Zeus

Thinking about it, it's not so weird. I don't know where most of my coworkers live...

I thought I remember Kaoru going over to Kyo's house after his surgery to check up on him. I always figured they were "professional friends".

I want to answer your question with another question (ha!): why did the sound die out to begin with? I don't have any good answers for that but there's a reason why the sound of the scene transitioned at the end of 2000. My best guess is that people were bored with the sound as it was done to death for at least 10 to 11 years, and that's enough time for a generation of old fans to cycle out and a new generation to come in. Think about how many fans that were around in 1999 stuck around until 2009, and how many of them will still be around in 2019. There are probably a handful left on this forum and that number dwindles each passing year. The sound of VK changing is like the meta for a multiplayer competitive game changing after a new patch - it's anarchy and almost anything goes until the meta stabilizes. It seems like visual kei transitions every decade into a new sound (with the exception of the current decade, where it seems like the scene is still in flux). That freedom at the beginning of each transition is approximately around the same time these revival-kei bands came into popularity, so I feel comfortable in saying that at that time bands were searching for the next big sound and some bands took the philosophy of "you must look back to go forward". On the same note visual kei bands have a short shelf life, so it also makes sense that some bands that form around the same time disband around the same time. Not always, but it would support your observations about bands like this decreasing. The more similar they sound, the more competition they face, and the more likely they are to face the same pressures and problems, and one of those problems could be that the revival kei movement didn't have as many teeth as we think. And the answers to "Why?" for that question is because I think the sound still isn't popular and doesn't have the same appeal as metalcore, which is a genre of influence that refuses to die in visual kei. I said it in a different topic but it applies here too. I think the way that fans digest visual kei from the 90's is different from the way we digest visual kei in the 00s because one music style is "easier" to get into than others, which could also explain why a handful of these bands slowly transitioned away from that sound as their career matured. The clamor for nostalgia of the old days by fans isn't enough to pay the bills and eventually hard decisions had to be made. My final opinion on the matter is something I see happening in the scene now: some band or someone needs to find the next big sound that will shape visual kei for the next decade to come. I like the revival kei movement but the scene at large can't go back a decade in sound. It must move forward. That's why I enjoy seeing so many different bands under the visual kei umbrella try new things to see if they work.

Hey folks! The time for a new Trade-Off is near and this time, we want your opinions on what themes we should go with. If you want to submit one, just reply to this post with your idea and why it would be a good theme for the trade-off. There are no rules but just certain things to keep in consideration: The theme should not be too restrictive or too general. It doesn't have to be "spring related" You can be as detailed in your description of the event as you want. Look at @CAT5's latest Anime Theme Trade-Off if you want a good idea of a detailed description. I'll leave this open for one week. The staff will discuss a theme we like and announce it at the end of the month.

It's not in English. I don't play Japanese music for my friends often, but when I do it's instrumental or with good English vocals because the minute they hear Japanese, I know 95% of them will stop listening. People want to understand what the song is about and you can't do that with Japanese music if it's all in Japanese. The vocals that are in English still have a distinctly Japanese quality to them, and that turns off a lot of native speakers. That leaves a very small group of people to make a big impression for everyone. Not a great way to start. Rock music is not mainstream in America right now. It's hip hop, pop, and r&b that runs the air waves. It's not a bad thing, but I find i digest these genres of music differently than I do rock and metal, and people that have not grown up with rock and metal may never have developed a taste for it. I've always heard that rock and metal is the closest thing to classical music in the modern era, and on the same note I don't find many people appreciate Bach and Mozart for what it is. It just doesn't "move them". Anime was considered taboo and nerdy up until recently, when now all of a sudden it became cool to watch Dragon ball Super and My Hero Academia and other big-name shounen. Anime and Japan are always seen as synonymous to the barely acquainted, so anime and rock music are also tied together by virtue of this rock music being from Japan. Stupid associations, but that's how it is. Considering just how bad a lot of anime themes are, I can see people associating the worst of J-pop themes with all Japanese music. Consider this 3.5, but the people that were first promoting the music were deep into the scene, like "appropriating parts of Japanese language and unironically dressing like a visual kei rocker" deep. They...did not make the best ambassadors for visual kei music. On the other side of the coin, the Japanese indie scene has always been a smaller group covering a wider range of music, cloistered and secluded on private servers and trackers. They wanted to preserve their culture the way it was, so they weren't exactly interested in proselytizing their music to a wider audience. Y'all gotta realize peeps like @CAT5are the exception to the rule. Japanese record companies in general do a pretty shit job of marketing themselves and their music to a wider audience, which is perplexing to me because the anime industry is absolutely KILLING IT right now. They jumped onto the digital distribution wave too late and by that time, the fad had already started diminishing. We have no equivalent to Crunchyroll to have a legal bridge between record companies and interested Western audiences. HearJapan was close, but in some ways I think it was too ahead of its time and never got the support it needed once everyone involved realized it wouldn't be a 1-2-3 smash hit. I always maintained that I would be a sensation or "the next Jimi Hendrix" if I took a bunch of my favorite J-Rock and visual kei songs and sung them in English...

