Zeus

I concur with the underwhelming statement. "Remember the rain" is definitely not one of their best tracks by any stretch of the imagination, and the two remixes are not much to talk about either. This is basically for one new track.

 

The Official Review team is back with the perfect accompaniment to the avalanche of Halloween candy and pumpkin spice lattes you're about to destroy your body with: the best j-tunes of the summer! This quarter includes a great variety of visual kei, J-Rock, and whatever the heck genre you'd call that second track that @CAT5 wants us to listen to. Come discover some new music that we've curated for you, or re-listen to your favorites now enhanced by the critiques of your favorite Monochromians. Let us temporarily transport you away from your boring job (at least in spirit if not in reality). Agree with our picks? Think we're idiots and shouldn't even be allowed to listen to music much less act as taste makers for the community? Good! Tell us why below.

 

 

@The Reverend's picks

 

"くしゃみ" (Kushami) by まみれた (Mamireta)

 

Quote

First things first; let's acknowledge the silly necessity of putting a cartoon nose at the end of the track title ("Kushami" means sneeze). I can read hiragana and didn't notice that the first few times I watched the video for the newest sloppy but fun track from まみれた (Mamireta).

 

Second; this song and video are probably the best representation from the band so far for what to expect if you get to see them perform live. Vocalist Batsu will absolutely be making lots of weird sounds, will be a constant blur of motion, will break dance at some point, and will be taunting the crowd every chance he gets.

 

"Kushami" isn't まみれた 's best song (that distinction goes to the indomitable "お邪魔します"; both a blessing and a curse that they released such an absolutely great song at the beginning of their career) but it's a short blast of the kind of swirling, manic but still catchy indies-VK that is unique to the genre and has convinced me to stick around for more than a decade.

 

 

"Lemoned" by NITRO DAY

Quote

Proving that you can be directly influenced by musicians that died a decade before you were born, NITRO DAY are channeling Bleach-era Nirvana on the title track from their new EP Lemoned and I have been bumping it all summer.

 

I'd be criticizing an older band for being too nasally and derivative, but a bunch of teenagers can absolutely pull off whiny vocals that crack when put under pressure and a video filter that may as well be called "Sonic Youth".

'Lemoned' is catchy as hell, full of a young energy that never crosses into cynically angst, and will absolutely make you jealous cause your high school band sucked and never once sounded as cool as these kids do. Bonus points for not sexualizing the two girls in the band at all.

 

"New Order" by Mass of the Fermenting Dregs

Quote

Mass of the Fermenting Dregs are back! After lineup changes and a hiatus these power-shoegaze (is that new genre I just made up a good descriptor?) pioneers are releasing their first full album in eight years and I am absolutely here for Natsuko's slightly matured voice freaking calling me to heaven atop some tasty, fuzzy guitar licks.

 

This lead single and first song on the new album wastes no time announcing their return with a driving drum beat, the camera zooming in on Natsuko while she reminds us she's still got it, and the new guitarist proving he can create a dreamy riff with the best of 'em. By the time we get to the last refrain where the vocals really start to get forceful and emotive I'm actually a little upset they broke up for nearly a decade denying us two or three kick-ass albums they probably could've made in that time. Not as frenetic as their previous albums could get, but if this doesn't get your head bobbing and spark a desire to look up the lyrics so you can sing along I don't know what would.

 

 

 

@YuyoDrift's picks

 

"Obliterator" by JILUKA

Quote

Having suffered JILUKA withdrawals for the past 6 months, it was only a matter of time before I gave into my visual kei itch and checked out their new album Metamorphose. Curiosity well justified, as I find “Obliterator” among the many explosive tracks inside. It stands to be one of the best JILUKA tracks that I’ve heard in a while. It's a metalcore roller coaster that you simply can't get off of; you’re there for the entire ride. I found myself involuntarily headbanging, something I thought I gave up years ago haha. Definitely a beast of a track to check out this quarter, but unfortunately no samples of this marvelous track are online.

