DADAROMA is, by all accounts available to me, one of the handful of bands from the new crop that have skyrocketed in stature and popularity to the levels previously held by the mid 2000’s indie stalwarts, crashing the party with probably the best case of intuitive visual kei marketing since conditional disbandment by first releasing Oboreru Sakana on Youtube for all gaijins to easily enjoy. Immediate hit in the west relatively speaking, due to its accessibility both in sound and availability, they’ve been on a continual upward surge since. And now two DADAism’s later, the third in the series has just dropped coinciding with the third year into their run.
Having now amassed a decent amount of bulk into their discography one can finally make some observations what DADAROMA is, and what they are about. What to note specifically, is that the overall image of their sound is uniquely scattered, and yet aesthetically consistent. Ever since their debut a polarity has been attributed to them; a struggle between the metalcore influence against their wacky, almost The GazettE-esque light-heartedness and a tendency to stick to more traditional nu-metal visual kei riffs and vocal stylings. At this point, three years on from their debut, it can probably be said that this is a false observation. Out of a discography of 47 or so songs, only about 4 or 5 put on their striped deathcore socks, while the rest tread the line of either appropriating the odd stylistic trick from the style or settle comfortably into the visual kei ballad/mid-tempo song territory. What does remain consistent however is their imagery of clowns, sex, clichéd visual kei political commentary and a very loud production that’s as slick as it gets. Looking at the entirety of their output from the past three years one notices that they’ve always been kind of the same; looking, sounding and acting pretty much like they’ve always done and whatever had been mistakenly attributed as a stylistic shift was merely a case of someone being unfamiliar with them. The palette of DADAROMA just happens to be very broad, and they happen to divulge in all the different aspects of it cyclically.
What I do think is true however, is that they do some things better than others, and DADAISM 3 is a prime example of it. In the third release of their EP series we see a band distilling all their worst traits into 20-minute slog that’s everything I hope this band will not be about in the future.
In their prime DADAROMA uses the interplay of their ability to use metalcore and traditional visual kei’s melodramatic potency to a great effect. In their first PV tracks Oboreru Sakana and Ame no Waltz they bang out a Suicide Silence 101 knock-off and whispery vk vocals at exactly the right times, and climax like the sinking titanic with a lazy vk fade out for the centuries. If perfect 2010’s visual kei was engineered in a laboratory, it’d sound like these two songs did. Fucking tremendous.
While for some of the subsequent PV’s they’d showcase their knack for doing other things, I believe that even if they didn’t continue chugging like before, at least they always stayed fun and sexy. When in form, Yoshiatsu gives a degree of gravity to everything he is on and there is no denying what a technically able band there’s behind him; so even when appropriating INSIDE BEAST or being really tacky with Nightmare Before Christmas Tim Burtony jingles, they’re awesome. With DADAISM 3 being something which they haven’t been before: boring.
Oddly enough starting out with a high note, DADAROMA’s PV cut this time is MASTURBATION that horrified a segment of the people on this board, and here I’ll make a case for it: MASTURBATION is interesting, loud and very obnoxious. One valuable life lesson I’ve learned from a childhood of watching pro-wrestling is that any reaction is better than no reaction. There’s an inherent value to the over the topness, and especially when it’s quite fitting for a band that’s always been kind of carney, and most importantly sincerely self-aware. Could I do without another mid-period Marilyn Manson dance live song? Yes, but I don’t hate it either and I kind of appreciate it for what it is. Despite everything it still bangs hard and remains true to the band’s spirit.
Things halt to a standstill right afterwards however, when DADAROMA apparently decides to churn out a EP’s worth of mid-tempo ballads and nu-nu-visual kei bangers, channelling pop Lynch and the worm-eaten corpse of that version of Girugamesh nobody liked. I’m making it sound worse than it is, but for a band that’s been so consistent a lull like this is both alarming and a curious choice. Before in songs like Yume Tarareba and Zouka what worked in their favour is both their colourful concept and the contrast in the sound of all their elements. Things that were generic were made cool by their skill and unique character. When a band like this then slows down and makes a collection of energetic live songs and heartfelt bittersweet ballads, I become disaffected when they fall short of the grand theatre of what they could be. Romance Gray is immediately forgettable compared to other songs structured the same way with the sampled rainfall and everything; Itoshi teru doesn’t hold a candle to the songs they’ve made before in a similar style either, and in fact every other song on here can as well be categorised into “they’ve done it before, and they’ve done it better.” Sincerely it is the first time this band has done something twice, and now it’s an EP full of very matter of fact diddies that lack the edge of their prior material, aside from the PV cut that’s a Risley Circus B-side with crass lyrics as its saving grace.
