ambivalentideal

I see it's important announcement part 1... I hope it'll be an announcement of an announcement, culminating in the pre-announcement of the actual announcement in a grand announcementrilogy of Yoshikian proportions.
 
But it'll prolly just be another overpriced dinner show.

I read on another thread on here that Natsuki (ex -OZ-) now runs an avocado farm which I guess is his family's business. He was on TV about it and everything. 

@ambivalentideal Checked out DIMLIM last few days and i must say thats definitely the band i want to follow. I did like the new single the most though, especially 離人.  His clean vocals are so addicting, i would love to hear more songs like that.
My other favorites are アハレワタ, The Invisible, GROTESQUE, Innocent passion, Malformation and D.Hymnus. I guess that is a lot  of favorites considering the amount of songs they released but i really liked them all. I also like how some songs give me that DEG vibe and at the same time they are something else. Looking forward to see what they come up with next.

I read on another thread on here that Natsuki (ex -OZ-) now runs an avocado farm which I guess is his family's business. He was on TV about it and everything. 

I don't know where to put this. If it doesn't belong here, move it. 
 
Music is a form that everyone can enjoy, but sometimes, people just don't try new things.
 
From my experience, there are two types of close minded music fans:
 
1. The Lazy Ones
These are the ones who either listen to the same three artists or just listen to the same Top 40 hits the radio plays all day. I'm okay with people having certain artists they enjoy and that's fine, but I find that people who just stick with one or two genres of music aren't really that open. Sure, you can like and dislike certain genre's and that's totally cool, but the ones that refuse to listen to any other artist instead of the ones they only listen to I find are not necessarily boring people, but they're just lazy I suppose lol. 
 
2. The "Wrong Generation"
Now these guys are the ones you see on the YouTube comments section of every classic rock video. You know them very well. They act like all modern music sucks nowadays and that their music is superior. They constantly remind you how much of today's music is just garbage rap and that there is no good music. They lie in their own bubble of ignorance and bitterness. These are the ones that constantly praise bands like Black Sabbath or Queen and tell you about how they are the greatest bands of all time and that they write "meaningful" lyrics instead of G U C C I  G A N G.
 
I'll admit I used to be like the second one, albeit with metal instead of classic rock. However, I eventually opened up to all sorts of music with Visual Kei expanding my tastes further.
 
Does anyone have any experiences with people like the ones I mentioned?  What would you say to close minded fans of music if you ever met one?

Nier is definitely more hacknslash, the game is great though so if you haven’t tried it i recommend checking it out dueing next steam sale.
As for cyberpunk i am not sure, i usually prefer magic and sword type of rpg than sci-fi but it coming from cd-project definitely makes me curious. I guess i won’t be getting it on release but will wait for reviews and see what people say(considering it can run on my laptop, i had to wait years to play witcher 2 because of my bad pc-thats why i love consoles, it can’t happen there)
 
 
Unfortunately not, the tour was right during my exams period and i couldn’t find the time to go since there was no concert in my country. May was alright but ticket to states was not, haha, hopefully i will get to see them during their next tour and for now i will get the world tour blu ray when they release one.
 
I haven’t heard anything from DIMLIM but i already saw some people praising them here on MH, i will surely check them out later today. 

Welcome to MH!! I'm also 24 and have been in it for 10+ years so maybe we'll have something in common. :')
I'm also a really big fan of GazettE! Were you able to see them during the world tour this year? I saw them in Dallas in May and they were amazing. 
I'm a huge fan of lynch. as well, as you might be able to tell from my username haha. Glad to see another fan here! 
If you're looking for newer bands to try, and you haven't heard them yet, check out DIMLIM's album CHEDOARA. They were one of the first newer bands I checked out upon coming back into vk and they absolutely blew me away with this album. Maybe you'll like them too! 

Hello, have been lurking for a few days and decided to introduce myself
I am 24, from Poland and have been listening to japanese music for about 10 years. Mostly sticking with my favorites so i don’t know that many bands but i believe i will discover some new stuff here.
One of the first bands i got to know and my absolute #1 for years already is The Gazette, discovered them around the time they released DIM and fell in love ever since. Currently i am on a quest to collect all of their singles, EPs and albums. It is a slow process but i am getting there
 
Other bands i love are exist trace, girugamesh, undead corporation, sadie, nightmare, mary’s blood, dir en grey, lynch, d’espairsray, aldious, yousei teikoku, wagakki band, babymetal and versailles( Hizaki being my favorite - i usually don’t listen to instrumental only stuff but curse of virgo is a work of art). I guess some of them are not visual kei but visual part of vkei was never my main focus. 
 
As for other hobbies i enjoy fantasy books/movies and rpg games. I read some manga from time to time but not as often as i used to.
 
Cheers 😎

Because it's full of pretty men and most men ain't into that would be my answer in a nutshell, but I'll elaborate some.
 
