NightFall

The single is now available for pre-order on CDJapan!
 
http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/DMLM-11

Preview for their next single デンドロビューム (which seems to be an alternate way of pronouncing デンドロビウム, the flower Dendrobium https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dendrobium)
 
Yoshi's still a clown, but I'm enjoying the luminescent/neon colours going on. As for the song, I'm quietly excited for the release.

@platy Gotta be more than just throat issues, the other two seem much more likely.
I agree the other guys were amazing, especially Yusuke even more now that we know what kind of pain he is in  Such a shame he can't play anymore, I can't imagine how he feels emotionally or physically.

@NightFallI thought maybe he was drunk, drugged up or maybe having some throat issues. When I saw them live, like you it was a couple of years ago, but I'm pretty sure I wasn't this disappointed.

Watching the live now, can't forget to highlight how good the band is. Takashi sounds amazing in oboreru sakana and Tomo and Yusuke are just great in general. 

I thought so too, which really disappointed me. I saw them a couple years ago, and though my memory is a bit foggy by this point, I'm pretty sure he was a lot better than on the DVD. Though I guess that could have been due to the live environment. He also seemed a bit overly emotional on the DVD, sure it was their 3rd anniversary tour but he was acting like it was their last. Maybe they were already discussing disbandment/hiatus due to Yusuke's health?
 
Who knows, it really ruins what could have been some of the better performances though.

Just me or is Yoshiatsu not that great live? Listening to their live dvd and for more than half of it he can't keep up his singing. That goes for screaming, soft singing and spoken word   When he manages a full song, it's pretty good though.

damn from that samples i got a really good feeling that this album will totally fulfill my excitement...
anyway still quite a few days left until i receive it and be able to listen to the full versions so at least for me good that they uploaded those samples! ;D

The vocal performance in Shigarami between the guitar solo and the second chorus is my favorite moment on the album (roughly 2:25-3:20). That shit is fucking majestic!

It means 喜(Che, pleasure)怒(do, anger)哀(a, griefs)楽(ra, joy) in Japanese which describes four basic human emotions.

First thoughts:
 
best nu track is 2. That fucking Aie riff with the prog elements are the shit. The vocalist really goes all out on this one, and the best stuff he does is usually fairly subtle, like how he alters the tone of the whisper and the incomprehensible screaming from song to song. 
 
the worst are 7 and 10. The first is almost a nokubura song ( probably intended for lives ) and the 10 just a snoozer 'cause it lacked the cool progressive elements they did before, so it doesn't really surprise at any point, just lulls ahead. 
 
4 and 8 are so over the top they're good, especially the latter. it shows that they're still not that far gone from their early output, even if it now contains more superior songwriting elements and straight up experimentation with computer efx and all that other shit. 
 
the tracks that were released before are still awesome, and almost kind of surprisingly I think they're at their strongest with tracks like Vanitas and GROTESQUE where it's not _all that_ stupid heavy without getting rid of the elements and techniques. That long scream in Vanitas is still incredible 
 
What I think pretty much everyone wanted without getting was that long song, but I think the pre-released tracks and GROTESQUE and the last track are kind of already that, except shorter. None of them is formulaic by any means and have a lot of cool stuff in them that a band like say, DIR EN GREY would never have in a track they'd put out as a single. You know it's probably a matter of time before they churn out that 10 minute epic, it's just a matter of them disbanding before that 'cause one of the members impregnated a member of the royal family or something. 

Got my copy today from CDJapan.
 
This album is simply amazing. All the songs are notable, the production is on point and well beyond what is generally expected for VK, and it overall lives up to the hype generated from the three songs we got in preview. I'm sure it will be worth the wait for everyone else whose copy hasn't arrived yet.
And to be honest, I didn't realize there was this much skill in Retsu and Ryuya's guitar playing. Of course, Hiroshi is a much better drummer than Issei ever was, so that probably allows them to demonstrate their skill a lot more now.
It's pretty heavy overall, but there is diversity in the stylistic choices in the songwriting. There are a couple of ballad-ish songs (Malformation, D.Hymnus), but the final track 「人」と「形」is the most like that. Otherwise Vanitas probably comes closest to that Avalon-like Ballad feel.
 
I noticed that the 3 preview songs all say the music is by Retsu, but in the lyric booklet every song composition is credited as 02. Retsu is the 2nd member credited in the band members, so... I dunno lol
 
 

02 probably is retsu’s nick name(0 2= rei two)

Got my copy today from CDJapan.
 
This album is simply amazing. All the songs are notable, the production is on point and well beyond what is generally expected for VK, and it overall lives up to the hype generated from the three songs we got in preview. I'm sure it will be worth the wait for everyone else whose copy hasn't arrived yet.
And to be honest, I didn't realize there was this much skill in Retsu and Ryuya's guitar playing. Of course, Hiroshi is a much better drummer than Issei ever was, so that probably allows them to demonstrate their skill a lot more now.
It's pretty heavy overall, but there is diversity in the stylistic choices in the songwriting. There are a couple of ballad-ish songs (Malformation, D.Hymnus), but the final track 「人」と「形」is the most like that. Otherwise Vanitas probably comes closest to that Avalon-like Ballad feel.
 
I noticed that the 3 preview songs all say the music is by Retsu, but in the lyric booklet every song composition is credited as 02. Retsu is the 2nd member credited in the band members, so... I dunno lol
 
 

Got my copy today from CDJapan.
 