When this band takes its foot off the pedal, they can start sounding very generic and tired. This can be circumvented by doing things different. Working with your unique concept, not ripping off Lynch and utilising the tools at your disposal in ways that hasn't been done in the scene before. DADAISM 3 is a paint by the numbers EP from a very professional band no matter how you look at it; it doesn’t hit even close to as hard as 1 or have the diversity of 2. If they’ll settle on treading the same ground like a DOGMA Gazette junior, then they’ll absolutely have to bring back the deathcore for some desperately needed flavour, or otherwise we are due for redux of NOW and GO era Girugamesh. If the history of this band is anything to go by then they'll rebound shortly, but there's always that doubt...
After five years since their formation, la la larks finally announced at their anniversary show earlier today that they will be releasing their first full-length album sometime in the near future.
No date, title or tracklist yet, but at least they're finally doing something after all this time!
After five years since their formation, la la larks finally announced at their anniversary show earlier today that they will be releasing their first full-length album sometime in the near future.
No date, title or tracklist yet, but at least they're finally doing something after all this time!
After five years since their formation, la la larks finally announced at their anniversary show earlier today that they will be releasing their first full-length album sometime in the near future.
No date, title or tracklist yet, but at least they're finally doing something after all this time!
After five years since their formation, la la larks finally announced at their anniversary show earlier today that they will be releasing their first full-length album sometime in the near future.
No date, title or tracklist yet, but at least they're finally doing something after all this time!
Musically, their old stuff is great but yeah I know what you mean. The guitarist is singing now and has a much better voice. Strange that he didn't do it before...
Looks like they're re-recording The Hunter for their next album:
Any fans of Esprit D'Air here? Apparently, they reformed last year, but that's when I found out about them. I'm going to their London show tomorrow at O2 Academy !
Here's their latest song If you haven't heard them before, you should check them out!
As requested by @matthazell I started translating THE NOVEMBERS' paraphilia EP~
As always, this post will be updated each time until I finish. All songs have been translated!
paraphilia [2009.03.18]
All lyrics written by Yusuke Kobayashi.
Kanji source: J-Lyric
1. philia
2. dnim
3. keep me keep me keep me
4. chil
5. para
6. mer
----------------------------
Corrections and suggestions are much welcomed!
Thanks for looking and enjoy! ^^
Today I learned that toe is one of my favourite visual kei bands.
Anyway, it's rather amusing to see the sort of stuff Patrik is up to these days. If memory serves me correctly he was always one of the people shit-talking bland, generic, and derivative visual kei bands back when I used to frequent Fukkatsu. Gotta love the irony.
Today I learned that toe is one of my favourite visual kei bands.
Anyway, it's rather amusing to see the sort of stuff Patrik is up to these days. If memory serves me correctly he was always one of the people shit-talking bland, generic, and derivative visual kei bands back when I used to frequent Fukkatsu. Gotta love the irony.
Today I learned that toe is one of my favourite visual kei bands.
Anyway, it's rather amusing to see the sort of stuff Patrik is up to these days. If memory serves me correctly he was always one of the people shit-talking bland, generic, and derivative visual kei bands back when I used to frequent Fukkatsu. Gotta love the irony.
enyx reacted to Karma’s Hat in DADAROMA - 「dadaism ♯3」⎡"review"⎦
enyx got a reaction from Vercingetorix in Shinya of Dir en grey new solo project SERAPH
enyx got a reaction from zombieparadise in Shinya of Dir en grey new solo project SERAPH
enyx got a reaction from Original Saku in la la larks first full-length album release
enyx got a reaction from Yutaproid1 in la la larks first full-length album release
enyx got a reaction from Zeus in la la larks first full-length album release
enyx got a reaction from saishuu in la la larks first full-length album release
enyx got a reaction from Ito in random thoughts thread
enyx got a reaction from qotka in #resurrectVK
enyx got a reaction from Pretsy in #resurrectVK
enyx got a reaction from emmny in #resurrectVK