filth_y

I love Hiro and all he does musically. Would've hoped he goes back to what he did in early Visage, but i guess those times are long over.
I think the chorus is boring, maybe it will grow on me. But i have to say i get a lot of late NEGA vibes from the look/atmosphere, the PV and partly the sound. Dont know yet if thats good or bad. Really like the "clean" guitar parts. 
Also bassist has cool presence in the video.
 

Yeah, i loved THE MAD SIMPSON, also loved Outrage. Never thought at that point years later i would just often see Saki in Shinjuku or talk to him at Vrzel or Dispina lives  But the stuff he did with XIII Jap or how it was called was just beyond horrible. Lol at the flyers with photoshopped audiences or "major label band" lies.
 
@Takadanobabaalien Never knew about that video, thanks for posting. Since BatAAr seems to be shit tier, i didnt know Saki was Swed

I always thought the first wave of "heavier" vk and that inspired those as Origami, Golbeza, Re:dis etc. was around 2005-2006 with songs by Velvet Nightmare (later DI3SIRAE), Schmelz Cure, It, Since1889, 闇撫, THE RUDIE SATAN PARK, Leviathan and maybe even partly brodiaea or ネガ, followed by Silentline, GREGORY, GremlinS, UnsraW, THE CRIME, ヴェルテクス-Vertex-, etc. etc. etc. and the ones you mentioned plus maybe 20 other bands that disbaneded after 1 live distr. or even without any real CD.
But i think they dont have much in common and are not related to the likes of DIMLIM, Deviloof, etc. who more have influence from western and real "brutal" music?
 
Also i didnt feel JILUKA are brutal at all after seing them live with DIMLIM. Very much straight metal (but only "vk" band in 2017 i've seen where i felt the band knows how to really play their instruments) with some screams and kind/friendly/cute atmosphere live. But i dont know their discography at all (went for DIMLIM which were amazing despite the differences CD/live (damn the guitarist and bass cant play the stuff from CD live :\)), so maybe its me. Also FIXER are more like vk with electro effects for me and not brutal (at least not live; dont like them on CD, so maybe didnt listen enough). I think many bands these days have songs or part in songs that can seem brutal but i wouldnt call the band brutal. Some songs by Dir en grey are also brutal, no? 
 
As mentioned by OP, I also actually think brutal kei was first used more in a way to make fun of certain bands as in writing it br00tal kei like many people hyping Leviathan in 2007 while others were disgusted by the hype. But i do think VkBrutaliaN was in fact the first person i've seen use it seriously some years ago

I always thought the first wave of "heavier" vk and that inspired those as Origami, Golbeza, Re:dis etc. was around 2005-2006 with songs by Velvet Nightmare (later DI3SIRAE), Schmelz Cure, It, Since1889, 闇撫, THE RUDIE SATAN PARK, Leviathan and maybe even partly brodiaea or ネガ, followed by Silentline, GREGORY, GremlinS, UnsraW, THE CRIME, ヴェルテクス-Vertex-, etc. etc. etc. and the ones you mentioned plus maybe 20 other bands that disbaneded after 1 live distr. or even without any real CD.
But i think they dont have much in common and are not related to the likes of DIMLIM, Deviloof, etc. who more have influence from western and real "brutal" music?
 
Also i didnt feel JILUKA are brutal at all after seing them live with DIMLIM. Very much straight metal (but only "vk" band in 2017 i've seen where i felt the band knows how to really play their instruments) with some screams and kind/friendly/cute atmosphere live. But i dont know their discography at all (went for DIMLIM which were amazing despite the differences CD/live (damn the guitarist and bass cant play the stuff from CD live :\)), so maybe its me. Also FIXER are more like vk with electro effects for me and not brutal (at least not live; dont like them on CD, so maybe didnt listen enough). I think many bands these days have songs or part in songs that can seem brutal but i wouldnt call the band brutal. Some songs by Dir en grey are also brutal, no? 
 
As mentioned by OP, I also actually think brutal kei was first used more in a way to make fun of certain bands as in writing it br00tal kei like many people hyping Leviathan in 2007 while others were disgusted by the hype. But i do think VkBrutaliaN was in fact the first person i've seen use it seriously some years ago

I always thought the first wave of "heavier" vk and that inspired those as Origami, Golbeza, Re:dis etc. was around 2005-2006 with songs by Velvet Nightmare (later DI3SIRAE), Schmelz Cure, It, Since1889, 闇撫, THE RUDIE SATAN PARK, Leviathan and maybe even partly brodiaea or ネガ, followed by Silentline, GREGORY, GremlinS, UnsraW, THE CRIME, ヴェルテクス-Vertex-, etc. etc. etc. and the ones you mentioned plus maybe 20 other bands that disbaneded after 1 live distr. or even without any real CD.
But i think they dont have much in common and are not related to the likes of DIMLIM, Deviloof, etc. who more have influence from western and real "brutal" music?
 
