bonsaijodelfisch

Crossfaith and FearAndLoathingInLasVegas as support for Miyavi? now that's an interesting match-up^^

^ He's super excited. Who wouldn't be?

what is up with that announcer?

Artist: Demetori Album: 愧人贖悪 ~Evil People as the True Object of Salvation~ 1. Introduction ～ Double Dealing 2. ラストリモート ～ Type A Personality 3. リバースイデオロギー ～ The Antinomy of Ideology 4. アリスマエステラ ～ Flow My Tears,the Said 5. 無何有の郷 ～ Grief of Ressentiment 6. 広有射怪鳥事 ～ Till When? 7. Intro:The Shining Needle Castle Sinking in the Air 8. 空中に沈む輝針城 ～ Counter-Clock World 9. 輝く針の小人族 ～ Counter-Attack of the Weak
Rating: | Demetori proves that once again, quality trumps quantity.
 
One of the only arrange bands that I still actively follow, Demetori has seen success by focusing on quality over quantity. This is saying a lot about their contemporaries more so than their particular habits. Most normal bands take a year or two break between albums but it is not uncommon to see a doujin artist release four albums in one year or to find musicians starting solo projects once they exhaust the hundreds of video game jingles associated with Project Shrine Maiden (or touhou if you will). Most of these acts disappear into obscurity faster than you can say "animated jailbait", but despite first impressions the duo have stuck to their guns with making strictly cover music since 2005. Considering how easy it is to fall off in this scene, I find their dedication and consistency incredibly impressive.

Best described as Meshuggah meets power metal, 愧人贖悪 ~Evil People as the True Object of Salvation~ is their tenth and newest album, with most themes lifted from either the seventh or fourteenth Touhou video game. It's the most interesting album since 曼衍珠汝華～ Nada Upasana Pundarika, restoring a sense of confidence in the band that was missing from their last two albums. It's still the same style of metal since 2007's Il Mondo dove e finito il Tempo, but with a sense of energy and excitement I haven't heard in quite some time. 徳南 (Tokunan) is still a beast with the guitar, so much so that I feel comfortable pinning him somewhere between FAR EAST DIZAIN's LEDA and Galneryus' Syu. His brother 九宝時 (Kyuhouji), keeps his crown as the best drummer in the scene and delivers an equally as gripping performance with the percussion. Few ideas were lifted from earlier arrangements with no modifications and the ones that were are expertly done. The mid-album ballad "無何有の郷 ～ Grief of Ressentiment" is a good example of this; it sounds like it came straight from 2006's 如臨深遠 ～雨縒煙柳～. The wealth of new ideas and the appearance of some uncommon melodies extends the life of this album by a good amount.

The paradoxical thing about doujin music is that what gives it its charm also holds it back. It will rarely be seen as anything more than "epic rock video game music", and despite the technical proficiency of the Teramae brothers 愧人贖悪 ~Evil People as the True Object of Salvation~ is no exception. Demetori's answer to this problem is to add more of their own ideas to the melodies that they cover, complementing the original melodies to create something that feels familiar but still fresh. It's very much an instrumental shred fest - it always has and it always will be - but sometimes the video game melodies don't make for the best rock or metal melodies. It can be tricky to bring them together without sounding contrived. For the most part they were successful with adapting the melodies to fit the metal motif, but there are still those awkward thematic or mood transitions here and there that make you roll your eyes. However, it's nothing that gets in the way of enjoying the album to the fullest.

The perfect album for those into insane guitar solos, instrumental hard rock, doujin arranges, or just something to pump you up in general!


Support the band! 愧人贖悪 ~Evil People as the True Object of Salvation~

what is up with that announcer?

「きれいな海へ」Music Video
 
Father Side :

Mother Side :

「きれいな海へ」Music Video
 
Father Side :

Mother Side :

「きれいな海へ」Music Video
 
Father Side :

Mother Side :

duuuuuuuuude

Best New Tracks: September 2015

Another month has passed and the ORZ team has more new tracks to recommend! Be sure to check them out and let us know with you think. Feel free to comment and recommend your own picks as well!
In addition, a special thanks to our guest contributor @Lestat for writing our very first BNT guest submission! From now on, we will be accepting guest submissions for the Best New Tracks Series. To find out how to contribute, please contact @CAT5 via PM!

