Furik

I've been using last.fm since 2003 and honestly never encountered problems with scrobbling - whether from computer, phone or tablet. I do know their mobile apps are horrible and outdated with no updates in years. I also know that their customer support and forums are full of unanswered questions and misinformation. I do see the website going downhill. I quit paying for a subscription (despite it being cheap as hell - but that's probably for a reason) about four or so years ago.
 
If the site does end up dying, I need to look for an alternative. I love scrobbling. It's really interesting to see how drastic my musical taste has changed over the years. If there will be an alternative I HOPE TO GOD that I can backup my last.fm scrobbling stats and import them to a new service. I do NOT want to lose all my scrobbles over the years. That would suck so bad.

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

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

g4t3k33p3r
Album
2015.02.09
 
01. 3nt3r
02. w0r1d
03. f13Ld
04. w4rp
05. b0ss
06. v1ct0ry
07. L34v3
 
This is my first album in over 2 years or so. Today I released my new album g4t3k33p3r for free to listen to on YouTube under the moniker digitalmonster. (After some copyright disputes, it'll be up on SoundCloud sometime. It's also available on SoundCloud and Clowdy now too.)
 
It's a 7 track 20 or 30-something minute dive into instrumental dance, chiptune and creepy atmospheric ambience. I tried to sway away from the current EDM sound but it's still somewhat present in some parts of songs (but it's not the main point). I know a lot of the songs are long but please give it a chance. I'm sure you'll enjoy. It's kind of music you could listen to while studying, driving around or relaxing - it's very chill and not heavy at all.
  Streaming Hub: SoundCloud (320kbps) (160kbps) Clowdy (320kbps) last.fm (320kbps)

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

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

..............can we get back on topic???? 

well actual it was 14. anyway it's cool because "Honestly there's no way in hell that I could ever take" what you are saying about One Piece seriously.
 
Well if you'd have followed my words or looked into me you would have known that i was scared this album was going to suck and kill the band for me. It's not "oh it's Lycaon, so the new album is going 10/10 and the best." Yes it's known how much i love this band but the 10/10 is because of the work this blessed album had. The praise, love, and respect i give them is only because they earned it. also if i was so foolish i wouldn't have dissed Yuuki like that.
 
disclaimer: i might have let the other slaves here get to me and say that it was going to be the best, but i didn't  really think and was in the moment
 
Thank you for you words. I'm confident in my opinion but not in my writing, i find it difficult to get my thought into words and the word choice too is tricky.

Nonsense. Like anything else you only get better at writing the more you practice. Everybody says this. Even the OR's said it when they first started out and look how fast they've developed in just a few months. As long as you write once in a while and you're confident in your opinion you will get better. If you ever take the time to go back and read my old reviews, you will see what I mean. And even back then people were saying the same thing you said now.
 

a. It's blackdoll talking about Lycaon. I expected everything to be a 100/10 tbh.
b. One or more of the official reviewers may review this release soon.

Don't want to fight in the thread, and technically this is on topic as it regards the review itself, so:I disagree that someone liking something, or liking something ALOT makes them 'biased' in a way that invalidates them. Does a review or just a view of something have to look for flaws or have some negativity to be valid? BD obviously put time into writing this, and I enjoy reading it even though I don't listen to Lycaon much, as I come here to share my love of VK and other Japanese music.
If people want to write their own reviews and say their piece nothing is stopping them, so I don't see why we should attack the poster.
We got the perspective of a big fan, and we see the album didn't let them down. Now other people can chip in.
Also a review technically does not have to even be a critique, though the terms aren't distinguished as much in journalism.
Hopefully you can see my point of view.

Everyone is biased - blackdoll just has the sense to be open about it. This is the Monochrome Heaven review forum. Not fucking Pitchfork. If you actually READ the review you'd see that they took time in describing every song in detail. This isn't just fan babble.
 
Try again. 

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. 

Is it to hard to believe that they really think the album is that good? 
Your attitude is disgusting.

I announce the launch of the super official MH steam group!!

Join here!

rock culture was in art, now ART's in rock culture, in me!
cling onto residual X relevance, miya sis

I'm rooting for them simply because I'm a huge sucker for entire sentence band names.
 
I was kind of disappointed when ベル's name ended up being just belle instead of that ridiculous paragraph we thought it was at first.

I honestly feel they won't last much longer. Especially since they are all egoistical.

http://youtu.be/TNOVDPeXD9Y
Starts at 32:04.
As much as I find his new music mediocre, I have mad respect for him in everything that he does. He's come a long way from Oresama! He's so adorable in this interview.