relentless

There's nothing wrong with that. For what it is The Inferno is enjoyable. The most notable would be Kyo's vocals which no longer limit themselves to shrieks and growls. Now there's more shouting tossed in for variety when they go that route.

May I have your permission to make this my new display picture?

What in regards to tabs are you asking for assistance with? Writing them out?

Come on, man. It's got to be a picture of Mankind, not Mick Foley. That'd be like putting Dude Love on there, or Cactus Jack.

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.

To get people into the Holiday mood: Bach's Christmas Oratorio https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFnW_CrPUlA Handel's Messiah https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqJm0ioLCso

I wouldn't do something like that. There are quite a few bands I enjoy that I wouldn't if I paid attention to their respective fanbases and let that kind of thing influence my appreciation of the music. Letting fans influence what you listen to is something I view as beyond immature.

Because Music isn't a visual medium. When discussing music and appreciating it, you are concerned with the very notes that come off the page with a score or out of the speaker when listening. When deciding for yourself whether a band is any good, you generally make your judgement based on the music. It would be a shame to judge the music of Beethoven based on his famously poor public appearance. Again, the appreciation of music comes from its sound, not the looks of the composer, band, or artist; but that does not mean such things can't be appreciated, it's just something that isn't related to the music. Some like to package the image of a band in VK and pair that with the music, others only listen for the music. Both are acceptable, though the distinction must be made that the focus on the look of a band becomes extra-musical and not related to the product a group is making. There's no reason why either of these options can't co-exist; but I will agree with the first part of your post: There is an expectation by some that music HAS to sound a certain way, and that can be a problem when they can be combative; but the end of the day they're just expressing their preference of a certain kind of music in a very vocal way. To work with them and discuss music, or to ignore/block them is completely up to those involved. Personally, I like to engage these kinds of people to determine their preferences so we may find common ground. That's just me though. And even though the laughable superiority complex of some in regards to their music preference is just silly, there is only one example that acts as the exception to this. These people are operating under a preconceived notion of what music is "good" or "bad", "right" or "wrong", which I find to be generally incorrect except in one instance: musical forms throughout history that have set rules as to how to compose a piece a certain way. If those forms are not adhered to, they are OBJECTIVELY incorrect. But this is not something that is found in Popular music today, so it never shows up in conversation.

I know what you mean even if I don't look at it quite like you do. Maybe there are some people who genuinely only listen to what they haven't heard before. Maybe there are some who entirely spend their time on "taking a leap of faith" to expand one's taste in music; but I don't see that as widespread nor indicative of the process of discovering new music being time consuming. The availability of music in this Internet age is unprecedented. Having thousands upon thousands of artists at our disposal by a mere search on YouTube allows us to take in far more music in a much quicker format than before. If someone wants to listen to a piece / song by an artist they like, it can be done by a quick search. If someone wants to discover new music, it can be done with a quick search. I wouldn't necessarily assume that expanding one's taste in music is so time consuming when it can just as easily be supplemented with current interests in music. Whatever form/genre of music you're discovering, thankfully the album experience is for the most part quick. It doesn't take much time to look up selections from an album and listening to it, or even listening to the album in full. Even with my love of Classical, I still find time to listen to albums by David Bowie I haven't heard amongst the 2+hour long Oratorios by Händel I've been binging on lately. I feel as though there is a balance that can be made between listening to music you like and discovering new music due to the nature of the Internet, music's increased availability, and the general lack of time it takes to do so. And even in the event that all you listen to in one day is new music you may never listen to again, there's always tomorrow to listen to the music you love. So in a way, I don't entirely feel like such a thing is a "very real tradeoff" when no one is necessarily advocating only listening to new music and making leaps of faith to see if you'll like said music. At least personally, I find it to be far more integrated even when there are times when I need to set aside over 3 hours to listen to ONE work, and in the event I can't get to an album on a given day, it will always be there.

Which I find funny, because when you boil the music down to its parts, VK is Western influenced employing western harmony: there is literally nothing different about Popular Japanese music that distinguishes itself from the rest of the world other than language spoken -- it's just more music from a different part of the world that people enjoy. This ties into Zeus' excellent post which I've mentioned in the past: VK is largely based on image, and as pointed out by Zeus, there is a scene involved with the music and the appreciation of it as well. People derive value from their musical interests in this regard, and it can cause those that are less open-minded to close off all other forms and genres, stating ignorantly: "all Western music sounds the same". This happens nearly everywhere though with people like this. You will find fans of Metal only listen to Metal, fans of Classical that only listen to Classical, fans of Pop that only listen to Pop, etc. The most a community can do, and what MH has done a great job at doing, is bringing awareness to other bands in Japanese music, even around the world. That's the best that can be done, providing awareness and understanding to musical genres and giving it a platform where people can go to appreciate it. In a way, I don't see it as a problem that some are close-minded in VK music or elsewhere, it just takes education to point out that there is more music out there than what was made in the last 5 years. Take a look at the first music you ever started listening to. The first band / artist / composer whose music you purchased and listened to the most. Take a look at that time (admittedly for me, it was "Classic Rock") and reflect on just how much your musical taste has grown since then. There's no reason why that can't continue.

