Champ213

Cool, a good news once in a while.

^ A good doom metal or doom/sludge metal band might be worth a try. I'm not overly knowledgable in that genre, though I like thsi band: rZDXxkouWMg I'll try to think of more bands, but maybe someone more familiar with doom metal and related genres can help you more. (Personally I like Tsumi to Kisei, but the vocals ruin it a bit for me.)

I'm voting Ito simply because probably no-one else is going to vote for him. And that's why you would looooooose!

That's right

Wrong XD

Moved to "European". (They're a swedish band)

There's already a thread for them here: viewtopic.php?f=28&t=8369 (Also not sure why you posted this in "American", since they're from Sweden XD). Anyway, continue the discussion in the old thread, I will close this.

Okay, let's try this: [attachment=1]pic1a.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=0]pic2a.jpg[/attachment] n = m

Fun fact: when I put "Champ213" into google image search, this is the top result:

I KNOW IT! PILE OF CRAP SITTING AT A LAKE! Or maybe not. How about... Pierrot? Y'know... PIER-ROT XD

Right XD

Second one could be PRIMEADDICT, they kinda sound alike, but I'm really not sure. I also couldn't tell by the looks.

So... it's my turn now since I kinda gussed it? XD I'll go with something easier.... [attachment=1]pic1.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=0]pic2.jpg[/attachment] -s

Well, based on the first pic (muddy - d = mudy?) I thought it was "mudy on the 昨晩" But I couldn't really relate the other 2 pics to it. XD

The OHP is linked in the description of the video: http://www.shiva-official.com/ In the "Disco" section they also have a link to a mail order form, but apparently only for their 2nd Mini-Album. I'm still guessing that it's mostly sold through their OHP.

Wow o__O And I though he kinda dropped off the face of the earth.

Hisaki used to be awesome-crappy once, and now he's just.... umm.... crappy-crappy?

*Sneaks into thread and watches it with unrelenting mod eyes*

Usually the promoter pays the expenses. So if anything, the promoter looses money. It might not be paying off for the bands either though, at best they can earn a little bit by selling merchandise. My best guess is this: bigger bands don't come that often because it's just not worth the trouble. I highly doubt that they actually lose money (maybe some do, if they signed a really crappy contract), because at the end the main risk is with the promoter/tour agency. But as I said, they're not making any (or much) money either. A band like Girugamesh can earn more in Japan for less trouble. With really small bands... it probably doesn't matter. I doubt they earn a lot of money in Japan either, so they may as well take the offer from some small overseas promoter to bring them here, where they essentially play for free. It's a free trip after all.

My updated list: Non-japanese Týr - The Lay of Thrym Corde Oblique - A Hail of Bitter Almonds Kauan - Kuu... Enslaved - The Sleeping Gods Einherjer - Norron Wormfood - Posthume Laura Marling - A Creature I Don't Know Amon Amarth - Surtur Rising Turisas - Stand Up And Fight ThanatoShizo - Origami Japanese dieS - 発情 Yaneka - All in the Air Dear L'Novel - Mistral 実験台モルモット - 箱庭の音樂会 8-eit - my bullet Amber gris - Pomander A - Black Butterfly SwallowtaiL - Cosmos The stuff in bold being my favourites. As usual, I lag behind in new releases though, so there's still a lot I want to listen to.

I've been hearing the "ohno, vk is dead/dying, all new bands suck, it was so much better a few years ago!"-mantra ever since I started to listen to vk over 10 years ago. Some of the bands we glorify as good old times of vk were already considered a sign of decadence by older fans back then. Go figure. People move on and bemoan the lack of originiality and perceived quality compared to their good old days. In the meantime, for new fans it's all fresh and exiting, just like it was for us once.

You wouldn't, unless you're a very dedicated fan that wants all releases. But I don't think that's the whole point. I think it's mostly done for these reasons: a) Radio/TV play. It's usually singles that get air time, so a few more singles are released to get more air time, and promote the album a bit more (not everyone buys an album directly when it comes out). Which is also why bands that aren't getting much air time to begin with often don't bother to release (m)any singles at all. Casual fans. I'm talking about people that don't care enough for an artist to buy an album. They just want that one song they heard on the radio or party, and don't want to buy a whole album for that. But I think it's mostly a). Promoting an already released album via air time. I don't think that people who already bought the album are the main focus group of these singles, but those that haven't.

Ito, Chianti, you should have been there, it was fun! (But then the proxy kicked me when I idled and didn't let me back in and then I was too tired and went to bed - but I think most of the action had passed then anyway.)

Does she have "cummer" written on her shirt?

No, I've been thinking about this: http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/EqvtFEgQZsM/ It's not on there either though. But it's cover version of an older song, so it's probably not completely representative anyway.