 

"Knight of Sword" by Unlucky Morpheus

Quote

I’ve been saying this for years, but FUKI is one of the best vocalists of this era. Period. “Knight of Sword” from their new album Change of Generation is a great testament to her raw talent, and the bands continued affinity for symphonic speed metal. This time they take inspiration from the anime Fate Stay Night to give the track its very own story. From the Touhou-like musical arrangement, to the battle-scene like guitar solo, if you’ve never heard of Unlucky Morpheus, then let “Knight of Sword” tell you all about them.

 

 

"MAD [K]" by DIMLIM

Quote

It’s no surprise that DIMLIM’s CHEDOARA has been well received by the community here on MH, as it stands to be one of the most distinguished works of 2018. This album packs some punches, and "Mad [K]" is no slouch. This track injects such a high dose of their signature "brutal-kei" to the senses, you’d question anyone who doesn't spin that fucking volume dial all the way up in tribute. 

 

"絶縁体 (Zetsuentai)" by Dir en grey

Quote

Having not given my thoughts on the album yet, I feel that words needs to be said about the many gems discovered at every listen of The Insulated World. One of these in particular is the epitome of what Dir en grey is to me, bundled into one track that they’ve decided to title “絶縁体” (Zetsuentai). Working at their best pacing to date, there is a subtle nuance of emotion placed in both the arrangement and lyrics of this track that brings feelings of lament to us all who listen. I haven’t enjoyed something like this since the eras of Withering to death. and The Marrow of a Bone. Do yourself a favor if you are a visual kei fan, new or old, and add this to your collection of sleeper hits this quarter. You won't regret it.

 

 

@Zeus's picks

"Raununculus" by Dir en grey

Quote

Dir en grey is the type of band that wants to outdo themselves every time they release a new album, and the ways that they try to improve range from blatant to understated. What they have achieved with "Raununculus" falls on the more subtle side. Gone are the days when the band would slap terrible MIDI synth over death core and market the song as a symphonic version. All of those attempts sound childish in comparison to "Raununculus", which uses real piano and string instruments to give the song much needed body and depth. It's one of the band's most mature and memorable ballads in recent memory. It embodies the sound of a band becoming more comfortable dabbling in elements that have so far eluded their mastery, and it sounds great both with and without the context of The Insulated World framing how the song is perceived. It's a couple of hairs short of epic, but "Raununculus" rubs shoulders with some of Dir en grey's best ballad material. It's worth a listen, even if Dir en grey isn't your type of music.

 

 

"今宵は飄逸なエゴイスト ～ Ego,Schizoid,Beat." by Demetori

Quote

It has been fascinating to watch the evolution of Demetori while watching numerous other circles in the doujin scene change direction or crumble to time and lack of interest or dedication. While it feels like some bands run out of ideas, Demetori continuously stay creative and improve. They've turned more progressive and complex with time, and starting their newest album 瑰狂鬱嵂 (kaikyou utsuritsu) with a nine minute banger boss theme cover of "今宵は飄逸なエゴイスト ～ Ego,Schizoid,Beat." (Tonight stars an easygoing egoist) proves it. It's most impressive when you do a before and after comparison, because Demetori makes it very easy to forget that this is a video game theme, so I included the official live cover of the song and then their version. The Teramae brothers remain a step ahead of everyone else in the game as usual, and make an excellent addition to the power metal or progressive metal collections of anyone not afraid of a little Japanese anime among their artwork.

 

 

 

"make my story" by lenny code fiction

Quote

If you pay any attention to what's new in anime, then you probably have heard of My Hero Academia, the newest shounen to break records and gun for the pantheon of anime classics such as One Piece, Dragonball Z, and Bleach. The animation quality and music choices for this show have been top notch so far, but I think that lenny code fiction has made the most memorable intro for this anime yet. Considering they were going up against the kings of anime openings themselves, UVERworld, I would like to think that this is high praise. There's something about that introduction riff that gets my blood pumping each time, and "make my story" strikes a nice balance between hard rock and sensible pop melodies. I make it a habit of skipping introduction themes after a few weeks, but I always made time for this one.

You know what you have to do now.

