Pretsy

Artist: Aldious Album: Dazed and Delight Score: A solid contender for AOTY right here. Also this album will now be known as Dungeons and Dragons.
The saddest thing about this album is that it's not going to make any waves outside of this forum.

Aldious can't catch a break. They're routinely considered a bunch of pretty faces that can play some chords and even their fans have begun to turn on them after the departure of their original vocalist Rami. Even amongst metal fans, there's something antagonistic about a bunch of girls who can actually play passable power metal. Reading up on other listener's reactions on Dazed and Delight will yield lots of criticisms, most baseless. So before I jump into the review, I'll smash any misconceptions you may have.

No, Aldious has not become poppier over time. Replace "poppier" with less redundant and you'll be right on the money. Dazed and Delight is the most varied Aldious album yet, featuring pop, alternative rock, and metal influences in one kick-ass package. They fixed the biggest issue from District Zero, which is that an entire album full of power metal tracks is almost unbearable to listen to. If you disagree, I challenge you to take the Inhuman Rampage challenge where you listen to nine variations of "Through the Fire and Flames" and try not to turn the music off.

This is a gigantic step in the right direction for them and I firmly believe that Aldious would have moved in this direction regardless of their vocalist. This small change in style accompanies a large change in production. The heavy slant towards prominent guitars in earlier albums have been replaced with a more balanced production. Now that the vocalist, bassist, and drummer are no longer second-class citizens in the mix, new life has been found in the rhythm section. This is at the expense of guitars lacking the crunch and punch from before, and also exposing vocalist Re:NO's shortcomings now and again, but the positives outweigh the negatives. I would have not heard anything like the bass solo and pedal combination in Imagination before this album, and it stands out even more because the bass is audible! There are multiple tracks on the album that shine due to this production change.

So in case you haven't gotten the message yet, this is a very solid album for the casual metal fan.

The power metal influence on D&D is less overt but still present, and Aldious has opted for a more bass-driven sound this time. This change was hinted at with their B-side Dark on the Other World single, but it's in full swing here. The rhythm section has also become more aggressive and prominent, lending needed energy to a lot of tracks at all the right times. I also have to give props to the bassist Sawa for her interesting bass lines on many tracks such as imagination, puffy eyes, and アネモネ. Their music often travels in directions I would not have expected, such as the chorus in 魅惑のパレード. It's not quite a solo and features nice progressive elements here.

I Don't Like Me is another surprise, remaining relatively subdued until the crescendo halfway through which blows the socks off of all their other ballads. Finally, for the power metal fans there's the Dominator, Megalomaniac, and Other World trio near the end of the album. Other World features an extended frilly outro to end the album on a high note, but is otherwise indistinguishable from the single version released earlier. Megalomaniac's solo is also extremely awesome, even if it's a bit on the short side.

There are a few negatives to this album. I found a lot of the solos to be a little too short and often found myself wanting more. The production is slightly lacking, missing a certain pop to the instruments that would have catapulted this album into the stratosphere. Re:NO also has some raw vocal takes such as some parts in The Breeze at Dawn (which is otherwise a fantastic track) and there are one or two less than memorable tracks around the middle. But that's really about it. D&D shows a much more polished and mature Aldious, lending myself to naturally describe them with lots of pretentious verbiage that doesn't really capture the large improvement from District Zero. Every band member poured their hearts, souls, and creativity into D&D and it shows.

If you're an Aldious doubter or haven't listened to them yet, this is a prime opportunity to do so. By not restricting their influences, Aldious are all the better for it and have created their most interesting album yet.

