Ikna

Radifia and Distray were great. But I wonder if this band project will be any good (no previews?)

No one posted at Halloween? Disappointed. More female fronted Goth goodness: First Asmodi Bizarr, a german goth and New Wave band. The changed their style very drastically over their years, their early stuff however is really great. For fans of Xmal Deutschland, Siouxsie Sioux and Co. Strange Boutique were an Ethereal and Goth band and the earlier band of Faith and the Muse singer Monica Richards (who currently releases new material solo).

Got my tapes yesterday too (but the delivery guy didn't bring it with himself). Finally got the letter with the content. Fast delivery, excellent communication and the rips are top

Seems they are in dire need of money. I actually wonder if they even have a decently sized ausience they can sell those singles to.

Yeah, the last single wasn't bad. Nice mix of old and new and less formulaic. I really had the feeling that their recent releases are all too similiar and that they were just rehashing the same old songs over and over. Hopefully they keep up with that for their upcoming material. I wonder though when we will get to see full versions of some of their newer PVs. Didn't they release a PV collection a few months back?

Ich glaube ich bin die einzige Person, die tatsächlich den Sommer dem Winter hervorzieht. Ich verziehe mich lieber in einem Pool oder die Badewanne und genieße kalte Getränke und Eiscreme als im Winter mich in hundert Stoffschichten zu packen und warm halten zu müssen. Noch dazu bin ich extrem Kältempfindlich, meine Haut wird durch die Kälte rot und angegriffen und meine Füße sind immer kalt als wäre ich eine Leiche .___. Wobei ich keinen 30°C Sommer haben muss. Dieses Jahr war es schon abnormal heiß bei uns. Ich glaube am meisten mag ich eher einen milden Frühling, wenn es schon wärmer ist, aber nicht wirklich heiß.

Old lastfm was my main database of bands I should look into. I was clever enough to bookmark most bandprofiles, since the artists with 0 listens have been erased now. I also stalked many user libraries to see if they would listen to something interesting (also it helped with tagging shit I downloaded ages ago). Not sure if I continue the site since the update ruined the exploration experience. Others than that I go through playlists and mixes on youtube or 8tracks. Bandcamp also has become a site I regulary use. I also have a few music dl blogs I still follow (mostly post-punk stuff. All VK blogs are dead and VisualScandal only copypaste what's uploaded here). I think it's pretty easy for me though, as I rarely follow any new bands (except in the goth genre. But there are many of them on bandcamp, whcih you can follow). I sometimes check music news sites, but most of the time I am digging after old stuff.

VK bands cosplaying as Tokyo Ghoul characters is lame. And it bores me how suddendly every freaking band is doing it (those face masks from the anga look stupid. Seriously)

Why throwing so much money out of the window just to revamp the site though? They could have simply let it die slowly and peacefully without that damn update. Though I am sure there is an answer and it's “because they are idiots”.

If youtube wants me to pay for shit that was entirely free (and ad free) years ago, then I guess we will have even more reasons not to spend a single cent on their shitty service and continue to pirate. I fucking won't pay a monthly fee just to watch official MVs/PVs if it ever comes to that point. Seriously, turning everything into a subscription service will not be the right tactic to go against copyright infriction, in fact people like me see even more reasons to try to break their stupid restrictions or will go elsewhere, where you don't have to pay. Also Youtube has always primarily been a video hosting service and not a multifunctional music/video streaming site. Google try way too hard to turn Youtube into something it isn't.

Long overdue update.

^aren't the fire nation guys the villains? (never watched the show, but I get the impression from screenshots and fanart). And as we know in tumblr logic, WHITEY IS EVUUUL.