 

"RED SWAN" by YOSHIKI feat. HYDE

Quote

The second anime opening theme of the summer to make an appearance on this list is the new opening for season three of Attack on Titan, penned by none other than the infamous YOSHIKI of X JAPAN with Hyde of L'arc~en~ciel on vocals. A heartfelt, piano driven ballad is a unique and daring choice to open such a visceral, action-packed anime, and for the first few weeks I wasn't sure if it was the right choice. Eventually, I was able to tease out the thematic links between the visuals in the opening, the lyrics in the song, and the direction of the anime for this season. YOSHIKI still has the potential to deliver amazing songs when he is confident in his material. Divorced from its anime connections and any X JAPAN resentment you may be harboring, it's a very good song. We have to wait for X JAPAN to record their version of the song before releasing their upcoming album - which has been cooking for well over a decade by now -  but until then, this version will do nicely.

 

 

"GROTESQUE" by DIMLIM

Quote

It was difficult to choose a DIMLIM track from CHE DO ARA to recommend, since there are so many good ones, but I eventually settled on "GROTESQUE". The first proper song on the album does a good job at two things: highlighting how far DIMLIM have come and showcasing how they can mix and match light and heavy styles without sounding forced or awkward. "GROTESQUE" does all of this in under three minutes. Vocalist Sho is reminiscent of the best parts of D.I.D's Akane and Dir en grey's Kyo - and from our live reports we can confirm that he is not relying on studio magic for those shrieks and growls - and the rest of the band finally found some low end heaviness, ditching the static and clicky drum sets from earlier releases which undermined their attempts to be taken seriously. DIMLIM has matured significantly with CHE DO ARA and I am comfortable recommending them to anyone looking for some modern visual kei to head bang to.

 

 

"Renatus" by lynch.

Quote

 XIII is in many ways a typical album, and "THIRTEEN" is in many ways a typical lynch. promotional track, and neither one of those things are a bad thing, but the real gem of XIII is the emotional "RENATUS". "RENATUS" is a great example of how established bands can find a way to surprise long time fans even when they have a defined sound and structure they like to stick to. This is lynch. expanding their sound into new territories while sounding familiar, a feat they haven't set out to accomplish since I BELIEVE IN ME, and "RENATUS" is just a rock ballad at its core. This song is definitely worthy of a music video, and I can only imagine the beautiful imagery that would come along with it. They can grab my interest a lot more quickly if they promote tracks like this as a single in the future.

 

@CAT5's picks

"Etude of solitude" by toe

Quote

toe is a band that takes their time releasing new music. It's been roughly 3 years since their 3rd album "HEAR YOU", and although the quartet dropped a compilation album early in 2018, I hadn't expected brand new material from them so soon. The aptly titled "Our Latest Number" EP blessed our ears in late August with four stellar songs. Stylistically, it picks up right where "HEAR YOU" left off, but the tracks here are played with more refinement and intention. "Etude Of Solitude" is definitely my favorite of the bunch (tho not by much). The song embraces Afrobeat-like rhythms and guitar playing, while remaining uniquely math-rock - and distinctly toe. Brilliant.

 

"からかひ" (Karakai) by Sweet William と 青葉市子 (Ichiko Aoba)

Quote

Ichiko Aoba is among the ever-decreasing pool of artists that still manage to get me unreasonably excited for new music, so I knew this song would be stellar despite having never heard of Sweet William. Turns out he's an up-and-coming hip hop producer, and I was right - this song is the s#%t! It's an unlikely collaboration for sure - an ethereal, folk songstress crooning over a chill, boom-bap beat - and yet it works so incredibly well! Melodically, the song is gorgeous and the production is pretty much perfection. Each sound is pristine and intricately measured, yet it all sounds entirely organic. It's too bad that this song is only a one-off single, but this is easily a musical highlights of 2018 for me.

 

Thanks for reading!

28 minutes ago, mopkins said:

I kinda want them to remake Pink Killer but I'm not sure it's possible to improve on perfection

They can start with the piss poor production on that song that makes Shinya sound like he's smacking tin cans

This is the kind of news I can always use more of! Glad to hear they are coming back. Wish more bands would do the same.

Feel free to give us the word @Ro plz. I will write a review of it.

On 9/26/2018 at 12:19 PM, cvltic said:

She was requested to withdraw her criminal complaint to police as part of the settlement money negotiations.

