Zeus

From X my fav are;
Endless Rain Rose of Pain Phantom of Guilt I'll Kill You Kurenai ( from Vanishing Vision ) Art of Life, specially the Third Section and the Piano Part From BT;
Gensou No Hana Rendevouz GALAXY MY EYES & YOUR EYES Dress Kuchizuke and many more...

This has already been kinda touched upon earlier ITT, but one thing I've noticed within the VK fandom more than within basically ANY of the other music spheres I've dipped my toes into is that a ton of people who get into VK seem to act as if the only bands that exist are the ones that are currently active, and any group that's disbanded/on hiatus/whatever just vanishes into oblivion as soon as the new looks and singles stop popping up. There's this tendency for people to basically treat the scene the same way tons of anime fans treat anime - "if it's not part of the current season then i pretend not to see it". Considering the ridiculous turnover rate that most VK bands themselves tend to have, this can easily lead to situations where people suddenly find themselves left without their faves even within the span of just months. 

Hey, @nekkichi. Looks like the current forum software doesn't allow for that, but I'll look into it and see if there is a way to implement this. Thanks for your suggestion.

Might be good if there is also a topic about how to support live houses right?
 
 
 Shinjuku club SCIENCE (fulling in English too)
https://twitter.com/S_club_SCIENCE
https://motion-gallery.net/projects/club_science
 
Shinjuku Loft
http://www.loft-prj.co.jp/LOFT/forever/
 
Ikebukuro Chop
https://twitter.com/ikebukuro_chop
https://puuchoo.kawaiishop.jp/
 
RATHOLE
https://www.facebook.com/rathole.tokyo/
 
LIVE SPACE ZERO
https://www.facebook.com/LiveSpaceZERO/
 
Sendai BIRDLAND
https://sendai-birdland.stores.jp/
 
ZircoTokyo
https://twitter.com/ZircoTokyo
 
町田The Play House
https://twitter.com/the_play_house
 
大塚Hearts+
http://hearts-web.net/plus/
https://twitter.com/Hearts_Next
https://twitter.com/Hearts_Plus2
 
大塚Welcome back
https://twitter.com/Welcomebackwb
 
Safe the live houses
https://savethelivehouse.com/
https://twitter.com/mikim0113

GALNERYUS  announced  that Fumiya has departed at 2020/06/02 and LEA will join as new drummer
 
 
twitter:@LEABLAST
 
 

That's actually a really good carving!

Photobucket is being stupid and harassing users to buy their premium account or else lose their account or something so I went and downloaded any photos I cared about. I came across some fun little memories like this janky jrock pumpkin I carved of some the GazettE cover art:
 

 
More blurry photos:

 

Hi! I'm leaving the forum as well.
 
Thought about leaving quietly -- and I did --, but the message @Peace Heavy mk II posted made me think otherwise. Sure there's quite a few people here that will celebrate not having to deal with me anymore and that's fine! But I'd rather focus on the fact that I've been here for 13 years and that leaving a goodbye note feels appropriate.
 
I joined the forums when I was 16, only knowing much about VK, and I leave at 29, not knowing much about the current state of VK but knowing just enough about life and my personal boundaries to make me comfortable enough to realize I don't feel at home here anymore. And I used to feel like that for years and it sucks that this feeling has gone, but I suppose that was bound to change eventually -- and that's cool! Things change and end all the time.
 
Anyway, I'm grateful for the few friends I made here throughout the years (y'all know who you are!) and for the countless downloads I leeched along the way. It was a good and entertaining ride for the most part. If any of you would like to stay in touch, I'm over at Twitter at @reomulus. See ya.

Kyrie (NoGoD) solo mini-album "紡-Acoustic Instrumental Selection-" has been through his official webshop
 
[tracklist]
1.十人十色
2.emotional disorder
3.想歌
4.感情
5.エンドロール
6.唯一歌
 

 

 
 
 
 

Release: 1997年06月25日
Label: Toshiba EMI
 
Tracklist:
1. ALKALOID
2. LOWSPIRITED
3. MONOCHROME
4. REINCARNATION MORNING
5. MOVE ON DARKNESS
6. S.C.
7. MARK MARS
8. OVER MIND
9. EVE
10. STAY
11. FREESIA
 
 
Let me know what you think of the album!

i hope toshiya launches an official only-fans to commemorate this release!