Visual Kei
"最終電車 (saishuu densha)" by DADAROMA

"落花 (Rakka)" by Plastic Tree

"思春期と伝染病 (Shishunki to Densenbyou)" by SCAPEGOAT

"Jesus Phobia" by ペンタゴン (Pentagon)

"Dedicate to Graveyard" by 凛 (lin) -THE END OF CORRUPTION WORLD-

"Perfect Blue" by 和楽器バンド (Wagakki Band)

"STARLIGHT SNOW" by 少年記 (Shounenki)

Rock / Metal / Punk / Indie / Alt.
"Nohara" by Age Factory

"iny" by eito

"CELINE" by möscow çlub (moscow club)

"Marv Merchants" by sajjanu

"LOST A COLOR" by T.C.L

"sea side motel" by Tempalay

"ディスワールド (this world)" by the north end

"She's like Sofia Coppola" by カフカ (KAFUKA)

"スカートリフティング (skirt lifting)" by バズマザーズ (buzzmothers)
Pop / Idol / R&B / Hip-Hop

"heavenly blue" by Kalafina

"oⅠ" by SawanoHiroyuki[nZk]:mizuki

"FUTURE FUTURE" by Yun*chi

"ヒズムリアリズム (hizumu realism)" by カラスは真っ白 (karasu wa masshiro)

"A型のうた (A-Gata no Uta)" by 西野カナ (Nishino Kana)

See you next month!

well, the claim is more, that there aren't that many catchy choruses, and the ones that are there aren't any good, but that's of course subjective. 
However, you may seem to notice, the main qualm people have with the album isn't that of lacking catchiness, but that of monotony.
To elaborate on that, here my very in-depth, very scientific analysis, track by track:
 
1: NIHIL                           80bpm, B-flat minor, intro, electronic
2: Headache Man var. 1   100bpm, B-flat minor, Heavy GurrGurr song
3. Headache Man var. 2   120bpm, B-minor, Heavy GurrGurr song
4. Headache Man var. 3   150bpm, B-flat minor, Heavy GurrGurr song
5. DERACINE                      75bpm, B-minor, Power Ballad or sth
6. Headache Man var. 4   110bpm, A-minor, Heavy GurrGurr song
7. Ruthless Deed v2.0        90bpm, A-minor, Heavy GurrGurr song
8. Headache Man var. 5   105bpm, B-minor, Heavy GurrGurr song
9. Hyena v2.0                   100bpm, C#-minor, Heavy GurrGurr song
10. Headache Man var.6  120bpm, A-minor, Heavy GurrGurr song (with little ballady bits)
11. Headache Man var.7  120bpm, B-minor, Heavy GurrGurr song
12. Headache Man var.8  120bpm, D#-minor, Heavy GurrGurr song (with little ballady bits)
13. Headache Man var.9  145bpm, B-minor, Heavy GurrGurr song
14. OMINOUS                    90bpm, D#-minor, Song
 
now, if i wasn't such an asshat i might give them, that Hyena 2.0 (i think it's real title is lucy?) is more of a punkrock track than gurrgurr, that maybe the gurrgurr/balladybit songs have a more suitable example than headacheman, but you get the picture. the overall impression of the album is, that more than 2/3 of the songs are more or less slight variations of sth like headache man, somewhere between 100 and 120bpm, probably in B or B-flat minor. On DIM you had one headacheman (maybe adding moth, leech and ogre to the same realm, but that's about it), which is why people loved it so much. Here you have a full album consisting of one single track, that in the end just feels like an hourlong forgettable slob of generic riffwankery.
(which isn't helped much by the fact, that they once again fail to chime in on the possibilities of having two guitars. I mean, double-tracking is cool and all, but when the rhythm and the lead guitars are just carbon copies of each other for 90% of the time you really are doing sth wrong, or are being very lazy)
 
Edit: Also, having listened to the album a few times more now, i change my rating from 6-7/10 to more of a 5.5/10 due to severe boredom

exactly this^
 
if you'd condense the album to these very tracks (plus maybe the intro for good measure) it would be a pretty kick ass mini album (I'll probably do exactly that, even if i'm usually against messing with album structures).
This Album is one of these rare cases, where the sum is actually less than it's parts ^^
 
EDIT: i see already said something along the same lines...

