Kaleidoscope

Well, I can understand when some people don't like the sound of that technique, but why should it be false? oo It's nearly as loud as clean singing and can sound very aggressive at times and actually lots of western vocalists use it too, prominent examples are Trivium and recent Bullet For My Valentine. I think the most annoying thing is that it makes you sound just like any other screamer, probably one of the reasons why most metalcore vocalists sound the same since they use fry I think there are some exceptions though, I'm pretty sure that the guy of Ensiferum uses the technique too for example - not sure since I don't really listen to them, but he sounds good imo.

Doesn't the guy of GREGORY use lots of distortion? It's been a while since I listened to them, but it sounded kind of weird as far as I remember

I guess I will only buy the limited edition of the Best Of, not enough many for the DVD :/

Tracklist is awesome, so much better than IMMORTAL.

I don't think they will disband by the way, if Hizumi recovered his voice there's no reason for them to stop and I'm pretty sure he will find a way to fully get back his voice

To that growling discussion: There is definetely a technique to prevent damage on your vocal chords, fry screaming is not more dangerous than clean singing, every singing teacher who knows about that vocal style can tell you that - you don't need this damaging and healing stuff for that, it's just a natural sound you can produce with your vocal chords, most people just don't know about it. Hazuki and Ai use that technique for example. Most VK singers just scream without any technique though, i don't think many of them even use the whispering thing.

Don't know if i already stated my favorites, but i really like Hizumi's screams (although i'm not sure what technique he uses) and also the deeper growls Yuuki from UnsraW although he sounds really crappy at times. Kyo's live growls are pretty cool too, but well, most people don't count Dir En Grey as VK anymore, so i guess he doesn't belong in here.

Well, i think 2010 has been a pretty good year for releases - although i have to agree that there are not many outstanding VK albums so far.

Japanese

envy - recitation

D'espairsRay - MONSTERS

9GOATS BLACK OUT - Tanatos

Heaven In Her Arms Paralesene

Fear, And Loathing In Las Vegas - Dance And Scream

Versailles - JUBILEE

-OZ- - Rouge

SEVEN IDIOTS by World End's Girlfriend is also worth mentioning, but didn't actually blow me away.

Non-Japanese

Her Name Is Calla - The Quiet Lamb

Bring Me The Horizon - There Is A Hell, Believe Me I've Seen It, There Is A Heaven, Let's Keep It A Secret

Lantlôs - .neon

Alcest - Écailles De Lune

Poets Of The Fall - Twilight Theater

Agalloch - Marrow Of The Spirit

The Man-Eating Tree - Vine

Gnaw Their Tongues - L'Arrivée De La Terne Mort Triomphante

Odori - Gathering Lines

Vulture Industries - The Malefactor's Bloody Register

Anathema - We're Here Because We're Here

Some Are Gods - Demo 2010

Kamelot - Poetry For The Poisoned

Intronaut - Valley Of Smoke

Probably forgetting lots of stuff, but those are the ones i can remember right now.

/edit: Before i forget:

(V.A.) Whom The Moon A Nightsong Sings

This.

Doesn't sound half as bad as Nega imo - Jin still sounds pretty bad, but it's at least better than his horrible vocal performances with his main band plus the scream in the chorus doesn't sound too bad.

But the main question is: Didn't Kisaki talk about a musical "revolution"? ;D

I never play video games without the original game music. The music and sounds tends to be such a huge part of the game so not listening to it takes away half the fun of the game, which in my eyes suck.

Pretty much this. Only excepetion are some random free mmorpgs i tried since i don't really concetrate on the atmosphere there anyway.

Well, i said "more experimental", and more experimental than Kyuutai is pretty easy to achieve

Unfortunately i have to agree though, after listening to the samples a few times there are surprisingly few songs which seem to have potential, most parts sound really uninspired. Waiting for the full songs before i judge, but my expectations are really low after this.

Looking forward to your upload byou!

Previews sound REALLY weird though, didn't expect that much electro. But it's certainly an interesting approach, something more experimental was really needed after Kyuutai.

Polaris sounds really awesome, i think that song just restored my hopes for the new album

Good news, Gantzfeld was pretty good. Still love Loki's voice, Sugar definitely was one of the best Nagoya bands out there.

