Karma’s Hat

I'm so lame that I laughed out loud in public when I saw that 5/5

I'm so lame that I laughed out loud in public when I saw that 5/5

I don't think I could write a full review on Arche, maybe in the coming weeks I will; but for right now all I can really say about the album as a whole is:
 
Lots of "window dressing", questionable orchestration, Rinkaku is the best track on this album.
 
By "window dressing", I am referring to what is being called "through-composed"; but realistically amounts to nothing more than glorified bridges between repetitive sections. This album gives the illusion that it has progressive intents from the beginning with verses, bridges, and choruses rapidly being thrown at you with Un Deux; but it's only when you take a step back and realize the overall structure of individual songs that it's nothing special. A new section will appear for a measure, then lead into the next verse or chorus -- same as the previous one. This is a trend that seems to have arisen from Sustain the Untruth where these sections carry the same affect, albeit in a far more simple form and not as fully realized here. This is something notable and a breath of fresh air from the wooden structure of verse-chorus-verse. Verse-chorus-verse is still existent throughout; but its form is modified in key parts which largely prevents repetition. Oddly enough this was one of my favorite aspects of the album as it is a tiny step away from rock conventions; but at the same time it's deceptive in doing so.
 
Questionable Orchestration for a rock ensemble has been the bane (...Bane???) of Dir en grey's recent efforts. The fascination with drop tuned riffs lower on the neck has not left the band as they're dished out in spades over the course of the 14 tracks. The issue with this, is that rarely do the other instruments have room to breathe. People have been incorrectly blaming Madsen's mixing; but they couldn't be further from the truth. It is the band's lack of awareness when it comes to orchestration that is at fault. With that said, some of these heavier riffs are really cool, with only one instance of it being ruined by the lead guitar (Midwife) in the beginning.
 
Rinkaku is arguably the best track on this album with the points above kept in mind. The riff is very simple and straight forward; but it's what the band does with the material that warrants recognition. The dense opening (even with the distorted-to-shit guitars), the distinct guitar sections adding effects and clarity to the verses, the climax, and the coda are all highlights that shows a band that knows how to write very good music with distinct and evolving sections. Instead of "window dressing" bridges, we're given actual musical development.
 
No score, these are just impressions after a second listen. Maybe a score will follow in the future.

Checked out a few of the ones I'd never heard of (nearly all of them) It's a shame it comes across so awkward lol.
 
One thing I'm noticing is that the PV acting in most of these totally blows it for them, they are dressed reasonably VK but they still bounce and move around like any western pop punk band. It takes you out of the mood the looks are meant to create, the vocals too are always no different from any other emo pop punk rock band.
 
This is why as much as I don't like YOHIO, I think he has that over many of these artists. He was able to capture the vocal style (admittedly it comes more naturally when singing the Japanese language) but based on his singing style and PV acting he looks like he has understood more of what he has seen from VK than these bands. Not that it makes his music good, but it's much closer to VK

I think they should sing in garbles and wails, cause some lyrics are bad in any language

The western interpretation of visual kei is this bastardised mix of corny melodramatic lyricism, poor low budget Gazette visuals and Linkin Park-esque musical stylings taken to an extent that the shittiest Japanese visual kei bands couldn't even begin to dream of.

Fuck the haters new shit owns

Fuck the haters new shit owns

The western interpretation of visual kei is this bastardised mix of corny melodramatic lyricism, poor low budget Gazette visuals and Linkin Park-esque musical stylings taken to an extent that the shittiest Japanese visual kei bands couldn't even begin to dream of.

Really ? I mean maybe it doesn't stand out to others as much as I think it does lol, to name a few, the chorus of A Priori, or in Decadance and Shuuei, Sadigate let's you hear it in speaking tone pretty well. I think it's constantly getting more and more noticeable as he goes, but if you listen to Taidou by VanessA you can tell his vibrato has just always been weird lol to me it's actually a selling point but I can see how it would annoy you to death if you aren't looking for it.EDIT: forgot to mention if you ARE looking for it, try Meji's cover or Porno Star, he fills basicallyevery line with it lmao
I'll post a review of my own soon once I get a chance to de-hype lol

The western interpretation of visual kei is this bastardised mix of corny melodramatic lyricism, poor low budget Gazette visuals and Linkin Park-esque musical stylings taken to an extent that the shittiest Japanese visual kei bands couldn't even begin to dream of.