Also i didnt feel JILUKA are brutal at all after seing them live with DIMLIM. Very much straight metal (but only "vk" band in 2017 i've seen where i felt the band knows how to really play their instruments) with some screams and kind/friendly/cute atmosphere live. But i dont know their discography at all (went for DIMLIM which were amazing despite the differences CD/live (damn the guitarist and bass cant play the stuff from CD live :\)), so maybe its me. Also FIXER are more like vk with electro effects for me and not brutal (at least not live; dont like them on CD, so maybe didnt listen enough). I think many bands these days have songs or part in songs that can seem brutal but i wouldnt call the band brutal. Some songs by Dir en grey are also brutal, no? 
 
As mentioned by OP, I also actually think brutal kei was first used more in a way to make fun of certain bands as in writing it br00tal kei like many people hyping Leviathan in 2007 while others were disgusted by the hype. But i do think VkBrutaliaN was in fact the first person i've seen use it seriously some years ago

How time flies! Im also one of those coming over from batsu roughly 10 years ago and visting nearly every single day since. Like some, i was actively writing here in the early days but went silent after/leeching and now just post once in a while. Im amazed some people are active here for the same time and im reading their posts since all these years like Ito or Saku. I didnt like that some guys changed their username so i forgot who they were but for me Ramrod, Trombe and Champ213 were legends here that unfortunatly seemed to go away, taking a huge part of this forum for me with them (miss you Trombe!). Shoutout to some guys i remember i havent seen active here anymore like Kagerou, Kuregu, Spike760, DeathlikeS, stylelover, Ichibayo, ed47a, etc.
Some of the core members here left, but those who stayed aged mindly and have put the discussions to a more respectivly atmosphere imo. I think for many the glitter of vk crumbled when they realized how shitty and untalented 90% of all these hyped bands are, be it for live videos on youtube, a lot more people here going to actual lives in japan or just general increase in life experience. Its funny and a little annoying sometimes to read "newer" people hype those bands because of their photoshop pictures or ghost recorded CDs while you've seen how horrible musicians they are irl/at their live, but well. I've been there myself in the early days so let them be and have their fun
 
- I remember the time when you could finally join the old VIP section and just saw an huge amount of (mostly shitty) rare stuff you could finally torture your ears with. What time to be alive.
- I remember drama: Reviews of not yet shared CDs, stuff shared outside old VIP, stuff shared that someone bought at auctions, the person who thought she was robin hood sharing VIP stuff at LJ, etc. etc.
- I remember the hardcore trolls but some seemed to get bored and left. A few stayed but they finally managed to become partly funny for me (or i just got used to it)
- I remember shitty bands like Leviathan, unRuSt or brodiaea hyped to no end. The Death Gate CDs from brodiaea seemed like the holy grail. I feel while the amount of really bad bands and people hyping them decreased you really cant compare bad but well produced bands of these days (e.g. AvelCain) with how bad some were back in the days.
 
Thanks to everyone who keeps this forum alive! Wishing for many more good times and good new bands.
 
 
 
This!
 
 

How time flies! Im also one of those coming over from batsu roughly 10 years ago and visting nearly every single day since. Like some, i was actively writing here in the early days but went silent after/leeching and now just post once in a while. Im amazed some people are active here for the same time and im reading their posts since all these years like Ito or Saku. I didnt like that some guys changed their username so i forgot who they were but for me Ramrod, Trombe and Champ213 were legends here that unfortunatly seemed to go away, taking a huge part of this forum for me with them (miss you Trombe!). Shoutout to some guys i remember i havent seen active here anymore like Kagerou, Kuregu, Spike760, DeathlikeS, stylelover, Ichibayo, ed47a, etc.
Some of the core members here left, but those who stayed aged mindly and have put the discussions to a more respectivly atmosphere imo. I think for many the glitter of vk crumbled when they realized how shitty and untalented 90% of all these hyped bands are, be it for live videos on youtube, a lot more people here going to actual lives in japan or just general increase in life experience. Its funny and a little annoying sometimes to read "newer" people hype those bands because of their photoshop pictures or ghost recorded CDs while you've seen how horrible musicians they are irl/at their live, but well. I've been there myself in the early days so let them be and have their fun
 
