enyx

Do the songs have to include female vocals only or is a mix of male/female vocals in a song okay too (so long as the female vocals are at least as prominent as the male ones)?

Banned for not sleeping or doing coursework.

Confirmed

Enter Shikari - The Mindsweep (even though I'm ambivalent towards ES)

sukekiyo - VITIUM

Not-Confirmed-but-Likely

Ling Tosite Sigure - TBA

THE NOVEMBERS - TBA

the GazettE - TBA 

There are probably a lot more that could go in the second category that I'm forgetting about but eh.

Banned because I have no idea how to pronounce your username. K Triangle? K Delta? Dash K Triangle Dash? *flips table*

Shaheen is honestly the first new character that I actually like the design for in T7. The sword puts me off a little, but other than that he's the most down-to-earth looking. Well, I guess Katarina was too but her design seemed lazy as hell. Hopefully they don't give him a whack fighting style; I know Tekken seems to have been going in that direction lately but I've always preferred the more 'realistic' characters.

Stumbled across these guys earlier today and was pleasantly surprised. They're a Hong Kong based math/post rock group.

THE NOVEMBERS - 今日も生きたね (kyou mo ikita ne)

As far as the general concept goes it's not really anything revolutionary, but there's something about its simplicity and overall execution that I just really like. Having the band members all walk onto the scene separately before meeting up and leaving together as one group is simple yet effective, and it really fits the overall feel of the song rather well in my opinion.

雨のパレード (ame no parade) - ペトリコール (Petrichor)

I'm a sucker for well-executed interpretive dance PVs in general, but this particular one takes the cake for having really good cinematography and scenery to boot.

I actually can't think of many others from this year that stood out to me. 2013 seemed to be full of them but 2014 has felt rather "meh" as far as PVs go in my opinion.

Sorry for not posting in this thread earlier! I hope you guys don't mind if I pick out some of the albums from the list and drop some quick comments on them.

I have to echo CAT5's sentiments regarding TK from 凛として時雨's Fantastic Magic. It's not bad by any means but I can't help but find its more simplistic song-structures and poppy undertones somewhat disappointing overall, especially after flowering which was my favourite album of 2012. I think it says a lot that my favourite work from TK this year has been Acoustic Installation and his remix for sukekiyo. I also have to agree with others that have mentioned the title track being one of the best tracks on the album, as well as unravel's popularity probably stemming from Tokyo Ghoul rather than the song itself.

THE NOVEMBERS really are coming into their own as of late. I find that noisy albums tend to have a habit of either being really good or coming across as too gimmicky without any actual substance. Rhapsody in beauty is definitely is a case of the former and not the latter, and I feel rather comfortable in listing it in my personal top three albums released this year. I also think 今日も生きたね deserves some love; sure it's only a two-track release rather than a full-length but I found both tracks to be very good.

I found HOLLOWGRAM enjoyable but certainly nothing revolutionary. I'd say Qualia is one of the more enjoyable releases of the year but there have definitely been other releases that deserve more praise. Still, I'm interested to see what they put out next so it must have done something right.

As for sukekiyo, they're definitely a band that people either seem to 'get' or 'not get'. That's not to say that people that don't get them are musically inept or anything, it's all subjective in the end. I think one of the main problems is that a lot of people tried to compare sukekiyo to 9GOATS/RES/DIR EN GREY when in reality sukekiyo seems to be going for something rather different to all of those bands; with the similarities being more of a natural by-product of its lineup rather than a direct attempt at emulation. What I enjoyed about IMMORTALIS is that is genuinely comes across as a labour of love more than anything else, and ultimately has a sound that can't be directly compared to anything else out there at the moment - at least not in its entirety. Still, I'll admit that it's definitely not for everyone.

Man, it always has to be with DEG, huh... what a magical band.

 

(don't mind me XD)

They do seem to have some innate ability to act as a catalyst for petty arguments. I feel like Firewall could somehow turn that into some cheesy marketing tool for their next album

Anyway, I wouldn't necessarily consider this to be my 'favourite' performance because I find it really hard to think of one specific performance that I can consider entirely better than the others, but I've always found this version of LOTUS from the 輪郭 DVD to be particularly impactful. It might seem like a weird choice since Kyo's voice is absolutely shot here, but that's precisely why I like it so much; there's something inspiring about watching him continue to put in so much effort while his voice is in such a bad state. 

I'm a little surprised that there isn't a rerecording of 304号室、舌と夜 on there. I thought that, considering they've already remade mama for Immortalis and 304 has pretty much become a staple of their live sets, that a studio remake would have been a no-brainer. Guess not. Also I second Perez's theory that the new song will indeed be titled 雨上がりの優詩.

