Tokage

Allahu Akbar-kei

oh man that 1st ゲスの極み乙女。 track sounds neat

oh my god Gaz is like bizarro Yoshikage Kira

Okay, I'm going to be that lame guy who does track by track reviews because why the hell not hehehehehe elisabeth addict - I still sort of think the track name is dumb, but the actual song itself.. Man, it's been a long time since an album opener blew me away like this. Though for the most part this is a rather calm song, there's never really any point where it strays into boring territory. The reason for this is just the absolute atmospheric quality. Really, this song sets the tone for the rest of the album. The world of IMMORTALIS is eerie, at times desolate and chaotic, but there's a certain harmony underneath all the layers of darkness. elisabeth addict embodies all these different facets. Kyo is in prime form here, alternating between regular singing, screeching and his infamous kyopera skills as the song comes to an end. The instruments complement nicely and the acoustic guitar and the drums create the feeling of wandering alone through a sandstorm. destrudo - The second track is an SE, I guess? It's an instrumental track, at least. The piano melodies are quite beautiful and melancholic. Even though it's an instrumental track it doesn't fall into the traditional SE pitfall of becoming monotonous. Still, I feel the song DOES overstay its welcome a bit even though it's just over two minutes. Probably one of my least favorite tracks on the album, but then again it's not really much of a song to begin with. I'll probably be skipping this one in the future. At least it fits within the overall atmosphere of the album, I guess. latour - I'd like to imagine this is what a track off Uroboros would sound like if Dir en grey had decided to ditch the metal elements and instead embraced more of a nagoya kei sound. There's a decidedly 9goats-esque quality to the instrumental portion of this one. Latour still has the eerie atmosphere established by the opening track. However, this song alsoo introduces some very oriental-sounding grooves to the mixture and it fits quite well. The song evolves very organically, starting with an elaborate instrumental opening which takes up about the first third of the song. Once again, Kyo's vocals are very on point here and he contributes a lot to the increasingly maniacal fury the song builds towards. nine melted fiction - Again a song with a title that made me go 'the fuck?' What ALSO made me go 'the fuck?' was that weird wolf howl-type thing Kyo pulls early on in the song. Seriously, what's up with that? It sort of took me out of the atmosphere of the album because it sounded so goofy, so it's a bit unfortunate. This song grooves along in a manner reminiscent of Dir's Toguro, until the part from the album preview finally appears and kicks the tempo up a bit. Kyo pulls some more weird vocal tricks throughout the song, but outside of that wolf sound I felt most of them added to the song's atmosphere instead of taking away from it. zephyr - Well, the radio rip of this song was one of the reasons why I became so incredibly hyped for this album in the first place. Even with the low quality of the radio rip I already fell in love with this one, especially the vocal melody in the chorus. As other people already pointed out before, it's definitely one of the strongest vocal performances we've seen from Kyo in years. Although this song sort of breaks up the eerie, brooding mood of the album the previous tracks had established, it's far from out of place. I feel like this is nothing Dir en grey could ever have done, and yet it is so reminiscent of Dir en grey at their best. This is the first time outside of destrudo that I've managed to detect electronic effects in the music, but it doesn't overtake the rest of the instruments so it doesn't disturb. Still one of my favorite tracks on the album so far, although I already feel like it might eventually lose that position. hidden one - I don't know if it's because of the kyopera in this particular song or 'cuz of something else, but this song just doesn't really connect with me for some reason. The instrumentals are top notch once again, don't get me wrong. I guess it's something about the vocals that ticks me off. Who knows, maybe ii'll grow on me at some point. aftermath - Another slow-burning song driven more by atmosphere than anything else. This was one of the first songs they released, but I only really listened to it once or twice before to be honest. Although there's quite a fair share of kyopera in this one as well (especially in the chorus) this song somehow doesn't rub me the wrong way. Quite a good ballad, although I can understand how it could be boring for some people. This is, once again, a very nagoya kei-ish song I think. 