By who? Kisaki, the police, or someone else? She said she can't contact him, so as much as it sounds like it was him, it's possible it might not be. The timeline here is hazy. Did Kisaki pay the settlement money before he changed his number? Is there two payments of settlement money here and the withdrawal request is part of the second one, or is this the same settlement and did she take the money and decide to sue anyway? And if this is really about the child (because the child was the impetus for her to bring this to law enforcement), what amount of money is "good enough" to satisfy the trauma done to your mentally unstable child? And if it's not Kisaki making this request, then this gets even more complicated.

10 minutes ago, Seelentau said:

I want to read @Zeus' full opinion, tbh.

I need to form one first.

3 hours ago, Saishu said:

Jeez, I had the timeline all screwed up. 

 

I guess losing a guitarist is what drove them to go core as fuck. 

 

Actually I don’t think I’ve ever heard Mar Maroon. 

If you like torturing yourself, listen to a few samples of songs from that album. The complete 180 in direction is what makes me think of that album as 12012's public apology for Wataru's behavior.

8 hours ago, Saishu said:

12012 decided to make half assed metalcore because Wataru choked a woman?

No, they decided to make MAR MAROON.

Having just caught up on this entire controversy, this is a very disturbing and disgusting thing to read.

 

I'm not going to pass judgement on the man just yet, since this is still in its infancy and there are more facts to discover, and clarifying questions that I can ask for days to both parties, but my gut feeling says this incident isn't going to disappear (unlike the court case of a certain other band member who was the center of attention earlier this year). If the police escalate the situation - and I see no reason not to given the mountain of evidence provided - KISAKI is as good as done. This isn't his first brush with the law, but this may be the scandal that not only ends his career, but buries it so that no one will give him a second tenth shot. 

 

Whether you want to collect his remaining merchandise or burn it in a bonfire, this isn't a good thing for visual kei. We shook off another pedophile and a murderer in just this year alone, and now there's this. What a way to strip the glitz and foundation off of the scene in such an unceremonious way, especially from someone who has been seen as a pillar in the scene for almost two decades. It makes you really think about who else in the scene has skeletons in their closet.

 

 

36 minutes ago, kuyashii said:

I don't think you can blame the non-Yoshiki members though for the direction things took though. Maybe for still being associated with him or maybe for refusing to call Yoshiki out?  I think they are all doing well with their solo careers and other projects. Especially Toshi, the musicians he plays with are always really good and the setlists are on-point.

At this point, X JAPAN is YOSHIKI and his not so subtle misuse of pronouns confirms it.

 I saw a ten minute video and immediately lost interest. I don't need reasons not to hate YOSHIKI. I need this new album to come out so I can stop caring about this band in its entirety. How did LUNA SEA have a whole revival and YOSHIKI can't crank out a single album?

Someone's stomach was getting pumped with air near the end of the teaser...maybe they explode?

Welcome back!

artwork is creepy af ngl

All I know is watch out for Miya Records 

4 hours ago, deadman said:

Nice review, this album it's 6/10 for me.

 

Here is some interview translation I did in news thread on why they change style so drastically.

 

"I just read chiaki's new interview on cure, it seems like this album is his answer to this question(why doing music) he kept searching for over a year.

Basically he's in existential crisis right now.

 

Here's a brief translate(Sorry for my bad English):

 

-Why name this album [Today]

Chiaki: How to get through [Today], to me its really difficult for past year. I have insomnia for over a year, can't sleep, don't wanna go out. I know there is no answer but I'm keep searching by hang out with members and go on tour(That explained why their last tour name is"Please save/help chiaki"). Sometime I get a little realization but mostly don't. So it's really difficult for me to live through everyday.

 

Although you might think:"Even though you depressed before bed, you just close your eye and today will end, right?" . The answer is no, it doesn't. Because there are no ways you can experience tomorrow, you can only live in "Today". I wanna get an answer, otherwise  there will be no inner peace in my mind. In order to move forward from this restless state, from now on I will create songs on this premise. I'm not trying to deny our past, I will still write heavy songs when I'm angry, but right now this album is my state of mind.

