Jigsaw9

So what did you guys think of Grieva's new single?
 
Personally, I'm lovin' it! (no surprise, lol) ...well, actually it's more like I didn't expect these two songs to be such high quality with that speed they're churning out releases lately but my fears were quickly swept away when the opening guitars of the first track rang out. This one is a pretty tame and fun melodic song with lots of energy and feeling throughout - from the catchy chorus to the appropriate guiar solo and subtle synths (and even some acoustic guitarplay) in the background. Very tastefully done, I'm impressed! The SE track is nothing special of course but it's a decent separating border between the two distinctly contrasting tracks. Here comes the darker stuff... it's pretty wild and has that awesome "spinning out of control" atmosphere that is so characteristic of Grieva's more manic numbers. It's a solid track with a simple but fitting chorus. All in all, Sei to shi is quite a kickass single that is also a bit too compact - but at least it seems to have some sort of concept running through it, making it a cohesive whole. Nice job!
 
| another cool release, if only it were a bit longer~

So what did you guys think of Grieva's new single?
 
Personally, I'm lovin' it! (no surprise, lol) ...well, actually it's more like I didn't expect these two songs to be such high quality with that speed they're churning out releases lately but my fears were quickly swept away when the opening guitars of the first track rang out. This one is a pretty tame and fun melodic song with lots of energy and feeling throughout - from the catchy chorus to the appropriate guiar solo and subtle synths (and even some acoustic guitarplay) in the background. Very tastefully done, I'm impressed! The SE track is nothing special of course but it's a decent separating border between the two distinctly contrasting tracks. Here comes the darker stuff... it's pretty wild and has that awesome "spinning out of control" atmosphere that is so characteristic of Grieva's more manic numbers. It's a solid track with a simple but fitting chorus. All in all, Sei to shi is quite a kickass single that is also a bit too compact - but at least it seems to have some sort of concept running through it, making it a cohesive whole. Nice job!
 
| another cool release, if only it were a bit longer~

So what did you guys think of Grieva's new single?
 
Personally, I'm lovin' it! (no surprise, lol) ...well, actually it's more like I didn't expect these two songs to be such high quality with that speed they're churning out releases lately but my fears were quickly swept away when the opening guitars of the first track rang out. This one is a pretty tame and fun melodic song with lots of energy and feeling throughout - from the catchy chorus to the appropriate guiar solo and subtle synths (and even some acoustic guitarplay) in the background. Very tastefully done, I'm impressed! The SE track is nothing special of course but it's a decent separating border between the two distinctly contrasting tracks. Here comes the darker stuff... it's pretty wild and has that awesome "spinning out of control" atmosphere that is so characteristic of Grieva's more manic numbers. It's a solid track with a simple but fitting chorus. All in all, Sei to shi is quite a kickass single that is also a bit too compact - but at least it seems to have some sort of concept running through it, making it a cohesive whole. Nice job!
 
| another cool release, if only it were a bit longer~

bootyfuru desu

butt Beautiful

bootyfuru desu

I'll try to give some kind of report of the show they're playing tomorrow after I get back.

Single preview:
 


 
pretty naisu

You're supposed to listen to it upside-down.

Dude, the first article you're linking is from 2 days ago but the second one is... from 2001? lol
 
Anyway, I wouldn't be too concerned just yet about the virus since we're all living in highly developed countries. Ebola spreads via direct contact with bodily fluids like blood or saliva, and in a natural everyday situation it cannot spread so easily if you're being careful (not even with water or other fluids) -- as far as I've heard anyway. It sure is a vile disease tho.
 
By the way, there is one ebola patient now in the US but that's only because s/he got it in Africa as a US citizen and doctors thought s/he might have a better chance of treatment in the USA.