Of course i will take criticism as long as it's not the typical "You suck"-attitude and since you told me what you don't like about our performance, i appreciate it

I understand what you mean, i already knew those songs and of course the vocalists and agree on the stuff about emotion - i for example love the really old D'espairsRay works because Hizumi sings incredibly emotional although he had no idea about technical stuff. But i guess i will stick to what my singing teacher told me: There are three steps to become an amazing vocalist, the first one is all about the standard stuff like breathing etc, the second is getting a good technique and the third one is of course putting all your emotion into the song, only then it's really awesome. It's true when you say that some vocalists are really good without any technique and just emotion, but yeah, i want to sound badass AND emotional I don't expect that i already am, but i'm trying my best and only with criticism i can achieve my goal - i know i have some talent since i have a pretty good range and my voice sounds pleasant to many people's ears (which is of course a subjective thing), but that alone is not enough to really improve, so yeah, looking forward to your opinion when you listened to my new songs

About the song itself: I don't hate the song or something, it's just not a song i listen to and think "Whoa, that was awesome.". The others like the song and i liked the idea of covering it since it's kinda fun to have collaboration, even if the result is not too amazing - i had fun doing this, so i don't regret participating here. I had no problem with the song by the way, it's not hard to sing and perfectly within my range if you meant that with your part about forcing my voice.

But yeah, the next songs will of course be some of those i really like. Just in the case you're interested, this is a much older recording of me: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXzgh38gpVM

I was pretty bad if it comes to technical terms (Well, i didn't take singing lessons back then and just tried to do my best ;D), but yeah, this is a song where i can honestly say i put lots of emotion into. Please ignore my weird movements, i'm really uncomfortable in front of a camera and had no idea what i'm doing

So yeah, i have no problem with you criticising my or my friend's singing, i won't bitch as long as you explain what you don't like about it It's cool to see that some people look into the musicians corner since it isn't very popular on TW and most people don't leave a comment, so i'm looking forward to your comments on my future stuff.

Thank you for the feedback!

It's okay when your criticism is harsh, it's the only way we can improve I'm not too happy with the falsetto either, the guy who mixed the whole song was supposed to put that voice on a really low volume, but well, you heard the result.

The one who sang Kaya's part just started singing and has tenor voice, so he really had to force his voice into those low notes, i think it's okay for a beginner

Don't agree with the thing about emotionless and unnatural though - i can only speak for myself, but i didn't force my voice at all, that's just the way it sounds. It's possible that i didn't put too much emotion in it though, but well, i can't really identify with the song and therefore have some problems with it.

@Mono2: This VK-image stuff is not my style at all, but one of the members wanted the whole concept to be like that, so i agreed. I was the only one who didn't take a VK-photo and i don't feel comfortable with "Kazuya" at all, so i guess you see my point I don't blame the others for that though, if that's what they like, it's alright.

Thank you for your criticism again, i would really appreciate it when you comment on my solo songs too if i post some soon!

I finally did a new vocal cover, together with Seiji (who's on TW too) and Kazumi. It's my first attempt to cover something after taking singing lessons and i think you can hear some improvement Hope you enjoy it, covers of Serenade by Versailles and Every Me Every You by Placebo will follow soon.

I did Kamijo's part btw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLG5KZ6dbU8

Yeah, the show in Bochum was beyond amazing, so much energy! Here is the full setlist for everyone who's interested. Five tracks of [Coll] (Abel To Cain!) and Reddish, so glad i got to see them again before their hiatus The prices for the merchandise were cool too, loving the hoodie ;D

Well, everybody who knows anything about singing techniques should hear that Hizumi does his job quite well, he rarely does unhealthy stuff to his voice. He did some dangerous things in the early days of the band, but it's obvious that his technique was very good on MIRROR and REDEEMER, maybe even on [Coll]. I'm pretty sure there are other reasons for his problems, especially since he mentioned he has some kind of rare disease.

Like i already said on last.fm, it's the best decision they could have made although they should have done it right after REDEEMER. He has been struggling with his voice far too long, i really hope he can recover fully since he is my favorite vocalist ever. Hopefully the tour won't affect his voice too much :/ Wishing them good luck and waiting for their return.

