Lestat

The highly flexible CHARGEEEEEE has formed yet another band, named MEGA HIGH BALL. The drummer is known from a versatile amount of projects, including —but not limited to— Omega Dripp, ZIZ, bulb, Marty Friedman's solo band, DOPPEL and SPEECIES. The new band will release their first EP 『STAR LOUNGE』 on March 4th during their first one-man show at SHIBUYA RUBY ROOM (OPEN 18:30 / START 19:00, ticket: ¥3,000) Lineup: vo. + ba.: Kiyoshi keys: Coba84 dr.: CHARGEEEEEE

There is no commanding someone elses' taste, however. There is a lot more to it than just being unable to find bands that musically appeal to these people (myself included). I always read how others say that bands cannot be compared (and truly, they cannot), yet there is always a persisting feeling present that inherently compares a listening experience to previous and past ones. For me personally, something in me cannot recreate the same emotional attachment when we place, say... Gossip-ゴシップ- (whom I adore) and Lareine (whom I of course, also adore) next to one another. They are completely different bands and I hold both in high regard, but something within me cannot reach as far toward Gossip-ゴシップ- as I do to Lareine. The music industry is ever changing and therefore people's perspective on music is also changing. I feel that my connections to current bands (especially in Visual kei, because of the unstability in the scene in general) are a lot more shallow and insincere. I cannot connect to the music or the faces behind the music all that much anymore and I feel like my favourite musicians are simply set in stone, without much room to let new names in. Incidentially, these names are all from twenty or thirty years in the past, and I sorely miss their presence. While there are some new names I enjoy, they just cannot live up to what I experienced while discovering bands that are long gone but left a much greater impact.

The only thing I have to add to this is that they truly need to lay off the rehashed cross- drums and guitar galloping-rhythm that comes back in almost all of their songs. I know it's an important returning pattern in Power metal, but Lord — it's getting so old and I have to counter @JukaForeverand @SHOKIon that matter. The trio Hizaki, Teru and Yuki are capable of so much more technically and I do not understand why they constantly fall back in this same rhythmic arrangement. La Musique and Shadows Fang follow the exact same pattern and that's what makes them so very similar, and if I would be able to write down its phonetics I am sure that everyone would understand what I mean here. These constant mathematical repetitions are what's hurting their abilities to evolve and write another masterpiece like Noble or Jubilee. I felt those albums didn't follow these particular genre-based algorithms like they do here. It's like they're trying more to lean toward the exact Power metal regulations instead of just being Versailles as themselves. At this moment I do feel that Lineage and Inheritance come close to their former glory, so I am surely not giving up on them at all, but there is just something obscured in here that irks me. This mini-album definitely needs time to grow on me and I do not yet have definite favourites after three listening sessions. Currently I am still leaning toward Kamijo's solo-project when put up against anything post-2011 Versailles, and I feel like the band still needs time to crawl out of their pit that came along with their self-titled album released in 2012.

This is exactly what I wish for my Death metal to sound like. And as the artwork implies, it sounds like it's recorded in a stalagmite cave, or simply somewhere dark and cold. It has just the right amount of technicalities to a point where it doesn't sound like the band are simply try-hards or attempting to show off purely to boast their 'awesome' guitarwork. I've yet to listen to the full album and only heard this track just now, but I'm just so eager to listen to it straight away.

On March 22nd, GACKT will release his 48th single entitled 『罪の継承~ORIGINAL SIN~』in two types, which was first used as an ending theme for the anime Trickster: Edogawa Ranpo "Shounen Tanteidan" yori. 【CD】 1.罪の継承~ORIGINAL SIN~ 2.罪の継承~ORIGINAL SIN~ (Orchestra Ver) 3.罪の継承~ORIGINAL SIN~ (-Instrumental-) 【DVD】 罪の継承~ORIGINAL SIN~ MUSIC CLIP 【Limited Edition】CD+DVD / ¥1,800 + tax 【Regular Edition】CD / ¥1,200 + tax

Thanks, @nattliga_toner!

Items came in today, everything's looking great. Fast handling and shipping — I have to ask; what is on that extra CD you added? I listened to it but nothing in the midst of that Japanese surf rock and jazz sounds familiar to me and I would like to be able to tag the tracks, aha.

It is not the band's request, as it clearly says that their label is putting them through this. Being one of the few original acts left, it is unfortunately no surprise that they are so unpopular as their sound simply does not match the current competition. They are one of the few bands I personally still enjoy and it would be sad to see them go.

