jduv86

[track list]
01.凍る太陽と追憶の烙印(kooru taiyou to tsuioku no rakuin)
02.グルグル。(guruguru)
 

 

 
 
btw they will hold their presents live "FeasT Of thЭ ЯeturninG" at Shinjuku RUIDO K4 at 2014/08/13 and their one-man live "fortune" at Ikebukuro BLACK HOLE at 2014/12/16
 

With TenTen coming back in My Bacterial Heat Island, which band prior do you think is better? I'm not including Hanamuke or Kiss My Way. They don't have enough material and Tenten really wasn't brought to light in any of those groups as much as CP and Kurt so it's a fight between those two.
 

CHEMICAL PICTURES:



 

Kurt:



 
This is tough. I think Chemical Pictures had some extremely cool instrumentals and I believed they kept up the interest with every release until they ended. Kurt had some amazing songs in the beginning but at the end, they started to slack and the songs were lacking the awesomeness they started with. However, I have to go with Kurt because I believe the song writing was better in that band and I think TenTens voice was perfect in that era. I still have most of Kurt's discography on my computer because the songs were more addictive then anything Chemical Pictures put together. Even though I liked the instrumentals of CP, I felt like every song was just missing a little something that would have taken it over the edge though I can't place my finger on it. Kurt never missed a mark. Even when they were starting to go down hill, it was only at the end and it didn't overshadow the sheer awesomeness they unleashed already. Kurt FTW.

With TenTen coming back in My Bacterial Heat Island, which band prior do you think is better? I'm not including Hanamuke or Kiss My Way. They don't have enough material and Tenten really wasn't brought to light in any of those groups as much as CP and Kurt so it's a fight between those two.
 

CHEMICAL PICTURES:



 

Kurt:



 
This is tough. I think Chemical Pictures had some extremely cool instrumentals and I believed they kept up the interest with every release until they ended. Kurt had some amazing songs in the beginning but at the end, they started to slack and the songs were lacking the awesomeness they started with. However, I have to go with Kurt because I believe the song writing was better in that band and I think TenTens voice was perfect in that era. I still have most of Kurt's discography on my computer because the songs were more addictive then anything Chemical Pictures put together. Even though I liked the instrumentals of CP, I felt like every song was just missing a little something that would have taken it over the edge though I can't place my finger on it. Kurt never missed a mark. Even when they were starting to go down hill, it was only at the end and it didn't overshadow the sheer awesomeness they unleashed already. Kurt FTW.

woot! It seems like they will be putting out music as fast as Chemical Pictures did. 

The whole band is like Serial-killer-kei for some reason, which is fucking great
such good news, I'm really happy they mounted a good amount of material before launching
SO EXCITED

yasssss @ tenten inventing lumberjack-kei to save this stagnating genre

Like everyone else said, this is just ok which is sad to me because everyone knows I'm Tenten's bitch basically. He has been my favorite VK singer since Kurt. I will follow that man through everything. That being stated, here we go:
 
1. I don't mind brutal at all, but I feel this is kind of forced and repetitive after awhile. Also, I'm all about melodic unexpected choruses, but this one really seems to just pop out of no where and doesn't seem to fit in the song. It is a catchy chorus though. Some parts of the song, it seems like Tenten is straining... 3/5
 
2. Another brute....very similar to the 1st song, but this seems to flow better and the singing doesn't seem so forced. I love how Tenten sounds in this song. If he's going for this style of music now, I think this nails it really well. Didn't go overboard with brutality for no reason...really thought they were going to pull a standard chug fest for the breakdown, but I like what they did instead. Catchy, nice overall flow....nothing special, but still a really good song overall. 4/5
 
3.  a 3rd brute, but a very interesting main riff with the glitch effect or is that a delay effect? ...this song is probably the most stand out song. Lots of interesting ideas put together to form an unique song and unlike the other songs, this doesn't repeat as much. I like how the instrumental in the chorus seems to be restrained a little. Decent song. 3.5/5
 
4. finally a little lighter melody. I like like songs like this. It reminds me of songs like Kurt's "Sweet Lemon Broker" or CP "Reincarnation", etc, etc...these like melodic rock songs. However, unlike the ones listed, this isn't on par with them. It's nice, but nothing special. Just good. 3/5
 
Pros:
- Tenten's back in action!
- I heard some really cool drumming going on!
- Not a bad song on here
- Catchy
 
Cons:
- Nothing really stands out
- Tenten sounds strained in some parts of the song
- Lots of repetitiveness outside of chorus...
 
