relentless

If this is the same kiri to mayu they played a year or two back...then I'm thoroughly excited.

I really don't know what to make of DIVISION. First off, why was Ruki jerking off over the production quality of this album? The production feels amateur-ish with the muddled guitars and all the different sounds they're trying to pack into each track. Ruki advocated using high-end headphones to thoroughly enjoy this album, but ironically, Toxic sounds a lot better than this. In the case of Toxic, you have an album that though not the band's crowning achievement, it certainly had some very strong moments: RED, SUICIDE CIRCUS, PLEDGE, and RUTHLESS DEED are evidence of that. These tracks presented the bands' most creative and memorable moments of the album, something they have not repeated here. Now, onto DIVISION: First, the guitar work is the most glaring weakness. Aside from the poor production, the riffs are unoriginal and play off of the same vanilla formula they have been ABUSING since BEFORE I DECAY. The drop B chugging is seriously getting old, I don't know how they can do it. Second, the album feels like a bunch of unfinished ideas. Could this be a collection of B sides? It certainly feels that way. It's hard to find an album that lacks any hook throughout the entire experience -- almost none of this is appealing. The material on here pales GREATLY in comparison to DIM and everything they did before. Despite the overwhelming problems with this album, there were a few things I liked. I liked Ruki's growls going into the breakdown of REQUIRED MALFUNCTION. Ruki has always copped-out when it came to gutturals, but here he expresses a skill he's never really shown before. The growls in that short few seconds were the most impressive thing HE HAS EVER DONE. I also enjoyed that there were no STRICTLY HEAVY SONGS. There's no PSYCHOPATH, or DISCHARGE, or OGRE, or anything on here. I'm glad in that regard they stopped doing the same thing over and over again. Final thoughts? Least favorite GazettE album, but at least there are a few moments on here that it may warrant another listen in the future...but that'll probably never happen. 3/10

Compared to other singles prices, these are incredibly reasonable. I MIGHT invest money into this single.

...he's one of the main organizers of the festival.

You're encouraged to.

My apologies, through a second translation Kaoru said that it was "their best", not necessarily a ballad. D: Sorry guys and girls

On a TV special (Nico Nico Live, I believe it is) the band announced that the new single is a ballad.

Not necessarily. Their tour schedules are relatively easy compared to other international metal bands. Compared to other Japanese bands? Yes, but they're big boys...they can handle it. It's more along the lines that Kyo doesn't use a vocal coach for anything to help minimize (or prevent) any damage he can. He has never had a legitimate HOLD on his voice that professional singers have. That's why his style is always changing, screams, falsettos, everything changes naturally. The growling actually impacts the state of his vocals FAR LESS than the shocking change in range he tries to put his voice through. Implying it's the USA tour schedule that is his problem is baseless. (Note: he developed the vocal problem before touring the US during their AQA tour) Kaoru mentioned that Scream 4 Truth was nothing political, just a way to get people to stop settling for what they're told and to be more active / involved with what goes on. Nothing political. Wouldn't say that makes their management shit, it's their management gauging another market so the band can be profitable. Dir en grey doesn't release much so things appear to be more demanded out of them, but who can blame their management? It's a numbers game in the end.

It's the same GazettE with different packaging...And more auto-tune. So I'll pass.

The way the band writes their music allows Kyo plenty of time to write out the lyrics and record vocals with as much time as he really needs. The band said they were "working on new songs" a few months back, so it seems like they've been at this for a while. And it's been a year, Kyo has had plenty of time to recover (and HOPEFULLY get some lessons along the way!)

the band has had a long enough break...and seeing as how the single isn't due out until "Winter", they still have more time for Kyo to fully heal his vocals by the time production starts.

of course these polls hold no merit, they're just fun.

Wat?

Judging from the trailer on the OHP, they're back to using 7 string guitars. Something heavy is on the horizon.

Though your typical GazettE track, it has enough variation and surprises to pique my interest for this album.