SCREAMO / EMO
 
SCREAMO / EMO
 
SCREAMO / EMO
 
S̢̥̱̘̼͓̯̤̹͒̓̕ ̡̲̤̓́͊ͤ͗͠C̺̳͎̮͖͉̠͕ͥ͘ ̵̟̻͍̣͕̩̹̹̲̀̐̈̅͐͐ͨͯR̰͕͔̆̓͌͞ͅ ̞͔̫̎̈́ͩÊ̙͍͙̲̗̔͢ ̢̩̝͕̝̤̣̭̄̓͘A̖͚͈͙̘̥ͭ̀ͭͬ͂̄͠͡ ͍̖͎̪͛M͍̙̦̬͔̯̐͐̓̓̄ͯ̒͂͟͡͠ ̵̵̭̩͍͙͎ͩ̄͡Ọ̵̥̤ͥ͗̒͟͢ ̤͔̞͕̙̩̫̠̓͐͑͒ͅ/̷̢ͭͭͧ̀ͯ҉̘̝͈̞̰̺ ̶͍̱̦̳͇̋ͬ̈̓̽͋̒ͮE̸͓̺̩̘̮͚͐̈̐̀ͅ ͓͙͙͉͑̌ͫ̔̃͌́M̵̡͙̙̹̰͚ͥͤͯͪ ̝̹̓ͧ̂ͭ̒͝Ỏ̱̫̹̫͍̤̱̼̄̋͘ͅ
 
 
 
This just keeps getting worse. That's a weak attempt at trying to pretend they're not visual-kei while simultaneously trying to sell this crap to the same fan base. Isn't the mishmash of metal-core with synth-pop called pico-core or something? I thought there was a special name for bands like Newbreed or My Eggplant Died Yesterday.

Apparently THE DOGUU ALBUM will be released in 2014 autumn and will contain 7 tracks.
 
[track list]
01.THE DOGUU SONG
02.THE GHOST SONG
03.BOYS
04.MY LUCIFER
05.THE FUNERAL SONG
06.THE UNKNOWN
07.WOO PEE HAA PEE
 
New band pic btw: http://munimuni.ciao.jp/profile.htm
 
Dang it Munimuni why u gotta have one old song in there too?! XD Anyway, I'm immensely happy.

should I post this in a DIR EN GREY thread?
 
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BuG5WrtCMAA5mNX.jpg:large

Arlequin are pretty listenable, I gotta give them that. They sound rather professional and polished even for being a fairly newbie band. With that said, this release isn't anything special. It lacks any kind of 'flavor' for me to associate them with - rather it sounds like some whatever-band who are competent in what they do but no more.
 
Track-1's trying-to-be-heavy parts annoy me but other than that it's a pretty okay song (even if I swear I heard that chorus melody a few times in the past). Track-2 has a nice chunky riff that I could get into but it's way too similar to their previous superior song Zou - I'm afraid it's kinda like how GazettE always has one HEADACHE MAN-like track in their releases after DIM, lolol (hopefully it won't become a pattern here). Otherwise it's decent too and the chorus is a nice redeeming touch. The last track is pretty forgettable albeit well-put-together - this seems to be somewhat of a theme of this band. Not annoying or abrasive but nothing I'd remember for more than the runtime of the song.
 
Compared to the rest of the indies-vk scene and their peers this is pretty cool. In itself, it's just painfully average.
 
| not bad, it's worth at least a listen

I have to be high to be able to listen to this...

dammit, their goes my hopes of a VK band that plays stoner metal.

D.I.D. Vo.茜(akane) has attended band studio rehearsal at 2014/08/02

http://www.slipknot1.com/
 
ayyy new song is out! Pretty bangin' if you ask me. Beginning totally brought back debut album vibes, haha.

Rad stuff, man!

FINALLY!
 
Dir en grey - GAUZE

 
It's time for some fresh views on essential pieces of VK/J-rock (sry) history! And what do we have here:
The (major) debut album of DEG - and pretty much their most popular album in the scene...or WAS at least (I didn't research much about popularity amongst certain J-releases).
Either way, the most atypical thing I am going to do here is "a goal" (which most reviews are not in a need for tbqh) - to knock on cliched claims concerning GAUZE that have passed
from one generation to another (as in "older j-rock fans" (~2006) to "newer ones" (2006~)), for eg. "the poppiest DEG album ever", "the safest DEG album ever" etc. So get prepared!
 