Overall: 3/5 Just enough to make me happy with it until they start unleashing some mega monster singles like they did for Chemical Pictures, if they go that route release wise. I hope they do release quickly like Chemical Pictures because they found a great way to release frequently AND still make quality songs. A promising start.  

BAND BATTLE

 

LYCAON

 



 

VS.

 

CALMANDO QUAL

 



 

 

Which one is your favourite and why? Figured we'd get these band battles started up again!

THIS. I would love to see GazettE give us a mini nowadays.

I agree so much! Gazette, Screw, etc, etc, all of them just need to do some minis lol

While I agree with the general consent here in that 'showing off' and exaggerating things is an important element of visual kei I've had that feeling a couple times.
A solo that feels out of place and does more for the bandmember playing it than for the song as a whole.
Or pvs that feel a bit awkward because they are more like showcases for how fast everyone can play while making cute faces.

I agree with most people in that showing off is basically the essence of visual kei. Did it not start out with 'visual shock'? If VK bands are trying to be dramatic and impress the crowd, that pretty much marks them as VK to me. Even when I've seen super indie bands who don't even have a single out they're giving off this same flair and that's what makes the scene what it is. If I saw a visual band and they just stood in place and performed I would be somewhat unimpressed (even if the music was of a high standard).
 
Although there's obviously a point where you can objectively criticize a song by looking at its composition or its individual parts, and there are times where solos are not really necessary, a lot of these comments seem more likely to be coming from people who simply don't like the music (or occasionally even just the band in question). And to those people I say, find something else to listen to.

I've only heard that phrase when applied to (not visual kei) metal artists and I'm personally conflicted on how I feel about those statements. On one hand, I have a personal preference for music where overly elaborate or drawn-out guitar solos are not the main focus, but when it comes to metal or similar genres, guitar solos have been pretty much all about "showing off." It's supposed to get the audience pumped up, get the adrenaline racing, and to be dramatic, loud, and aggressive as possible. 
 
I think as long as the "larger picture" of the song is good, then it doesn't really matter to me, but if you're just slapping guitar solos together and don't really have a strongly overall written song going for you, you just make people bored after a while. I think that's really what people mean when they say things like that. 

ugh Nirvana stans are worst than the bee hive
 
I thought Yngwie was slept on because he writes good solos, but he has an issue with making his music interesting to listen to in other aspects? From the few songs I've heard of his, that seemed to be the case: soloing was great, but the rest of the track, with the exception of few cool bass lines, was pretty much on par with having a human metronome playing with him. For example: 
 
 
 
 
My ~*~biggest issue~*~ with the kind of soloing I mentioned earlier is when it's blatant that there's a guitar solo put in because "that's what you're supposed to do in a rock song!!!!" I really don't care if it's sweeping arpeggios or weird bending noises or scratchy static effects or if it's super simple--a solo doesn't have to be Hizaki-tier for me to like it. However, when it's uninspired, fairly out of place, and monumentally short (insert generic vkei w / 8 second solo here) then it's more of a problem. That problem isn't  them "trying too hard": like Zess said, the problem is that they aren't trying enough. I get that the point of vkei is to sell an image, which is why there is, more often than not, always 5 member bands even if you clearly don't need 2 guitar parts any of their songs (or when there are 4~6 guitar lines going on at once for some feedback-kei couture), but at least try to come off as less uninspired???
 
It's amazing that a scene that has the platform to do virtually anything in terms of image or genre flat out just doesn't lmao; but that's a different discussion that strays from this topic. 

I've noticed that sometimes when someone hears a song on here by particular bands, they say some of the members are just showing off. Can't remember who, but someone said this in regards to Kazuki of SCREW..I think something like "we get it, you can play guitar"...something of that nature. And it has also been said about Mia in Mejibray. What do you think? When does it cross the line between showing your skill and looking cool while doing it to just showing off?

