PIZAZ

I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand, I prefer re-recordings over new music from Alice Nine. Their compositions suck these days, I don't care for anything from PLANET NINE, and IDEAL was just okay. But their sound/production/instrumentation have improved greatly, and Shou's vocals are so much better than they were in 2006 (compare the album version of jellyfish to the 2014 re-recording).
 
On the other hand, I would have preferred a different selection of songs. The only ones I'm really looking forward to here are Time Machine, Gradation, 光環 and Velvet. I'm somewhat curious about Dice, CROSS GAME, and GEMINI. The rest of the tracklist I'm not that interested in. I would have preferred that they just focus on material from 2004-2006... or to re-record everything pre-GEMINI.

OH MAN I LOVE FAIRY TIMES MOMERY!!!

customer service lady at h&m won't take it back if you bring it ironed and claim you accidentally haven't noticed a c*m stain on the upper-sleeve and therefore have to ask for a refund,
 
and since it's an issei band they know their game well x

マチルダ (Mathilda) new single "キキカ・イカイ (Kikika Ikai)" will be released at 2018/9/26 through fiveStars.

 

not all 90ties bands are good... lots of trash too. and back then bands also delivered to fans wishes.
 
But, you cannot say yet if you gonna dislike it or not.
music sample hasn't be released yet 😂
maybe you really gonna love it.
 

I hope they stone each other on stage to fight for their father's favor

this is absolutely adorable ♥ I'm glad they had a great time!
 
 

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).

| 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.

DIMLIM:
Gt. Ryuya, Vo. Sho, Gt. Retsu
Support:
Ba. Yume (ex-Pisaro, Now in DIMLIM)
Dr. Hibiki (ex-A Ghost of Flare)
 
Set-list:
1. Birth
2. Innocent Passion
3. THE INVISIBLE
4. Limit of reverse
5. Age of lies
6. Destroy a desire
7. MASSACRE
8. 浄土の花
9. 記憶、紺碧の微笑み‬
10. 初潮
11. 虚妄の歌
12. PERSOALIT NONCONFORMIT
13. 「」
 
encore:
14. THE SILENT SONG
15. 塵外
16. ハレワタ
17. MASSACRE (Chorus)
 
 
This was one of my first concert experiences in Japan and it was one of the most memorable concerts I've ever been to.  The venue is Takadanobaba AREA and I must admit in pictures it looks tiny, but once inside it’s a lot larger than I expected. The venue is divided into 3 sections: the front, middle, and back. Of course, your boy here was in the front! There was a lot of guys at the live; to my surprise I think it was an even number of girls and guys. Walking into the live, there was a curtain raised with a projection of the DIMLIM logo and the sounds of baby’s crying and screaming. It was very fitting because I wanted to scream as well, I was thrilled to finally see DIMLIM live. The live started a bit late but once it began the projection went away and the SE track “birth” began. The curtain was still raised, but a light from the other side projected the shadows of Ryuya, Sho, and Retsu onto the curtain. They stood still until “birth” ended. A few seconds of silence passed, and they just gained life as they began playing “Innocent Passion
. The song began with the opening riffs, and once Sho gave his scream, the curtain was lowered revealing all of them. 
 

 
Everyone looked amazing, but Sho stood out since the paint on him was inverted from the paint he had on the MV for “THE SILENT SONG”. He had a white colored face with black details. He still looked killer. As they played, Sho hits all the screams, including the intense high-pitched ones. Most bands skip these types of screams, but Sho made sure he hit each one. Other noteworthy standouts are Ryuya and Yume (At the time he was in Pisaro but he’s now officially in DIMLIM). I was shocked at how skinny Ryuya was, even though he still looked great. Yume, well, he’s short. I’m not joking. He’s so tiny, he had a box next to him, that he would use to stand when he wanted to yell something or get the crowd’s attention. It was cute haha. Everyone was noteworthy because Hibiki (ex- A Ghost of Flare), despite not being in a visual-kei band, still wore eye shadow, did his hair, and wore a cool outfit. He looked wonderful. And Retsu… well he’s fucking beautiful, so nothing else I can say there.
 

 
They played a few more songs, but I was so unprepared once they got to “Destroy a desire”. A lot of the songs had dance moves that go with them, like fist pumping or waving your hands side to side, etc. (AKA Furitsuke). For the most part, it was headbanging. But for “Destroy a desire”, people started jumping side to side. They first jumped to the right and before I could make it and realize what was going on, they started jumping to the left (towards me) and I almost crashed in to one of the girls. Side note: Im 6’3” so I’m nowhere near little. I would have destroyed this girl. Luckily, I managed to jump left and join them.
After this they debuted the song 「」.It began with the whispers of a women and goes into a techno like rhythm. The pacing of the song is slower than the usual songs DIMLIM puts out. Its not the heaviest song, but there are some screams. My personal favorite part is the harmonics that Ryuya adds during the slow parts. It’s a really nice song.
 