well, the claim is more, that there aren't that many catchy choruses, and the ones that are there aren't any good, but that's of course subjective. 
However, you may seem to notice, the main qualm people have with the album isn't that of lacking catchiness, but that of monotony.
To elaborate on that, here my very in-depth, very scientific analysis, track by track:
 
1: NIHIL                           80bpm, B-flat minor, intro, electronic
2: Headache Man var. 1   100bpm, B-flat minor, Heavy GurrGurr song
3. Headache Man var. 2   120bpm, B-minor, Heavy GurrGurr song
4. Headache Man var. 3   150bpm, B-flat minor, Heavy GurrGurr song
5. DERACINE                      75bpm, B-minor, Power Ballad or sth
6. Headache Man var. 4   110bpm, A-minor, Heavy GurrGurr song
7. Ruthless Deed v2.0        90bpm, A-minor, Heavy GurrGurr song
8. Headache Man var. 5   105bpm, B-minor, Heavy GurrGurr song
9. Hyena v2.0                   100bpm, C#-minor, Heavy GurrGurr song
10. Headache Man var.6  120bpm, A-minor, Heavy GurrGurr song (with little ballady bits)
11. Headache Man var.7  120bpm, B-minor, Heavy GurrGurr song
12. Headache Man var.8  120bpm, D#-minor, Heavy GurrGurr song (with little ballady bits)
13. Headache Man var.9  145bpm, B-minor, Heavy GurrGurr song
14. OMINOUS                    90bpm, D#-minor, Song
 
now, if i wasn't such an asshat i might give them, that Hyena 2.0 (i think it's real title is lucy?) is more of a punkrock track than gurrgurr, that maybe the gurrgurr/balladybit songs have a more suitable example than headacheman, but you get the picture. the overall impression of the album is, that more than 2/3 of the songs are more or less slight variations of sth like headache man, somewhere between 100 and 120bpm, probably in B or B-flat minor. On DIM you had one headacheman (maybe adding moth, leech and ogre to the same realm, but that's about it), which is why people loved it so much. Here you have a full album consisting of one single track, that in the end just feels like an hourlong forgettable slob of generic riffwankery.
(which isn't helped much by the fact, that they once again fail to chime in on the possibilities of having two guitars. I mean, double-tracking is cool and all, but when the rhythm and the lead guitars are just carbon copies of each other for 90% of the time you really are doing sth wrong, or are being very lazy)
 
Edit: Also, having listened to the album a few times more now, i change my rating from 6-7/10 to more of a 5.5/10 due to severe boredom

totally agreeing. In my "review" I also found OMINOUS and DERAsthsth the only somewhat rememberable tracks on this "effort". I have to disagree tho on the notion of them somehow utilizing the possibilities of two guitars. Especially in the immensely uninspired middle part (which, in this particular case, stretches from the second half of the first track to the second to last song) they play like 95% in unison.
 
Also @pretz, i guess ominous doesn't exactly get that much praise because it's some kind of masterpiece or anything. It's just the only thing on the album that's not just another 5minute extension of the previous 50 minutes. I.e. a "stand-out song" so to say. (I do like it a bit tho...)

Artist: the GazettE Album: DOGMA 1. NIHIL 8. INCUBUS 2. DOGMA 9. LUCY 3. RAGE 10. GRUDGE 4. DAWN 11. PARALYSIS 5. DERACINE 12. DEUX 6. BIZARRE 13. BLEMISH 7. WASTELAND 14. OMINOUS
Rating: | After 13 years, "Gazerock" is officially whatever the band wants it to be.
 
If you're ever having a bad day, remember that time we waited five months for the most underwhelming album of the year.