I'm not sure about that. I don't think the band has lost anything. I get the opposite impression actually, that the band is still trying to find a new sound but they are a few places removed from where they want to be. There's definitely a certain sound and aesthetic that they are chasing, but what that is I could not tell you. I also think it's really hard to come to a conclusion on one track + a re-recording + a live performance of the last single. Dir en grey are really good about keeping their cards close to their chest until they release a full album or EP, so I wouldn't lose faith until the entire next album pisses you off.

Compared to this live recording and some of the other B-sides we've got in the past, this live version of Utafumi is more than acceptable.

| dududududuDODODOOOO "Ash" Love them or hate them, there's no doubt in my mind that everyone has an opinion on Dir en grey's newest single. They've been more cagey about describing the track or releasing samples ahead of time this time around, but the news came dripping in little by little. I was apprehensive of the new single at first because "詩踏み" as a package was disappointing, but it turns out that this single speaks only good things about the next album. The new single leaves a better impression on me with the first few listens. "詩踏み" was good, but not very memorable for me. "人間を被る" sounds like a mix between "un deux" and "咀嚼", inspired by the same feelings as "詩踏み" with different construction. This is not a bad thing as a fan of ARCHE. "人間を被る" shakes off a lot of the lethargy and awkwardness in the transitions between song sections. The track flows more naturally than "詩踏み" . I appreciate that Kyo is relying more on his mid-range and less on his extreme gutturals and shrieks because it gives the track more body. The ending feels purposefully unfinished and does not work as a substitute for an opening for "ash". Given Dir en grey's reputation for remakes, I dreaded what "Ash" would become. Luckily, we got a great remake this time. It sounds like the song it's supposed to cover. "Ash" now has four separate recordings - the 1997 version from Behind the Mask Vol. 2, the 1998 version on 「楓」～if trans･･･～, the 2000 B-side on 脈, and now the 2018 re-recording. It hurts that the track is only four and a half minutes long - the shortest version of all by a full minute - but it's a good four tracks. The meat and rhythm of the melody is the same, but I'm indifferent on the new lyrics. I'm too used to hearing the original ones. The constant use of vocal fry as backing vocals is another minor, annoying addition. The acoustic solo in the middle is the highlight of the single because it spices up the pacing of the single and sets the song up nicely for the electric guitar solo. The step-up technique at the end was preserved, but is also my least favorite out of all three versions of "Ash". It could have used more maniacal laughing at the end or more electronic effects to amp up the intensity. I have to say that I still prefer the 2000 version of this song the best, but at least it doesn't completely butcher the feel of the track a la "羅刹国" or "Obscure", so not all is lost. The live version of "詩踏み" is a bonus to give the whole package some weight and to justify the price tag. As small of a comment as it is, Kyo sounds good here. Previous B-side live recordings were the epitome of filler because Kyo sounded terrible, and really left a bad impression on what the band was capable of live. Like I said, I didn't care too much about it upon initial release and I still don't care too much for it now. The track loses a bit of impact in its translation to disk, but for what it's worth the track sounds like it works amazingly well live. It's may even be more true for "人間を被る".