烏有の空 - 2spooky4me. I guess I'd label this an SE as well. Very brooding and menacing, this one is. Out of the two SE-like tracks on the album, this has to be my favorite just because it's so menacing. The track brings to mind those Forbidden Siren survival horror games. I feel like the song is sort of misplaced within the context of the whole album though, as the way it transitions into the next song feels kind of awkward in my opinion. the daemon's cutlery - This is another song I don't care very much for. I THINK this was the very first thing sukekiyo ever released, but I already felt sort of indifferent to it back then. It's another song that feels like a less metal version of Uroboros. This is probably one of the most straightforwardly rocking tracks on the album, but it's still pretty weird. The song sort of managed to grasp my interest in its second half, when the chant-ish sounds and everything kick in, but the beginning as of yet does nothing for me. Maybe I'll come to appreciate the whole package eventually, who knows. scars like velvet - Now THAT's more like it! Straight from the start this track managed to capture my attention. Here the album returns to the sort of mid-tempo atmospheric nagoya-esque sound. This track has a very oriental sound again, which pleases me. I wish Dir en grey would explore that side of themselves further as well, it offers interesting possibilities. I can sort of imagine this song is perhaps a bit too heavy on the kyopera for some to handle, but I think it fits this particular type of song. Didn't disturb me, at least. I LOVE the way this song progresses and there's a neat little instrumental section near the end of the song as well. mama - So APPARENTLY this is an old song of Kyo's that came with one of his poem books? I guess I'm a shit-tier fan, because I never heard the original. Still though, I have to say this song is absolutely gorgeous. It brings to mind Dir en grey's greatest ballads. Probably the most 'hopeful' out of all the songs on the album, at least in terms of sound. I don't know shit about the lyrics after all. Based on the preview I wasn't very intrigued by this song, but the full version actually pleasantly surprised me. vandal - When I first heard the preview, I was instantly reminded of 9Goats' Headache and 690min. I guess that's okay, as I enjoy both of those songs. At several points in the song Kyo's vocals become almost reminiscent of his Kisou/Vulgar-era harsh vocals. Never expected to see THOSE featuring prominently in a song again. Despite the initial similarities to the aforementioned songs, this track is far from a simple ripoff. At some point the song changes gears COMPLETELY and segues into a creepy slower part before picking up the rocking pace again. Though the change is sort of abrupt, I felt like it didn't hurt the song. The weird chanting at the end was also quite charming. hemimetabolism - I DID NOT EXPECT THIS ONE TO SOUND LIKE THIS AT ALL. Especially the first half. The song starts off with some mellow, melancholic instrumental action before shifting gears and unraveling into more spooky insanity at around the 2 minute mark. The vocals don't kick in until the last minute of the song. Very interesting composition, definitely one of the most surprising tracks on the album. 鵠 - Another ballad-type song. Hella kyopera once again, so be warned. I found this song to be very calming, very spiritual. I've never really listened to them very much at all, but this is what I imagine Rentrer En Soi might've vaguely sounded like in my head. It's a good song, but because it's a rather straightforward song stuck between two rather unique ones I feel like this song might end up becoming 'forgotten', the type of song where you go "Ah, right. This still exists." when listening to the full album. 斑人間 - Yeah, so I didn't expect this track to sound ANYTHING like this based on the preview. Again. Pleasantly surprised, although I feel like this track could've been a Dum Spiro Spero / The Unraveling b-side or something. Very dynamic, very diverse. I was most curious to hear the full version of this one based on the previews but I never imagined it to be like this. Still, the part from the preview is absolutely beautiful although I question how well it actually fits in the whole picture. in all weathers - I was already all 'Ayyyyy' after hearing the radio rip. Full version is still amazing. Beautiful melodies, harmonies, everything. Also liked the callback to elisabeth addict at the end, really helps bring the album full circle. So yeah, this is my AOTY so far. I don't know how good or bad this review was, I usually don't write reviews. But.. yeah. These were my thoughts after listening to the album twice. 4.5 / 5

[obligatory old mucc was better comment]

Imai lyrics are usually great, tracklist sounds intriguing as well. I have high hopes for this album! I'm getting goth x cyberpunk vibes from the song names tbqh, would be an interesting theme..