To my surprise they played “初潮”afterwards. I was expecting this song to be their closing song, but I didn’t mind it. It’s every bit as beautiful and powerful live as I’d hoped it be. I gained so much respect for Yume because he owned that solo and overall did an awesome job. He even played it sitting just like Tsubasa (former Bassist) used to. Retsu executed the solo beautify and it gave me chills seeing it played live.
 

 
And probably the most fun I had was during the wall of death. For those that don’t know, a wall of death is when the crowd splits into two and gets some distance between them, so they can run towards one another. During “MASSACRE”, Sho asked us to split and so we did and as he was hyping us up I proceeded to taunt the other side haha (I flexed a bit haha). 
 
Unfortunately, I don't remember much about “Age of lies” and “記憶、紺碧の微笑み”. These two songs where part of the first live limited single so this was my first time listening to them. All i rember is one of them not being as heavy, so kind of slow. Wish I can say more but thats all I got.
 
The main set ended, and they played a short video. Sadly, I can't read Japanese, or at least all the Kanji that was there. There was a lot of clapping and cheering haha. The video ended, and the curtain opened, and the band stood before us. All the lights were off and out of nowhere Sho gave a powerful scream that began “THE SILENT SONG”. Sho had a podium in front of him like the one in the MV. It was painted black and had the DIMLIM logo sprayed onto it. It was a really nice touch and I wasn't expecting it. Sho sang the song with the podium. He would lean on it in order to get closer to the crowd and even shaking it to get the crowd going. Sadly, he shook it too hard and halfway through the song the podium fell apart. Sho tried to hold it together, but it collapsed, and all the pieces fell to the floor. Sho sighed but he laughed it off and continued singing. Staff stepped in and removed the pieces off the stage.
 
I figured that the end was near, and of course they closed with their debut song “ハレワタ”. All i can say is Holy Hell was it good live. The energy they gave off was incredible. They played and sang passionately and when they headbanged, everyone headbanged. The song ended, and I thought it was over. I was wrong, DIMLIM wanted to get us going one last time so they transitioned into the chorus of MASSACRE and made us do a wall of death again to end the show and we did. I taunted again hehe... and the show ended as powerfully as it had begun.
 

 
Bonus:
They have this thing where if you buy cheki, certain cheki will be marked with "Lucky" in Kanji. If you get a cheki with one of these written on them you can take a picture with one of the members. I bought three and got Luky hehe... I was thrilled, and I yelled a bit and some of the girls there game me a stink eye. You snooze you lose, because I didn’t see those girls after, so they didn't get lucky HAHA.
 
I waited in line to take my picture and once it was my turn I was really nervous. I went in the room and there they were Sho, Ryuya, and Retsu. I wanted to tell them something at least, so I told them I had come from the U.S. to see them. And that their music is super cool.
Sho nodded with his arms crossed and said "hmm”. I’m guessing that a good thing, Ryuya said "Ahhh". lol and hands down the best reaction was Retsu. He said in English,
"I can speak english a little bit.... Stay with Us!" I wanted to cry he made the effort to speak English for me and he did it so well.  I took my picture with Retsu ❤️ 
 

 
 
 

her face is giving off eerie real housewives of tokyo teas tbh

these were the bands i associate with the zeitgeist of mid-late 00s visual kei fandom in the west. only some of them are legendary because they were actually good, but they all defined the era, for me. the bands people were talking about during this time in JP were obviously very different. but nobody specified what kind of legendary we're talking about :^)
 
Ancafe, D'espairsray, Nightmare, Gazette, Dir, Alice Nine, Miyavi, Kagrra, ReS, Psycho le Cemu, LM.C, SID (Aki fangirls)
12012 (Wataru)/Phantasmagoria (Kisaki)
Vidoll? Ayabie? D? Versailles? girugamesh (at least the meme)?
"con bands": Duel Jewel and BLOOD/Kiwamu

Because Mao is a ZERO ahahahaha...
 
ha

Music is inexcusable, but that look is pure cheap hooker. I endorse it and would tip.

バルガリーヌレッド (vulgaruine red) (Logi (ex-ZRAYD)) new single, "Invitation" will be available for download and streaming on August 7.
 
 
His new album, "DELUSIONIZER" will be released in October.
 

 
 

that look + that sound is what happens when kaya is away for a dragcon cameo and the cleaning lady gets the house keys x

Feels like will be hard to get used to at the first listening,But the "rawness" is kinda cool 
 
 
 
 

Nice breakdown of this messy pv. I tried to watch along with your comments, bubble blowing vibrator on the hip aesthetic got me good

Get on motherfucker!!!

Is the hype train still accepting passengers?