VESSMIER

I guess it depends on the genre or band we're talking about. I mean, Maximum the Hormone borrows quite a bit from funk music and slap bass is also not that uncommon in nu-metal. You can basically hear it in every other KoRn-inspired visual act from the 00s. As for a lot of pop bands, my first guess would be that said bass playing technique established itself during the city pop / disco era in the 80s which was basically western smooth jazz / (synth/future) funk with a japanese twist. Then it probably just stuck... like that other unmistakably 80s thing: putting reverb on a snare.

See, that's the thing I was hinting at. I think that nobody really cares THAT someone does(n't) like it. That's not interesting, you can't really talk about that (except for that little passive aggressive "DEG SUCKS" circlejerk on every page of this thread). It's far more interesting to talk about WHY someone does(n't) like it. I don't know how much thought or effort went into this image but it's full of symbols either way. And these symbols can be read and since they are thematically/semantically pretty consistent, they can be combined into a narrative or message. If that message is exactly what the dude(s) who made it had in mind doesn't really matter, does it? Things mean different things to different people. That's kinda the beauty of art, right?

I think the cover is very beautiful and intriguing. I will admit though that it is rather unusual for DEG, not only because of their choice of colors but also (and especially) because the more I think about the motif, colors and different design elements, the more I get the feeling that this cover art expresses something radically contrary to what the album title suggests (and contrary to DEG's usual vibe): peace, enlightenment and spirituality. At first I tried to read it from the usual angle: dark, depressive, gloomy, aggressive etc. and the fractal design of the cover came to mind and I thought, well, maybe it signifies something along the lines of a fragmented personality/world (lat. fractus = broken) or that everything repeats itself endlessly. That would mean that nothing can truly change because real change without repetition is not possible resulting in immobility and apathy. That's where the "insulation" from the album title comes in. Plus the funnel-like objects surrounding the pupils have those dark swirls in them which might be a metaphor for all the pain and suffering or generally bad things this person has absorbed etc... BUT then there’s the general expression of that person on the cover which I'm deducing mainly from the mouth and they look quite content, graceful, even dignified. The eyes are certainly wide open, so they seem to be quite perceptive and open to experience. The bindi-like dot on the forehead (the location of the third eye) is associated with spirituality and deeper perception and the color purple is usually associated with wisdom, peace, nobility, power, a higher self and so on. There's also the white fractal surrounding almost the entire head like a halo. Obviously, spiritual elements play a huge role in that image. But there's also the interplay between heaven (the golden area around the head looks like a sunlit sky) and earth (the green-brown area beginning on the neck and stretching further down to the chest) - so there's the heart that grounds you (soma) and the mind that wanders and aspires to that which is located on a higher experiential plane (psyche). And that’s just off the top of my head… I think it’s a really cool cover and certainly lends itself to many interpretations. The spirituality aspect cannot be denied though I think and it makes me wonder if this is to represent a DEG that has shaken off its earthly shackles (like depression and pain) and has ascended to a higher realm of consciousness? 🙉And will that also show in lyrics? Or is it just artistic hybris: "Hey we have a new record, it'll blow your fucking mind". Whatever it is, I'm looking forward to it! PS: You guys are unimaginative and boring as shit with your snarky comments - why u sound so butthurt all the time?

I'm kinda resentful because Hora keeps releasing the same album every couple of years but I ordered his new one along with Immortal Verses anyway >: Really excited for the new SS mini though - that cover looks gorgeous.

Thanks @LIDL! 👌

So... what's the best place to preorder this when you live in Europe? 👀

I like the UROBOROS and DUM SPIRO SPERO box sets 🙉Vinyl and CD versions of an album plus a nice artbook / lyrics book make a perfect package imo.

Damn, I'm sorry that it didn't work out for you! I've spent the past hour and something refreshing and getting error messages for the VIP upgrade for Munich but in the end it finally worked out. Totally lost hope in the meantime, though... fuck those servers.

I am seriously puzzled by how FABULOUS could even happen... it sounds like everybody was drunk out of their minds while working on it.

nuvɔːgu is actually the incomplete IPA notation of the japanese pronounciation of 'new vogue' - incomplete because the stress indicator (as well as intonation markers) are missing, although I'm guessing the stress would be on the second syllable: [nuˈvɔːgu]. The [ɔ] signifies a specific way of pronouncing the letter 'o'. In this case it corresponds with the 'o' in words like 'not' or 'shot'. The weird little colon indicates stress on the preceding syllable. There's a couple of bands who use(d) IPA in their bandnames: Act∫uə √èil (the only real IPA characters here being [∫] which corresponds to the 'sh' sound in words like 'shoot' or 'shine' and schwa [ə], c.f. separate. Another rather elaborate one would be:【zɔ́:diæ̀k】 - unsurprisingly the IPA form of a somewhat engrish pronounciation of the word 'zodiac' (which in AE would actually look like this: [ˈzoʊdiˌæk]; in BE like this: [ˈzəʊdɪæk].