Double compilation album from DARRELL includes two new tracks.

Release date: 01.07.20

Tracklisting
DISC 1
1
BRILLIANT DEATH / DARRELL
2
TOO LATE TO CRY / DARRELL
DISC 2
1
Evoke the world / DARRELL
2
BLOOD / DARRELL
3
RING THE DEATH KNELL / DARRELL
4
USELESS SUN / DARRELL
5
死桜 / DARRELL
6
SORROW / DARRELL
7
DEAREST / DARRELL
8
abyss / DARRELL
9
リヒトゾイレ / DARRELL
10
闇に雨 腐敗した世界 / DARRELL

 
5th NEW SINGLE + COVER ALBUM "BRILLIANT DEATH" will be released on Wednesday, July 1st !!
DARRELL's latest work, SINGLE + COVER ALBUM "BRILLIANT DEATH" will be released in July, celebrating its 3rd anniversary!
In addition to the single that includes two new songs, a two-disc combination work of a cover album that includes all 10 songs that covers the representative song of "DEATHGAZE" !!
Furthermore, a one-man tour will be decided after the release !! Details will be announced soon.
 

Nothing that I put in bold is recent. Visual kei has been boy band metal for as long as visual kei has existed, just the appeal and the market has changed in and around it. Remember that visual kei takes lots of cues and inspiration from glam metal, which was boy band metal from the 80s. Formulaic visual kei has also been around almost as long as the scene has; it is just the formula has changed as well to adapt to changing markets. Take any decade of music and you can see this in action. 

I made it through the roughest part of the scene so far (end of 00s to early 10s) where the momentum within the scene seemingly contracted and the fifteen minutes of fame had passed, and that was the most prime moment for the ceiling to fall and the scene to die. It didn't. Thus, I'm not too worried about the "fate of visual kei". Visual kei is resilient and it will adapt into whatever form that it needs to to survive. Us being here 12 years is proof of that. I would be more concerned if your ~flavor~ of visual kei survives the next decade. It won't, but perhaps what rises out of the ashes will still appeal to you? I'm an old head who prefers songs from the 90s and early 00s, but I can find music in every time period that I like! If you still like visual kei in ten years, you'll have new favorites. I guarantee it.

But of course, this isn't about the future of visual kei; it's about ghost writing. I'm sure the scene has a few ghost writers, more than one could optimistically hope for and less than one would pessimistically believe. I also have the unpopular opinion that the scene would be taken more seriously as a whole if more bands hired ghost writers. Not to plug my own work here, but my Copy/Paste series is all about finding musical similarities that pop up again and again and it's way too easy to take a currently active band and find a riff they took from a popular band 5 to 6 years ago. A lot of new bands today look to bands of the past for inspiration and it bleeds through to their music, but it's not doing enough to push the scene forward. The homogenization of the scene is doing a lot more to affect the sound of visual kei than everyone tapping the same ghost writer for new material. This kind of homogenization can also be seen in disparate industries like AAA video games and block buster movies, where studios would rather stick with something safe and deliver guaranteed profits rather than try something new, potentially fail, and lose money. I think we are seeing the same thing here, don't you agree?

What you bring up at the end of this paragraph is one hell of a revelation, so I'll have to quote it again:
 

I certainly cannot think of a classic from the last decade off the top of my head as easily as I can one from the decade before that, but a lot of that has to do with time. Time, no matter how small, is required for an album to transcend to classic status. Classics are defined by the effect that they have on music that hasn't been made yet, so unless you have magical future seeing powers it's hard to know what will stand the test of time for sure. Classics also have a personal angle to it; something can be a classic to you and not to the scene at large. It can also go in reverse. Albums can be considered classics by consensus, even though very few people may listen to said album on a regular basis (example: Art of Life by X JAPAN is a ~classic~, but when is the last time anyone sat down to listen to all 30 minutes of it?). A lot of albums were also given "classic" status years ago that definitely didn't stand the test of time. illational by THE EIGHT is my favorite example of this, and if your first response is "who is that?" then my point has been proven.