 

I know a lot of people will think:"wtf are you guys doing, you changed so much", I don't expect this album will reach to everybody, it would be great if I can create something everybody like, but I cant. If there is one moment in the album that can resonate some of you, for me right now, its the happiest thing ever. I expect a lot of backlash, I will take full responsibility, that's how important this album to me. "

 

After read this interview, that explain why they have some thematically change on lyric since live-distributed single ohayou. It changed from grotesque theme to this kind of existential theme.

 

Some of the lyric in ohayou means "I used to be think everything was fine but now every morning I wake up feel like shit,why is that? whats wrong with me? It really suck." "I dont wanna live yet I dont wanna die, I just keep singing" "when can I smile again from bottom of my heart, I wanna go back to that morning" So my guess is his depression start around that time(2016).

See, this is the kind of quality content Monochrome Heaven always can use more of! Thanks for this awesome translation.

 

Reading this does put a lot of their more recent activities into a better context, but unfortunately it doesn't make the album any better for me. It also doesn't make the album any worse. It's not enough for me to completely swear off the band, but if his idea of heavy music is anything like "Futsujanai III", then I have my doubts if that can happen. Making music like old DEZERT and old MUCC comes with a certain mindset, and once you lose that mindset it's hard to recapture that magic.

 

I completely agree with @ghost that it would have been a better move to create an alter ego band (FOREZT or EROZION are two names that come to mind), just to enforce this separation. Not every band is capable of switching styles seamlessly like Boris, nor should every band really try. I wanted to work that into the review, but couldn't fit it in.

1 hour ago, filth_y said:

Offtopic: I actually dont want to go further into the 12012 discussion (i remember 10 years ago or so i was 1 of the 2-3 people on here defending the position 12012 actually didnt change their style (against a "massive" hating crowd), just developed (you can see this when playing their songs on guitar etc. (they changed for their self titled tho, not returned to old style!)) - however im not sure i would have the same position today). But if you want to see a cut it is after their first album and best of with orion and not because of the scandal if it was after their 2nd album (i dont remember when the scandal started). I split them into 4 playlists having similar sound: 2003-2006 (best era for me), 2006 (orion) - 2009 (mar maroon), 2009 (薄紅と雨) - 2010 (SEVEN), 2012-2014. I saw them once live at an event and they played songs from all eras while looking like normal dudes (no makeup costumes). So they didnt ignore their old songs or anything. Oh and they had like no fans caring for them at that live. 

I double checked my sources, and apparently Wataru was arrested in September of 2007, resolved the charges out of court, and issued an apology on his blog in October of 2007. DIAMONDS released in December of that year, but by the time this "incident" happened the album was already done recording. That's why mentally, I attribute this drama to their third album and not their second album, since the first materials they started freshly recording and releasing almost immediately in the beginning of 2008 reflected the tribulations the whole band had to go through when dealing with Wataru's misconduct. But you are right, and the change in direction did start with their materials after PLAY DOLLs and not obtain+1.

 

Good on them for not completely ignoring their old material! I never got to see 12012 live, but it would have been nice to hear "incur..." or "icy~cold city~" at least once in my life.

While writing this review, it came to my attention by other ORZ members that some of my references are rather dated, and that I can't assume everyone knows what I mean when I reference certain things. Thus, I wrote this section as an extra bit to explain those references in detail, since I think it's important and gives my review and misgivings additional context. What follows is purely my opinion.

 

It all starts with this sentence.

 

On 8/15/2018 at 10:23 PM, Zeus said:

TODAY is the day I relive the nightmare that was 12012's MAR MAROON[...]

 

To give you a quick history lesson for context: 12012 started out as a hard rock band. Vocalist Wataru ended up getting too drunk one night and beating up a female acquaintance of his, and for that they were dragged through the mud by the media. This was shortly after the release of their second album DIAMOND. As a response to his bad behavior the entire band switched directions completely and released MAR MAROON, a pop album, which I guess was supposed to serve was some sort of public apology and repentance. This marked the point the band would forever change their sound, drop their theme and concept, and not go back to hard rock. For a band whose name is a reference to "kyouki shouji", or illegal possession of a firearm, MAR MAROON flies in the face of that concept. There was a very violent backlash - similar to what's happening with DEZERT right now - and MAR MAROON was not received very well. 12012 backslid into their earlier style a bit with future releases such as SEVEN before going full metalcore with 12012, but they never truly returned to their old style. Eventually the band broke up because they lost their identity, their main composer, and couldn't get enough new fans to make future activities worth it. 