Doesn't this forum heavily advocate the case for "oh they're only two short previews in the album! we shouldn't assume so much!"? I guess not so with the GazettE...

the opening song is Jagerbomb. It was released on the vans compilation.

Did anyone seriously expect the GazettE of all bands to do multiple long tracks on one album? As IF they could pull that off... It's clear that they are trying to get people to gravitate towards the special edition (MORE MONEY)

For once the GazettE come up with pretty cool titles, I'm actually interested.

1. VANITAS VANITATUM -- Opens up with a Dir en grey-lite intro, then chugging of guitars. 1/10 2. PURGATORY -- As bad as SUICIDE by 12012, but at least SUICIDE has a little more variation. I should also note that the production is blatantly bad on this track too...1/10 3. FABLE IN THE COLD BED -- More bad production. I remember hearing this song and thinking it was cool all the way up to the first verse...and then it gets bland and predictable. CLEARLY Nega at their finest...2/10 4. GOODBYE HUMAN -- Oh hey My Devil On The Bed rip-off! There's even a VERMIN rip-off bass solo?! I can't believe this shit is 4+ minutes! 0/10 (for lack of creativity) 5. biran yue'ni -- The usual chugging riff that's been identical to the rest of the album so far. There's a march-break in the latter half of the album that almost sounds cool, but then it turns into bullshit blast beats and bad guitar work. Are they even trying? 1/10 6. V-ROCK IS DEAD -- Who said this was a joke track? I was waiting for the joke but the punchline never came...this is a genuinely bad song and I highly doubt this was a joke in the first place. Quit it with the excuses. 1/10 7. Tamerau kotonaku blank wo Kizutsuketa Yubisaki wa -- These guys seriously need to stop writing the same song over and over again. This song highlights why Jin is referred to as "Vomiter" and not "Vocalist" on their website. Jin is not a good vocalist and his lack of range proves that. 1/10 8. Manashiki Sei no Guui almost equals Shi no Imi -- 12 minutes long? Seriously? The guitars are at an all-time low here, because this track has soo many moments where it sounds like a novice guitar player is playing random notes. And then follow that up with the CHUG CHUG, CHUG CHUG, CHUG CHUG, PINCH HARMONICCCCCCCCCCCCC, CHUG CHUG, that has been going on THE ENTIRE ALBUM. This track lacks cohesion, direction, and a legitimate hook to make it worth sitting through 12 minutes of garbage. 0/10 9. WILL -- The track feels like it goes nowhere. At least there's a ballad on here? If it wasn't for Jin's shitty vocals and attempts to being like Kyo, this might have been a cool track. Oh and also, shitty solo played on one string. 2/10 10. 2012 -- Your average J-rock track with that beautiful poppy chorus. There's even synths to top this track off! 1/10 11. DELUGE -- CHUG CHUG PINCH HARMONIC, CHUG CHUG PINCH HARMONIC, this song resonates bad. 2/10 12. HINDSIGHT -- takes a minute to go anywhere, but even then we're treated to the same chugging with an underlying lead section that definitely feels out of place. This track was defintely too long, by several minutes. 0/10 13. OMNIA VANITAS -- boring piano outro that was totally not needed, but at the very least...thank god it didn't end on HINDSIGHT. 1/10 Conclusion: This isn't just a bad album, this is a TERRIBLE album. This highlights all the reasons why VK isn't taken seriously. I went in expecting to enjoy this album at the very least, and damn was I wrong! In fact, this album is WORSE than 12012's new album. Honestly.

Try Classical.

Girugamesh was rarely original to begin with so seeing them get worse is no surprise. Though even I enjoyed their earlier releases.

Stopped listening to the first preview when the breakdown came in >OH!!!!! seriously?

Uroboros the movie is no different than the live dvd "With The Proof In The Name of Living", it was just aired in theaters.

Sounds really typical. And the clean vocals are just unbearable.