I was thinking about covering them at a later date. I remember everyone called "muddy cult" the new OBSCURE but after watching OBSCURE again a few times and writing up my thoughts, I don't feel like that is accurate. The main difference is that OBSCURE can pretend to have a little bit of art house flair, but muddy cult has no deeper meanings to it. Sure, maybe I can twist your arm like your high school English teacher and discuss the color of the drapes or some other bullshit and connect that to Jin's depression, but really I think they made that entire video to be disgusting and obscene. OBSCURE is about abortion and muddy cult is about rape, and only one of those songs is something people want to listen to more than once in a while. Same reason why everyone wants a Mazo re-recording but no one wants a Mazo re-recording, you know?

You sure that's not muddy cult?

I'm pretty sure the video is about something and the lyrics go along with it, but I also think Dir en grey is smarter than to admit what it ~really~ is.

There's 600 pages of topics in the news forum that the staff would have to sort out into two forums, and 99% of the content would never be seen by another pair of eyes ever again. That's more than both the dl forums combined. A physical split at this point is not happening. We could explore a tag system for that if enough people request it in a new topic. For now let's keep this topic for the international visual kei subforum.

Do we need another subforum for international visual kei music that would not quite fit in the international or the visual kei subforum? Or do you think that the subforum for international music is enough? If enough votes are acquired saying "Yes", I will make a new forum.

but what if there are only two stalls?

"OBSCURE" is one of the most graphic and notorious music videos ever crafted within visual kei, catapulting the band back into the spotlight after a sudden stylistic shift sent their fans into a frenzy. It's famous for both its shock value and its strong anti-abortion stance. Abortion isn't a dinner table conversation in any country, but I've always sensed that there's an extra level of taboo attached to this topic in Japanese circles. So naturally, Dir en grey went the extra mile with some of the best CGI 2004 could buy. Is there some actual meaning behind this imagery, or is it all shock value? Watching it back now, this video isn't as extreme as a younger, more impressionable me thought. I discovered that there's mostly memorable segments, but most of the video is the band rocking out in a dingy room with bodies hanging from the ceiling. These also are the least offensive parts of the video too, unless you have a particular hate for vomit, leather, or white contact lenses. And if you do, how are you a visual kei fan? Anyway, the room resembles a hospital or a jail, although it's probably the back of an old fishing warehouse. There's nothing else to really discuss here. I tried my hardest to weave together a story that makes sense. The closest I can get is depictions of their anguish over this topic and how it's treated, which could be all they were going for. The main scenes cycle throughout the course of the video, and each of these scenes seem unconnected to the others. To sum it up: there's a demon orgy, robot cocks, a monk ripping a baby's head apart covered in ofuda screaming to the Lord of Light, a dissected half robot/woman creation on a table with a mad doctor, circus performers, depictions of the band as monsters mutilating themselves, and of course the infamous demon geisha eating the apple baby head. The meaning of some scenes are obvious: the orgy depicts sexual irresponsibility, the circus is about how the topic is treated as a joke, and the doctor and robot is supposed to resemble abortion and the act of playing god. Several elements appear in different contexts, such as the geisha and baby heads. The woman on the table is shown as not in control of her body, the doctor with the huge forceps symbolizes the invasiveness of the procedure, the ofuda which covers the monk is meant to ward off evil, and the constant depiction of monsters and demons is meant to associate abortion with bad omens. The rest of this music video is pure shock value and there's no real meaning to anything. One thing I should mention before wrapping this up is that Dir en grey threw some serious shade at men in this music video. During the orgy scenes, the women have bare faces but the men are all covered with masks. I have several interpretations of this. One parallel I immediately noticed was to (surprisingly) porn, where it's all too common for the woman's face to be visible but the man is a secondary figure, and videos are associated with the woman and not the man. On a deeper level, it's also commentary on the unequal burden pregnancy puts on women. The men literally "don't see" what happens when they orgasm (hint: the women stop enjoying the orgy and start bleeding out their mouths with pained expressions on their faces), they don't have to deal with it, and they can carry on not caring, mouths transfixed in a smile. I dug deeper into the whole mask angle, and discovered that in Japanese mythology, oni masks refer to the belief in a spirit world in which demons carry out their roles of punishing the unjust and evil, as well as spreading disease. Double dip on the whole "spreading disease" = "venereal disease" bit if you want, but I don't think it goes that far. I think Dir en grey feel that men who do this and don't care are literally demons and worse than the women, but clearly the whole eating the baby's head idea also associates certain kinds of women with demons too. The band themselves aren't exactly human either, with Shinya's deformed body and Kyo's lovely tentacle mouth, so perhaps the band thinks everyone is a demon and that everyone is responsible? As far as PV's go for visual kei bands, this one is near the top in terms of effort and production values, even for today's standards. I'm sure there's more left to be discussed. What do you think?

