Pretsy

PfffffttttLMAO. (speaking of relevant goofery, Dir en grey's temporary 2009 Myspace logo mishaps, anyone?)

A few thoughts for now (imposing high standards is not cool but they HAVE lots of potential with particular points of improvement here: Pros: + Ruki's gutturals and screams improved a lot (both A-side and this first B-side prove that). At this point they could utilize his improvement to the very extent in their later efforts. + Kai sounds less boring/bored (or both actually, haha). I am pretty sure he got a hint from foreign fans and/or metalheads when it comes to his earlier, sloppy playing in heavier tracks. In the middle: x Very clean production values. Not sure what I should think about them when... Cons: - ...Aoi and Uruha mix still makes no sense. You have two guitarists - why do guitars here sound like as if you double-tracked them instead of having 2 axemen cooperating "naturally"? - Reita is as interesting as Paul Gray, oops. - they could just throw out those (rehashed) melodic passages if they obviously served no particular purpose in the song (MALUM). UNDYING could do much better in the melodic department as well - and preferably without random 0-3-0-1-0-0-3 passages disrupting the build.

Japanese bands associated with SMEJ (or pretty much any grandiose, major label) rarely would go for non-playback lives when its about standard releases like this. Rather odd to see sukekiyo here tho than take say, DEG which would feel comfortable in such TV lives.

Kyo and Melodix! Premium?! Never thought I'd see him - or more specifically - artsy act like sukekiyo in such radio-friendly TV live setting.

It would sound very awkward and generic if Ryo decided to stick with full mid-range vocals here instead (it goes pretty much for any TK-penned song - see: when TK penned songs for SMAP) Ryo nails it as usual though. Hands down one of the most underrated J-multi-instrumentalists out there.

I don't want to come up as a racist dick here (oh my, excuses!) but doesn't this have a lot to do with the Japanese perception of "perfect celeb imagery"? I mean, idk really but at least in the VK scene Japanese fans are perhaps way too obsessed or pedantic (western POV is more or less idgaf'y to this extent) about their bias' looks without acknowledging the reality of promo/stage/casual appearances. See: enforced "don't date don't swing"-policy as well. But then again, I rarely stumble upon widespread "no photo" policies these days. However, not exactly on-topic but at the same time somewhat intriguing fact: as far as I have noticed, certain management labels go out of their way to 'erase' images or even sue those who decide to post rather unflattering tsunagari/post-live pics of e.g. VK bandomen being totes wasted? I wonder if e.g. PSC representatives are still watching strictly over potential "look, Uruha without makeup being wasted KANPAI wwww" threads @ 2ch, lol (considering that breaking his image seems to be a huge "taboo").

Agony and Leech are fine imho but blatant rehashes like Dripping Insanity should just disappear completely from their repertoire. You cannot erase "Untitled", Ruki.

Even during '88-89 when he was like 24-25? Read my fixed post.

Isn't Morrie basically "deep" rather than "low" as well tho? The thing with VK/VK-related acts for the most part is that vocalists usually force themselves to sound "low" (e.g. Kamijo, Asagi) =/= actually low (e.g. that Speed-Id guy or w/e he is) Okay, massive fuckup here - my apologies: P.s. Morrie's *natural* voice back in DEAD END during its first formation...

As with my earlier outputs, I thought it would be neat to discuss about "interesting" chord progressions in our beloved, visual scene as well! What kind of intriguing progressions (from your POV) you guys have stumbled onto while going through your VK repertoire? As long as you are able to explain your choices, it's all OK...not that this thread would gain enough exposure, lol (I am not gonna hop into another round of "what is VK music" debate and just pinpoint that even in 00s and earlier 10s it was easy to acknowledge imho what's "so VK" and what's "not so VK" in the auditory context.) Prime example or where to start: "Royal road" progression (IV△7→V7→IIIm7→VIm) VK example of this: as far as I have noticed, Gazette's "Sumire" is pretty much about that kind of progression too, no?

A-side arouses the most interest here but b-sides, however, sound like they were lifted off the same song? Probably too reminiscent of GRUDGE or w/e that mid-tempo chugfest was.