I hope they pick up where they left off with their amazing work in their previous two albums (plus the accompanying singles). Power metal Matenrou is everything I ever wished for and more.

Do you only sell the lots or do you also consider selling items separately?

Oh, what a lovely little song. The subtle technicalities in the drumming are very refreshing. I can't wait until the full thing comes out.

Haven't given myself time to listen to this yet, even though I've had it sitting in my waiting list for a while. Will definitely be listening to this first thing I wake up tomorrow, it sounds good.

Lies! Remember that medley I once sent you?

Now that I will be seeing them live this July, I wonder who they bring around the table as a support guitarist for on an overseas tour. I was pretty devastated when Anzi announced his withdrawal from the band, as I find him to be the best guitarist the scene has ever seen (surpassing even Hizaki and Teru) and his sound was what initially drew me to the band. While Leda has shown sufficient work on PHOENIX RISING, I wonder if they'll be able to bring him to Europe as I am not sure if it will lead to a conflicting schedule with his other projects. Meku might also be an option regarding the band's ties to Versailles and Kamijo, but I found him rather sloppy live when I saw him with Kamijo's band and I would rather not see him brought along on this tour. During their PHOENIX RISING tour they played with JaY from Light Bringer (I have no idea who he is or what that band sounds like), again — another option if touring schedules don't conflict.

https://warseid.bandcamp.com/ — I'd recommend this to anyone who fancies (Blackened) folk metal. This is an album easy to judge from its cover; Epic battle metal thick with Norse mythology. Their transitioning from acoustic to onslaught is almost flawless, I'd say. Enjoy.

Matenrou Opera will be performing across Europe this year's summer. More information will be released soon.

All you have to do is to upload your photos to a public webhost such as tinypic, Photobucket or Imgur (the latter is recommended), and use the BBCode url, which you paste here in your comments. It would look like this; [- img -]http://i.imgur.com/Se9g76n.png?1[- /img -] (without the dashes in the brackets.)

I highly believe I am asexual, but I would rather not label myself as anything other than myself — seeing as I bear no interest in sexual activity, I feel it's unneccesary to call myself anything –sexual at all or leap into any social construct regarding the matter. I am not sexually attracted to people, but more or less aesthethically. Surely, there are people I find immensely beautiful and alluring to look at, but I could never imagine myself sharing a bed with them for any other reason than actual sleeping. I grow uncomfortable when people touch me for extensive periods of time, and I had rather not even shake hands with people whom I have not known for at least a month or two. I do not know if these experiences are an extension of Asperger syndrome —they very well could be— as there are plenty of people on the autistic spectrum who have no problems with sexual activity and attraction whatsoever, or if they are two separate things altogether. I have had some boyfriends in the past, but I would always grow anxious the moment anything started to happen beyond kissing. Not wanting to have sex with these boys always lead to me being cheated on as I could not and did not want to please their physical needs. This has also lead me to not desire a relationship for myself, either. I do not know if I can ever see myself in a relationship. If I were to have sex at all in this life, I wouldn't have it before marriage. I need to be certain of the person, however it's always unclear whether you will be spending the rest of your life in the same relationship. This is conflicting and currently I am leaning toward not ever having sex at all, even in a potential marriage. Unfortunately it's difficult soloing life, especially with how darned expensive everything is nowadays. You can barely keep up a regular household with two individuals, let alone one. I find anything pornographic extremely distasteful and I bear quite the aversion against the openness of the matter of sex in this age. It is everywhere, and it makes me very uncomfortable and dirty. I find the human anatomy very aesthetic and interesting, and to see it being tarnished by sex is —in my eyes— very sad and abasing. Perhaps this is ironic in that case, but I could never see a penis as anything more than an organ meant for urinating, for instance, yet I find it a very beautiful organ. As for the view on Visual kei artists; as I said above, my attraction to some of them is purely based on aesthetic pleasure. Perhaps it is also why I am more or less attracted to so-called femine-looking men, with softer shapes and tones, that Visual kei is an attractive medium. I like pallidness, long limbs and extremities, and ethereal-looking creatures, I would say even androgynous. Anything that would seem to exceed humanity.