I wouldn't worry too much about not having classics from this time period now, because bands are still proving themselves. Come back in five years and I am sure that generating a list will be way easier. You could have asked me this question in 2012 and I would have been completely unable to answer your question. Now, I'm only partially unable
 
To run through these questions rather quickly:
 
I never thought about this, but there could be a few good ones. Bands that pump out release after release and the styles of the release are all over the place. If the band sounds like 3 or 4 people with different musical affinities are writing the music, that's because it probably is. Liner credits can also be a dead giveaway, especially if the band doesn't have any, but bands are also known to lie on those so they aren't always reliable. 
  It's not a perfect definition, but bands that obviously care more about looks than music are definitely idol kei. Visuals are important, but visuals are just a medium to sell music and concepts. If your Photoshop is on point but your music sounds like it was recorded in the gutter, you are "idol kei" in my eyes. If you have a ton of money for intricate outfits, but complain about fans not spending enough money, you're probably "idol kei". If a band has one core member and other members that can be exchanged interchangeably, that would be considered "idol kei" to me.
  Same day as visual kei was born.
  I think the argument over whether ghost writers produce "good music" is all subjective. That's why it is in quotes. Logically speaking, someone hired to write and produce mass amounts of music is supposed to be good at their job by definition. Do I approve of ghost writers? Only when they do a good job and I don't think about it. Music is inherently collaborative; I'd rather have band members work with veterans and bounce ideas off of others to come to the best solution rather than DIY the whole process and come out with a diamond in the rough, or potentially something even more disastrous.
  There are other things about the scene that hurt its well being more directly than having ghost writers. I'm sure most genres have artists that use ghost writers.
  I'm still listening to visual kei because it provides me with sounds no other scene does. The sounds I like and the bands that follow change, but I'm still attracted to the overall sound. I actually don't care much about visuals at all tbh.
 

Nothing that I put in bold is recent. Visual kei has been boy band metal for as long as visual kei has existed, just the appeal and the market has changed in and around it. Remember that visual kei takes lots of cues and inspiration from glam metal, which was boy band metal from the 80s. Formulaic visual kei has also been around almost as long as the scene has; it is just the formula has changed as well to adapt to changing markets. Take any decade of music and you can see this in action. 

I made it through the roughest part of the scene so far (end of 00s to early 10s) where the momentum within the scene seemingly contracted and the fifteen minutes of fame had passed, and that was the most prime moment for the ceiling to fall and the scene to die. It didn't. Thus, I'm not too worried about the "fate of visual kei". Visual kei is resilient and it will adapt into whatever form that it needs to to survive. Us being here 12 years is proof of that. I would be more concerned if your ~flavor~ of visual kei survives the next decade. It won't, but perhaps what rises out of the ashes will still appeal to you? I'm an old head who prefers songs from the 90s and early 00s, but I can find music in every time period that I like! If you still like visual kei in ten years, you'll have new favorites. I guarantee it.

But of course, this isn't about the future of visual kei; it's about ghost writing. I'm sure the scene has a few ghost writers, more than one could optimistically hope for and less than one would pessimistically believe. I also have the unpopular opinion that the scene would be taken more seriously as a whole if more bands hired ghost writers. Not to plug my own work here, but my Copy/Paste series is all about finding musical similarities that pop up again and again and it's way too easy to take a currently active band and find a riff they took from a popular band 5 to 6 years ago. A lot of new bands today look to bands of the past for inspiration and it bleeds through to their music, but it's not doing enough to push the scene forward. The homogenization of the scene is doing a lot more to affect the sound of visual kei than everyone tapping the same ghost writer for new material. This kind of homogenization can also be seen in disparate industries like AAA video games and block buster movies, where studios would rather stick with something safe and deliver guaranteed profits rather than try something new, potentially fail, and lose money. I think we are seeing the same thing here, don't you agree?