So he's returned to visual kei...bwtter be THE EIGHT levels of polished or were not going to have a good time. He should call up Kenzi from AF and get some studio time going

That's why I don't buy Kidz Bop.

Dir en grey is still visual kei.

Hey everyone! It's been a while since our last Recommended Tracks segment since we moved from a monthly release to a quarterly release. That means there's plenty of new music for us to nerd out over, and so far 2018 has not disappointed us! New format, same good quality of thoughts and music. Hopefully you see something you like and find something new too! @Zeus' picks "THE IIID EMPIRE" by Dir en grey "無礼王 (Burei Ou)" by Develop one's faculties "The Gate To My Funeral" by Earthstream @tetsu_sama69's picks "傷痕" by キズ (Kizu) "アンインテリジブル" (Unintelligble) by Develop one's faculties "LOVELESS" by DARIAN MARIAN @fitear1590's picks "ヴィーナスの恋人" (Lover from Venus) by クウチュウ戦 (Koochewsen) "Shedding" by The fin "貴方だけを壊して飾ってみたい〜Chantyの世界へようこそ2〜 ver." (Anata dake o kowashite kazatte mitai〜Chanty no sekai e yokosou 2〜 ver.) by Chanty "偽りのシンパシー ft.アイナ・ジ・エンド(BiSH)" False Sympathy ft. AiNA THE END (BiSH) by MONDO GROSSO "Sanfransokyo Girl" by Satellite Young "掌で踊る" (tenohira de odoru) by そこに鳴る (sokoninaru) @emmny's picks "Chocolate Passion" by 凛として時雨 (Rin Toshite Shigure) "毒苺" (Dokuichigo) by ヴァージュ(Virge) "Invisible Individual" by IIII-Ligro- @plastic_rainbow's picks "this is 芸術" (this is Geijutsu) by Develop One's Faculties "Merry Ghost Land" by 爆烈ストーム!! ( Bakuretsu Storm!!) @doombox's pick "Modrý sen" by UQiYO @helcchi's picks "輪廻" (Rinne) by リベリオ (RIBELIO) "Garden in a Lost Place" by Narumi "ROTTEN ORANGE" by アクメ (ACME) @YuyoDrift's pick KISS OF DEATH (Produced by HYDE) by 中島美嘉 (Mika Nakashima) @qotka's picks "「リストカットして」" (risutokattoshite) by ゴシップ (Gossip) "やさしくしてね" (yasashiku shite ne) by ゴールデンボンバー (Golden Bomber) Guest Contributions @Ada Suilen's picks "Falling" by The GazettE "エンド" (End) by Reol @Mamo's pick こわれはじめる by SWARRRM

I always thought the l's stood for each band member as well as scars that someone could leave if they clawed at someone with every finger but the thumb (like nails on a chalkboard kinda thing).

This should not be disabled for anyone. I can check later today.