Augie1995

Reita only composed the intro to Miseinen? Lame haha. That's one of their great songs, I thought he composed it entirely. Respect for Aoi for being the composer of Shiroki Yuuutsu, Hanakotoba, AN UNBEARABLE FACT, and D.L.N.
 
Naturally, the ones that i'm more attracted to were Uruha-composed: VOICELESS FEAR, DIM SCENE, Baretta, HESITATING MEANS DEATH, and Kyomu no Owari Hakozume no Mokoshi.
 
As for Ruki, it's safe to assume he composes all the title tracks: VORTEX, RED, REGRET, SHIVER, the whole BEFORE I DECAY single, but props to him for Nausea and Shudder, Naraku, and CALM ENVY

This. Screaming well is one thing, screeching and wailing is something completely different.

I'm going to be in the minority here but I thought Quiet was the best track on here! Heck, even Forbidden Beaver wasn't bad! Although it starts off as a shameless Love Addict rip off, the guitar work is nice. The solo is far superior to the one in the title track.
Fadeless is far too generic; although it's tighter than Forbidden Beaver, it's lacks any kind of wow factor that's usually associated with A-Sides.

Yes

I've been a casual fan of the GazettE since around 2005/2006, and while DIM exceeded my expectations for Ruki and the gang, I've always considered these guys a "middle-of-the-road" kind of band - not bad, but not particularly special. Admittedly, I was on a "DIM high" for a while and shunned nearly every subsequent release that didn't measure up to that album's caliber. With the quality of the band's material on a steep decline, it was safe to say that my hopes for them ever producing anything remotely DIM-like were shattered and then swept into a grave - never to be seen again.
 
While FADELESS is in no way a return to DIM's stature, I do feel like the band has managed to climb back from six feet under and at least plant their feet on solid ground again. The electro-infused "blah-core"  that plagued their 2 previous releases has been replaced with more thoughtful songwriting and more attention to detail. Both Aoi and Uruha are actually playing separate guitar lines more often and mirroring each other less often. Guitar solos have returned - all of which work wonderfully with the pop/modern music song structure that the GazettE has been employing since ever. These songs are also much less reliant on digital wizardry and electronics, as the band's instrumentation is forced to take center stage. Ruki's vocal performance is free of any cringe-worthy moments - which I find to be a rare occurrence in VK.
 
Overall, I'm quite pleased with FADELESS! It neither treads any new ground for the GazettE nor the world of music in general, but it doesn't have to. The GazettE has returned to that "middle-of-the-road" band that I enjoyed hearing pop up on my playlist every now and then. For me, that's more than enough. There's a plethora of music being released in Japan alone - so I'm glad that the Gazette can once again safely fit back into my own little musical equilibrium - even if they're nowhere near the top of the musical food chain. ;3
 
It would seem that my opinion on this single falls somewhere within the minority, haha :')

Just stop, BORN, for your sake, please, just stop.

Animals As Leaders (instrumental prog)
Chimp Spanner (see above)
Ever Forthright (some of the most far-out trippy random stuff I've heard)
Monuments (kinda regular djenty prog)
Fellsilent (this one might be a bit heavier)
 
...these are some of the bands I dig. I'm no expert tho - it just happens that I listen to these bands, but dunno/haven't tried any of the ones you listed (well ok, except for HAARP). xD

Myriath
Symphony X
Stormental
Angra
Dreamtheater
BioMechanical
Daath
Opeth
Porcupine Tree
Protest the Hero
Stratovarius
 
Its hard to list just 'progressive' bands without breaking into the other sub genre's prog rock/metal and power metal

Liquid Tension Experiment is another instrumental prog band, but if you don't like Dream Theater you're not going to like them.

Ones that haven't been mentioned.
 
The Human Abstract
Blotted Science
The Evan Brewer Project
Guthrie Govan
Tool
Coheed and Cambria
Intervals
Pomegranate Tiger
Red Seas Fire
Enslaved
 
These ones have more screaming and growling although they still employ clean vocals sometimes.
 
Born Of Osiris
The Faceless
Volumes

dream theater-core

I will be temporarily on hiatus for around one week since 2013/08/14 due to my work, and hopefully I will resume activities around my forthcoming birthday

Overseas update
 

I saw both topics on the tackiest and the best cover art but I noticed that they were only confined to VK, it really confines you a lot and there really isn't much in VK nowadays since bands tend to just have a band photo as a cover art (Looking at you ViViD and Mejibray) 
 
What I want is to see members post cover arts from any genre that they consider to be the best in their eyes.... Aaaaaand go!
 
Polyphia (Inspire EP) Polyrhythmic prog band (currently instrumental) made up of four guys ranging between ages 19-20

 
Palms (Self-titled EP) Deftones lead singer side project

 
Hands like Houses (Unimagine album) Australian rock band, killer music

 
Anciients [not a typo] (Heart of Oak album) Vancouver-based rock juggernaut force

 
Enter Shikari (A Flash Flood Of Colour album) British post-hardcore band that combines post-hardcore and various heavy metal sub-genres such as metalcore and alternative metal

So it's 3 PVS of 3 new songs? Awesome!
 
BTW, their new look off their OHP
 

It was Periphery but now it has spread out to Periphery, Crossfaith, TesseracT, Pierce the Veil, Parkway Drive, and Royz

Ugh, I hope this four type release nonsense doesn't become the new standard.
 
Otherwise, preview is good but not super duper excited. Waiting to hear the full version when it's all over YouTube. D is always a huge hit or miss band, some songs are fantastic and other songs leave me cringing so it's always a surprise what we get from them.

THE GAZETTE FADELESS PV PROMO

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=575593859150809
 
AWESOME AWESOME

also adding to your DEG post: Rinkaku had a nod/reference to KR Cube ("Onisan kochira..."-part in the end) and no one whined about "lack of lyrical originality"
 
I mean, I don't get the negative fuss about "nod" to older songs - especially if you are making a nod to GOOD songs (CALM ENVY, that is, very underrated btw)

Whoa, easy there. When asked to elaborate a point, don't start getting defensive -- reiterate the point.
 
 
Though it depends on the degree, I'm sure that bands will incorporate references to other songs however blatant or subtle. Ronnie James Dio would do it, Queens of the Stone Age do it, the Beatles did it -- it doesn't mean that there's any less ingenuity when it comes to the songwriting; but if you really dislike a band, I'm sure it looks that way.
 
This kind of reminds me of how some vocalists will just ALWAYS have to incorporate the same phrase in their songs. For example: it's hard to go through a Dir en grey song without hearing Kyo wail "sayonara". He just always says it. Probably not intentional. And probably a product of lacking anything else to say; but he does it nonetheless.
 
If the GazettE are intentionally making references to other tracks, through imagery or style, then it will be very cool to see how serious they are about drawing from their older material.

Aggy was almost basically nonexistent, Leda has the bass skills to fill that spot as well

Well, we will be here waiting for you whenever you can return.

Will we ever get a perfection like Sphere again? Idk, but I have major high hopes for this mini

What? This song is loads better than ASSaulter or anything on SCUMS. The guitars sound like pure orgasms and YOMI's voice sounds better. I don't know if it's because of the production/equipment or if it's actually YOMI somehow getting better. I love the tempo to this song, it's fast and energetic