The first thing to mention is the fact that how they emphasize their members' skills in a whole album - there's room for guitarists their rhytmic co-operation
and jamming ("Raison Detre", "Mask"), bassist with powerful bass tone and complex riffing ("Yokan", "Cage", "304") and of course a small spotlight for band's drummer ("304"). I think this is a good way
to introduce a whole band's talent to newcomer in minutes or so - and I dare to say that this is unfortunately the only DEG album where this trait is "emphasized" 
(for instance, "WtD" almost isolated rhythmic players out of the mix). Thumbs up!
 
"Poppy" is an adjective that tarnishes listeners' expectations and lets GAUZE stay quite overlooked in most occasions - and for no reason. Like most people, who were involved with DEG for years, I am very aware
of the fact that DEG was always "abrasive" albeit constantly changing. For eg. The combo of Intro and "Schwein no Isu", "Mazohyst" and "Zan" are not "contextless tracks" at all, no - 
those and other non-single tracks are, in fact, the *actual* "main content" (= the sound that the album is supposed to revolve around). To support this statement, let's check out on album's build:
*MC = "Main Content" 
 
intro - MC - breather - MC - MC - breather - MC - MC - breather - MC - MC - breather/finale - outro
 
Of course, as you can hear it in certain MCs and breathers - "radio-friendly" accessibility is highly noticeable.It's accessible album if we rush a bit with my former comments, yes - 
but as I pointed it out already, GAUZE's main focus is not on the breathers at all, but on the dirty, old school vk rock worshiping, frantic rock sound with various influences thrown in 
(Kuroyume, Luna Sea, Vasalla - to name a few) instead. Take a note of songs they play off this album post-Blitz 5 days, and you will notice what I am talking about. 
 
Rambling aside, my actual views: thanks to its simple build - and figureable concept, or "the main content", I found myself liking and listening to this album more than to other releases. Many songs might 
feel quite apart to each other style-wise (newcomers hardly won't even try to tie such songs like "Mask" or "Akuro no Oka" into the same album), but they sure knew what to do with the flow - 
and kudos to them! I like how daring experiments were handled along the way, without radically weirding out on listener - cases in point, varying signatures role-wise in "Raison" and "MASK" + 
probably "intentional" offbeat/offkey frenzy in "Zan". Breathers are not bad either and should not be excluded due to bland "poppy"/"safe" statements - I might not be respecting the guy's deeds these days, 
but Yoshiki sure deserves a good pat on his shoulder for taking boys' musical influences and interests into account and "paving a way to the airwaves" without making them turn into total sellouts. It's no
wonder that his productions ended up as instant J-rock classics though - radio-hits, but with a taste! And of course, the high nostalgia value of album's sound (to quote myself: "the dirty, old school vk rock worshiping, frantic rock sound with various influences thrown in") deserves an honorable mention; no wonder that people here and there 
suggest newbies to go with GAUZE whenever it's about "being introduced to old school vk" !
 
Low points of this album in my case would be the small amount of "daringness" in "304" and "Mazohyst" for the most part; the latter is of course supposed to gloom and give some sort of "taboo shock value", 
but nine minutes of Kyo screaming over requiem-y minors is just too much. Thankfully they placed the most accessible song of theirs ("Yokan") after abortfest to give a proper breathing pause, Phew. This is just nitpicking though.
 
Final thoughts: some might assume that "I haven't even reached my goal" or so on - if you read carefully, you should have noticed through my instances that instant genre/mood-spewing is too risky here:
give a few more listens, take a look at my "build scale" I wrote above and think more...don't let the singles fool you when it comes to realizing the actual content. Apply this to some of your classic favorites,
and see it for yourself...
 
 
Some big favs worth mentioning and a rating, go:
 
- Yurameki: the poppy instance of Kaoru and Die's classic, fantastic ways of co-operation (which they don't unfortunately utilize these days)
- Raison detre: interesting rhythmic approach and tasteful ways of using electronics
- Tsumi to Batsu: the bastard child of glam rock reject and noise-y maniac banging? Yes!
- Yokan: very accessible, but at the same time one of the loveliest, hummable songs DEG has ever done
- MASK: odd but cool way to approach ska punk sound + that jam ending
- Zan: something what you might think as a "lousy attempt at thrash metal" suddenly ends up as something ingenious
 
 | It'd be quite dumb to round up "4,75" (minuses for Mazohyst - nitpicking again, I know), so let's make it go that way. Brilliant, classic Japanese music release - a total must for those who want to have "their own bite" on old skwl

lol

Something about a rock saving you and cheese from above?  Sorry, buddy.  You lost me.
 

