doombox

YYYYEEESSSSSS THANK YOU

Second half of the song definitely picks up. Still a little concerned about the major label making them go more mainstream but I'm not as sad as I was for Madness yet. lol.

Seconding @beni here, the theme is still very much Free For All. But with that said, those who want to use their plays for 80s goodness are free to do so! If you guys want themes to be official, please request them before the day of the session. Thank you!

Not official, just the trackist circulating with the cover that got posted. I'm waiting for the official statement too, which is why I hadn't posted about it yet. They recorded for a while before warped tour started up an it's been over a year since Madness right? 2 songs seems light for their usual output.

I kept seeing that post-hardcore cover floating around but I wasn't sure if it was legit. I was really hoping for a mini at least. But 2 songs is a little disappointing.

Because of that I would not tag band names that are able to be searched normally, anything 4 letters or more when romanized should come up.

What?!!! I totally missed this thread. THIS IS GREAT!

I get the feeling he's doing that because he may not be up for screaming at this point.

Looking forward to it. I've liked everything I've heard from them so far!

This is the main reason I try to romanize everything. Also use the name in the tags for band names 3 letters or less. (just in case people are looking for a workaround in the meantime) It would be nice to search in japanese, though.

Artist: NoisyCell Album: Sources 1. Flagship 7. CONTINUE? 2. Blaze a Trail 8. Bluff 3. Dream Box 9. Pool of Water 4. Shelter 10. Birth 5. Insomnia 11. (Over You) 6. Last Theater Rating: | A ambitious effort from screamo's new kids on the block. Living up to their name, NoisyCell have been creating quite a buzz in the last 2 years. They teamed up with Pablo (Pay money To my Pain) as their producer and have been taking the alternative rock scene by storm. Sources is their first full length offering that picks up exactly where their last mini album left us. They got on the anime theme train early and seem to be content with riding it until the wheels fall off. The songwriting on Sources is solid and its energy is intense. Guitarist and clean vocalist Ryosuke - not to be confused with the other guitarist/screamer, Ryo - has an incredible range to his voice. It positively soars in the second half of this album when mid-tempo songs take root and come one after another. His voice, in and of itself, becomes a major focal point for this band despite personal bias for vocalists or not. That doesn't mean the guitars and drums aren't their own tour de force, however. For a three piece, there's surprisingly a lot going on, sometimes even to the detriment of the songs if things aren't balanced. Sources opens with the song "Flagship" and the impression it left wasn't exactly what I hoped for. It's a hard pill to swallow, as it starts with an abrupt scream before small bits of melody creep in. Even as someone who loves this genre, it left me wishing for some kind of small instrumental SE just to get me remotely amped up before it blasted off. Its composition is messy, unbalanced, and even the beat didn't find its most potent groove until the song was more than two-thirds over. The following track, "Blaze a Trail", is basically the first song, only better. It has catchier melodies, heavier breakdowns, and the guitars are complementing each other with some purpose - not simply thrashing around as loud and fast as possible. However, there is no need to fear! NoisyCell finally get themselves sorted out with the next couple of songs. "Dream Box", my personal favorite of the entire album after its much needed rerecording, and "Shelter" keep things much smoother from here when it comes to song composition and balancing chaotic energy with visceral emotions. At this point, the album splits itself in two, which makes me wonder if Sources wouldn't have been better as two separate mini albums or a shuffling of the tracklist could have been useful to mix some of the heavier first half into the melancholic second half for dynamics' sake. "Insomnia" is an ambient instrumental track that brings the ride to a complete stop. It's there for one purpose: to let everyone know the song they came to hear is about to start. That song being "Last Theater", known to some as the ending theme for the anime Death Parade. High fives to whoever is choosing the music for that one, by the way. Things pick up again slightly with a punchy chiptune inspired track that folds in some current J-pop trends. And while it's a little random, it's a nice reprieve from the some of same-iness going on earlier in the tracklist. From here, things continue to get slower and more melodic. "Bluff", "Pool of Water", and "Birth" are all pleasant when they stand alone, but lose some of their shine stacked together, especially after the stop-and-look-where-our-entire-production-budget-went spectacle of "Last Theater". "(Over You)" works great closing up the album as it breaks out the acoustic guitars for a slow burn kind of build towards the huge anthemic and satisfying ending. I would have given this album half a star more for better track placement on a lot of these songs, plus a decent album intro. It's a rookie mistake. I expect maybe they overreached just a tad, and I can't hold their ambition against them too much. Otherwise, there's a little something on this album for everyone and I think anyone interested in screamo that is pushing the envelope will find this album worth a spin or two. Support the band! Purchase Sources @ CDJapan Purchase Sources @ HMV Purchase Sources @ iTunes JP

I don't quite know what Hayato was doing there but I liked the music. Lol.

That's a good list of covers.

I'm happy enough people remember this band to make a reunion possible. Also sad I can't see it. Lol

This look doesn't feel unified at all. Like everyone just picked their own personal style separately. I guess thats not all bad though. Could be worse.

I was mostly just trying to say it's a personal preference thing. There was lots of bad music on both sides coming out then just because of the sheer number of bands flooding the scene. And co-signing that second paragraph.

He could just change the name to a solo project if that's basically what it is now...

"Real" metalheads? Can we cut the elitist crap? So people like Leda who play in metal and visual bands aren't "real" metal heads? Please. There are a lot of vk bands who suck at metal, but there entire genres of metal that like visual imagery, too.

Most of my faves like Mucc and girugamesh built their careers on that nu-metal era. Nagoya kei also took a huge boost in that period. So I don't find it without merit. There were a ton of shitty bands on both sides. The darker bands drew me into vk so I'll probably always bias them. But to each their own. *shrug*

This is an interesting combination...

*gives you 100 kirakira bands* unfortunately we're all losing faves. It sucks.

I'll still take a nu-metal band over most kirakira bands any day. Lol. They were so annoying.

I think you missed the part where most of us were talking about bands that have released something in 2015. Maybe a few mentioned the last couple of years. But was never personally a big fan of most of the bands you mentioned in the first place, save B-T, cali gari, and D'erlanger. Also interesting about the metalcore reference since most people have said that same thing about every new trend that came into vk. Nu-metal, electronics, etc. The music scene will always revolve around selling current trends, it's one of the few ways they continue to gain new fans. But I can understand how you feel your favorite style is getting left behind... and you're probably right, for now. I do think some bands are trying to keep a trve aesthetic about them, but they seem to be fairly rare at the moment. Hopefully they'll pick back up whenever the metalcore trend ultimately fades out.

Whaaaat? This sounds great. Giving me major crossover/nu metal vibes. I'm guessing they aren't visual anymore?

Oh wow. Looks painful. Get well soon, Ryo!