The western interpretation of visual kei is this bastardised mix of corny melodramatic lyricism, poor low budget Gazette visuals and Linkin Park-esque musical stylings taken to an extent that the shittiest Japanese visual kei bands couldn't even begin to dream of.

crying and vomiting

If looks were enough to make a subgenre then scenekidmetalcore would be a thing, along with death metal bands from the late 80's that started wearing sneakers and shorts. I don't think the fact that visual kei happens to have extravagant looks plays such a fundamental role here that it's separate from aforementioned, when the music is so similar all the time. 
 
 
For example ff black metal adopts some slight shoegaze influence I hardly think that's reason enough to make some sort of a subgenre. But grindcore however is a "crossover" genre and the reason it deserves a separate label is because it functions totally different from other metal genres. These bands played metal with blazing speeds, hardcore structures and had punk ethics and marketing different from most other metal bands. When a visual kei band starts wearing different kinds of hats and maybe a nu-metal riff here and there, then I think we are going overboard if that suddenly warrants a new subgenre.
 
 
Again if bands being a little different from one another warrants new genres then god damn. All these visual kei bands today have the same song structures, operate faithful to the same visual kei clitches, market themselves the same way, have the same labels and ethics. How it is today is just evolution, some bands innovated and the rest followed suit. My point is that the visual kei musical tradition is so strong, the evolution so consistent with no band outrageously breaking the mold and scene so tight and that I think a million subgenres aren't warranted. Other genres do just fine without hospitalwhatever kei subgenre. 

These supposed subgenres really have to be the most redundant things ever invented, and I wouldn't be surprised if most of these were just the concoctions of the western internet fanbase very much distant from the actual scene where the fads and developments of visual kei actually take place. 
 
The reason why I think these are super inane and pointless is the fact that all of these bands more or less share the same - unique I would say - musical heritage that kind of makes it obvious that they all come from the same place, but just from different eras. The sheer amount of issues, inconsistencies and differing opinions just makes this insistence on categorising bands within visual kei into various subgenres  a rather pointless exercise because one could hardly ever arrive to an even a half-certain conclusion, no? There is a considerable amount of aesthetic wiggle room possible within the framework of visual kei and that's makes it more or less impossible to label most bands such and such.
 
For example what do you do when Diaura looks somewhat oshare in one shoot and then a little kote in the next? Are we forced to invent a new redundant subgenre based mostly on visuals whenever a band takes cues from different periods and bands within visual kei? Far too many bands could never be set into any of these genres as they had their themes and music fluctuate on a far too broad of a spectrum.
 
Unlike what some here would argue and have foolishly argued in the past, every single band in the history of music can be set to a genre or more specifically, a musical movement. Nothing happens in a vacuum existing outside of the musical tradition of the world. It's just that things aren't as strict as some would make it. Not every quirk makes something so unique and special that it requires a label of its own. Many things are simply just rock music, but then they might also be a part of a certain scene happening in some part of the world where a lot of the rock bands share specific quirks from the same specific tradition. Visual kei I'd say is one of these scenes. Even if a band adopts some metal riffage for aesthetic and keeps their visual kei trappings intact, it's still bloody visual kei. 
 
Things like this lead me to think that all these nonsensical labels and misinformation only work to deter the discussion from more fruitful avenues, like say for example tracing the musical development of visual kei as a whole. What important musical developments took place within the scene and what took place out of it? Can the supposed post-punk influence of visual kei be traced and pointed out? What bands were the first to incorporate riffs from contemporary western metal music, what were the roles of some seminal bands like Kuroyume in shaping the sound and aesthetic and so on. Mite hab been rather off topic but there you go. 

lol racist 
 
Good song and album though. Quite a lot of people dislike it but it's the PN album I find myself most often returning to along with the third. 

Well, these are the ones it has listed... I'll try my best to translate their descriptions a bit(some of the names are changed around a little):
 
kote-kei: Short for kotekote visual-kei. Visually characterized by gorgeous clothes and thick makeup. Musically, there are beautiful melodies and profound performances. There's often a member who disguises themselves as a woman and is called the oyama(female impersonator).
 
osare-kei: Derived from the word "oshare", meaning "fashionable". Visually characterized by bright/glittering makeup and colorful clothes. The style is heavy with poppy, danceable music.
 
soft visual(sofuvi): Abbreviated term, meaning "soft visual-kei". Though it looks like osare-kei, it's closer to street fashion. They use natural makeup and wear brand clothes. Vocal melody is highly valued in the music.
 
missitsu-kei/basement-kei: This term comes from cali≠gari's label "Missitsu Neurosis". It's a sort of generic term for bands with a similar atmosphere which played alongside cali≠gari. A defining feature of these bands are their surreal performances.
 
kuro-kei: Generally speaking... BLACK! BLACK! BLACK! Enamel, rivets, and leather all over. Most of the bands intensely perform loud metal music.
 
cosplay-kei: They wear clothes that look like they've leapt straight out of anime and games. Whether by armor, kigurumi(animal/mascot costumes) or any sort of uniform, they are always excessively decorated.
 
shironuri-kei: White grease paint and makeup like the work of an artist is used. Traditional Japanese clothes and Showa-era clothing are often worn. It has a very distinctive atmosphere.