WING-MEN at 2014/09/20-11/08:
Gt.鳴風(narukaze) (Fo'xTails)
Gt.広末慧(hirosue kei) (MASQUERADE)
Ba.INTETSU (ex-AYABIE)
Ba.Sato (ex-Lc5)
Dr.匠(shou) (ex-UnsraW)
Dr.Aki (Lc5)
 
 
Gt.鳴風(narukaze): all
Gt.広末慧(hirosue kei): all
Ba.INTETSU: 09/20, 09/28, 10/10, 10/12, 10/13, 11/01, 11/02, 11/03, 11/08
Ba.Sato: 09/21, 10/05, 10/18, 10/19
Dr.匠(shou): 09/20, 09/21, 09/28, 10/05, 10/18, 10/19, 11/08
Dr.Aki: 10/10, 10/12, 10/13, 11/01, 11/02, 11/03

Artist: ア​ルルカン Album: 墓穴 Score: Okay paradoxal, you win. Finally.
I could understand if someone glanced at Arlequin, sighed, and thought to themselves "yet more standard pretty boy metalcore". Snazzy looking bands with laughable musical ability are a dime a dozen in this scene, and they all sound the same - like recycled shit sprinkled with preservatives so you won't mind the stench or notice that you've already heard that riff five times this week. It's also understandable that due to the massive waves of shit that lap on the shore constantly that Arlequin flew under your radar. They certainly flew under mine. So, as I girded my loins for part two of really bland metalcore that people adore for reasons I do not understand, I was caught off guard. Imagine my face, then imagine how it would have looked when the first track was a righteous kick in the ass.

At one point I may have even thanked VK Jesus, but don't put me on record as having ever said that.

What sets Arlequin apart from the countless other bands that play this exact type of music are that they're good at it. Or, good enough to impress me. Arlequin is the one in a thousand band that can take electronics and metalcore and construct music that doesn't make me deaf. The last visual kei band capable of that feat was D.I.D., and they've left a void in the scene that Arlequin is both ready to and capable of filling. It's not the Holy Grail of visual kei but it's better than anything I've heard this scene fart out in a while. That in itself is revolutionary. It's also sad that decent has become good and good has become great in this small, inbred scene but this is not the time to bemoan the gradual manufacturing of this type of music. All the other basement-kei no1curr aggressive metalcore bands in Japan that spend more money on make-up and wigs than guitar lessons should pull up a chair and take some notes.

Boketsu is three tracks featuring decently good production, impressive riffs from guitarists intimate with their instruments, and a vocalist who can both growl and sing. The last part alone is what really puts this band on my radar. He can clean up on the technique and watch the inhales before he ruins his voice, but the lack of modulation and the remarkable consistency he displays on all three tracks is great. He reminds me of a Kyouki who is more in control of his voice but he definitely has his own style. He's also charismatic enough to make the aggressive verse - poppy chorus formula work to their favor. There's also enough power and energy in the breakdowns to put them a notch above obligatory, although I can do without them all the time. There's amazing bass presence on both the part of the bassist and the drummer and even the electronics are placed thoughtfully and not slathered all over the place like special sauce on Big Macs. This is solid but not amazing and it's clear where there's room for improvement. As these members make more music together, I expect them to become an even tighter unit.

Arlequin did not overplay their hand here. Halfway through the first track, I had to toss my hat up to them. For a bunch of nobodies, they wrote some solid tunes here. This is confirmation that at least SOMEONE over in the land of the rising sun is playing more than brainless metalcore. Even in 2014, there's room in visual kei for stodgy old heads like me. I look forward to seeing this band move up through the ranks and become semi-influential.

That is, if they don't pull the whole disbandment shuffle before then.