lichtlune

At least they choose the best song from their album for the pv.

More XodiacK-ish than expected... interested on this.

BLESS THIS MESS will perform at Femme Fatale 源依織(minamotono iori) birthday presents live "Voyage-Last night for you-" at Takadanobaba AREA at 2015/05/28
 
"BLESS THIS MESS" line-up:
Vo.YNG(yanagi) (ex-Saruin)
Gt.源依織(minamotono iori) (Femme Fatale)
Gt.蘭丸(ranmaru) (ex-Saruin-->Para:noir)
Ba.駁(baku) (ex-Saruin)
Dr.匠(shou) (ex-UnsraW, now WING WORKS(support))
 

Lmao....wait are you serious..?

Recent selfie

Artist: Lycaon Album: Camera Obscura Score: With a title like Camera Obscura, lots of interesting takes of what the concept would mean for this album came to mind. Sadly, from the first track it was apparent Lycaon went for the most direct translation. I was more than a little disheartened. The first half of this album did very little to raise my spirits, either. First and foremost, the levels in the mix and production are horrific. It's muddy, discordant, and downright unbearable in parts. Case in point, "Dark Night" has obnoxious levels of echo that clash with the high end string backing tracks. It's so bad I can barely follow any of the other instruments in the song until about half way through. I've heard a better mix come out of a 4 track recorder in a teenager's basement.

And while "Dark Night" is the worst offender, it's got company with most of this album suffering the same fate. "追憶 " has a crunchy guitar riff that should be ripping this album wide open, but instead I had to fight through mass amounts of reverb effects to hear just about anything. "Liar", "君を壊すガラスの衝動 ", "Rouge", "ILLUSION", and "メランコリック" are snooze-fests full of recycled garbage that go nowhere and are so painfully bland it hurt to listen to them, yet I still can't find traits to distinguish any of the songs from each other after the album is over. The lack of originality for most of this album is jarring, and when it does have something interesting happening it's suffocated by cheap production.

"悪女の微笑 " is in a battle for my favorite Camera Obscura song next to "ジプシー". And partially because its recording quality is leagues above the rest of the album. You can hear every instrument clearly and no one thing is eclipsing anything else. It's a decent song and the only one that made me even think about headbanging along to it. "馬鹿ね。" , while not as strong in composition, shares the better production value with the other singles. I could do without the chorus driving the song into the ground by the end. It's a fun chorus to start with, but in this case less would have been more. Then there's songs like "marionette" and "アネモネ" that found a way to survive in the pit of bad recordings. Something about both songs is stripped down and less complicated than the others so they end up better for it and loads more memorable.

I stopped checking for this band some years ago, around their 2009 release Chains of collar, because their nasally vocalist doesn't sit well with me. His voice is like a hybrid of Hakuei's (Penicillin) vocal pitch and the nasal tone of Ryutaro (Plastic Tree) without the edge or control of either. And this album makes me that much more grateful I didn't waste my time keeping up with Lycaon. This is, astoundingly, a step down from what they were even back then. Someone should have cut out all of these asinine SEs and saved the money to have the album mastered by a better studio engineer. I am usually more forgiving of visual indie bands for lo-fi sounding works, but this is not Lycaon's first album. This is 3 albums in; this is a band familiar with how a music studio works for the last seven years. And what makes it so annoying is there are select songs on this album that have better production. So why not all?

 

new band "ステルベン(sterben)" will perform at Matsuyama double-u studio at 2015/03/15
 
"ステルベン(sterben)" members:
Vo.ユリナ(yurina) (ex-エミリー(EmiLy))
Gt.航(wataru) (ex-RENA)
Gt.徹史(tetsushi) (ex-ネジレ(nezire)-->MAYBEE CRAZEE-->Awl, now in E.C.A.P.)
Ba.哲(tetsu) (E.C.A.P.(support), slacker without number)
Dr.IKKI (ex-十六夜(izayoi)-->クロロア(kuroroa)-->Missing Link-->さかなへんにBLUE(sakanahenni BLUE)-->Awl-->ONION JAM-->Anetto, now in E.C.A.P.)
 

You have it? Well there's a video section on the download forum I'm sure a lot of people would like to see it.

So... I'm kind of wondering when we'll see a new music video with the new members. Didn't they have a preview of one at one point? 

I'm really glad to see bands going to the crowd funding route. I'm excited to hear the new mini album. I'm wondering though. Do they have a large enough following in japan and overseas to reach that crowd funding goal? 

A9 - 1
PSC - 0 

2005 fangirl me had a little whoop over Rame and San in the same band, but then I remembered how much I don't really like this project.  

I have to get to the sex part first and then we'll talk. 

I have to get to the sex part first and then we'll talk. 

Screw manages to roll out another mediocre album.
Where there's potential, they take that and go their usual route, which makes for a less than thrilling ride.
It's only been about a month and CDJapan is already selling it for 10% off. That should tell you what to anticipate.
 
 

 
 
Nearly every song tries to be heavy or hardcore and they all begin to sound the same.
They try to incorporate different elements like jazz and electronic/dub-step, but they aren't very well executed and distract more than add to the experience. 
Burst Forth, for example, is fast and intense mostly throughout but will have these short jazzy moments. But, they're too short and infrequent that it just seems out of place. Calvacade is another example where the electronic breakdowns don't have much to do with the rest of the song and in fact drag it down. These sections don't work because they're too distinct and sudden. I can understand changing the mood of a song but Screw's execution is choppy and awkward.
A quick note on Eternal Flame, I'm all for the use of auto tune but Byo uses it throughout the entire song and it gets old fast. Calvacade also featured some auto tune but it was only used in some parts and much better executed. 
Also, evil passions sounds like the GazettE's my devil on the bed.
 