I have just listened to this album once with the second play-through going on as I'm writing this, but I'm doubtful my mind about this will change since it's Mejibray being Mejibray. Here's some notes from first impressions.
 
How Mejibray functions is akin to a factory at this point as the releases come out consistently in consistent quality. They stay true to the form and the wheel remains un-reinvented, with most of the experimentation being rather subtle and mostly just small variations to the particular mold their songs are made from; and that said this album will not win over anyone who has disliked them in the past. The band definitely has a trademark sound courtesy of the production job, MiA's power metal infused metalcore riffage and Tsuzuku's rough and effortlessly cool vocals. All the elements they've had in the past are very much present here, and it is an album for fans and the people who come in expecting something other than just ol' bijuaru with tsuzuku & co. will be disappointed.
 
The songs tend to feel a little samey during the 70 minute long behemoth, however this also manages to make the album feel very coherent. In the past where they would do very formulaic A-side, a little more upbeat B-side and the heavy B-side single track listings, here there's none of that "variety" as some would put it. A lot of the songs have similar paces and there's almost a complete absence of gimmick. The pacing is perfect especially with the Kisaki ballad being in the middle, though while I did certainly notice the absence of their always-quality A-sides on the second haafu, it didn't really matter too much...
 
And in fact, to me most gripes I'd have don't really matter because I just like the sound that they have. I think the riffs are kind of corny, they recycle shit like hell and Tsuzuku is the uncrowned king poseur of the visual kei scene, but that's kind of the appeal here. Tsuzuku is as charming as ever with the choruses being a definite highlight, and to me he could make an entire album where he just recites a phone book from beginning to end and I'd probably enjoy listening to it.
And as crappy as I think a lot of their riffs are, they do work for me in the context of everything. The non-single tracks while do lack the pop sensbility, are just really solid Mejibray tracks with hits and misses here and there, but I don't really care lol. I would say that overall this is some of their best material to date. There's no shit like HATE on this album which is gr8 2
 
 
ratings are stupid/5 

I have just listened to this album once with the second play-through going on as I'm writing this, but I'm doubtful my mind about this will change since it's Mejibray being Mejibray. Here's some notes from first impressions.
 
How Mejibray functions is akin to a factory at this point as the releases come out consistently in consistent quality. They stay true to the form and the wheel remains un-reinvented, with most of the experimentation being rather subtle and mostly just small variations to the particular mold their songs are made from; and that said this album will not win over anyone who has disliked them in the past. The band definitely has a trademark sound courtesy of the production job, MiA's power metal infused metalcore riffage and Tsuzuku's rough and effortlessly cool vocals. All the elements they've had in the past are very much present here, and it is an album for fans and the people who come in expecting something other than just ol' bijuaru with tsuzuku & co. will be disappointed.
 
The songs tend to feel a little samey during the 70 minute long behemoth, however this also manages to make the album feel very coherent. In the past where they would do very formulaic A-side, a little more upbeat B-side and the heavy B-side single track listings, here there's none of that "variety" as some would put it. A lot of the songs have similar paces and there's almost a complete absence of gimmick. The pacing is perfect especially with the Kisaki ballad being in the middle, though while I did certainly notice the absence of their always-quality A-sides on the second haafu, it didn't really matter too much...
 
And in fact, to me most gripes I'd have don't really matter because I just like the sound that they have. I think the riffs are kind of corny, they recycle shit like hell and Tsuzuku is the uncrowned king poseur of the visual kei scene, but that's kind of the appeal here. Tsuzuku is as charming as ever with the choruses being a definite highlight, and to me he could make an entire album where he just recites a phone book from beginning to end and I'd probably enjoy listening to it.
And as crappy as I think a lot of their riffs are, they do work for me in the context of everything. The non-single tracks while do lack the pop sensbility, are just really solid Mejibray tracks with hits and misses here and there, but I don't really care lol. I would say that overall this is some of their best material to date. There's no shit like HATE on this album which is gr8 2
 
 
ratings are stupid/5 

I have just listened to this album once with the second play-through going on as I'm writing this, but I'm doubtful my mind about this will change since it's Mejibray being Mejibray. Here's some notes from first impressions.
 