Yeah, unfortunately i have to agree. He can't hit those high notes properly anymore and i'm not sure if it's because of his age or because his voice is damaged - i guess it won't be the latter since he always had a pretty good technique, voices just change over time and some vocalists get worse if they don't recover with singing lessons.

Yeah, i think he also did the artwork for Écailles De Lune which is amazing too!

Haha, you got me there Genre is indeed the wrong term for it, i was being too enthusiastic Just like you said, it's more the way they write songs and especially melodies what makes them seem similar - Herbst of Lantlôs even stated in an interview that he and Neige have a very similar style of writing songs. I think the way all those bands combine genres like Shoegaze, Post-Rock and Black Metal is kinda new though, there were Black Metal bands incorporating Post-Rock before, but i would definetely say Les Discrets, Alcest, Lantlôs and Amesoeurs are unique in the way they create their style so far. But yeah, Les Discrets really are quite different from Alcest, there's no doubt about that

Haven't even heard that he creates movies, do you know what kind of he does?

Yeah, i agree with the thing about emotion in his vocals, for me it's more like... My English is lacking the right word for it, i only know it in my own language It's the way his voice sounds, his own identity if you know what i mean - i don't hate his voice, but it just doesn't really meets my taste.

As far as i know he will indeed continue as the drummer of Avengend Sevenfold and some other projects. If i recall correctly, he even said AS is more fun than DT so he decided to leave his old band.

I really like some of DT's stuff, Train Of Thought and Images & Words being my favorites. Imo James is really an amazing singer, especially in their older works his high notes were incredible. But well, i don't think they will ever be the same without Mike.

If you are into Folk Rock, you should also try Subway To Sally, they are great songwriters and have a really unique vocalist.

For more experimental music i would recommend "A.ura und das Schneckenhaus" by Samsas Traum, which is really easy to get into compared to his other works, the level of the language is pretty high though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yTNQ0mUnHM

If only the lyrics matter, also try Stillste Stund, the music is just a way to transport their messages, but again, very high level of language.

Pretty good band, i love this new genre Les Discrets, Alcest etc. are creating although it's getting a lot of hype lately. Their full album is indeed one of the best releases this year, but i prefer the harsher attempt of Neige's bands and don't like the vocals of Les Discrets as much. The cover of the album is epic by the way, Fursy did it himself, didn't he?

The PV for "Ryuushi ni toketenagareru namida to memai no sou ni ranhanshasuru" is amazing, love the atmosphere.

Well. It shouldn't be necessary to state that it is your own opinion every single time you write something on this forum. You don't have to do it on other forums and people understand that you're stating your own opinion, so why is it so damn hard for the people here to understand that people are stating their own opinions? I don't get it.

And the last time I ended my post with "this is my opinion" people started to cry and bitch about it.

Oh come on, not that crap again, this has been said here far too often. If you put it like that, i just gave MY opinion since i'm annoyed by the attitude of people posting "opinions" like "G0r00gamesh suckz!" - i come to forums to discuss things i find interesting and posts like that prevent every interesting discussion. I don't blame people for not writing "IMO", i just prefer them to write opinions with some content. But well, Furik did just do that and i didn't mean to bitch in the first place, so let's get back to topic.

Personally i wasn't to happy with Kyuutai, because although it took a heavier direction from Shion, the MUCC feeling was just not there if you get what i mean - i hate to use that term, but the album sounded really kinda "americanized", which is basically not a bad thing, but i think it just didn't fit MUCC. So actually i would be okay with them trying something different as long as it has more of the band's special sound to it (like Freesia, which was really good), but after a few listens i have to say that Falling Down is lacking that feeling too :/

Of course you can say that they fail at their attempts to try something new, but that's not a fact. There are only few objective criterias if a band's music is good and all three mentioned bands met those since they are decent songwriters and instrumentalists. If you think those bands are not good at what they do now, fine, that's your opinion, but far too many people state their opinions like they were a fact. But eh, nothing new i guess, it's common on the interwebz but sometimes it just annoys me too much

By the way: I also think all three bands lost quality, but they are far from being dead. But hey, that's just my opinion

Oh no, all those bands don't record the same album over and over again, they are all dead

Not too happy with Falling Down though, they could have pulled this off better, but i like the style of the PV, those sunglasses really fit Tatsurou