Hey guys, I'd really love your thoughts on this one! Something like 12 or 13 years ago, I started to really dive into vkei and obsessively collect and listen to any band from that scene/"genre" I could get my hands on. At the time it felt so foreign, so different, nothing like anything I've ever listened to (or seen) before and that's very appealing to a teenager who's looking for his own little niche, a place to build some sort of identity from. You guys know what I'm saying, right? When you're 14, 15, 16, maybe younger, maybe older, you start assessing your place in the world by selectively adopting or rejecting certain speech, behavior, social groups, music, music scenes as communities and so forth - the individual configuration of which becomes part of your identity. Anyway, all that's supposed to express, how important and dear to my heart vkei is, esp. that glam metal x postpunk x gothrock x poprock fusion from the late 80s to the early 00s. And since all those bands I'm talking about are really obscure to begin with and a complete enigma to the vast majority of Western Europeans, I thought it could be fun to indulge in some nostalgia and spread the love for that type of music. I live in Germany and most of my friends are pretty active in the local DIY punk scene (organizing concerts etc.), so my thought was that these people for example could actually be interested in our treasured japanese underground music scene - not only because punkrock is often a musical influence in vkei but also because I think that the general ethos is quite similar. (TLDR;) To make a long story short, I thought that it could be cool to create an instagram account where I would upload snippets which I consider emotionally exciting or stimulating (jeez, that sounds weird) from songs that I love. What do you think about that idea? Would you actually be interested in something like that? I know there's plenty of youtube channels offering a shitload of full length songs but this thing could be regarded as a more dense version of that. Plus some personal thoughts from time to time. Let me know what you think! Here's what I'm talking about: https://www.instagram.com/netherwave/

Directly from Hora's homepage!

I received my copies today and I was surprised to see they came with both Rudolf Steiner Tapes on CD. I actually didn't know these were included... maybe some sort of bonus for ordering both the LICHT and the DUNKELHEIT versions?

Hey guys, I've searched the forum but haven't found a smilar topic (correct me if I'm wrong 👀). I'm looking for sites which offer really high quality 4K anime wallpapers (especially scenery, landscapes, cityscapes; no ecchi/hentai/lolita crap pls). I usually use wallhaven which has an anime section and some nice filtering options (see picture below), so if you're not familiar with that site, give it a go! Anyway, I'd love to hear your suggestions!

I've pre-ordererd both versions a couple of days ago, really looking forward to this. Also, I'm curious what Közi did with SIRIUS and HYPNOS. 🤔

Yesterday, on Oct. 6th, blgtz released a new single, purchasable via iTunes (JP) for ¥200. https://itunes.apple.com/jp/album/ech0-single/id1292996585

I guess it's nice to see who you're talking to on the forum, so here's a snapshot of me and one of those self-portraits I do from time to time.

Jeez, this thread's been inactive for so long but there's no actual reason not to revive it, is there? I've recently updated my stereo setup to a pair of Jamo C93s, plugged into the SMSL AD18 amp which connects to my pc via USB (although I'm thinking about trying a fibre optic cable). I'd like to buy some speaker stands soon, because as everything's set up right now, I'm sitting way too close to the speakers :,D And I'm afraid they'll blow my ears off. For headphones I'm using the AKG K712 PRO with the FiiO E10K Olympus 2 headphone amp (as seen above).

I consider Rammstein to be sort of a basic cornerstone in every teen's explorative endeavors of harsher rock and metal music. At least that's how I experienced them during my youth in the late 90s and early to mid 00s. I've been quite fond of them for a while back in the day and drew a lot of inspiration from them for my own petty poetic efforts. Them being associated with the political right was actually a non-issue for me, I've never felt it to be true and of any significance to the identity and message of the band (they even famously and openly denied these allegations in the song ‘Links 2 3 4’ on ‘Mutter’). Still, their use of snippets from Leni Riefenstahl's ‘Olympia’ for their ‘Stripped’ video is something I find very problematic and simply stupid. Also, the aesthetic and band-persona they cultivated in their first few years of existence was and still is at times bordering on proto-fascistic imagery - at least it can be read that way. Anyway, I've lost interest in Rammstein almost a decade ago and therefore don't feel the need to justify anything. Had I not come upon them in my teens, I doubt they would intrigue me much today. And even though I still like Till's poetry (cf. his collection of poems entitled 'Messer'), I feel that Rammstein are a superficial and at times painfully simplified version of Till's poetry lyrically and a bloated, sensationalistic and stagnant archaism musically. That being said I actually think that, apart from the cult-classic 'Mutter', 'Reise, Reise' and 'Rosenrot' are their most sophisticated works when it comes to lyrical content and songwriting in general. In my opinion these albums created a standard they were not able to reproduce or to carry further with 'Liebe Ist Für Alle Da', an album which I found to be very inconsistent and oversaturated with fillers/subpar tracks.

Pet Shop Boys - This Must Be The Place I Waited Years To Leave

I agree, I've read some articles and interviews about the filming process and have to say that the director's strategy really paid off. The relationship between Adèle and Emma seems so authentic, their love so real and Adèle's suffering so palpable. I guess I identified pretty strongly with her, especially in regards to the way she was lost in the pain and absolute hopelessness of rejection.

jesus christ, that one fucked me up a little.