Let's ignore for a second that DOGMA is ARCHE, Iowa-era Slipknot, and a quarter of DIM shoved in a blender and served cold with a side of drop A chugging. The marketing campaign behind this was stellar, and for five months it was the lack of details surrounding this album that sparked my curiosity the most. Just a few weeks before release, the band revealed "OMINOUS" as a teaser. For a brief second, a flash of light shone through the heavens as the hype seemed justified and the band was poised to deliver something interesting.
"NIHIL" even began the experience as I had anticipated, only for dubstep to emerge halfway through to set all my hopes and dreams on fire. I was in so much disbelief, I curled into the fetal position and muttered "What the fuck is this?" to no one in particular. That one minute encapsulates my journey with this band for the last five years, and when the crushing main riff of "DOGMA" kicked in I felt like I was left holding the bag after a bait and switch operation. This isn't what I signed up for. This isn't what this was billed as. But I'm not one to judge a book by its cover - or in this case an album by its case - and I proceeded to give the rest of the album a listen. If it had matched even a quarter of my expectations and contained a song similar to "DIM SCENE", "千鶴" (Chizuru), "体温" (Taion), or "泣ヶ原" (Nakigahara), we would be having a very different conversation right now. If it was at the very least a darker, more moody companion to 2013's BEAUTIFUL DEFORMITY, I would have waved the intro off. It was neither.

What followed was a most unremarkable collection of metalcore. Despite the fact that everything between tracks three and thirteen blend into one another, all is not lost. I found the vocals at their most inspired and energetic in years. On songs like "DERACINE", Ruki's vocal melodies are the most memorable thing of all. I haven't been able to say that in years! The GazettE have also remembered that they have two guitarists, and have returned to utilizing both of them to great effect. There's also an obvious attempt at focusing on one thing and doing it well - except in this case it's perhaps too focused. The lack of a ballad or even a mid-tempo rock number to change the pace exposes the one-dimensional nature of the album and makes it feel longer than it already is. They even titled the songs in all caps with edgy one word phrases like "PARALYSIS" or "BIZARRE". No other track prioritizes atmosphere and melody over pure aggression like "OMINOUS", which as far as I'm concerned is the only track you need.

I could dig deep if I wanted and point out minor flaws in specific tracks, but that would require another listen or two and the replay value for DOGMA is low. All of those criticisms have been lost to the haze that was this album. I have some fun during a listening session, but it quickly fades from memory as soon as it's done. Fun does not equate to a good album. The simple facts are that there's nothing new or distinctly "the GazettE" to see here. I'm half convinced this facade was forced by the band because it's been a while and the old has become new once again. Given some time, I believe DOGMA will wear thin much faster than other albums in their discography.

Diving head first into metal has yielded mixed results. DOGMA is an album purely for the biggest of GazettE lovers and metal fans. If this particular brand of Visual Kei metalcore appeals to you, this is your album. As for me, it's another uninspired, soon to be forgotten entry in the GazettE's bloated discography.


Support the band! Purchase DOGMA from CD JAPAN

I more or less joined the forums just to post my thoughts on this album, which says a lot for this release, though not exactly in a positive way.
 
Honestly, I was really excited to hear DOGMA, especially after I had seen the PVs for the title tracks and "OMINOUS." I was under the impression that Gazette waiting two years instead of dropping a fourth full length in four years had worked to their advantage. The title track had an interesting structure; more about forward movement up a hill and then suddenly dropping down without looking back. It's not your typical "verse chorus verse" affair, in fact, it's hard to even say the song has verses and choruses since it's just one new section after another. Tempo and meter changes abound. It's, dare I say, rather progressive, and I like how they utilized the female background vocals in a haunting manner towards the end. 
 
Then here comes "RAGE." I admit I like this track on an instrumental level, but Ruki's goofy ass English lyrics pull me out of my enjoyment a little bit. After that I just sort of space out and the rest of the album melds into this mass of generic, heavy riffing and absence of melody until we reach the end with "OMINOUS". Hell, even DUM SPIRO SPERO, Dir en grey's heaviest record, has melody all over the place. Name a song from DSS and I can sing you the chorus (except for "DECAYED CROW" because fuck that song). As has already been mentioned here, are Uruha and Aoi both still in the band? Because I can't tell! Where's Reita? I love the heaviest of heavy music and I dig the dark theme, but it's just not executed very well here. And really, this isn't an evolution of the band in any way, shape, or form; this is the same damn thing they've been doing since TOXIC, just with down tuned guitars. I guess I'm happy they shook things up a little bit (because lord knows I still can't believe they tried to pass "SHIVER" and "Ibitsu" off as two different songs), but this is still just more undercooked music from Gazette. Seems like DIM was the creative peak.
 
But, MAN! "DOGMA" is such a great track, though! What happened? I feel like it was the first song they wrote for the album and they KNEW it was gold, so they decided to run with the idea of an album full of heavier, darker tracks. But the well had already run dry. They blew their load. It's a shame...

THE NOVEMBERS will be releasing a new EP, titled ''Elegance'', produced by that good old boy Masami Tsuchiya.
 
More details:
 
THE NOVEMBERS NEW EP「Elegance」
Label:MERZ
Number:MERZ-0044
Release Date:2015.10.7(水)
Price:1,900円(税別)
<TRACK>
1. クララ
2. 心一つ持ちきれないまま
3. きれいな海へ
4. 裸のミンク
5. エメラルド
6. 出る傷を探す血
Produced by Masami Tsuchiya
Recorded / Mixed by Junya Iwata(triple time studio)
Mastered by Soichiro Nakamura (PEACE MUSIC)
 
They're also going on a new tour, to celebrate their 10th anniversary as a band (damn, already?). Dates are as follows:
 
【10th Anniversary TOUR - Honeymoon -】
11/2 SHINKIBA STUDIO COAST / ONE-MAN
11/5 SHINSAIBASHI JANUS / ONE-MAN
11/6 KYOTO TAKTAK / ONE-MAN
11/8 TAKAMATSU DIME w/ cinema staff
11/10 Matsue AZTiC Canova w/cinema staff / OA:Bird In A Cage
11/11 HIROSHIMA CAVE-BE w/ cinema staff
11/13 FUKUOKA BEAT STATION / ONE-MAN
11/15 NAGOYA UPSET / ONE-MAN
11/19 NIIGATA GOLDEN PIGS BLACK STAGE w/ cinema staff
11/20 KANAZAWA van van V4 w/ cinema staff
11/23 SENDAI enn 2nd / ONE-MAN
11/28 SAPPORO COLONY / ONE-MAN – TOUR FINAL -

well, the claim is more, that there aren't that many catchy choruses, and the ones that are there aren't any good, but that's of course subjective. 
However, you may seem to notice, the main qualm people have with the album isn't that of lacking catchiness, but that of monotony.
To elaborate on that, here my very in-depth, very scientific analysis, track by track:
 
1: NIHIL                           80bpm, B-flat minor, intro, electronic
2: Headache Man var. 1   100bpm, B-flat minor, Heavy GurrGurr song
3. Headache Man var. 2   120bpm, B-minor, Heavy GurrGurr song
4. Headache Man var. 3   150bpm, B-flat minor, Heavy GurrGurr song
5. DERACINE                      75bpm, B-minor, Power Ballad or sth
6. Headache Man var. 4   110bpm, A-minor, Heavy GurrGurr song
7. Ruthless Deed v2.0        90bpm, A-minor, Heavy GurrGurr song
8. Headache Man var. 5   105bpm, B-minor, Heavy GurrGurr song
9. Hyena v2.0                   100bpm, C#-minor, Heavy GurrGurr song
10. Headache Man var.6  120bpm, A-minor, Heavy GurrGurr song (with little ballady bits)
11. Headache Man var.7  120bpm, B-minor, Heavy GurrGurr song
12. Headache Man var.8  120bpm, D#-minor, Heavy GurrGurr song (with little ballady bits)
13. Headache Man var.9  145bpm, B-minor, Heavy GurrGurr song
14. OMINOUS                    90bpm, D#-minor, Song
 
now, if i wasn't such an asshat i might give them, that Hyena 2.0 (i think it's real title is lucy?) is more of a punkrock track than gurrgurr, that maybe the gurrgurr/balladybit songs have a more suitable example than headacheman, but you get the picture. the overall impression of the album is, that more than 2/3 of the songs are more or less slight variations of sth like headache man, somewhere between 100 and 120bpm, probably in B or B-flat minor. On DIM you had one headacheman (maybe adding moth, leech and ogre to the same realm, but that's about it), which is why people loved it so much. Here you have a full album consisting of one single track, that in the end just feels like an hourlong forgettable slob of generic riffwankery.
(which isn't helped much by the fact, that they once again fail to chime in on the possibilities of having two guitars. I mean, double-tracking is cool and all, but when the rhythm and the lead guitars are just carbon copies of each other for 90% of the time you really are doing sth wrong, or are being very lazy)
 
Edit: Also, having listened to the album a few times more now, i change my rating from 6-7/10 to more of a 5.5/10 due to severe boredom