The Reverend

Ha! So I got Pierrot's Agitator single for a song (¥50!) with my last adumaya-honpo order and check out the "Dictator ID CARD" that came with it: It's credit card plastic too... not some cheap cardboard shit. Definitely going in the wallet.

x2 This Sevenlize band is breaking up anyway right? Just keep this one going...

Crossing another one off the WTB list...

Have they used this anagram as the name of a side-project yet? I'd be down for a BEATGOD album.

LoL. Who's going to this show... I'd love to have this in my pantry.

I certainly couldn't put a list of my ten favorite VK bands in strict order (I mean, is the difference between anyone's 6th and 7th favorite bands really that great?) so I figured I'd break my ten down into categories. The usual caveats apply: yes this list could be different if I did it a week from now; of course there were some bands I loved but didn't release enough material for me to list them as an all time favorite (lookin' at you Hybrid-Zombiez), etc. Legends: -Luna Sea -Dir en grey Both of these bands had 3-4 album streaks that were both A. Amazing and B. Changed the landscape of VK forever. Couldn't do a favorite VK band list without 'em. Nagoya-kei: -Merry go round -Emmuree -deadman I know emmuree aren't actually from the Nagoya area, but c'mon, how many of you thought they were based on their sound? I'm far from a VK historian but when I hear 'nagoya-kei' I think something slightly darker, gothier, and more melancholy than your average band. These bands fit that description perfectly... and they all have albums I can listen to from start to finish (an important consideration for me when considering my favorite bands). Matina: -Madeth Gray'll -Syndrome Love him or hate him, Kisaki has left an indelible mark on the scene through both his bands and his various labels. I got into visual kei around 2000 so obviously Matina was a big influence in what I liked as I started to discover the world of indies VK. Throwback: -AvelCain -Grieva -Kagrra Grieva and AvelCain are new to the scene but embrace an amalgamation of sounds from past eras. I get the impression these bands listened to and liked the same bands I did growing up, and now they're releasing awesome, heavy VK while wearing their influences on their sleeves. Kagrra, I sort of cheated and included here under the guise that their sound is a throwback to sounds before VK was even a thing... full of classic Japanese instrumentation and timeless melodies.

I liked this V.A. too (I'd gladly buy this one again, the first one I'd probably skip if I could do it over). My quick thoughts on a track-by-track basis. Nihilizm - I love this song. It prompted me to buy a couple older CDs of theirs as this is the first I'd heard them. Those discs are not as good... but this track is their most recent output so I'm going to believe they're improving and their new singles in April will kick ass. Varyl - I dig the part about 2/3 of the way through where they keep speeding up that short guitar lick and then add some maniacal laughing, but other than that section it's pretty average. Fixer - I don't like this one as much as Aferni. It's solid but forgettable: when it comes on I mostly just want to go listen to the way better 'decaying beauty' from their last single. The Black Swan - God damn check out that bass run @ 2:55 leading into the screamy bridge with fake-choral vocals peeking through in the background leading into a competent guitar solo. The only thing I dislike is the like broom sweeping/air pressure release valve sound throughout the song that really adds nothing.

Thanks guys/gals for the responses! I looked around to see if it had been addressed but didn't catch anything so figured I'd ask.

The title basically says it all. For a few days now the text editor doesn't show up when I try to start a new thread. Ender-ender posted a status update about having the same problem... so I guess at least it's not just something I'm screwing up. So... does anyone know what I'm doing wrong? (if anything) The editor shows up fine when I post a reply to other topics, just isn't there when creating a new one. I have the same problem across multiple computers and browswers. ETA: it appears when I edit a post I've made... so I suppose I can just create a topic and then edit it. But still, I'd prefer to just have the formatting options from the beginning.

Just bought Blast's - 緋い領域 (s/o to Rarezhut... diggin' the new key logo) and it's fucking beautiful. It's a weird bigger than CD but smaller than DVD sized case but it's one of those buys that makes you glad you own a physical copy even though you already have a good rip.... really cool case design for an indies band.