So, any of you guys know any modern/modern-ish (like post-2000's) horrors witth more of a focus on practical sfx instead of cgi effects? Cuz the only ones that spring to mind directly for me are Frankenstein's Army (which I haven't seen yet) and Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer which is more comedy than anything...

I'm mostly an '80s b-movie guy myself, but I'll try making a list of '70s stuff just for the hell of it.... 1. Suspiria I just LOVE the surreal effect this movie evokes, the set design is great and the soundtrack was pretty awesome as well. It totally deserves its status as a horror classic. 2. Texas Chainsaw Massacre Several scenes involving Leatherface unnerved me the first time I watched this movie. There's some sort of really gritty quality to this movie that makes it feel like a hazy summer day and I like that. 3. Halloween I must admit, I wasn't exactly spooked by this one 'cuz I saw it at a point where I'd already seen too many slasher flicks to care. Still, it's one of the big names in the subgenre and I can definitely see why it ended up being so influential. Never saw any of the sequels, nor any of the remakes. Don't think I'm missing out on much in either case, although I might check out Halloween 3 at some point just for shits and giggles because it's different. 4. Zombi 2 I really love how nasty the zombies look in this one. And as Jig said, dat underwater scene... 5. Hausu As surreal as Suspiria almost, but WAY goofier. I really feel like this is something only the Japanese could have done. Everything about it is quirky, eveything about it is weird. I can't see this movie actually SCARING anybody, but it's still oh so entertaining to watch. I guess I ran out of '70s horror I actually saw and found to be legitly good (as opposed to 'so bad it's funny'-good). Whoops. I gotta confess, I sort of disliked Eraserhead. Maybe I need to give it another try, but the first time i watched it I just felt bored more than anything.

Uncharted 3 on my PS3, occasionally Hydorah on my PC. Great old school gradius-type game.

amazing, beautiful, 10/10

I really like it. The chorus isn't as captivating as Zephyr's, but there's something beautiful about the way the instruments work.

Sample for the new single's b-side. Now THAT's more my kind of stuff. Since Ken Morioka was said to have participated in the recording process, I'm guessing this is where his influence went, heh. Love dem bleeps

Was that the fucking Epic Meal Time guy I saw for like 3 secs?

That was one of them! The other one was the part where AC/DC suddenly starts to cry like a bitch lmao

There's two parts coming up later which rival that one in greatness

This really IS going to be better than Dir en grey's new album. Love everything so far, though the 'hard' songs are probably the weakest of them all.

If anyone ever wants to see a hilariously BAD horror movie, please watch the '90s movie Creatures from the Abyss (AKA Plankton). Back when I still regularly ran a 'QUALITY' movie stream night I played it once and whew, there's so many amazing scenes in this fucking thing I can't even choose which one is my favourite. Spookies is also a pretty good one, though that movie at least partially redeems itself by having like a gajillion different creature effects.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-0-Y2Hmp4A Kenji Ohtsuki from Kinniku Shojo Tai/Tokusatsu and Kera from Uchoten/Kera & The Synthesizers teamed up to create.... this band?? I somehow enjoy listening to some of their things, but I would never call it GOOD... (Though that Rydeen cover of theirs is legend) These guys are just piss. Tears all over. I thought their look was interesting at some point, but then I heard their music and I just moonwalked straight out of there again. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyAOJj6Ofxk i'm also surprised at the number of people who genuinely enjoy this

Is it made by bronies? that might explain the lack of the whole 'weird pony toy fucker' / 'deviantart fetish creep' archetype of the brony fandom. Trying to make themselves not look like disgusting creeps and all

amazing im crying @ the minecraft

JJBA is amazing and I can't wait for the new season. It's like the only manga I follow at the moment.