This year so far has been dominated for me by Kpop
 
Park Ji Yoon "Inner Space"
Akdong Music "Play" album
2ne1 "Crush" album
Jay Park "Metronome"
Block B "Jackpot"
Got7 "Got It?" mini
MBLAQ "Broken" mini
Louie (Geeks) "Inspiration" album
Swings "Fallin'"
AOORA "Body Party"
EXO "Overdose"
LOCO feat Crush "Hold Me Tight"
Troy "Green Light"
 
Japanese:
Nocturnal Bloodlust DVD
Mejibray DVD
Girugamesh best of album
mflo "Future is Wow"
Mejibray "Raven" 
BABY METAL album
Dazzle Vision "FINAL ATTACK"
xtripx "10+1"
 
Other: 
Issues album

Currently obsessed with: 少年記 - ガゼルバベル
I'm actually obsessed with this band in general, but I'll just talk about their newest single.
 
It was love at first listen. When I watched the 40 second PV preview, I had to play it another 30 times. I'm terrible with wording, but just those 40 seconds made me realize that this was essentially something I wanted to hear for the longest time. It felt familiar, but new; generic but unique all at the same time. The buildup to the chorus is just beautiful and the actual chorus is just WOW. I never bought anything so fast. It was like 20 mins after first hearing the preview, I went on CDJapan and bought that shit asap.
 
So as soon as I started listening to the full version of the song, I was like "lolwhatisthis?" The intro is:
 
 
I go to the top of the Tower of BABEL with my GAZELLE.
It have two pairs of horns with "emotion".
Sleep in my mind...
I go to the top of the Tower of BABEL with my GAZELLE
 
in my fate.
 
 
 
I felt awkward for like 5 seconds and I was over it. I kinda feel like it doesn't fit with the rest of the song but it's used to end the song as well so...idk. It sounds like some weird Engrish pop intro and upon my first listen, I wasn't into it. As of right now, It doesn't really bother me but I think the song could do without that but then again, I don't know shit so   Rest of the song is breathtaking. The guitar play and the solo makes me sweat. I wasn't expecting there to be screams/growls because the preview sounded so beautiful and angelic but I'm totally into them so it doesn't really matter. THAT CHORUS THOUGH UGH   I don't really know what the concept is for the song since I don't know Japanese but in the PV, there's a gazelle, the tower of Babel, and the vocalist and his clone(?) which is a shadow of himself I'm guessing. Basically, I feel like it's about inner conflict and battling with "yourself" which is hot. Biblical references in songs are hot too.   This band doesn't have a drummer so it makes me think "What would they sound like with an actual drummer? Better? Worse?"  I like how they sound now without one.    

titles of their 2 new albums are finalized as "風神界逅(fuujinkaikou)" "雷神創世(raijinsousei)"
 

it is announced at MEJIBRAY 3rd anniversary that their new maxi single "シアトリカル・ブルーブラック(theatrical blue black)" will be released at 2014/09/24 (3 TYPE)
 
limited edition TYPE A (2,160yen) will include CD+DVD (including "シアトリカル・ブルーブラック(theatrical blue black)" PV), limited edition TYPE B (1,944yen) will include CD+DVD (including tour documentary), and regular edition (1,620yen) will include CD only
 
[CD track list]
01.シアトリカル・ブルーブラック(theatrical blue black)
02.BI"name"JIKA
03.HATE (included in regular edition)

TenTen forever and always! The sample sounds decent! 

The song is really nice, but...yeah, the PV doesn't really fit the song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAMJFn91wbU

WIsh all bands would do more mini-albums/EPs than full length ones.

FROM ADAM ON DOWN new album "FORBIDDEN FRUIT" will be released at 2014/07/04 (2,376yen)
 
[track list]
01.鼓動(kodou)
02.STARS
03.Time is over
04.雪月歌(setsugekka)
05.Not Alone
06.闇に浮かぶ月が照らした夜は...(yami ni ukabu tsuki ga terashita yoru wa...)
07.LIFE
08.インダストアライヴ(indust alive)
09.マイリアリティ(my reality)
10.GOD EATER
11.Analyzer
 

New look: