enyx

It's hard to give a definitive top 10 or anything like that, but the tracks that immediately stand out to me when being asked this are シャンディ (Shandy), moment A rhythm (single/long ver.), eF,  a 7 days wonder, mib126, and Metamorphose.

lol, I don't know if there's a "wrong" album, as I've met different fans who are partial to different releases. It really just depends on your taste. The first 2 albums are the rawest production-wise (#4 and Inspiration is DEAD) - so if you really can't stand the vocals, you might want to come back to those 2 later on. But they also, arguably, boast some of ling's most interesting songwriting.
The 3rd album "just A moment" is their first major album and finally showcases ling with some slick production, in addition to adding some new dynamics to their sound. This is a good place for new fans to start I think. The next album, "still a Sigure virgin?" pushes the bar even further as they continue to expand their sound (some obvious hints at TK's solo work take place here). The vocal mixing is probably the most subdued here than on any other album.
"i’mperfect", the 5th and most recent album, is ling's most straightforward work to date. All of the dynamics and experimentation of the past 2 releases were reigned in, and while that's been an issue for most fans, I actually don't mind "diet-ling" haha. In fact, this is my personal favorite because it emphasizes the qualities I like about ling the most.
Judging from the singles, their next album may very well be a less than stellar repeat of "i’mperfect", but I'm crossing my fingers that it exceeds my expectations.
Also what are everyone's top ling tracks?

I don't know about you guys, but I'm super hyped for Xenoblade Chronicles X. The original was already fantastic and one of the best all-around JRPGs of the previous console generation, and X seems to be taking everything that was great about the original and amplifying it (although the soundtrack probably wont be as good with Sawano as the sole composer, in my opinion). Just look at that world design! 
 

Well, my opinions on Sigure should come as no surprise to you by now. They're one of my favourite bands, even though I've been a slightly disillusioned with their music over the last couple of years. Their recent output hasn't been 'bad' per se, it's just been rather average and uninspired by their standards; as though they've hit some sort of creative burn-out or are simply more emotionally-involved with their solo/side projects. That said, however, average Sigure is still better than what a lot of bands put out.
 
My favourite albums are still a Sigure virgin? and just A moment, both of which, despite being their first two full-lengths released after signing with the evil Japanese music empire SMEJ, seemed to be much more experimental while still retaining a significant amount of the band's aggressive, rock-based style. In that sense, they feel like the most "complete" Sigure albums to me. I'm a little sad that they reigned in much of their experimental tenancies for i'mperfect and the following singles (also, can they stop with these repetitive anime songs already?), but I guess that's TK from territory these days.
 
Fun question: Do you guys say "Ling" or "Sigure" when shortening the band's name?

I don't know about you guys, but I'm super hyped for Xenoblade Chronicles X. The original was already fantastic and one of the best all-around JRPGs of the previous console generation, and X seems to be taking everything that was great about the original and amplifying it (although the soundtrack probably wont be as good with Sawano as the sole composer, in my opinion). Just look at that world design! 
 

I don't know about you guys, but I'm super hyped for Xenoblade Chronicles X. The original was already fantastic and one of the best all-around JRPGs of the previous console generation, and X seems to be taking everything that was great about the original and amplifying it (although the soundtrack probably wont be as good with Sawano as the sole composer, in my opinion). Just look at that world design! 
 

Well, my opinions on Sigure should come as no surprise to you by now. They're one of my favourite bands, even though I've been a slightly disillusioned with their music over the last couple of years. Their recent output hasn't been 'bad' per se, it's just been rather average and uninspired by their standards; as though they've hit some sort of creative burn-out or are simply more emotionally-involved with their solo/side projects. That said, however, average Sigure is still better than what a lot of bands put out.
 
My favourite albums are still a Sigure virgin? and just A moment, both of which, despite being their first two full-lengths released after signing with the evil Japanese music empire SMEJ, seemed to be much more experimental while still retaining a significant amount of the band's aggressive, rock-based style. In that sense, they feel like the most "complete" Sigure albums to me. I'm a little sad that they reigned in much of their experimental tenancies for i'mperfect and the following singles (also, can they stop with these repetitive anime songs already?), but I guess that's TK from territory these days.
 
Fun question: Do you guys say "Ling" or "Sigure" when shortening the band's name?

凛として時雨 (ling tosite sigure)

 
Discography
Albums
2005年11月09日 #4
2007年08月22日 Inspiration is DEAD
2009年05月23日 just A moment
2010年09月22日 still a Sigure virgin?
2013年04月10日 i'mperfect
EPs
2006年07月19日 Feeling your UFO
2015年09月02日 es or s
Singles
2008年04月23日 Telecastic fake show
2008年12月24日 moment A rhythm
2012年11月14日 abnormalize
2014年11月05日 Enigmatic Feeling
2015年01月14日 Who What Who What
TK from 凛として時雨

Albums
2012年6月27日 Flowering
2014年8月27日 Fantastic Magic
EPs
2016年03月20日 Secret Sensation
Singles
2014年03月05日 contrast
2014年07月23日 unravel
-----------
I've noticed an increasing amount of ling fans on the forum over the years, and I think it's high time we actually had a topic for one of my favorite bands!

The vibe's kinda reminiscent of Rentrer en soi's
(but of course, Takumi's defo the mastermind behind this!) - and as Phoe pointed it out, vocal melody left a bit to be desired. 
Lol @ Wes Borland

focus sounds nice; I like the overall vibe a lot but Kyo's vocal melody could perhaps be slightly better I feel. It also seems to fade out right before transitioning into some sort of heavier section, so I need to hear the full song before I can make any judgements.
 
Collab choices are... intriguing.

focus sounds nice; I like the overall vibe a lot but Kyo's vocal melody could perhaps be slightly better I feel. It also seems to fade out right before transitioning into some sort of heavier section, so I need to hear the full song before I can make any judgements.
 
Collab choices are... intriguing.

I don't know if it's been said, but we could do a VK only night, too. I also agree with having 2-3 weeks before doing female only again. It could get a little monotonous while we're still new to having set themes. And I think it's good to have the free for all nights in between the themes so people who might not have had anything they knew to play the week before get a change to step back in.

2015.01.14 release 「WHATEVER WILL BE,WILL BE」
CRCP-40390　￥2,667＋tax

【CD tracklist】
01.FLOWER
02.東京タワー
03.さよなら光
04.白雪
05.Yellow
06.BLUE
07.whatever will be,will be
08.カゲロウ
09.No.8
10.消えないロンリー
11.コーヒー

Umm..okay so here's another self-portrait.
 
It was foggy last night so I thought I'd try something.
I call it "Monster of the fog"
 

 
 
I'm not positively happy about my pose but the lights went off before I could take any more shots. 
So, this is the best I got.

Here's my end of the year list. I quickly realized I only listen to cross-dresser crap and don't follow many western bands closely enough to pay attention to new releases. Oh well~~~. 
 
Now with working mp3s

Albums:


 
Kamijo : Heart
 
Kamijo graced us this year with not one, but two albums. As this was his only full release, I’ve included it in my list here (although Symphony of the Vampire was equally as good, just for different reasons). As many other reviewers have said before me, this album truly showcased what aspects of Versailles Kamijo really had contributed. Ripe with a mix of classic tropes from his past bands, Heart brings the best of several worlds together in a one gilded soundscape. In it, he has some Versailles-esque neoclassical tracks (“(闇夜のライオン”),  some Lareine-ish melodic songs (“Romantique” and “抱きしめられながら”), and even an epic-length track (“Heart”).  In spite of the many critiques his previous band received about becoming stagnant after exhausting their classical influences, Kamijo has managed to keep his signature style while revitalizing it just enough to keep things fresh and interesting.  If this year is any indication of how things will go for Kamijo, it looks like the King of Rose-kei will keep his throne for years to come.
 
闇夜のライオン:



 
己龍 :  暁歌水月
 
One more first album of their career!! Just kidding: if there’s one thing the Kiryu is good at, it is releasing an absurd amount of CDs with very little time to breathe. 暁歌水月 is their 4th full-length in their discography and is one of their stronger albums to me. While their crazy take on Japanese folk-metal may get tiresome to some, their formula works exceptionally well for them and clearly stick to the motto “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Here you’ll find a good mix of their dark and chaotic songs, as well as their melodic and softer ones, all held together by their signature use of traditional Japanese instruments. As this album showcases more than ever, The Kiryu have some of the best riffage in the scene and do not let stereotypical visual-kei earmarks get in the way of their progressive individuality. 
 
愛怨忌焔:



 
Azealia Banks : Broke with Expensive Taste
 
Another year of firsts for this artist—Azealia Banks dropped her long awaited full length album late this year. After originally announcing to come out in the spring of this year, the release date kept getting pushed further and further back. Thankfully, the wait was well worth it. Filled with her typical poignant disposition and clever lyrics, Broke With Expensive Taste offers a smattering of musical styles all over the spectrum that work well together and do not fall victim to tokenism. Her claim-to-fame track “212” made yet another appearance, as well as other singles “Yung Rapunxel,” “Heavy Metal And Reflective,” and “Chasing Time.” If you’re looking to try out an album that goes from playfully singing in Spanish, to a song called “BBD” (which stands for “Bad Bitches Do It”), and a surf rock song about a rebellious teen that goes to a nudist beach, this album is a must-try. 
 
https://soundcloud.com/azealiabanksweb/azealia-banks-heavy-metal-and-reflective-explicit



 
Lana Del Ray : Ultraviolence
 
Lana Del Ray once again leads the sadcore pop scene with her second album, Ultraviolence. Lana is an artist I tended to shy away from for a while, but this album seems to have won me over. It’s disposition is much more melancholic than what I’ve heard from her first album, and its lyrical content are more about coming out of tight spots in her life, such as abusive relationships. The musicianship here is top-notch, and her voice, hell, her whole persona, fits the album’s 70’s revival vibe so well. If you’re in the mood to watch the rain with flowers in your hair while Facetiming with a sepia filter, this is the perfect album to do that to. Definitely recommend checking out “Cruel World,” “Shades of Cool,” and “West Coast.”
 
West Coast:




 
Sukekiyo : Immortalis
 
Already wrote a bit about this on the Christmas list, but basically this is what Arche is derived from and I like this better. While I don’t necessarily like most of their members, when they put their heads together they really do come up with some wonderful ideas.
 
斑人間:



 
ギャロ : NERO
 
Completely out of left-field for me this year, I tried their split single with AvelCain and had to have more. Kind of quirky, but doesn’t use that as a crutch to base their musical decisions on, The Gallow are truly a band to keep an eye on. In a way, they kind of remind me of Cali Gari but more aggressive. Do not let this band stay under your radar!
 
帝都四号魔水路:



 
DEZERT : 「タイトルなし」
 
Another branch of the homage-kei trinity, DEZERT finally managed to put out a full-length album this year after releasing quite a large discography before doing so. Miraculously, nothing on here was from their previous singles (which is unheard of in visual-kei????) .  Hard-hitting and fast paced, 「タイトルなし」 serves up some cool nü-metal influenced tracks as well as some metal-core ones. Compared to their earlier discography, this was probably their most accessible release to me and a strong step in the right direct for this band. My favorite tracks include “Doze,” “「擬死」,” and “胃潰瘍とルソーの錯覚.” While they’re not exactly similar, per say, if you’ve enjoyed AvelCain’s album odds are you will also enjoy this one. Cake, anyone?
 
胃潰瘍とルソーの錯覚:

 


 
AvelCain : AvelCain-アベルカイン-
 
AvelCain released their first full-length as this year, self-titled “AvelCain.” This album falls under the homage-kei umbrella, giving praise to many different acts from the late 90’s and turn-of-the-century visual-kei. Here we find a return to motifs about psychosis, darkness, and ball-jointed dolls in a more modernized fashion. From hard hitting singles like “Psycho” and “ID,” to equally as powerful (and slightly deranged) tracks like “操り人形,” this album brings back all of those feelings of not quite fitting in and teen angst right back. The band does show their softer side with songs like “千羽鶴.” There’s even a Puppet Mammy cover song, as most likely suggested by their drummer and producer who was a part of that band. This is a great album to start with when trying to get into AvelCain. My only complaint with it is that they used quite a lot of rereleased material here and it could have benefitted from a larger repertoire of new songs.
 
PSYCHO-サイコ-:



 
Buck-Tick : 或いはアナーキー
 
Visual-kei legends Buck-Tick released their millionth album this year. While I haven’t really followed them for too long, it seems as though their sound has evolved at every step in their career from all different genres. According to Wikipedia, they are currently in their “straight rock” phase, although I’m not sure how true that holds when descripting 或いはアナーキー. This album has many different influences in it, spanning different genres they’ve already covered at some point in their career like post-punk, new wave, gothic rock, and quirky punk. Even with the massive genre shifts from the start to the end of the album, it all somehow works. A surprising favorite of mine is “Survival Dance,” which is one of the most fun songs released this whole year. Even if you’re afraid of Buck-Tick’s gigantic discography, this album is a good place to dive in (it’s actually the first full album of theirs that I tried out, myself). Oyaji rock has never sounded so fresh. So what?! So What?!
 
Survival Dance:



 
UNDEAD CORPORATION : 神速
 
This album is actually my first time listening to Undead Corporation. As you could probably tell by the album art, they’re a Touhou group. I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect on my first listen, but what I got was a donkey kick in the stomach because this album goes hard real fast. As much I hate to use “brvtal” to describe something, even ironically, that’s basically the most succinct way to describe what this album has to offer. However, there is enough craftsmanship to this album’s music that it isn’t heavy for heavy’s sake—each song seems deliberate and thought out, even if those fleshed out ideas are pants-on-your-head crazy. This album spans a few genres, mostly hovering around metal-core + death-core, dabbling a bit into technical death metal and even pop, and it makes use of beauty and the beast vocals without being grating or trite. Another interesting point about this album is that there are really only 8 songs and then the rest are reinterpretations or remixes. Off the top of my head, I know that there is at least one song that was redone without any harsh vocals, for example. Even if you aren’t really a follower of the touhou scene, or don’t quite “get it” (trust me, I do not fall under either of those), this album is great ear bleach to cleanse all of those no-name bands trying to do the same thing and failing. 
 