What you bring up at the end of this paragraph is one hell of a revelation, so I'll have to quote it again:
 

I certainly cannot think of a classic from the last decade off the top of my head as easily as I can one from the decade before that, but a lot of that has to do with time. Time, no matter how small, is required for an album to transcend to classic status. Classics are defined by the effect that they have on music that hasn't been made yet, so unless you have magical future seeing powers it's hard to know what will stand the test of time for sure. Classics also have a personal angle to it; something can be a classic to you and not to the scene at large. It can also go in reverse. Albums can be considered classics by consensus, even though very few people may listen to said album on a regular basis (example: Art of Life by X JAPAN is a ~classic~, but when is the last time anyone sat down to listen to all 30 minutes of it?). A lot of albums were also given "classic" status years ago that definitely didn't stand the test of time. illational by THE EIGHT is my favorite example of this, and if your first response is "who is that?" then my point has been proven.

I wouldn't worry too much about not having classics from this time period now, because bands are still proving themselves. Come back in five years and I am sure that generating a list will be way easier. You could have asked me this question in 2012 and I would have been completely unable to answer your question. Now, I'm only partially unable
 
To run through these questions rather quickly:
 
I never thought about this, but there could be a few good ones. Bands that pump out release after release and the styles of the release are all over the place. If the band sounds like 3 or 4 people with different musical affinities are writing the music, that's because it probably is. Liner credits can also be a dead giveaway, especially if the band doesn't have any, but bands are also known to lie on those so they aren't always reliable. 
  It's not a perfect definition, but bands that obviously care more about looks than music are definitely idol kei. Visuals are important, but visuals are just a medium to sell music and concepts. If your Photoshop is on point but your music sounds like it was recorded in the gutter, you are "idol kei" in my eyes. If you have a ton of money for intricate outfits, but complain about fans not spending enough money, you're probably "idol kei". If a band has one core member and other members that can be exchanged interchangeably, that would be considered "idol kei" to me.
  Same day as visual kei was born.
  I think the argument over whether ghost writers produce "good music" is all subjective. That's why it is in quotes. Logically speaking, someone hired to write and produce mass amounts of music is supposed to be good at their job by definition. Do I approve of ghost writers? Only when they do a good job and I don't think about it. Music is inherently collaborative; I'd rather have band members work with veterans and bounce ideas off of others to come to the best solution rather than DIY the whole process and come out with a diamond in the rough, or potentially something even more disastrous.
  There are other things about the scene that hurt its well being more directly than having ghost writers. I'm sure most genres have artists that use ghost writers.
  I'm still listening to visual kei because it provides me with sounds no other scene does. The sounds I like and the bands that follow change, but I'm still attracted to the overall sound. I actually don't care much about visuals at all tbh.
 

I posted this over five years ago. Are you still stuck on this?

One of the few releases I was looking forward to as well.

I posted this over five years ago. Are you still stuck on this?

I posted this over five years ago. Are you still stuck on this?

I posted this over five years ago. Are you still stuck on this?

Perception of music is an inherently subjective matter. To call my opinions baseless because you don't agree with them is childish. Please just learn to disagree with people's opinions instead of trying to ~explain~ why I'm wrong.

I need more details on why these bandomen are bad. Spread the gossip!

Ever watch someone skilled at their profession? They make it all look so easy because they've mastered their craft, but they hide the years of work they put into their craft to get to that point. To me, that's why people rate limit themselves and others when it comes to skill, especially life skills.
 
It's a fact that people pick up on certain talents faster than others. I firmly believe that there is something everyone is good at; it could be flipping burgers or clicking heads in video games. Sometimes it takes time and experience to figure that out. I know there are some things I will never be good at unless I put time into it, like basketball or high level math. I know there are some things I've gotten *better* at because I put the time in, like learning guitar or playing shooters.
 
Our culture comes to expect that people should just pick up on all things as quickly as a savant does, and people become discouraged or discourage others when they cannot meet those expectations immediately. It's a nasty outgrowth of consumer culture where what we are consuming is talent. We tie talents to worth of self and others.
 
