Pretsy

For more unconventional arrangements and "free-form" approach (e.g. "Vandal", "Madara Ningen", live jams by Takumi and co. minus Kyo): pretty much anything associated with RIO movement (e.g. Henry Cow, Univers Zero) For nutjob, almost genrebending songs in the vein of "Dunes", "Celeste": Japanese zeuhl acts to some extent (e.g. Koenjihyakkei - "Daemon's Cutlery" sounds a bit like earlier Ruins) Otherwise for calmer passages ("Kugui", SEs) , usage of Taishogoto (Uta): just dig through Krautrock essentials - firstly for Neu! and sub-collab Harmonia which utilized same-ish instruments in their genre It's very hard to draw exact artists as a reference, so I'd advise you to dig through bands of the 70s-80s' avant glory e.g. RIO bands and Harmonia rather than resort to searching for acts of the newer calibre (since sukekiyo is heavily based on modern interpretations of classic interests). Idk about vk bands but in terms of casual acts Zabadak might be the first, noteworthy choice regarding anything non-Japanesque ethnic: Western trad. folk -based act (usually revolved around Celtic influences, sometimes fooled around with Eastern European frills as well)

Finally, a decent METAFIVE song! Loving me some YMO/Towa Tei-ian frills.

DIR EN GREY

Flawless opus.

You didn't enjoy new Susanne Sundfor? BEST list tho.

Woodstock '99.

Just hop out of the usual VK fare and treat yourself with casual, non-VK acts if you feel displeased? I could care less for VK but some Xaa-Xaa and maybe Chanty (a real shame that midwest emo/screamo has not been explored by visual hipsters that much) might do it imho.

BatAAr-tier (ir)relevancy right there. And not even VK.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAA0nR0vZpo Ulver goofing around (it ain't bad btw).

Pfffttt "iconic": And people say 90s "had no" oshare

To be really honest, if Leda were more daring and thoughtful - he would have churned out a proper Djentbro/AAL-y album. The hell, I LOATHE anything AAL or Tesseracty to the very core of my being (the latest record of the former was pure suffering), but as long as any vk collective keeps doing something that's "out there" according to vk standards (e.g. FED's latest PV), I might be down with that. This album had potential but in the end it all got lost in the generic electro-metal-kei-ville. I expected a lot more from him after having a variety of sessions with more experienced guitarists off the anison and ordinary session metal field...and BABYMETAL (yes, he sessioned for them too). Crossing my fingers and hoping that Leda will shelve or Kaisan this too. (It doesn't take a genius to note that other FED guys do little to nothing (think of Sujk or Aggy in Deluigi) for the sake of contribution, hence my Leda-centered take)

OP sounds a lot like me a year or two ago so yeah, this might be it actually. You don't have to always limit yourself to vk-only pleasures if you find current vk scene to be well, totally shit? I can say this from my personal experience: it doesn't hurt! Just start out with "borderline vk" bands and venture further into more casual ones (some bands coming out of my head): - Jikkendai Marmot (perfect "borderline vk" example - genre pool varies from gypsy jazz to swing music and whatnot) - Kannivalism ("Helios" might be a good fit if you are really interested in post-rock-ish influences a la vk way) - DIMMDIVISION / Dim My Division (read above) - Sibilebashir (Nice throwback to "angstier" (think of Kagerou or even Mucc) days of vk but in much more maniac-like way) But yeah, don't be afraid of looking "outside of the box" as well.

Now that we are reaching EOTY, I might as well post most probable candidates (some of them) in my top list of this year: Dempagumi inc. Tamaya 2060% and Mayemada are my favorite pop songwriting anarchists of this decade. Also: Kiryu of current J-pop idol scene pretty much (random arrangements, craziness, vocalcraft etc.) Sugar's Campaign While Especia (at least in my POV) rocked last year in terms of urban/city pop grooves, Seiho and Avec Avec churned out this real grower. Talk about TRULY POSITIVE record (no, not you Tofubeats). Passepied From poor girl's SFP to something you don't hear everyday in the midst of high-pitched j-pop girl/girl-fronted collectives. Technical brilliance, adorable quirkiness. Bonjour Suzuki A real shame that casual listeners are disparaging this newcomer as a "Daoko knockoff" even though Daoko herself never really set any specific styles she would've pioneered. Nice, dreamy Grimes/Chara crossover with ASMR-y ambiance. Here's to hoping that more nice surprises will be up sooner or later!