 

I've seen the same thing happen with D'espairsRay and REDEEMER. The change wasn't as drastic, but going from the pioneers of the dark and heavy goth sound in visual kei to a slightly heavier L'arc~en~ciel didn't sit well with fans. REDEEMER is by far their weakest album, redeeming absolutely nothing about their sound, and even when they backslid into their earlier sound a bit with MONSTERS, it wasn't a convincing effort. There was more going on under the surface with this band as well, with rumored label debts and Hizumi's illness sealing the deal on this band's legacy.

 

I've also seen the same thing happen with Dir en grey, except these guys went in the opposite direction. It's a long time ago, but I do remember a time in the scene when going dark and heavy was seen as "American metal" and "selling out". Hard to think that was ever the case, eh? But yet again, there was more going on under the surface with Dir en grey that prompted them to switch styles with six Ugly and chase a more mainstream crowd: this time being the American metal scene. They themselves said that they thought they reached the pinnacle of their sound with Kisou, and that there was nowhere left for them to go, and that if they didn't find a way to grow they would have disbanded in a year or two. There was a fissure so loud in the scene that you could hear it crack all the way over here in America, with some fans embracing the change and many other fans denouncing the band and swearing them off entirely. Dir en grey also backslid a bit into their earlier style with single cuts such as OBSCURE and DRAIN AWAY designed to appeal to both the old and new crowds entirely, but once they abandoned their visual gimmicks and visual style after Kisou, they never really went back.

 

I'm sure there are countless other bands that also are great examples of what I'm explaining here, but the point remains. When a band changes their style this drastically at the tip of the hat, there are things bubbling under the surface we can only speculate about, but past bands have shown that when they take this step, it's usually the beginning of the end. Dir en grey is the only exception to this rule AFAIK. That's why I end the review with this snippet:
 

Quote

If this marks even the halfway point of their career, I'll be impressed.

I'm basically saying without saying that I expect disbandment sooner rather than later.

 

| What do we say to the god of death?

I'm listening to history repeat itself.

 

A heavy visual kei band is a dime a dozen, but one that can do the gritty D'espairsRay x MUCC x KoЯn sound justice is rare. DEZERT was one of those bands I kept in my rotation off the strength of how well they paid homage to what's becoming an increasingly rare style, but I also felt that there was more room to evolve. DEZERT hasn't really innovated on their previous style since 2011, and if they were going to stamp their legacy on the scene they needed to create a groove all their own. My guess is that they suspected this, and took a huge gamble in changing their sound. The risk in changing your sound is threefold. The first is that you always risk alienating some of your fans. The second is that once the direction changes, bands rarely course correct. The third is that preserving the identity of the band - or the identity the scene has ascribed to you - is nigh impossible, so in some respects it's like starting over.

 

TODAY is the day I relive the nightmare that was 12012's MAR MAROON, when a core band decides to go pop rock. This sudden stylistic shift swings in out of nowhere to blindside even the most ardent fan. I suppose we should have seen it coming since they've been going soft since their second album 最高の食卓 (Saikou no Shokutaku), but it's one of the few times the virulent outrage of the international scene has some merit. The fact that it came without warning adds insult to injury, although one can argue if a band actually owes their fans an explanation for the type of music they want to create. This is the textbook definition of "gunning for the charts", a switch in direction more drastic than D'espairsRay's REDEEMER, and while listening to this album I find myself traveling down a familiar road once more.

 

Notice that I haven't talked about the music yet; that's because, at a primal level, it doesn't really matter.TODAY is musically competent, coherent, and well put together when taken at face value, but I do not find it compelling, interesting, or memorable. I simultaneously respect their musical chops and ability to compose music in a new style while rejecting this style entirely. I am not able to separate old DEZERT from new DEZERT. If I want pop rock, I'll find a pop rock band. If I want metal, I'll find a metal band. When I want messy metalcore, I come to DEZERT. With how fragmented the scene is, there's very little overlap between the fans who would enjoy タイトルなし (Title Nashi) and the fans who would enjoy TODAY. There are songs that hearken back to the old days, such as "普通じゃないIII" (Futsuujanai Ⅲ) and "蛙とバットと機関銃" (Kawasu to BAT to Kikanjuu), but they feel halfhearted, and they are nowhere near as heavy as many fans would want. There's not even a single use of harsh vocals on the entire album! Seeing them leaving their roots, substituting harsh growls and vocal fry for oohs and aahs and abandoning the low end almost entirely, hurts at a deeper level than I'd like to admit.