Anyway, I'll pick up the 'Initial Limited Edition' like I did with Immortalis. Although I don't particularly like the way that the artworks for both of those editions focus solely on Kyo. I know it's mostly 'his' project, but considering how much of an influence the rest of the band have on the compositional side of things it seems a little weird having artwork that makes it look as though it's a pure solo project.

I think "Promotion edit ver." -subtitle should be noted since DEG are quite known for cutting "the best parts" away from such versions (compare: Rinkaku's promotion edit ver.).

Yep, I was thinking about that also. It definitely felt like the ending got cut short.

I've been experimenting with glitch/IDM as of late. I've already tried out Ametsub, mergrim, Geskia!, and cokiyu. I'm particularly fond of the former two so anything else along those lines would be really appreciated.

Sorry for bumping an old-ish thread, but I felt compelled to mention Fightstar's Follow Me Into The Darkness here. I'm actually surprised that I didn't think to mention it the first time 'round. It progresses fantastically from a quiet and reflective piece to a dramatic and cinematic climax, before tastefully finishing off with a lone piano melody that really leaves an impression once the album is over.

Seconding Enter Shikari's Stand Your Ground; This is Ancient Land. Some of my personal favourites off of the top of my head:

ハイスイノナサ - mass

TK from 凛として時雨 - introduction (both for its own introduction and as a complete track serving as the introduction for the rest of the single)

toe - グッドバイ

Dream Theater - Home

I have to agree with Cat here. You can go all the way back to Misstopia, which I personally consider to be the beginning of their transition from a 'slightly-better-than-average' indie band to one of the leading bands in the scene, and still find quite a few unpolished, noisy tracks like Figure 0, Gilmore guilt more, Dysphoria, etc that foreshadow the sort of stuff you hear on Rhapsody in beauty.

Personally I quite like the album with the exception of a couple of tracks, namely tu m' (Parallel Ver,) and 僕らはなんだったんだろう. I actually really like the siren guitar in the title track. Overall I'd say it sits on a similar level to zeitgeist, which is definitely a good thing.

Anyone heard the new きのこ帝国 track? I've never been entirely sure how I feel about this band; on one hand they have a nice blend of styles but on the other hand I don't think they've ever done anything particularly extraordinary to merit the sheer degree of adoration they seem to be generating. That said, however, I do think they've been getting better with each release and there's a sort of 'confidence' in their music lately that I can't help but respect and enjoy.

Romancé PV:

Album artwork:

Source

What's wrong with tefu tefu though? It's a legit, old Japanese word which means "Butterfly"? (Even Plastic Tree had a song with same title...)

 

Other than that, I am curious as always.

 

Edit: I think the album will be more Kisou-based song order-wise tbqh (some titles sound so...SE-ish to me? Idk) BY THE WAY - do I see some other titles in old Japanese too? Kanji experts, hullo?

I believe 「濤声」 loosely translates to "the sound of the waves". I'm hardly a kanji expert though, so don't take my word for it.

Anyone listened to Aureole's new single? It's available as a free download on their site here. Here's a PV for one of the two tracks. Personally I think both of them are really good. 

It sounds okay, but I was hoping it would be more of a progression. I tend to enjoy this band the most when they're at their most experimental. That said, it doesn't sound particularly bad either, so I guess I can't complain.

Very nice, I've been wanting to get into her music for a while now so this seems like the perfect point to jump in.

Enter Shikari - Common Dreads

Intro to their second full-length of the same name. Ominous, and a total change in tone from their first album. Although Enter Shikari's switch to a more politically-driven band (which pretty much started here) has certainly turned off a portion of their fanbase over the years, I think most can agree that this is a fantastic intro regardless. Also, it transitions fantastically into the following track, Solidarity.

DIR EN GREY - SA BIR [Remastered & Expanded ver.]

Intro to the remaster of their seventh full-length 'UROBOROS'. I already liked the original version of this track, but this version takes the cake. The slow ambient build-up, the ticking clocks, and the pounding bass of the original track all combine really well to kick off a great remastering of one of the most memorable albums of recent times.

the GazettE - OMEGA

Outro for their fifth full-length 'TOXIC'. If there's one word I could use to describe this album as a whole, it would either be "boring" or "uninspired". I think that's part of the reason why this outro stands out to me so much. After a mind-numbingly dull 50 or so minutes, you go into what you assume is going to be another generic "wubwubwub" SE, then it out of nowhere it suddenly breaks down into probably the most disturbing 30-40 seconds in the band's discography. That final scream creeps me the hell out. Unfortunately this video cuts out the eerie final few seconds after that scream, but you get the point. 

Interesting. I'm going to their gig in London next week so hopefully they'll play it there and I can give some sort of impression of it.