I agree with the people who commented on the first page that if you look at the audience of an all-female band's lives, visual kei or nah, it's more likely that you'll see more men in the audience. I disagree, however, with the idea that "it's all about the money". I mean... yeah, that is a part of it, and it would be naïve to assume that it's not at least a small motivation for anyone who charges for anything, but there is definitely some art in there too. I would argue it's all about the money for the more uninspired, cookie-cutter bands, but to say it's all about the money as a rule of thumb is to exclude the more creative and imaginative bands who really care about what they're doing and actually make an artform out of it. Japan is, generally speaking, still pretty collectivist, so I don't think the foundation of individualistic rebellion is completely gone yet and I think there are some bands who are still seeking to "stick it to the man", as it were, and that is definitely a motivation besides money. If not that, they're at least seeking to, as I said, make an artform out of it. Compare any of the recent bland-kei projects (not saying all the recent bands are like that but yanno what I mean) to something like Moran. The former just want to make money and a meaningless statement for their fifteen minutes of fame, whereas the latter have passion and soul. I didn't name a particular bland-kei band but I'm sure you thought of one or two and were easily able to distinguish them in terms of visuals, music, talent and theme, so I think it's a bit too broad to assume they all have the exact same motivation.

Whatever, that was somewhat off-topic. I just thought I'd mention that because I saw a few people bring up the subject of getting money from bangya, although talking about this does make me wonder what the male-female ratio of fans for certain bands are in terms of their originality. Do more men like the more inspired bands? Conversely, do more women like the more inspired all-female bands?

Wow, I was just thinking about this shop yesterday and how I used to go there. I was even thinking wow, I'm so glad brick and mortar vk shops are still open.  This is really sad. 

I honestly don’t even have words for this one. It hurts bad.

semi-popular opinion at this point:
nu-metal was never really that bad other than the literal middle school-tier lyrics

do yall ppl like anything smh

It was suggested that I pop by here and make a proper introduction. I've  been lurking here for years....like a super long time to the point it's kind of bizarre but made an account finally because I really needed to say something. So hello everyone! Not sure what else to say. I'll  stop being awkward now lol

All VK pickups from this year so far. Super happy with all of these!
From left to right:
 
the GazettE:
MADARA
STACKED RUBBISH
DIM Ltd Edition
Tour 2006-2007 [Decomposition Beauty] Final Meaningless Art That People Showed at Yokohama Arena DVD 
TOXIC Ltd Edition
DIVISION Ltd Edition
NINTH Ltd Edition Box A CD&Blu-Ray
 
Dir en Grey:
Withering to Death. CD&DVD US Pressing
The Marrow of a Bone US Pressing
UROBOROS US Pressing
The Insulated World EU Pressing
 
lynch. 10th Anniversary 2004-2014 The Best
 
DIMLIM:
CHEDOARA 1st Press (Extremely happy about this one. Paid a lot to get it [5845 yen total shipped] but ...worth it lol. My new favorite album)
Rijin
 
MALICE MIZER Bara no Seidou
 
Canzel NeO PRESENCE E.P.S.
 
AND -eccentric agent-:
1st Full Album -&-
AGENT FILE

- sukekiyo - anima
- sukekiyo - INFINITUM 【Regular edition】
- emmurée - 19992018
- DIMLIM - 離人
- VA - Digital Kabar 
- Labelle - Orchestre univers

Received some Verxina's goods~
- Both photoset types
- Keychains of Kaie and Mar 

http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/MDN-141771593?s_ssid=e335705d2fdb9855d7
 
CDJapan has pre-orders up for a new batch of the Blu-ray.
Here is the info about it they provided:
"[Important Notes for Orders Placed After July 16, 2019] 

Pre-order Deadline: July 31, 2019 (Japan Time) 
Orders of this item placed after July 16 will be shipped after the release date, and there is a possibility that your order might be shipped in early August or later."
Seems like they are manufacturing more on a made-to-order basis. (?) Price is:
15741yen
(US$ 146.12)

All VK pickups from this year so far. Super happy with all of these!
From left to right:
 
the GazettE:
MADARA
STACKED RUBBISH
DIM Ltd Edition
Tour 2006-2007 [Decomposition Beauty] Final Meaningless Art That People Showed at Yokohama Arena DVD 
TOXIC Ltd Edition
DIVISION Ltd Edition
NINTH Ltd Edition Box A CD&Blu-Ray
 
Dir en Grey:
Withering to Death. CD&DVD US Pressing
The Marrow of a Bone US Pressing
UROBOROS US Pressing
The Insulated World EU Pressing
 
lynch. 10th Anniversary 2004-2014 The Best
 
DIMLIM:
CHEDOARA 1st Press (Extremely happy about this one. Paid a lot to get it [5845 yen total shipped] but ...worth it lol. My new favorite album)
Rijin
 
MALICE MIZER Bara no Seidou
 
Canzel NeO PRESENCE E.P.S.
 