 

Who is to say if this is the music that DEZERT wants to make, or if they feel pressured to find success, but I'm certain they just lost a lot of fans with this move. I won't be surprised if they drop the visuals entirely, or at least tone it down, since they sound like a totally different band. Perhaps they can come out of this with more fans when they lost and end up better off for it, but with how many times I've seen this scenario play out, I can verify that it rarely ever works. TODAY marks the day that DEZERT disbands for a lot of fans, as they retreat into their back log and stick with cuts such as 「特製・脳味噌絶倫スープ〜生クリーム仕立て〜」 (「Tokusei・Noumiso Zetsurin SOUP~Sei CREAM Shitate~」) and 精神科医（拒食症）のスナッフフィルム集  (Seishinkai (Kyoshokushou) no SNUFF FILM Shuu). It's an incredibly difficult pill to swallow, but that's probably for the best. They aren't going back, and to hold out hope for otherwise is foolish. For those that found a new band to love, I hope they find enough success to deliver more. Even if I take it for what it is, TODAY doesn't do anything for me, and it's a shame because I can sense the band put a lot of energy into this. From now on, I'll be watching out of pure interest, but from a very, very far distance. If this marks even the halfway point of their career, I'll be impressed.

 

All I can say is that it's a blessing in disguise that I never got more invested into this band.

I didn't expect such in depth responses!

 

19 hours ago, Saishu said:

The beginning with the clean guitar tones is fine aside from Shinya’s MIDI sounding drums. Once the distorted guitars kick in its all downhill. It becomes an indistinguishable mess. Toshiya is barely there. His bass tone is fighting the guitars for the same frequency and ends up getting lost. No dynamics, it’s all just way too loud. 

 

Listened to Ningen and Utafumi today actually. They both sound even worse after a couple days of listening to CHEDOARA. 

 

I can see/hear this. Shinya's drums have sounded shite for a while, so that's nothing new to me. The guitars overpowering the bass is the only thing that stood out to me before I asked my question. The "loudness war" is also something that I've come across so much that I'm desensitized to it, but even if there were dynamics I don't think it matters much if the guitars and bassist are dueling for the same frequency. It's not like Dir en grey's music has been all that dynamic since GAUZE anyway...

 

9 hours ago, geist said:

The mix is good as a whole, there's just some questionable decisions in the single that I feel limits the overall impact of the song. Kyo's harsh vocals in the bridge -- a first for the band -- are completely muffled by the guitars. His cleans are clear, but then the growls are mixed as if they're backup vocals when they're not. Or maybe they intended them that way. Either way, bad mixing choice IMO.

My beef with Kyo's vocals stems all the way from DUM SPIRO SPERO. What annoyed/annoys me about that album to this day is that he jumps from death growl to pig squeals back to death growls so much the impact of his range wears off by the halfway mark of the album. This is the inverse - Kyo is using purely mid range vocal fry and that brings its own style of monotony.  I don't even hear any growls, definitely not any that were on the level of DUM SPIRO SPERO.

 

9 hours ago, rekzer said:

The messy guitars don't bother me as much as the drums. They are awful, specially on Ash. Utafumi does sound a lot better live imo so Nigen probably does too.

Are the drums as stale live? I haven't listened to the live version of Utafumi enough to tell.