On some models dating even as far back as 2008-2009 he was playing with Seymour Duncans. This signature model 7 string used to use EMGs it looks like; but switched to Seymour Duncans. It'd be interesting to see what they're using on this album, and what Kaoru is touring with from here on out.

With a band like Dir en grey, I imagine many people's minds are already made up. If heavy = "DSS/Uroboros", then music is fucked. Thanks for ruining music, Dir en grey.

When it first came out I listened to it a few times; but since 2011 I don't think I've listened to the entire record once. Some tracks needed to be cut or refined to not be so repetitive, though there are highlights such as The Blossoming Beezlebub, Ruten no tou, and parts of Diabolos. It's a decent album that lacked the cohesion of Uroboros. Even the single Different Sense gets boring after hearing how bland the guitar parts are. I guess the guitar solo in DS is alright though.

They've done much better. With the amount of songs on the album this will hopefully not be representative of the rest.

I'm not surprised to find some of the choruses to be run-of-the-mill and pretty standard, now we just have to wait and see where these songs go from there.

Another problem to add to the list is the lack of significant exports, and a large emphasis on one product instead of multiple. Japan's main export are cars (@ 13%) with important exports making up far less of their economy with Refined Petroleum at 1.4% falling short of Industrial Printers at 2.2%, which is just below Integrated Circuits at 2.4%. Hell, even Video Recording Equipment makes their top 10 exports list at 1.4%. There's a great deal of importance on cars, with everything else lacking considerably. In economically stable countries, there isn't an emphasis on exporting one product, it's spread equally across multiple exports. The second demand for Japanese cars go down, and they begin exporting far less, that's when more troubles will arise -- and that could very well be catastrophic to their economy if such a thing were to happen.

It's good to see they're stepping up and actually playing their intro tracks now. My guess is that it would add to the performance more than when they just walked out on stage.

Perhaps it could be confidence in the new material or confidence in performing it. What songs Dir en grey did showcase early on with DSS were plagued with performing mistakes. They couldn't get through Different Sense without awkward transitions to the chorus or the solo being butchered, or Kyo's wanting delivery on Lotus and Ruten no Tou. From the early insight on this album from the band, it looks like they went for performability first and foremost, which would explain a majority of the songs being performed now.

I just hope Sustain the Untruth is not representative of the entire album. It doesn't look like it is so I remain optimistic.

This is a great way of summing it up and something I feel like those that practice Christianity should take to heart.

What the hell is Kyo wearing?

I actually don't think, at least from what I've seen, that this opinion is unpopular at all. There is a legitimate case to be made that "different" music does not always equal "good"; but I feel that the people who say "oh it's different, so it's better" are trying to articulate something within musical vocabulary that they are ignorant of. Engage someone who says "this music is all the same" or anything related, and watch as they resort to gymnastics to articulate what it is that makes the music "all the same" or what makes it "different". When you actually talk to the person making the point, and inquire "well, what is it about this music that makes it so different?" or "well, what is it about this music that makes it the same from everything else in the genre?", they're using phrases that lack actual substance without context or further understanding of the music. What, I think, they're trying to say is that something is derivative, which is a legitimate complaint; but one which says very little of the quality and more on its basis in genre conventions and the inability to set itself apart from them. Take any generic "-core" band and you'll find sections (i.e. "breakdowns") that are just there....to be there. To widen the scope, take generic Pop music and its lack of invention when it comes to chord progressions. The I-IV-V is a staple of Pop music and is the basis for hundreds, upon hundreds, upon hundreds of songs. Pair that with the widespread form of "verse, chorus, verse", and you have a formula for a song that can be likened to manufacturing. Take the individual parts, piece them together, and you have a Pop hit. This, though, is not always the case, as even Sting, Roy Orbison, and the Beatles are/were able to become creative in those conventions, especially the Beatles' expanded harmony in their middle to late period. The premise that "if it's not different, it's not good" is faulty; but I feel as though there is at least SOMETHING to be said of the opinion "this sounds exactly like all this other music I've heard, it's incredibly boring".

They're very good! The only downside is that Brendel doesn't play some of the repeats that were added later; but other than that his performance on all three sonatas are worth checking out.

Resurrecting this thread with 3 solo keyboard works by Franz Schubert, his last Sonatas: Piano Sonata No.19 in C Minor, D.958 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqHavx8FpqM Piano Sonata No.20 in A major, D.959 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVizJNaEnZE Piano Sonata No.21 in B-flat major, D.960 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CAtqP8esPQ

Over the past few days I've been binging on Carpenter's Halloween, though I intended on watching The Conjuring soon as I've heard that was pretty good.