Wow.

Important question: >Is she Kareki?

"ZETSUBOOOUUURGGH" *pinch harmonics ensue* People must be pretty naive to believe that this *is not* a DOGMA leftover (it is really)

Some instances: Back when my father passed away, the only place where I could solace for my deep pains of loss etc. were bands that I and him used to listen to together during my childhood, e.g.: While most might loathe my choices, Clannad's soundtrack (especially that from After Story-sequel) triggers even much more depressive emotions I had during another loss in my life: my pet dog (frenchie). At this point I really, really, really felt like willing to die - seeing as this exact creature has helped me out all the time throughout my life - be it just joy or even sorrows of my antisocial, outcast-ish life in my hometown. While the said anime bases most of its plot on some lousy high school romance drama, After Story has certain symbolic attributes which have a special meaning in my life - and even to this day I cannot watch or even listen to this soundtrack throughout without taking a few sedatives (i.e. I relate to this way too much, sorry):

Will give new Suiyoubi a chance (even though I have seen a lot of criticism, especially after her "Ra"-PV) - but thankies zombie for reminding me: Daoko is gonna have a real hard time there edit: Clammbon's album off this year isn't as bad as folks used to describe it earlier - give it a bit more time and it'll become your good ol' Clammbon release with a good share of surprises

Is this Izumi guy you are talking about another then-vk-bandoman-now-corporate producer-like person?

I prefer its Suspicious/SFR version off certain lives very beast performances. Also: dat Moon rerecording on IMAGE

Nahkahomo daddy is ready 4 sum action

As a small update: they are half-active atm so that might explain it (having this "DEATH MASK" moniker once again and performing older songs once in a while, god knows how long it will last) Regarding me and my reasons for necroing: the fact that I converted our fellow Stallion into this Kuroyume fandom made me realize the beauty behind Romance of Scarlet. Holy motherheck, I feel so bad for my earlier me and my questionable dislike towards that album, so many Shin gems...christ. So beautifully eerie, unf

I am not really sure if I would call all of their first albums as " masterpieces" xD but let's give it a roll once again: 1. MOTHER (very obvious choice - Zess summed it up well when he described its unusual, brilliant cohesion (each song feels like it's in own right place)) 2. IMAGE (even with ultra-goofy songs a la IN MIND (it's not bad but weirdly unfitting context-wise) it has this nice "dark" vibe around it) 3. EDEN (would have been okay if last songs showed much more effort instead of being, well, "post-punk pop leftovers" as mr. grumpy Gordon from jrocknyc would have put it) 4. Self-titled (Rerec is way too clean and the original, while packing a huge punch of awesome live songs, has this annoying Extasy mastering value I cannot get over anymore) 5. STYLE (I usually snore during "FOREEBA AN EEBBAA", but otherwise - very commercialized rendition of MOTHER...a follow-up but oh well, I liked lives anyway) 6. LUNACY (Packs some good punches, e.g. Virgin Mary, White Out, KISS, FEEL, 4:00AM (awesome trip-hop experiment), but yeah, your good ol' LS in its palatable form...) 7. SHINE (read my statements @earlier comment and add BREATHE (<3)...way too palatable) 8. A WILL (nothing remarkable nor interesting if you are very familiar with their earlier output) phew.

In my case A WILL is the worst one too - the album itself overstayed its lousy comeback (my earlier pick would have been SHINE but it has many goodies to be ignored, e.g. singles, ANOTHER, MILLENNIUM) Also, belonging to the minority that STILL loathes "Tonight" and "Crazy About You" to this day :/

Makoto has left the band before they even started to record "12" though? Anyways, interesting look too - seems like Shuuji toned down "a bit"?