I prefer photosets over cheki. Photosets are at least professionally done, probably printed on better quality photo paper and sometimes bigger. I really dislike the cheap look of stupid blurry polaroid photos, where you often can't even see the outfit properly. I also see no point wasting so much money for a crappy photo instead of a well done one. Good, photosets don't have the uniqueness factor, but I am no collector anyway. Do bands nowadays even sell photosets? VK groups used to sell a lot back in the day. But nowadays it seems all you get are chekis. Or sometimes a single photo as an extra bonus (at CDJapan for example). Also agree with the opinion about the -core trend. There are a few I actually like (Nega, Mejibray to some extend), but overall I prefer even the mid 00s Nu Metal groups over that whole -core trend. The Nu Metal groups were already derivative with their chugga chugga beats and trashing the same chords on the guitar. But most Visual kei -core acts aren even worse. First the vocals totally suck. VK vocalists just can't growl. Give me late 90s to early 00s screams and harsh singing, those were fine. But the vocal chord disrupting mess that has been popular since ca 2004? No, thanks. Guitar work has become even more stale. Now it's just breakdown after breakdown, a few misplaced solos, the rest is chugga chugga crap. Occasionally there is the totaly unfitting dubstep-techno-bloop shit and poppy vocals. I feel most modern VK songs are disjointed and sound like two or more songs mashed together. Ulitmately, and this is my own subjective experience, I feel bands like Deviloof and Nocturnal Buttlust are erasing everything that made VK kind of unique and seperated it from other japanese rock music. Now I know the eternal dispute wether or not VK is really a musical genre (with most people saying it isn't), but to me Visual kei has (or had) it's own sound. Yes, it changed several times throughout it's almost 30 years timespan, but certain elements were always there. And you don't have to look at revival bands like Grieva or Sibilebashir to find them. Even in groups like Keel, emmurée or even (early) Nega and Ayabie you have/had elements that went as far back as into the 90s. But the more we venture further into the future, the more VK moves away from its roots. Bands like deviloof are just like generic deathcore. There is nothing in those groups' sound that hints at any Visual kei connection at all. Even funnier, some of these bands started out as Metalcore and only got into VK because they probably want to have some extra bangyas. They could do just fine being a regular deathcore band. Same problem with those unbearable host kei groups and same tactic. VK was always a bangya magnet, but it's sad to see how it has become only that.

Good, a new doctor vk band Not so sure if I like their sound, I think I need to hear the full releases. But it's better than other stuff released recently.

^have tinnitus as well, but since childhood. And it's likely not going away. But so far it's not that loud, so most of the times the environment noise is loud enough to overshadow it. Only in quiet places and at night it can be annoying. Plus I have been diagnosed recently with an autoimmune disease that affects the thyroids, but had it much longer (it was discovered while making tests for something else). I am still in the process of adjusting the dosage for my thyroid hormones and it's hell. Sometiimes I have symptoms of a hypothyreosis, sometimes of a hyperthyreosis and I don't seem to get better at all. I also have stomach cramps, but I am not 100% sure it's from my illness. And I am afraid that it could be something bad (or another shit to deal with)

Still, updates are way too slow. It's been two months now since the new version went online and we still haven't gotten back all of the basic functions. Good that they did a few changes (including the return of the taste-o-meter), but still not enough. First they need to rework the search function. If you search for a bands sharing similiar names it is often impossible to find the correct one, as the new layout only displays 5 artists. This is especially a problem when searching for albums and/or songs. Whoever came up with that needs to be punched in the face. The image gallery is slow and shitty to browse and you still can't upload images. And let's do not even talk about the new library and the fact that you can't sort your artists alphabetically.

Pink Turns Blue are great indeed. Some newer stuff: very athmospheric goth rock. Double Echo's mixing isn't everyone's thing, somtimes the vocals are drowned in too much hall and wall of sound, but people who like that lo-fi dream poppish sound (like me) will surely dig it. Drab Majesty (Deb DeMure) is a nice find I stumbled upon recently. Very cool synth/darkwave sound. I also like his new romantic inspired aesthetics.

Looks like someone crossed a cyber goff with a scene kid…

Kommt nach Österreich, wir haben ganz viele gute Schnitzel <3

Oh, I know you (I know that sounds creepy) from LiveJournal and from Tumblr. Always loved your oldschool VK looks and cosplays.

Well, it is limited to 999 pieces, that may explain why it's expensive. They expect it to become a rarity, maybe. But wow, I really like the look. It's quite different from the ones they had so far.

Speaking of Nazi regalia. Kisaki and Syndrome did that too. well, many bands did it back then, so i guess that's an “iconic” and typical look (for 90s vk at least) I am personally more a fan of blood spattered doctors and mad scientists. See Malice Mizer's Illuminati look (but all of their eras had great costumes). Or LuLu.

Something a person on twitter noticed: Pretty sure the similatity is no coincidence. Now I wonder when AvelCain will make a Kuroyume-ish song.

Habe eine in Berlin gegessen. ich fands sehr gut. Ich kenne als Österreicher solche Sachen auch nicht und war daher sehr skeptisch *lol*. Allerdings finden viele meiner Freunde sie gewöhnungsbedürftig.

Speaking of polish bands, there is Closterkeller, a polish, female fronted gothic rock group. They are still active, but have become a lot more metal influenced over the years.