is the accessibility to VK, and music in general. To an extent this has always been a problem with VK, but with a ton of file sharing sites, music blogs, and forums getting axed in the last couple of years, it is harder to find access to VK or Japanese music in general. There used to be a time where you could literally google some obscure Japanese band and get your hands on their releases without much effort. Today that’s rarely the case. Not only is the quantity of releases down, but it’s a lot harder to actually access them.  And while there has been good strides for Japanese music to be obtained legally for foreigners, it still leaves a lot to be desired.
 
As others have pointed out, the erosion of the VK community is another contributing factor for the decline of VK. I’m specifically talking about the online community outside of japan. I believe the online VK community is what kept the scene invigorated with interest and a steady supply of new bands. As to why the community has been drastically reduced I’ll point to the first reason I made and the one written above. This along with the fact that many listeners probably either outgrew the scene, and those that remained retreated to refugees like MH. So you’ve gone from a widespread but scattered ardent community, to a centralized but much smaller passionate community.  
 
VK was always a niche market, and I don’t think that will change anytime soon. I do think it has reached it’s critical mass and what we’re seeing now is the implosion of the scene. It’s not it’s death, but a remission after being over saturated, and with no new bands pushing forward, it’s established bands retiring and it’s community mostly gone and unable to keep it relevant and interesting as it once was. I don’t believe  EDM, or K-pop or whatever killed VK, or even affected it. I believe this was the inevitable direction VK was always heading in, and those genres just happened to coincide with it’s downfall. 
 
I do think there are less people getting into rock and metal but that has to do with an age difference. I believe the majority of us here grew up and were exposed to some sort of rock, metal or genre that used actual instruments. While most of the newer generation today is primarily exposed to electronica or mainstream pop and thus they end up heading down that route and have less of a chance of discovering rock, or something like VK. This wouldn’t be so bad if the electronica or pop they listened to weren’t soulless vapid unoriginal turds. It’s not impossible, but a lot harder for younger generations to get exposed to rock music in general.
 
I don’t think VK is dead or that it ever will be. Yes genres and styles fade into obscurity, some much more than others, but I think VK will definitely always stick around. Part of the reason is because bands like Luna Sea , and X  Japan, among a few others,  have made enough of a significant impact on the Japanese music scene to remain relevant and inspire younger generations, either directly, or indirectly.  The other part is that VK is super diverse in terms of  aesthetic appearance and in terms of genres, so it allows a ton of creative freedom, and makes it more likely and appealing for musicians to take part in it.
 
Another benefit from that genre diversity is that it keeps the door open for VK to enter different realms. While a strictly metal band would only have certain paths or opportunities in which to grow, just like pop would only have certain paths, VK has the advantage of covering a wide base of opportunities. Of course you still need a band that can actually makes good music and can play.  
 
On a side note I do think EDM and electronica get’s a bad rep. Like everything else there’s a lot of good and bad  in every genre and electronica is no exception. There’ s a ton of mainstream crap, but a lot of amazing stuff that has come in recent years too. And although it may be a different skillset , it still takes lots of skill and talent. You’ve got to synthesize lead synths, and sound design elements,  select or create your drum tones, know about music theory since everything is still based on chords, notes, and rhythms, be good with programming and on top of that do your own mixing and mastering. Kinda dislike this idea that electronica is just pushing one button, or that it requires no music theory or talent at all.   
 
Then again there's always those exceptions.