Random thoughts- thread simulator when?

Way too many, lol (almost every active chap in his chatbox has been hanging around here at some point etc.).

More like foundation and all of that makeup magic (considering that he and Toshers are the only ones who use make-up excessively in the band), amirite.

If you are able to scramble my nick and find me thru last.fm, I will defo give you the best munchies one could ever have IRL. (it's an anagram with an additional letter!)

Promoters and avid fans alike forgot to pinpoint the fact that Deviloof had a lot of time as a non-vk metalcore (w/ slight deathcore influences I think) band before eventually donning the whole VK Unsraw-Reivier kei shtick. You read it right: they were never rooted in VK antics, ideals in the first place (nor they have any particular interests in the said scene). Does it matter? Yes, a lot. Rather risky trend too, if you ask me. So saying things like "Deviloof HAZ ZE MOST VK SKILLED VOCALCRAFT" or "THEY WILL MAKE VK GREAT AGAIN" (indirect quotations but w/e) is as fair and logical as regarding Nokubura as the most professional "VK" band. Feel free to support the band if you will but pls, provide proper reasoning without bashing those who explain themselves adequately. Critique is part of the logical, less biased consensus and progress after all.

SMAP's quasi-disbandment mishaps, definitely (J-pop but it's more or less relevant here). BOW LOWER YOU FOOLS

[MLG air horns]

I didn't address you directly. What I did was merely being displeased about comments akin to that appearing every now and then. In case you found my post insulting though, please forgive me as well. Crube's comment/reference seems legit btw.

I might not be the fan of this exact release but dude, you should defo carry on with your ride-along J-rock reviews! Good to see someone acknowledging Ken's J-review format from earlier days, lol. (wonder if I've seen you somewhere @jrocknyc)

Disney-washed people seem to be rather dismissive about childhood figures of other cultures etc. (which is kinda funny seeing as how Soviet/Russian product like this would resonate with Japanese people very well but not with...Japan-o-ficionados? ("weeaboo" is way too offensive in my book))

Back when they toured around Europe, I got to experience their Uyuu no Sora (over 10-min version) + Hemimetabolism - combo which ain't really shabby tbh. However, live vibes won't really do much when it comes to getting around some horrendous, muffled Firewall production values and mishmash. In this case Uyuu no Sora serves no particular purpose studio-wise ,and Hemimetabolism is just way too off - even as a sole track. As much as I enjoy their live artistry (sans Kyo's inability to express his studio self), I'd love to see e.g. Takumi's free-jazz moments w/ his piano or overall backup prominence channeled in a studio atmosphere rather than being another live jam-kind of thing. P.S. Kyo needs to keep his word and prove that he is not necessarily the "main figure" in the band (since he himself admitted that Takumi *is (was)* the essence of Sukekiyo). Takumi and co. need more spotlight - without goofy Kyoperas, thanks.

Immortalis could do without a great handful of songs really ("Hidden One", "Mama", "Hemimetabolism" which sounds more like a demo). The ordering is another aspect which requires tremendous improvement. As much as I believe in what the band says about their work, Immortalis was nothing more but the "first session"-kind of compilation. It takes a lot of time from guys like them to get on the same wavelength (e.g. how vastly different Uta, Takumi and Yuchi's styles are). VITIUM is where they'd finally discover the "common language" to some extent, but that's just me. Wait for 2 or 3 releases and perhaps we will get to digest the consistent "sukekiyo sound" for once.

Tie-ins were quite often, albeit partially discussed in almost every news/general thread - be it VK or not. As such, some might have associated vairous news about "artist X doing a song Y as a tie-in" with "pre-emptive mediocrity" (i.e. they "know" beforehand that it's gonna "suck hard"). This leaves us to ponder : how do you guys relate to this "tie-in phenomenon"? Do tie-ins matter a lot in your favorite artists' repertoire? Many listeners wouldn't really care about this. However, specific episodes in MH history such as Gazette's SHIVER being extremely crapped upon due to its (obvious) tie-in status (or MUCC) gave me enough confidence to assume that at least SOME do care after all, lol.