I love a good empty, ornate birdcage as part of a VK look.

Right. I was kind of on the fence about picking it up just having heard the one song... but for 1500 yen hell yeah!

Where's the option for "I'm lazy and leave it however it was tagged by the uploader or the program that ripped it..." I think I have Miyavi songs under four different artist tags at the moment.

Yep that was me

Sphire-Croid! This... from under the CD tray is some of my favorite VK engrish.

A reformed M with a more google-able name would be amazing.

I'm excited! (Wasn't that the title of a pretty good Kagerou ballad?)

Audrey is probably my least favorite song on Macabre... which doesn't say anything too bad about Audrey; it's just kind of boring and Macabre is an amazing album. I've never heard that Garden song... but seeing their name did prompt me to add "Monochrome" to my phone so I can listen to it soon. 1. Blast - Shade of Phantom 2. Girl Talk - Get It Get It 3. The Pumpkin Head - the murder mansion 4. Young Gunz - Can't Stop Won't Stop 5. Kuroyume - Merry X'mas, I Love You 6. Syndrome - Suichuuka 7. Constants - When Stars Dilate 8. DIE-ZW3E - CHAOS 9. Gin Blossoms - Hey Jealousy 0. Coaltar of the Deepers - thrash lives in savagery I actually went to see the Gin Blossoms at a free show pretty recently... "Come over to the Deepend" is a very good album, and maybe a different track from it could've taken the crown... but damn Suichuuka is a great VK ballad.

A few things I've been looking for, some rarer than others... Let me know if you have any and are willing to part with them! AvelCain - Arrow of the Light Chelsea - Trash (demotape) Hybrid-Zombiez - The Interior of the Womb ギャロ (the gallo) - -NEO JAPANESQUE BEAUTY AND DESTROY- ギャロ (the gallo) - Tokyo Cinderella rcradle - 銀の雫

CDs I bought arrived quickly and in good condition... buy some stuff from Danao!

I'm rooting for them simply because I'm a huge sucker for entire sentence band names. I was kind of disappointed when ベル's name ended up being just belle instead of that ridiculous paragraph we thought it was at first.

Rocketeer got some pretty awesome VK in that group. Swallow and Vomit (gross) are definitely my fave two 12012 tracks... I love how the main guitar melody in Swallow always ends with a different little flourish. My 10 song shuffle: 1. Baroness - Teeth of a Cogwheel 2. the god and death stars - addle apple 3. black sheep wall - ancient fvck 4. reggie and the full effect - V 5. videodrone - jesus (lord of the apes) 6. envy - shield of selflessness 7. jesu - you wear their masks 8. ベル - あの日の僕の君と雨 9. violent femmes - add it up 10. van halen - unchained Nothing too embarrassing I guess (I was totally expecting at least one song from my nearly complete Britney Spears disco to show up...) Jesu and Envy were a close second, both pretty solid tracks. But I've gotta give it up for the Reggie & The Full Effect song, even though that's from their worst album. Some of my buddies and I played a couple shows as a Reggie cover band in high school so they bring up great memories. (Wait if I was worried about being embarrassed why would I share that??)

I have a weird relationship with this band. I love the first half of inspiration is dead... but it's kind of like I don't need anything other than that from them. I'll queue up a different album and give it a go for a while, but inevitably just say "eh, let's listen to 'knife vacation' again"

Alright, another convert! I think AvelCain just killed it in 2014. (I mean, obviously I'm a bit obsessed at the moment) I admire their consistency since Eve joined as their producer/songwriter. They've definitely established a sound that is unique enough that you could pick them out of a line-up. They released like 20 new songs last year, and while none are stand out candidates for my personal list of "top 10 songs ever", I also don't think I outright dislike a single one. That kind of return on investment in VK is very rare.