 
The voice department especially falls flat as Byou just can not deliver the right vocals to back up the songs. His vocals don't have any power behind them and he sings some of the most unforgettable melodies. Also, his use of filters to add an harsh edge is as unsuccessful as ever. Not to say he can't sing entirely because sometimes he does sing well.
 
 
I've been ripping apart this album head to toe but there are some nice moments.
- mellow is a refreshing upbeat ballad that's a throwback to older Screw and reminds me of tracks like Celestial Bliss and Dearest Wish. Byo does a fine job here too.
- The use of piano in Burst Forth, while very short, is beautiful. They should have pushed the piano instead of the jazzy parts. 
- オブセッション is a pretty neat track that mixes traditional Japanese sounds with a heavy vk style.
- Helter Skelter has a decent chorus and breakdown.
- 絶望の讃美歌's back up vocals in the chorus slightly remind me of BABY STAR.
 
 
Overall, It's a weak album.
There's not much variety and when the variety happens it's usually sloppy and unfitting.
With tracks like mellow, though, a little bit of hope is restored and I'm now in a place
where I look forward to their next release.....But not that much.
 
 
 
 
 
Final Opinion
3/10
 
*edit 5/10
(some of the album really stuck with me even after about a week. I admit the album has more staying power than I initially gave it credit for. I still say.....)
 
 

Here we go. Lycaon's new album. I've been following them since 'Ambrozia'. I've always considered them the GazettE's sister. Yuuki is like a whinier Ruki (if that was even possible). Their music, while nothing groundbreaking, is still fun and energetic. I remember when 'Royal Order' came out it was all I listened to for weeks on in heading to work and university classes. It's such a solid release and still, til this day, their magnum opus - mainly due to it collecting a lot of their solid singles. 
 
Then 'Jouyoku no Akume' came out. Lycaon was in the early stages of bringing out their "erotic era" which didn't get them anywhere. Sure, Jesus was a good track but everything was lackluster. This led to their release of their "erotic album" (long Japanese name can't remember). It was a little more solid thanks to Jesus and the re-recordings of past songs but nothing to the point where i'd want to sit back and listen to again.
 
I was afraid Lycaon lost it. They were quiet for a while until 2013 when they finally released a new mini album. Another long Japanese name but we'll just call it 'Masochist Red Circus'. What was included was a bunch of half-assed dubstep (I mean, it wasn't even GazettE cringe dubstep worthy) and cringe-worthy tracks that aren't even worth listening to again. The album as a whole was a mess. I could only listen to it once. 
 
I gave up on ever getting anything remotely decent. Hoping for another 'Royal Order' was not even a distant memory anymore. When Lycaon announced 'Camera obscura' I wasn't hopeful. I figured it would just be another MRS (please god no). I was pretty much wrong. The intro track sets up the whole album pretty well. Once the laughing starts, I was kind of nervous. Then the "dubstep" starts up.. Oh god... another MRS... Then 'tsuioku' starts blaring in my ear. What the hell is this? Some cheesey Malice Mizer piano? I'm in love. Yuuki is actually not slutty-singing. Everyone does their part to set up a decent song. 
 
Then 'Dark Night' comes in. The guitars start kicking - reminiscent of an older Lycaon from long ago. Along with cheesey string. So far, this album is doing well. When I first heard' shadow', I was crying. Lycaon's GazettE-ish ways are back. Yuuki's screams are back. Hands down my favorite track. Good chorus and fun verses. 'marionette' is an interesting song. I don't believe Lycaon has ever made a song like this. Kind of reminds me of 'This is Halloween'. I'm okay with this.
 
I could go on and on about the other tracks but I want to wrap this up because I am tired of typing. It's not a great album. Granted it has a lot of diversity - you get the jazz (Rouge), the GazettE (shadow), the Lycaon (ILLUSION), the Alejandro of the album (Gypsy), the heavy (melancholic). I really just wanted this to be a return to 'Royal Order'. However that dream is definitely long gone. This will do. I just know now that their erotic era is done and over with - and that's a sigh of relief. 
 
All in all, Lycaon really did step up their game with the album. It shows a sign of maturity. They left their faux-jazzy-slutfest behind and went back to doing rock again. I am pretty excited about what they could come up with next if they continue with this route. 
 
6.5/10

lmao, in what way?
even though it may be a good album, it's clearly obvious if you visit this forum a lot and see his/her's posts that she is biased. 

Honestly there's no way in hell that I could ever take this review seriously when you gave all 18 songs a perfect 10/10.... is anyone planning on writing up an objective review for this album?

Now in hindsight I really don't know why I expected this to set the world on fire.
 
The first Aliene really is next level stuff and I consider it to be the best visual kei album ever made by a healthy margin. It blew my mind even then that they could follow something so unique and wonderful like that with something as awful as 21st Century, which had a sound that has dated about as well as the Y2K theory and the old episodes of America's Most Wanted. I always wanted to blame Kyoka for that because he never did anything even half decent past that and has shown himself to have questionable taste time time and time again from shite bands to that awful outfit he had in the Key Party revival live... 
 
In my mind I had fantasised this to sound a little like the Nega demo track and old aliene, but there was really nothing there to warrant such hopes lolol. 

Another band opening their song with a generic chuggachug pattern.
 
Fascinating.

He may not have permission from the photographer to post the photo yet. Sometimes that's an issue if they are still in the proofing stages.

Got this e-mail today. It's the latest update about the album:
 

I'm excited to hear toshi with kyo!