Himeaimichu

I am not entirely sure. I do hope it will be. They've been playing a lot with Gibkiy Gibkiy Gibkiy, which is a super group made up of members from older big name Vkei bands, so they're benefiting from that.

They're pretty much indie now, on their own label called "Yamikakumei"

Well he doesn't have very many artists signed at one time. Even at Ains' height, he only had 5 bands, including Mediena and Malisend. He's not like Kisaki where he has 30 bands all on one label, but this also means he doesn't make very much money so he ends up milking his bands dry

They were kicked from Ains (Because the label boss, Yukika, is an ass) in 2016, so last year, and only recently have they completely finished their contract with Ains, because Zouki no Nozoki Ana was the last single to have any Ains staff involved.

I think they want to experiment more, but are too busy trying to get back on their feet. I mean, Kuro plays an Okinawan instrument (the Sanshin. he posted pictures of him doing so on Twitter), K can do some really funky slap bass, and Mei is into Showa Era (1930's-1980's) music, which was actually demonstrated in the song "Child Mother", which is Ryukoka inspired. It's just that they're too busy working on things to release anything out there, since they're currently touring with other bands, and sorting out record label business.

Same, I really miss Memento Mori. And also, same, I tend to play songs until I get tired of them xD

Welcome back to the Forum! I've also been listening to a lot more Pierrot recently and realised how ahead of their time they were for the 90's

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Tusk Itaya from Zi:Kill, CRAZE, and The Slut Banks. Tusk back in Zi:Kill along with Sugizo Tusk with The Slut Banks. I couldn't find any clear images of him in CRAZE, and I couldn't find anything from his short-lived project, Amnesia, but he seems to look the same now as he did in Craze, meaning that he gained a lot of weight after Zi:Kill broke up. I bet though if he lost weight, shaved, and if he can't regrow his hair, wore a wig, he could pull off a toned down version of his Zi:Kill look

Oh wow, so they're just legendary overall. That's just plain amazing. I guess Hikaru knew good talent, him being considered quite a virtuoso with his own instruments. I'm guessing due to the fact that Mephistopheles were very prolific in terms of live performances, they never really had time to record an album? This is just a guess, since it wouldn't be the only time a Vkei/Jmetal band spends more time preforming or with fans than in the studio *cough* La'mule *cough*.

Ohh. I wish I heard about that earlier. Sorry for my mistake xD

So I thought I'd make a post on this band since they're an old school VisualKei band, and have an intriguing story. They were formed in 1984 by a man named Hikaru Sawai. If you recognise the last name, that's because he's the son of famous Koto (Japanese Harp) master, Tadao Sawai. Tadao Sawai in turn, learned from Michio Miyagi, if I'm not mistaken. Miyagi is considered the greatest Koto player ever have lived and wrote most of the modern Koto repitoire, and invented the 17 string Bass Koto and 25 String Koto. Hikaru also plays Koto, and is known for implementing Metal techniques into his work. He now runs the Sawai Koto Academy, which was started by his parents, and is known for their openness to new genres and influences. He no longer is a steady member of Mephistopheles, but has come back every so often. The band also has some other interesting members. I believe their current Bass Player, who also joined when the band began (I think) is Hikaru Utaka, who was in X Japan, and their drummer happens to be Tetsu from Saver Tiger and Zi:Kill. Also, one other interesting thing is that the lead singer, ROB, often draws a line on his nose. Similarly, so did Koyomi (AKA Tsubaki) in Memento Mori. Memento Mori was also known for having Traditional Japanese influence. Coincidence? I'll leave that to you. The band wasn't as visual as other bands from it's era or the members' other bands, but I do consider them to be early Vkei. Does anyone have any other interesting info about this band? If so, tell me!

I'm not sure whether that's creative or lazy xD

Oh wow. I have noticed though that the admins tend to be very biased. I mean, they rejected Between The Buried and Me, a progressive Death Metal band, of which would normally be included on the site, because one song had clean vocals and so the admins denounced them as "a non-metal band with metal moments". And these guys weren't deathcore or any kind of Post Hardcore. They were full on classic Death Metal, but progressive, and on a few songs, implement clean vocals. Perhaps some admins of the site tend to be more accepting than the others?

Hm. I've always wanted to see how Nao or SIN would implement their playing styles into NightingeiL, so this is pretty good news!

No, SIN is playing support for Under Fall Justice.

For once a black metal song that isn't potato quality. Ironically it had to be from a really rare Vkei band. Never would expect that

That's if the admins don't see the members in full makeup, or else they'll be deemed "Fags and pseudometal" and rejected by the admins xD No, seriously, that's what happened with Dir en Grey (The fact they had Nu Metal in their discography though didn't really help their case xD)

Sin as in, SIN ex. Vasalla, Syndrome and D?

*Facepalm* You had one job, Yukika. YOU HAD ONE JOB. Honestly, if Ains' graphic designer can't even spell, that's all the more reason GossiP should just up and leave Ains (that and they're being milked dry.)

So it's not secret that Japan is generally 5 to 10 years behind on some music trends, and that was often reflected in 90's VisualKei. However, I'd like to dedicate this post to talking about 90's Vkei trendsetters and bands that were ahead of their times. So first, I'd have to go with Pierrot. Specifically, Torikago. This band in general stands out from most 90's bands. They had amazing production, and often were kinda in between regular Tokyo and Osaka Vkei, and NagoyaKei. This specific song surprised me though when I first heard it. I couldn't tell it was made in the 90's, and even though by the late 90's, the US had modern Alternative Rock songs like Pierrot's "Torikago", Vkei wouldn't adopt modern Alt Rock and Nu Metal until the 2000's. Lamiel also had very similar songs, but they were NagoyaKei and NagoyaKei in general was always different from the rest of Vkei. Anyways, what are some bands you feel were "ahead of their time" ?