Artist: ALSDEAD Album: STARLESS Score: Is this a fluke or does ALSDEAD finally have some spark?
Despite my absence on most visual kei threads on the forums concerning new bands, I do follow some bands and check out new releases from time to time. The only time I find myself compelled to make a review is when:

something exceeds my expectations of a band is incredibly bad and deserves no hype when the hype is mellow, the release deserves a review and doesn't have one
ALSDEAD is a band that's by and far ignored on Monochrome Heaven - after having an explosive opening with their first two singles their flop of a self-titled relegated them to the trash bin for many, and their subpar output since 2009 hasn't helped them any. They've found a cult following in people that crave the sound they produce, but for those outside that small group this band has offered very little worth listening to. Even though Separator (barely) made our best-of list last year, anyone that follows my reviews knows I roasted that album over an open spit for being so dull it left me with very little to say about it. I had a hard time coming to terms with the fact that the band that crafted Violent of Reason and F-99 could release so many boring songs, so I find myself downloading a release from them now and again to see if they've become interesting once more.

I thought I would never say this, but ALSDEAD have released something I find genuinely interesting. For a couple of plays at least.

I can't pinpoint exactly why I like STARLESS so much. Both tracks are solid and I can always appreciate the balance between an aggressive track and a more laid-back rock track. Both songs are exactly as long as they need to be, feature tasteful use of studio pyrotechnics, and clean production. Picture is also outside of ALSDEAD's comfort zone, and they nail it well. I'm sure they've done tracks like this before, but as a person that doesn't follow ALSDEAD like that this was a welcome surprise. If I wanted to nitpick, I could mention that STARLESS' solo is a little on the simple side, but that's a small blip.

This is the first release I've heard by ALSDEAD with Nikky from GALEYD, so I attribute a lot of the positive things I said here to him. I don't know if Maki is still the main composer after all, but bands that tend to only have one composer get stale quick, which was my problem with this band for the longest. If Meku's stranglehold over most of GALEYD's output caused other members of the band to have to put their creativity on pause and this is the first time that Nikky's been able to express himself, GALEYD's disbandment might be the single greatest thing that's ever happened to this band. Well, aside from their ex-drummer adopting a name better than Peanuts Benjamin and the band playing at that lolicon in the middle of New Mexico.

For once, I have nothing negative to say. The single does it job well, which is to raise hype for an upcoming album. If the material on the album is as consistent as the small teaser we have now, I might have something nice to say about the album at the end of the year.

http://24.media.tumblr.com/1df029b5d2771750ca9c6dfb595e44ef/tumblr_mwhe0ud4GN1r5sfsvo1_500.jpg
 
off Merry's "Beautiful Freaks" - booklet
 
Look who's the "advisor"...

^ Bach's "little" fugue in G minor

also generally still considered "good MUCC" probably, but without the angsty vibe of the early releases are the two albums that you already have (shion and kyuutai) plus Gokusai (which is very much worth checking out if you like those you already have...)

As we might already know it, Mucc will -never- return back to their 'aggressive/depressive' roots - and some might have accepted the changes, and some (read: most) are still crying wolf (even if they had released pretty ~solid~ releases after their 'departure' - say, what's wrong with Gokusai/Shion/Kyuutai trio for instance?). So let's take this into account and try to see/review this album without nostalgia-tinted glasses...
 
But before that, I will skim through single tracks and have my say about them (album order-wise):
 
ENDER ENDER - cookie cutter metalcore with wubwub. Very cheap, Miya.
HALO - the best singe track out of TEOTW. Ingredients are pretty much in place here - solid rocking with good riffage, Tatsurou having varied vocal parts and ofc, catchy chorus
World's End  -  I didn't mind this during its single release, and I still don't mind this as a new take (despite its tacky autotuned part - and people should seriously stop with "oh my god animu song this suxxxx"-pretexts). Solid 8/10-er of this album  
 
 
Now, a few words about non-single songs: unfortunately, unlike in Shangri-la, most songs were just poor revisions of their earlier, perhaps superior experiments ("Ms. Fear", title track, "Hallelujah", "Japanese", the last song) and ONLY SOME were actually something, what MUCC should have emphasized / tried further - indie-ish but still hard rocking in "Tell Me", groovy and solid funk in 369, and silly but sweet 'Lemming-meets-punk' revision in "999". Hey MUCC, you had like 1 year and a half time to do refreshing experiments instead of relying on stripped, rushed revisions - what's with the rush?
 