- I remember the time when you could finally join the old VIP section and just saw an huge amount of (mostly shitty) rare stuff you could finally torture your ears with. What time to be alive.
- I remember drama: Reviews of not yet shared CDs, stuff shared outside old VIP, stuff shared that someone bought at auctions, the person who thought she was robin hood sharing VIP stuff at LJ, etc. etc.
- I remember the hardcore trolls but some seemed to get bored and left. A few stayed but they finally managed to become partly funny for me (or i just got used to it)
- I remember shitty bands like Leviathan, unRuSt or brodiaea hyped to no end. The Death Gate CDs from brodiaea seemed like the holy grail. I feel while the amount of really bad bands and people hyping them decreased you really cant compare bad but well produced bands of these days (e.g. AvelCain) with how bad some were back in the days.
 
Thanks to everyone who keeps this forum alive! Wishing for many more good times and good new bands.
 
 
 
This!
 
 

the Robot and Lyrics translation blog notes the sources of all the covers on 改造テープ! (virgin blues is listed as a Togawa cover, tho it actually does originate with 野坂昭如; didn't know that 'til now!)

Where Are They Now? (Angura Style)
 
グルグル映畫館 (Guruguru Eigakan): Inactive. Last official release in 2010. The band officially suspended activities back in 2012. Vocalist Amano Tonbimaru passed away due to unknown causes the following year. I think there have been some tribute / memorial concerts in his honor after that, but it's unlikely they'll ever get together again.
 
犬神サーカス団 (Inugami Circus-Dan): Active. Ever since their slight name change in 2012 they've been pretty consistenly productive. They've released 4 full-length albums, 1 mini-album and a compilation album in the last 5 years. 
 
駄菓子菓子 (Dagashi-Kashi):  Active. (I think?) Their last full-length album came out as far back as 2015, but I think they're still around. Using Google Translate, I found out that they've apparently had to cancel some live performances this year due to one of their members' health problems.  
 
ストロベリーソングオーケストラ (Strawberry Song Orchestra): Active. Their last cd came out in 2016, and they seem to have changed their look again since then as well. 
 
SEX-ANDROID: Inactive. Indefinite hiatus started July 19th this year.
 
太平洋ベルト (Taiheiyou Belt): Somehow still active. Despite the fact that it feels like it's been ages since they actually released anything, they're apparently still around and playing lives.
 
メトロノーム (Metronome): Active. Rather unexpectedly released a comeback album in March of this year. Hopefully they'll stick around for a while longer!
 
新宿ゲバルト(Shinjuku Gewalt): Active? Released at least one official single last year after what felt like ages. Who knows what they're up to lmao
 
FLOPPY: ???. Now that Sharaku's busy with Meto and (presumably) GalapagosS, who knows what'll happen to them. It's been a while since they've had any proper releases, but I think they were still performing at least a couple of years ago?
 
cali≠gari: Active. Released a fine-ass album a couple of months ago, check it out if you somehow haven't gotten around to it yet.
 
Here's a little list for starters. Feel free to add to it.

Also don't forget ex-レインマン (Rainman)
The other two guys from said レインマン went also to a new band チョコレエトホリツク (Chocolat holic). They have one song which sounds like early レインマン but also reminded me of ヒトツメ (Hitotsume). So, if these bands can be considered Angura, this would be another new one. But i dont know if they are still active.
I think it's really hard what categorizes correctly, so i like this discussion. For example, the live of ゲバ i mentioned, they play with two totally different acts: ヒロネちゃん and 浜崎容子. Often there can be totally different bands playing together, seemingly totally random.

I saw them "live" last year. Besides being one of the most dissapointing and worst lives i've ever been at, there were quite a lot of people compared to other lives. 新宿LOFT isn't a big live house but it was packed, and everyone obviously only came for ゲバルト. Some fans looked like in their late 30's or even older but also a lot of chubby teenage girls cheering for those 2 otaku oldies on stage, talking random things like "Uhm, hi, uhm, yes" for 15 minutes between playback songs, like they're some super cute idols or something.
They had the single you mentioned but also a lot of other merchandise that seemed to sell well, so i felt they still have it going after all these years? 
The hype around them online is so over the top, its amazing. And i do love to listen to many of their songs on CD, but their actual live, lmao.

'''My dad totally works for Nintendo you guys, I swear!''

Agreed, not be able to even fill Budokan after being around for a whole year is a real disgrace.
 
Also source on that Dir en greys success is due to Yoshiki money. He just produced their major debut singles. Songs which were already written and done by the time he came into the picture, lol.
I feel like all newcomers overestimate his importance to Dir en grey vastly.

