StriderSubzero

Immortalis maybe? I thought Vitium was really boring personally, but this band has never really clicked with me tbh

Absolutely love this album. They were such a cool band at this point in their career; everything is solid and the songwriting is tight. I love the guitars especially. Such a great fusion of industrial metal and VK tropes, and those octave chords that Karyu throws in are so recognizable to their style.

I really prefer the old Fukai chorus though. The new one is okay though.

This is generally true, but unless you're talking about specific instances of EQ and mixing decisions, it's hard to delineate between a production or mixing issue, so it's perfectly fine to just call it "production." For instance, you can say the guitars are muddy on TIW, but there's not really a way to specify that being an "error" in mixing specifically since we weren't in the room with the engineer. It might have resulted from the way they chose to record them
 
 

why does it feel like 90% of this 200+ page thread is just people jacking off about production lmao

This is generally true, but unless you're talking about specific instances of EQ and mixing decisions, it's hard to delineate between a production or mixing issue, so it's perfectly fine to just call it "production." For instance, you can say the guitars are muddy on TIW, but there's not really a way to specify that being an "error" in mixing specifically since we weren't in the room with the engineer. It might have resulted from the way they chose to record them
 
 

This is generally true, but unless you're talking about specific instances of EQ and mixing decisions, it's hard to delineate between a production or mixing issue, so it's perfectly fine to just call it "production." For instance, you can say the guitars are muddy on TIW, but there's not really a way to specify that being an "error" in mixing specifically since we weren't in the room with the engineer. It might have resulted from the way they chose to record them
 
 

Needless pedantry tbh. When laymen say "Production", they are not referring to the sole process of recording tracks. That's just disconnected from how people talk. Furthermore, "production" -- the assembly -- of the product can be as loose or strict as you want it to be in a given context (i.e. a modern record producer and their role in music production).

I mean the worst songs have got to be either Downfall or Keibetsu to hajimari. Downfall is pretty much a heavier R to the Core (which is probably the worst song on Vulgar IMO).
 
It's hard for me to dislike Devote My Life because of those smooth sliding bass grooves

I mean the worst songs have got to be either Downfall or Keibetsu to hajimari. Downfall is pretty much a heavier R to the Core (which is probably the worst song on Vulgar IMO).
 
It's hard for me to dislike Devote My Life because of those smooth sliding bass grooves

But the rest of the song is boring😕

You guys are nuts. Celebrate Empty Howls is awesome. That middle interlude with the tight harmonies and the transition where it kicks into that huge riff is probably my favorite moment of the whole album. 

You guys are nuts. Celebrate Empty Howls is awesome. That middle interlude with the tight harmonies and the transition where it kicks into that huge riff is probably my favorite moment of the whole album. 

Really love the vibe of this song. Good work 👍🏻

New single out today:
 
https://open.spotify.com/track/6ihYvb9mcHHyGp7iV4u5Q2?si=11nKnoxLQny3uhJX7-LFwA
 
 

New single out today:
 
https://open.spotify.com/track/6ihYvb9mcHHyGp7iV4u5Q2?si=11nKnoxLQny3uhJX7-LFwA
 
 

New single out today:
 
https://open.spotify.com/track/6ihYvb9mcHHyGp7iV4u5Q2?si=11nKnoxLQny3uhJX7-LFwA
 
 

Drums were the first instrument I ever learned and Shinya was a big influence on me, so I may be a little biased but I think he's a very creative drummer and I disagree that he's the weak link. For those that think he should be playing something else during the fast, heavy sections, what would that even be? There's not much room for embellishments with parts like that, and the only thing I could think that would show more technical prowess would be something like a blast beat, which may be more impressive but it certainly isn't more interesting. 

Shinjuku National Gardens are quite lovely and peaceful, even with tons of other people around. For the polar opposite, I can't recommend Golden Gai and Omoide Yokocho (Piss Alley/Memory Lane) enough. The former for drinks, the latter for food. Small, cramped, crowded, and a ton of fun to just hop in and out of different places. They were some of the highlights of my trip, even with tons of tourists wandering about (myself included). 
 
Outside of that, the must-visit VK shops are all within a block of each other in Nishishinjuku. Like an Edison, Pure Sound, Closet Child, and Jishuban Club/Club Indies.
 
Ton of good eats in the area, too, but really everything I had in Japan was delicious so you really can't go wrong. (I mean this, not even in like a Japan fanboy kind of way, it was all really that good.)

Anyone have any recommendations for cool stuff to see in Shinjuku? 

Big ones:
D (especially 7th Rose), D'espairsRay of course, Aliene Ma'riage (especially 21st Century), Girugamesh, lynch,  Sadie (though their stuff is pretty spotty IMO),  Gullet, some Kuroyume, Madeth Gray'll, Merry Go Round, some of Beast of Blood-era Malice Mizer
 
Other random ones that come to mind:
Nega, Grieva, VellaDonna, L'yse:nore (to some extent), Syndrome, Vice+Risk, Velze Dieulawahl, Blam Honey (if you like industrial), Chaos System
 

So does anyone have any insight on the politics of Merry/Gara (assuming he writes all the lyrics)? I haven't followed them in awhile, but the nationalist and vaguely anti-imperialist lyrics in Japanese Modernist are interesting to me. Political lyrics seem somewhat unusual for VK.

You all are making me sad. I love Aoi tsuki and Pink KIller

You all are making me sad. I love Aoi tsuki and Pink KIller

The kawaii-poses makes me cringe a lot. Please bandoman, be serious,