I am not sure how I should rate this, seeing as one round is clearly not enough for MUCC releases, as we can see. For that sole reason, I refrain from giving final, numerical rating to this album - and sum up a few things:
 
+ Some fresh parts
+ HALO and revised World's End still sound great
+ 'Tell Me', '369' and '999' are fun to listen to
- Some revisions weren't really needed
- They should stop doing lousy metalcore a la "ENDER ENDER" and "Ms. Fear"
- Ballad numbers weren't really well-thought

vk band name of the century right there :'DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD
 
(the samples didn't sound so bad tho... just... jeneric)

In my part (VGM-wise), I might mention some of my biggest favorites:
 
 
and finally...
 
 

After hearing them butcher it over and over, I've decided Different Sense is definitely NOT a good live song.
 
I'm pretty sure Shinya was all "OKAY I HAVE NO IDEA HOW TO PLAY THIS FILL NTYREAYAARERATRGH that should do it"

This band releases more documentaries than actual music, WTF ?

Way more listenable than anything NEGA had ever rolled out *shrugs*

Can't wait to pirate this

http://tower.jp/item/3495191
lengths for the new album
 
also, it includes the credits of each song! Just click on クレジット-arrows, no Satochi songs
 
also [2], the last song title is basically "People I wish were dead" (triplechecked that!) - quite edgy & angsty lel

I feel like music should first and foremost be about the art. Exploring your own creativity and giving a voice to it and all that. Being able to make a profit off your music should just be some form of happy coincidence, it shouldn't be the main driving point... Of course, the majority of musicians probably does not share these same ideals. It's sad. I know it's probably more difficult for some to combine a daytime job with a musical career than for others, but it's not impossible.
 
Also lel if you wanted to make a profit then maybe you should do something to make yourself stand out instead of being generic deathcore/metalcore band #845038450

Show Dates:
 
13.09.2014 – PIPL Club – Moscow
15.09.2014 – Nosturi – Helsinki
17.09.2014 – Divan Du Monde - Paris
18.09.2014 – O2 Academy Islington - London
20.09.2014 – Columbia Club – Berlin
21.09.2014 – Zeche – Bochum
 
Ticket sale starts on Friday 6th of June 2014
 
more info: http://www.twisted-talent.com/
 
 
 
TICKETS:
http://www.twisted-talent.com/?p=ontour&artistid=56

lmao this is karma for him pretending to be disabled so much

I guess nobody . . . saw it coming.
 
I'm terrible, sorry.

I posted the album here before, and I added the album scan http://www.monochrome-heaven.com/topic/28095-%E5%96%9C%E5%A4%9A%E6%9D%91%E8%8B%B1%E6%A2%A8-%E8%A8%BC%C3%97%E6%98%8E-shomei-20140409/
 
and yeah, the new single is awesome

like nearlyy every lynch. record belongs here lmao

Motion picture:
 

 
lol @ my horrified face. I almost drove into a ditch! As you can see, I learnt to drive an ATV today. (And car a little bit. According to my sister, she counted me saying "omg, help, we are gonna die"  and "help" 25 times each.)
 
 

Not surprised that Lycaon is going to Europe, but I am shocked that BORN has enough money to go. Didn't their latest mini flop hard?

this PV is gorgeous omg. Shiina x Tomita Lab never disappoint. I love how the song builds up, and the d&b bit was cool. this is definitely an improvement over the Bon Voyage version which was already good. the songs that have leaked and the previews have all been pretty interesting, can't wait to hear them all in full.

In terms of videogame soundtracks, everything featuring Akira Yamaoka is great. (Also, pretty much all games by Suda51 and Platinum Games for that matter)
 
BEHOLD:

 

 

 
Also, let us not forget the legendary, iconic...