Dir is still managed through free will, it was hardly a dramatic separation that needed to be negotiated under the table. I'm just saying that Yoshikis involvement was of marginal importance given their already quickly rising fame at that point. The curve was already pointing in the right direction and he just jumped on the chance to put his brand on another band that was a surefire success.
 
Also, I'm glad you have friends. Keep it up.

Im not sure but to me seems they are just making fun of the whole vk scene with that video and those names and all.

As a person who happened to see 0.1gの誤算 live at an event...
Recommended to people who dont care how shitty the band sounds live and the band members act like DQN/チンピラ/small-time yakuza (or is that what the Yandere description meant?) and possibly be physically attacked. Nothing cute and definitly nothing innocent about them.

As a person who happened to see 0.1gの誤算 live at an event...
Recommended to people who dont care how shitty the band sounds live and the band members act like DQN/チンピラ/small-time yakuza (or is that what the Yandere description meant?) and possibly be physically attacked. Nothing cute and definitly nothing innocent about them.

How are they doing lately? 
I always feel they are one of the most underated bands i've ever seen in V系. 
Im not even a huge fan of them - but i think objectively they are one of the most skilled musicians in their genre, constantly putting out flawless releases, great live shows.. why they all just have around 5k twitter followers?

I wasn't sure where to put this so please move it if it's better suited for another subforum!

There was a relatively interesting article on e-aidem interviewing the chief manager of the Tokyo likea branch about why VK cd shops continue in an age where CD purchases are on the decline. It's not every day there's an actual article on VK as a whole and their conversation was more interesting than I expected so I wanted to translate it for anyone who might be interested.

I only included the pictures that helped in the understanding of what was being discussed and the only text here is the actual interview and not the blog-ish portions about the interviewer's visit, but you can see the full article here.

H: Ai Hinishi, the interviewer
M: Matsumoto, chief manager of Likea Tokyo
 
 

Hope this was interesting to someone... I was unaware of the history of the store as a UK rock shop.
 
 

Im really sure 初潮 intro/main is from a famous 90's/00's western popsong. Cant remember atm, anyone else help out? Is this supposed to be a cover song? Edit: Was thinkin of Robert Miles - Children (searched "best technopop songs 00s" in youtube and 2nd video was the one i searched haha)

Listen to the new mini the disbanding becomes really more of a shame. Those rerecording are really good.
New version of 秋入梅 reminds me of some of those early/mid 00's jazzy eroguro songs like when ムック or メリー used to be good.
The single is also better than the samples made me think.
 
What makes you think so? Nearly all songs were written by 孝浩.
 
But i do support the idea of the label/staff/management being a big reason for the disbanding. Looking at the OHP from RINrecords i see some bigger band/solo names showing up, maybe they weren't ready yet and wanted to take a step back?
 
But I also do think we will see the members soon again. Definitly 三好健 and 孝浩.

True  But only first and last as far as i know.
秋入梅 was a live distr. I didnt like the song at first/was really dissapointed when i listened to it, its some jazzy like song. Maybe the rerecording will sound better, instrumental sound is much better/more jazzy in the sample. The live distr. was kinda bad recording.
 

I would say that especially in vk, studio albums say NOTHING, really NOTHING about the band. I've seen so many bands that were great on CD utterly bad live to the point that they could not play the most easiest riffs live. Others that i did not like on CD had amazing shows with great onstage personality. (DVD/Bluray lives dont matter to "have seen a band live" IMO).
Its true that oversea fans can mostly only critize on CD sound, photoshop images, DVD, PV, etc. but its cool to see that the awarness of how bad most bands are increases due to more oversea people visiting lives in japan/more japanese people writing on here. Maybe more and more people that dont then will understand how unimportant their opinion can be (if opinios are important at all, opinions are still opinions). Just dont know whats more unimportant than an oversea fans opinion who doesnt visit their lives.
 

is this hairstyle cool again? I see people wearing it.

Yep. They don't care, and yes especially for indie bands, most of their income comes from lives/merch sales.
 
Somehow people seem to confusing "in the big scheme of things your opinion doesn't really matter if you aren't a part of the scene" with "omg some elitist said I can't listen to/enjoy VK/ever have an opinion".
 
It's kind of like Miley Cyrus wanting people to care about her opinion on hip hop. She's free to do so, but nobody's going to giving it much weight, irrelevant of how much she may or may not be a fan of hip hop, how many CDs she owns, etc. because it's not based on anything credible.