This album is simply amazing. All the songs are notable, the production is on point and well beyond what is generally expected for VK, and it overall lives up to the hype generated from the three songs we got in preview. I'm sure it will be worth the wait for everyone else whose copy hasn't arrived yet.
And to be honest, I didn't realize there was this much skill in Retsu and Ryuya's guitar playing. Of course, Hiroshi is a much better drummer than Issei ever was, so that probably allows them to demonstrate their skill a lot more now.
It's pretty heavy overall, but there is diversity in the stylistic choices in the songwriting. There are a couple of ballad-ish songs (Malformation, D.Hymnus), but the final track 「人」と「形」is the most like that. Otherwise Vanitas probably comes closest to that Avalon-like Ballad feel.
 
I noticed that the 3 preview songs all say the music is by Retsu, but in the lyric booklet every song composition is credited as 02. Retsu is the 2nd member credited in the band members, so... I dunno lol
 
 

Sho had said in an interview that Kyo is his main inspiration.and you can see it all the time but in the DIMLIM way....The chaotic vocals all over the place with a bombastic and big chorus that creates some kind of atmosphere. Call me crazy,but since Silent Song came out, there's something that keeps reminding me the Ouroboros concept. 10/10
 
And this is his first band... unbelievable,a legit genius!!!
 
 

| One of the best GazettE albums in recent memory.

I can't believe it's been three years since DOGMA. It feels like I just finished roasting it for being the "most underwhelming album of the year" and "ARCHE, Iowa-era Slipknot, and a quarter of DIM shoved in a blender and served cold". To be fair, most of my criticisms came from how stale and similar all the songs felt; the result of going a bit too far in the metalcore direction. Ever the perfectionists, it seems that the band actually addressed all of my complaints with NINTH. By combining the dark and heavy nature of DOGMA with the electronic rock explored with TOXIC and DIVISION and the retro "Gaze-rock" style of BEAUTIFUL DEFORMITY, The GazettE have succeeded in delivering an experience that mixes old and new sounds. NINTH won't win you over if you don't like the direction of the last four albums. If you took more of an issue with the execution of those concepts, than this is what you've been waiting for since DIM.
 
It's been a while since I feel comfortable recommending an album of theirs. NINTH is an easier and more engaging listening experience than DOGMA, with smooth, slick, and balanced production. I don't understand the criticisms of "muddy production" because I don't hear it. I even pulled out my good headphones - the Sennheiser HD600s - and plugged them straight into my Logitech speakers to pluck out minor grievances with the mix and it sounded better that way. This reaches a level that visual kei music can rarely afford to reach. Ruki has advised fans to get great audio equipment to experience each album to the fullest, but I think it's more true now than before. The songs are also arranged very well and flow into each other, and I can't recall a single jarring stylistic transition. All of these elements together makes every song an attractive listening experience. There's also the absence of several elements which used to drag down prior releases: the lack of standout tracks, filler, and clumsy Green Day-ish all English punk songs that stick out. The GazettE cut the fat out of this album in a way I wish Dir en grey could.
 
An album can still have highlights even when it's consistently good. I can't end this review without naming my favorite tracks. The first would be "その声は脆く", a rock ballad which starts on an unassuming note before effortlessly sliding into a thick, melancholic atmosphere. It even has a (short) twin guitar solo, a staple of rock songs I've been missing from their music lately. The follow-up track, "Babylon's Taboo", creates the best one-two punch on NINTH. I could be convinced that this is a heavier take on an unreleased 9GOATS BLACK OUT song. "Falling" is the de facto single of the album, receiving the first music video to push the album, and there's a damn good reason why. "The Mortal" is another track that deserves a shout out for mixing some of NIL-era flavor in the chorus with DOGMA-style riffs in the breakdown, and serves as a great summary for the journey the album takes us on. If The GazettE were still releasing singles, this would have been the second one.
 
NINTH makes a strong argument for keeping a low profile until an album is complete. Visual kei bands can capture my attention with rapid fire single releases, but that makes it harder to impress me with an album of familiar content. NINTH wouldn't be as impressive if they gave us previews and teasers months or years before it was done. I hope other bands are taking notes. If you haven't already, put some cash towards this worthy album. It will be favorably remembered for years to come.
 

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Nice review. While it would be accurate to say that this album reminds me of many past albums at once, I think it would be doing an injustice to NINTH not to credit it as its own 'era' of Gazerock. The band hasn't just thrown in callbacks to their lengthy discography, they've evolved and grown in a way I didn't think was possible this late in their musical career. With Reita himself admitting in an interview that it was hard to get out of the 'dark' phase they found with DOGMA, and some interesting comments in the interviews and liner notes of the album (these can be found in the 'Reference Book' for those who can read 日本語 until someone other than me can be bothered to make a translation), I think the band surprised even themselves with some of the compositions on this album.
 
Falling was always an excellent track and remains possibly the only real stand-out, but that by no means discredits the rest - in fact, this is one of the most consistently pleasing albums we've had from the GazettE in a long time. NINTH ODD SMELL was made to be headbanged to live; THE MORTAL has a gorgeous juxtaposition of an oppressive instrumental atmosphere and Ruki's soaring vocals; BABYLON'S TABOO, while not my personal favourite, is one of the most alternative, industrial-sounding experiments we've heard from the band; and the old-school vibes of 裏切る舌, which the members wondered if newer fans would catch on to or applaud as something new and original, were a fun shake-up towards the back end of the album. TWO OF A KIND is possibly my second top track, it hits hard and the ending is to die for, and UNFINISHED brings things to a close in a nostalgic way very reminiscent of truly old-school GazettE 春雪の頃 (shunsetsu no koro).
 
The fact that I have something to say about pretty much every song should speak volumes about the album as a whole. It's varied but consistent, a quality somewhat lacking in recent efforts, and one of my easiest recommendations for getting into this now almost legendary band.

There are two dates in this video :  2018.07.28 and 2018.09.24 ! (somewhere in Tokyo) Maybe, they will announce something...