How Mejibray functions is akin to a factory at this point as the releases come out consistently in consistent quality. They stay true to the form and the wheel remains un-reinvented, with most of the experimentation being rather subtle and mostly just small variations to the particular mold their songs are made from; and that said this album will not win over anyone who has disliked them in the past. The band definitely has a trademark sound courtesy of the production job, MiA's power metal infused metalcore riffage and Tsuzuku's rough and effortlessly cool vocals. All the elements they've had in the past are very much present here, and it is an album for fans and the people who come in expecting something other than just ol' bijuaru with tsuzuku & co. will be disappointed.
 
The songs tend to feel a little samey during the 70 minute long behemoth, however this also manages to make the album feel very coherent. In the past where they would do very formulaic A-side, a little more upbeat B-side and the heavy B-side single track listings, here there's none of that "variety" as some would put it. A lot of the songs have similar paces and there's almost a complete absence of gimmick. The pacing is perfect especially with the Kisaki ballad being in the middle, though while I did certainly notice the absence of their always-quality A-sides on the second haafu, it didn't really matter too much...
 
And in fact, to me most gripes I'd have don't really matter because I just like the sound that they have. I think the riffs are kind of corny, they recycle shit like hell and Tsuzuku is the uncrowned king poseur of the visual kei scene, but that's kind of the appeal here. Tsuzuku is as charming as ever with the choruses being a definite highlight, and to me he could make an entire album where he just recites a phone book from beginning to end and I'd probably enjoy listening to it.
And as crappy as I think a lot of their riffs are, they do work for me in the context of everything. The non-single tracks while do lack the pop sensbility, are just really solid Mejibray tracks with hits and misses here and there, but I don't really care lol. I would say that overall this is some of their best material to date. There's no shit like HATE on this album which is gr8 2
 
 
ratings are stupid/5 

I have just listened to this album once with the second play-through going on as I'm writing this, but I'm doubtful my mind about this will change since it's Mejibray being Mejibray. Here's some notes from first impressions.
 
How Mejibray functions is akin to a factory at this point as the releases come out consistently in consistent quality. They stay true to the form and the wheel remains un-reinvented, with most of the experimentation being rather subtle and mostly just small variations to the particular mold their songs are made from; and that said this album will not win over anyone who has disliked them in the past. The band definitely has a trademark sound courtesy of the production job, MiA's power metal infused metalcore riffage and Tsuzuku's rough and effortlessly cool vocals. All the elements they've had in the past are very much present here, and it is an album for fans and the people who come in expecting something other than just ol' bijuaru with tsuzuku & co. will be disappointed.
 
The songs tend to feel a little samey during the 70 minute long behemoth, however this also manages to make the album feel very coherent. In the past where they would do very formulaic A-side, a little more upbeat B-side and the heavy B-side single track listings, here there's none of that "variety" as some would put it. A lot of the songs have similar paces and there's almost a complete absence of gimmick. The pacing is perfect especially with the Kisaki ballad being in the middle, though while I did certainly notice the absence of their always-quality A-sides on the second haafu, it didn't really matter too much...
 
And in fact, to me most gripes I'd have don't really matter because I just like the sound that they have. I think the riffs are kind of corny, they recycle shit like hell and Tsuzuku is the uncrowned king poseur of the visual kei scene, but that's kind of the appeal here. Tsuzuku is as charming as ever with the choruses being a definite highlight, and to me he could make an entire album where he just recites a phone book from beginning to end and I'd probably enjoy listening to it.
And as crappy as I think a lot of their riffs are, they do work for me in the context of everything. The non-single tracks while do lack the pop sensbility, are just really solid Mejibray tracks with hits and misses here and there, but I don't really care lol. I would say that overall this is some of their best material to date. There's no shit like HATE on this album which is gr8 2
 
 
ratings are stupid/5 

I have just listened to this album once with the second play-through going on as I'm writing this, but I'm doubtful my mind about this will change since it's Mejibray being Mejibray. Here's some notes from first impressions.
 
How Mejibray functions is akin to a factory at this point as the releases come out consistently in consistent quality. They stay true to the form and the wheel remains un-reinvented, with most of the experimentation being rather subtle and mostly just small variations to the particular mold their songs are made from; and that said this album will not win over anyone who has disliked them in the past. The band definitely has a trademark sound courtesy of the production job, MiA's power metal infused metalcore riffage and Tsuzuku's rough and effortlessly cool vocals. All the elements they've had in the past are very much present here, and it is an album for fans and the people who come in expecting something other than just ol' bijuaru with tsuzuku & co. will be disappointed.
 