AND -eccentric agent-:
1st Full Album -&-
AGENT FILE

All VK pickups from this year so far. Super happy with all of these!
From left to right:
 
the GazettE:
MADARA
STACKED RUBBISH
DIM Ltd Edition
Tour 2006-2007 [Decomposition Beauty] Final Meaningless Art That People Showed at Yokohama Arena DVD 
TOXIC Ltd Edition
DIVISION Ltd Edition
NINTH Ltd Edition Box A CD&Blu-Ray
 
Dir en Grey:
Withering to Death. CD&DVD US Pressing
The Marrow of a Bone US Pressing
UROBOROS US Pressing
The Insulated World EU Pressing
 
lynch. 10th Anniversary 2004-2014 The Best
 
DIMLIM:
CHEDOARA 1st Press (Extremely happy about this one. Paid a lot to get it [5845 yen total shipped] but ...worth it lol. My new favorite album)
Rijin
 
MALICE MIZER Bara no Seidou
 
Canzel NeO PRESENCE E.P.S.
 
AND -eccentric agent-:
1st Full Album -&-
AGENT FILE

All VK pickups from this year so far. Super happy with all of these!
From left to right:
 
the GazettE:
MADARA
STACKED RUBBISH
DIM Ltd Edition
Tour 2006-2007 [Decomposition Beauty] Final Meaningless Art That People Showed at Yokohama Arena DVD 
TOXIC Ltd Edition
DIVISION Ltd Edition
NINTH Ltd Edition Box A CD&Blu-Ray
 
Dir en Grey:
Withering to Death. CD&DVD US Pressing
The Marrow of a Bone US Pressing
UROBOROS US Pressing
The Insulated World EU Pressing
 
lynch. 10th Anniversary 2004-2014 The Best
 
DIMLIM:
CHEDOARA 1st Press (Extremely happy about this one. Paid a lot to get it [5845 yen total shipped] but ...worth it lol. My new favorite album)
Rijin
 
MALICE MIZER Bara no Seidou
 
Canzel NeO PRESENCE E.P.S.
 
AND -eccentric agent-:
1st Full Album -&-
AGENT FILE

All VK pickups from this year so far. Super happy with all of these!
From left to right:
 
the GazettE:
MADARA
STACKED RUBBISH
DIM Ltd Edition
Tour 2006-2007 [Decomposition Beauty] Final Meaningless Art That People Showed at Yokohama Arena DVD 
TOXIC Ltd Edition
DIVISION Ltd Edition
NINTH Ltd Edition Box A CD&Blu-Ray
 
Dir en Grey:
Withering to Death. CD&DVD US Pressing
The Marrow of a Bone US Pressing
UROBOROS US Pressing
The Insulated World EU Pressing
 
lynch. 10th Anniversary 2004-2014 The Best
 
DIMLIM:
CHEDOARA 1st Press (Extremely happy about this one. Paid a lot to get it [5845 yen total shipped] but ...worth it lol. My new favorite album)
Rijin
 
MALICE MIZER Bara no Seidou
 
Canzel NeO PRESENCE E.P.S.
 
AND -eccentric agent-:
1st Full Album -&-
AGENT FILE

DIR EN GREY - UROBOROS [Remastered & Expanded]
 
Found this gem for cheap at an FYE here in Los Angeles. 
 
$3.99 = 3.50€

I don't know if I agree with this, but I think it's an interesting point.
 
If I think back 10+ years ago to the forefront technical/fast players, I think of Versailles, Matenrou Opera, Deluhi. Go listen to Teru's earliest work with Aikaryu, Hizaki with Garnet grave in 1998 (let alone the Schwardix & Solo stuff), Anzi's old power metal band Masterpiece, and Leda's playing in Crimson Head. They were always shredders. Of course they improved with age, but they were always speed-geeks from the start.
 
Also, because visual kei musicians are almost always influenced by musicians in the global rock/metal world, I think its unfair to compare the 2000's with now. With the global waning of rock music from the 2000's to 2010's, a lot of this decade was defined by music with high technical merit. The icons of the early 2000's were often nu-metal bands with no guitar soloes like System of a Down, Disturbed, Slipknot and Linkin Park. Whereas in the early 2010's,  metal kids were getting excited about Animals as Leaders, Periphery, and 'djent'. Even now, a lot of the big NEW rock/metal bands of the 2010's are proggy shred bands (Polyphia, Intervals, Chon). There wasn't as much of an audience for those kind of bands in 2005. So it would make sense that visual kei in the 2010's has a higher skill level, because it reflects the global trends.

nokubura started as a non-vk band, dexcore are from nagoya which always had p interesting thing going on music-wise (like "a decade ago" is 2009; deadman already disbanded by 2006, and both deadman/the studs were better than fucklust and most of dexcore's output compositionally)
it probably has to do with the overall trend change; the "tired kuroyume imitation act" went away by mid-2000s, and nu-metal vk of mid-2000s in now replaced by kpop halfbreeds, neo-kawaii oshare on its 5th reincarnation, cis idol-kei and core acts.
the demand for new styles means demand for more technically skilled musicians.
shrinking scene profits and less earning venues (where are like half of mid-2000 VK fashion brands now that always needed models?) means that a lot less band members can just cute their way through the scene with minimal/mediocre skill.
people who wanted dexcore sound 10 years ago probably would have gotten it on a western band gig with like 40 attendees;
once the core-trend is done in VK, it will go the same way as panic channel/indie baroque sound of the past.
it probably just fell out of favor.