 

1 hour ago, Rosner said:

From an audio engineering point of view (mixing/mastering process), there's a lot of things that I don't like:

 

-Drums have a lot of problems. The triggering is becoming more and more mechanic with every release. Just check out how the snare sample behaves whenever there are some snare rolls or fills happening. That's a really serious issue that almost every mid-tier triggering software can solve (even with Drumagog you can get a better and more natural snare sound). Beyond that, I really like the snare sample, much better than the one used in 'ARHCE'.  Bass drum is OK: I'm not a big fan of the 'typewriter ' sound, but it works on this song. Toms are the worst of all: they sound mechanic and 'out of the mix'. When triggering, and if going for a 'natural sound', one should always try and get the full samples of a whole kit. On this single, it feels like it doesn't belong to the same drum kit as the rest of the samples. Maybe the engineer was using samples of a kit that didn't have rototoms and ended up using that sample. Anyway, it sounds really out of place. Also, cymbals have no presence whatsoever: they sound really weak and I have the sad feeling that they are also sampling them! 

 

Isn't it Shinya's job to, I don't know, play the drums? If you are hypothesizing that all of these elements are sampled, then what is he doing in the studio?

 

1 hour ago, Rosner said:

-Bass is barely hearable. Really weird: they dropped entirely the Korn-esque sound they had on the last previous albums in favour of a more regular sound. You can hear it "pop" during the choruses, but it sounds really bad. This is a real mistery: I wasn't a big fan of how loud and mid-fueled it was on previous albums, but at least you could hear Toshiya's amazing and clever bass playing. Here it is non existant.

 

Well that's a blessing in disguise, since I listened to the song again today and he's not doing anything interesting enough to stand out. That little segment in the chorus isn't enough for me.

 

1 hour ago, Rosner said:

 

-Guitars sound horrible. I mean, not as horrible as the mid-scooped guitars in 'The Marrow of a Bone', but they still lack energy and presence. It's like they scooped mids and highs/trebles and boosted the shit out of the bass frequencies with a multi-band compressor. That way, it clashes with the poor bass sound and causes the whole mix to bloate. The cleans in the intro, on the other hand, sound really good. Too bad the dynamics are horrendous...

 

So I'm guessing that this is a minor improvement then? The guitars don't bother me too much, but the bass could use more presence. But like I said, Toshiya isn't doing much interesting in this song so even if I could hear it, there wouldn't be much to get excited about.

 

1 hour ago, Rosner said:

-Overall, it sounds 'over-processed' and over-compressed, a problem that was already present on 'ARCHE'. The thing is, somehow, here everything sounds sterile and opaque. I'm no mastering expert, so I cannot really say if this is an issue that could be solved with just a better mastering. Mastering can do wonders (for example, I once worked on a record that had really poor toms that where miraculously enhanced with mastering), but I think 'Ningen...' is a real mess. I really feel the song should be remixed from scratch.

 

You can't make something amazing out of shit parts. The remastering of UROBOROS comes to mind here. They got a veteran engineer to do a second pass of the album, and somehow it came out worse than the first pass! And part of the reason why is because Tue Madsen does what he normally does, but the more he follows "proper practice", the more flaws come out of the mix. I have a hunch that the original version of UROBOROS was mixed the way it was to hide as many flaws as possible. I wouldn't be surprised if the same thing happened again.

 

1 hour ago, Rosner said:

Don't get me wrong: I really like the song and I am very excited for the new album, but I feel like the band could do so much better in terms of production and engineering. I hope there's a lot of variety in the thirteen songs, just like on Arche; I also hope the final product has a superb production and not an average/mediocre one.

 

I've heard this same sentiment since Kisou. I think they like it this way; it's the only way to explain nearly a decade of bad mixes.

So what is it about the Ningen mix that none of you like? Once again, I don't hear anything.

I think that actually might be it. I can check in a bit.

EDIT: You need 30 posts in order to be able to add a cover photo.

5 hours ago, Saishu said:

Jesus... ten years?! 

 

I used to rock these guys and NoGod constantly. 

Used to? I still kinda do.

LEDA come back and realize the potential DELUHI had all along.

I wouldn't judge the album based on the singles. Their singles are always misleading.

3 minutes ago, Saishu said:

Age isn’t always a factor. There are plenty of drummers that play way heavier and more technical stuff than Shinya that are in their 50s and 60s. He’s not a blast beat guy or a fast double bass guy. He’s better at grooves and using innovative tom and cymbal work. He’s awesome when he does what he’s comfortable with, but as long as DEG insists on doing br00tal songs Shinya has to adapt as best he can. 

This is the truest thing I've read in this topic yet.