The songs tend to feel a little samey during the 70 minute long behemoth, however this also manages to make the album feel very coherent. In the past where they would do very formulaic A-side, a little more upbeat B-side and the heavy B-side single track listings, here there's none of that "variety" as some would put it. A lot of the songs have similar paces and there's almost a complete absence of gimmick. The pacing is perfect especially with the Kisaki ballad being in the middle, though while I did certainly notice the absence of their always-quality A-sides on the second haafu, it didn't really matter too much...
 
And in fact, to me most gripes I'd have don't really matter because I just like the sound that they have. I think the riffs are kind of corny, they recycle shit like hell and Tsuzuku is the uncrowned king poseur of the visual kei scene, but that's kind of the appeal here. Tsuzuku is as charming as ever with the choruses being a definite highlight, and to me he could make an entire album where he just recites a phone book from beginning to end and I'd probably enjoy listening to it.
And as crappy as I think a lot of their riffs are, they do work for me in the context of everything. The non-single tracks while do lack the pop sensbility, are just really solid Mejibray tracks with hits and misses here and there, but I don't really care lol. I would say that overall this is some of their best material to date. There's no shit like HATE on this album which is gr8 2
 
 
ratings are stupid/5 

I have just listened to this album once with the second play-through going on as I'm writing this, but I'm doubtful my mind about this will change since it's Mejibray being Mejibray. Here's some notes from first impressions.
 
How Mejibray functions is akin to a factory at this point as the releases come out consistently in consistent quality. They stay true to the form and the wheel remains un-reinvented, with most of the experimentation being rather subtle and mostly just small variations to the particular mold their songs are made from; and that said this album will not win over anyone who has disliked them in the past. The band definitely has a trademark sound courtesy of the production job, MiA's power metal infused metalcore riffage and Tsuzuku's rough and effortlessly cool vocals. All the elements they've had in the past are very much present here, and it is an album for fans and the people who come in expecting something other than just ol' bijuaru with tsuzuku & co. will be disappointed.
 
The songs tend to feel a little samey during the 70 minute long behemoth, however this also manages to make the album feel very coherent. In the past where they would do very formulaic A-side, a little more upbeat B-side and the heavy B-side single track listings, here there's none of that "variety" as some would put it. A lot of the songs have similar paces and there's almost a complete absence of gimmick. The pacing is perfect especially with the Kisaki ballad being in the middle, though while I did certainly notice the absence of their always-quality A-sides on the second haafu, it didn't really matter too much...
 
And in fact, to me most gripes I'd have don't really matter because I just like the sound that they have. I think the riffs are kind of corny, they recycle shit like hell and Tsuzuku is the uncrowned king poseur of the visual kei scene, but that's kind of the appeal here. Tsuzuku is as charming as ever with the choruses being a definite highlight, and to me he could make an entire album where he just recites a phone book from beginning to end and I'd probably enjoy listening to it.
And as crappy as I think a lot of their riffs are, they do work for me in the context of everything. The non-single tracks while do lack the pop sensbility, are just really solid Mejibray tracks with hits and misses here and there, but I don't really care lol. I would say that overall this is some of their best material to date. There's no shit like HATE on this album which is gr8 2
 
 
ratings are stupid/5 

If looks were enough to make a subgenre then scenekidmetalcore would be a thing, along with death metal bands from the late 80's that started wearing sneakers and shorts. I don't think the fact that visual kei happens to have extravagant looks plays such a fundamental role here that it's separate from aforementioned, when the music is so similar all the time. 
 
 
For example ff black metal adopts some slight shoegaze influence I hardly think that's reason enough to make some sort of a subgenre. But grindcore however is a "crossover" genre and the reason it deserves a separate label is because it functions totally different from other metal genres. These bands played metal with blazing speeds, hardcore structures and had punk ethics and marketing different from most other metal bands. When a visual kei band starts wearing different kinds of hats and maybe a nu-metal riff here and there, then I think we are going overboard if that suddenly warrants a new subgenre.
 
 
Again if bands being a little different from one another warrants new genres then god damn. All these visual kei bands today have the same song structures, operate faithful to the same visual kei clitches, market themselves the same way, have the same labels and ethics. How it is today is just evolution, some bands innovated and the rest followed suit. My point is that the visual kei musical tradition is so strong, the evolution so consistent with no band outrageously breaking the mold and scene so tight and that I think a million subgenres aren't warranted. Other genres do just fine without hospitalwhatever kei subgenre.