In this way, you are still correct. The only way to be a dad is to do it. But I also believe some people are not fit to be parents. The complaining about baby daddy shit is just a way to distance herself from what she considers a bad decision, and by robbing him of a critical talent (being a capable father) she is robbing him of his character and worth. Except literally everybody sees through that shit nowadays, because baby daddies don't come outta nowhere. If she was forced to crack a smile, that's because you pierced the veil in one swift move. Well done.
 
 

Ever watch someone skilled at their profession? They make it all look so easy because they've mastered their craft, but they hide the years of work they put into their craft to get to that point. To me, that's why people rate limit themselves and others when it comes to skill, especially life skills.
 
It's a fact that people pick up on certain talents faster than others. I firmly believe that there is something everyone is good at; it could be flipping burgers or clicking heads in video games. Sometimes it takes time and experience to figure that out. I know there are some things I will never be good at unless I put time into it, like basketball or high level math. I know there are some things I've gotten *better* at because I put the time in, like learning guitar or playing shooters.
 
Our culture comes to expect that people should just pick up on all things as quickly as a savant does, and people become discouraged or discourage others when they cannot meet those expectations immediately. It's a nasty outgrowth of consumer culture where what we are consuming is talent. We tie talents to worth of self and others.
 
In this way, you are still correct. The only way to be a dad is to do it. But I also believe some people are not fit to be parents. The complaining about baby daddy shit is just a way to distance herself from what she considers a bad decision, and by robbing him of a critical talent (being a capable father) she is robbing him of his character and worth. Except literally everybody sees through that shit nowadays, because baby daddies don't come outta nowhere. If she was forced to crack a smile, that's because you pierced the veil in one swift move. Well done.
 
 

Ever watch someone skilled at their profession? They make it all look so easy because they've mastered their craft, but they hide the years of work they put into their craft to get to that point. To me, that's why people rate limit themselves and others when it comes to skill, especially life skills.
 
It's a fact that people pick up on certain talents faster than others. I firmly believe that there is something everyone is good at; it could be flipping burgers or clicking heads in video games. Sometimes it takes time and experience to figure that out. I know there are some things I will never be good at unless I put time into it, like basketball or high level math. I know there are some things I've gotten *better* at because I put the time in, like learning guitar or playing shooters.
 
Our culture comes to expect that people should just pick up on all things as quickly as a savant does, and people become discouraged or discourage others when they cannot meet those expectations immediately. It's a nasty outgrowth of consumer culture where what we are consuming is talent. We tie talents to worth of self and others.
 
In this way, you are still correct. The only way to be a dad is to do it. But I also believe some people are not fit to be parents. The complaining about baby daddy shit is just a way to distance herself from what she considers a bad decision, and by robbing him of a critical talent (being a capable father) she is robbing him of his character and worth. Except literally everybody sees through that shit nowadays, because baby daddies don't come outta nowhere. If she was forced to crack a smile, that's because you pierced the veil in one swift move. Well done.
 
 

Ever watch someone skilled at their profession? They make it all look so easy because they've mastered their craft, but they hide the years of work they put into their craft to get to that point. To me, that's why people rate limit themselves and others when it comes to skill, especially life skills.
 
It's a fact that people pick up on certain talents faster than others. I firmly believe that there is something everyone is good at; it could be flipping burgers or clicking heads in video games. Sometimes it takes time and experience to figure that out. I know there are some things I will never be good at unless I put time into it, like basketball or high level math. I know there are some things I've gotten *better* at because I put the time in, like learning guitar or playing shooters.
 
Our culture comes to expect that people should just pick up on all things as quickly as a savant does, and people become discouraged or discourage others when they cannot meet those expectations immediately. It's a nasty outgrowth of consumer culture where what we are consuming is talent. We tie talents to worth of self and others.
 
In this way, you are still correct. The only way to be a dad is to do it. But I also believe some people are not fit to be parents. The complaining about baby daddy shit is just a way to distance herself from what she considers a bad decision, and by robbing him of a critical talent (being a capable father) she is robbing him of his character and worth. Except literally everybody sees through that shit nowadays, because baby daddies don't come outta nowhere. If she was forced to crack a smile, that's because you pierced the veil in one swift move. Well done.