I managed to sit through the whole thing, and it does not get better. It was very disappointing as the art style is wonderful, but the story (what story?) truly brings it down immensely. It has already reached cult-status however, due to its 'avant-garde pacing' and 'realistic nature' of a group of children unable to progress in strength. For myself, I am currently taking on Onihei, Yowamushi Pedal: New Generation, ACCA: 13-ku Kansatsu-ka and Ao no Exorcist: Kyoto Fujouou-hen. The rest of this season goes entirely against my tastes as I do not believe I have seen anything else non-magical girl, school-settings or harems / ecchi. Probably an all-time low, but the ones that I am watching are making up for it quite well.

From the many musical domains I have set foot on, I have personally experienced Visual Kei (or the Japanese fanbase in general) as being the very worst when it comes to its 'fans'. I absolutely do not wish to attack anyone by saying this, but the sheer amount of 'crazy fans' is just completely overwhelming and unhealthy, and regrettably the genre is one of those that is somehow attractive to those who often struggle in life or suffer from mental disabilities (myself included). It shows in the influence a fanbase has on bands and artists, take for instance last year's case of Femme Fatale; a bandmember supposedly cheated on his wife, and it was the fans' desire to see him punished — the man left the band and is never heard of again. I cannot wrap myself around the mindset so very present in the Visual Kei sphere; who are you —as a fan— to dictate a musician's life and decisions? Why is everyone so busy with others when they first have themselves to look out for? It is highly likely that in a person's general surroundings of family and friends, people take pleasure in debauchery, or maybe the fan himself or herself has made general mistakes in life. Do you turn your back on everyone who does differently? Why chastise another human being who is by default prone to make mistakes? Any 'scandal' in Japan leads to disaster and can completely ruin an artist's reputation, and sadly this showcase of completely berating artists over their personal lives has become popular with non-Japanese fans as well. As is said above, Koreans take it even a step further. As the name implies, Visual Kei is unfortunately less about the music, and moreso about the participants themselves, and the genre has therefore grown into an uncomfortable, defensive business where it is mandatory to display a certain territorial behaviour over musicians, or a complete disdain toward others. There exists an extreme concept of bandwagonism where people are unaware of their own behaviour and merely portray themselves as such because this is the norm. For when you stray from this norm, you are chastized and abhorred, and disliked for your difference in opinions. It is therefore very attractive to jump on board and do as others do as to not be targeted, which blows this phenomena up even larger. I have experienced violent behaviour during concerts which was absolutely unnecessary, purely because some people believe they are the only ones priviliged enough to see their favourite artists live. Hair being pulled, being kicked, scratched and even bitten, pieces of clothing being torn from artists their outfits, etc. I can imagine this behaviour would have taken place during a Michael Jackson concert, but to display it during every small concert where there is plenty opportunity to share a word with the band afterwards, it is even more unacceptable. Truthfully, I cannot recall any such behaviour in other musical genres in which I wandered and as soon as I walked through the curtain into this world, I became confused. I cannot remember people wanting to see Axl Rose removed from this planet because he, say for example, slept with four girls at once, if anything, people'd give him a nod of approval. If any Japanese or Korean artist's sex-life is exposed, expect hell to be unleashed on earth, and expect them to never touch music again because of how awfully influential their fanbases are and how easily these 'fans' turn on these artists and make sure their lives are ruined. Surely, a band or artist thrives on their fans and they are a neccessary component in the industry — but to let things come this far is just unheard of. I do however recall telling other fans that I am uninterested in the personal lives of musicians, and they'd look at me as if I'd grown three extra heads. Why? Isn't it completely normal that you do not concern yourself with a stranger's private business? In the end, I am glad that an artist addressed the erratic and elitistic behaviour of these alleged fans and makes sure that international fans are just as welcome to share the experience of attending Japanese concerts.

As usual, I find it irrelevant how musicians act, think or speak, and such a thing shall never manage to become an obstacle in my liking of the artist. I even listen to bands composed of murderers and this knowledge has never once altered my enjoyment of the music, and I shall support them all the same.

As a follow-up of the previous years' entries, I would like to introduce this thread again. It is a simple way to keep tabs on your listening experiences, and efficient if you were to create a year-end list for 2017 in case you are keen on those. It is an instant reminder of what your favourite records of this year are, and lists are simply fun to keep. The idea is to create a series of ratings (whether that be a five-star, or a ten-star system, or any of your choice) and keep them updated throughout the year. Please try to keep your post compact and easy on the eyes. — (2016 edition) Lestat's ratings for 2017:

In all honesty though — I adore this. I bet however that Kamijo will play dress-up doll with him, aha.