八十八ヶ所巡礼 : 攻撃的国民的音楽
 
This band is bizarre in one of the best ways possible. They’re like looking at a modern art gallery and instead of being like “uggghh this is sO DUMb” you feel “wait…I actually…get this?” Maybe there really is some deeper meaning behind the unsettling egg men, only found when meditating to the cascades of arpeggios and bends oozing out of 88’s 4th mini-album. Keeping their spot as one of Cat5’s most favorite indie bands, this album still retains all of the technical goodness and androgynous multitasking that all of their previous works had to offer, but this time around it is presented in a way that is somehow more accessible. While I do love crazy key changes and time signatures, there was always this layer to 88’s music that I found somewhat draining, with the exception of a few songs. Don’t get me wrong, I think they’re fantastic, but I could never listen to them for extended periods of time.  攻撃的国民的音楽 fixed this issue and has allowed me to sink into their vibrant world again and again. “赤い衝動-R.I.P-“ is like a religious experience for me, and “都会の魔界” some of the coolest bass walks ever.
 
赤い衝動-R.I.P-:

 
Singles:



 
アルルカン : 墓穴
 
Arlequin started off as what I thought would just be a guilty pleasure for me. Now they’ve grown into a legitimate pleasure and one of the best vkei bands currently active (even if their full-length was a bit lackluster). This single here is their best release to date, imo. The chorus of the title track is phenomenal and I love how the guitar solo mimics the main melody of the song, then transitions into a rehash of the same theme seamlessly. We all have classics that we will love for forever, and I feel that this single will be one of those classics for me. A+ beep-boop-core clown music.
 
墓穴:



 
Scapegoat : 赤いバスルーム
 
Scapegoat are like the D’espairsRay of today: a lot of people like them, but we just keep forgetting they’re around. I discovered this single by watching their music video and was total blown away. While they are beep-boop core as well, they put more emphasis on the –core than the bloops (I’m so good at writing, omg). The title track is dark and moody in the best way possible, and the rest of the single has better wubs than whatever the fuck the gazette have been trying to do since 2010. Hell, even Cat5 liked this single. This is a band I have to keep reminding myself to check out because they are tight.
 
赤いバスルーム:



 
少年記 : Bang Me
 
Hyped to kingdom come, the title track of this single was actually really good. I love the 90s boyband harmonization going on here, and the vocalist can actually sing well. While the musicianship isn’t anything ground breaking, it is good at what it needs to do and “Bang Me” is so catchy that it really doesn’t matter if the guitars are bland or not. I don’t consider myself to be a fan of this band, but I’ll be there for them if they keep releasing catchy pop rock songs like this and their previous single. Originally I tried this out to see what all the hype was, expecting to roll my eyes. Then I ended up really liking it, hue. Para + Mi’hen: 1, Me: 0.
 
Bang Me:



 
Ru:Natic : 「M」/ foggy night
 
The OG homage-kei band that never quite made it. This is their first single that was released since they decided to become self-produced (and quite frankly, much better. Good move on their part) and it takes a break from the La:Sadie’s worship to experiment in some more melodic aspects of late 90’s vkei hallmarks. Unfortunately, and fortunately all at once, they’ve traded in the dolphin noises to channel the ghost of Mana’s past. Truly a fantastic single, and hopefully not their last.
 

 

 
Penicillin : SOL
 
Penicillin are one of the oldest vkei bands ever, and technically have been active for longer than both Kuroyume and Luna Sea (as they didn’t take a break for 10 years and then decide they ran out of money). This year marked the release of their 200522nd album, which was more or less super bland, as well as their 3004000101st and 3004000102nd singles. While the previous single of this year, “幻想カタルシス”, was also great, the b-sides weren’t strong enough to place it above SOL. Not sure what “SOL” is supposed to mean (“Shit outta Luck??”), but the title track is a great post-Ultimate Velocity pop rock song, and the songs they chose to cover as b-sides were superb. Their covers also didn’t smother the original integrity of the songs and actually sounded like Penicillin trying to cover them, not butcher them. Awful album art though, jfc
 
北ウィング -PENICILLIN ver.- :

Honorable Mentions:


 
Kylie Minogue : Kiss Me Once
 
Kylie is an artist that I didn’t know I knew, but after listening to more of her stuff I realized I knew who she was (lmao). This album here is a good mix of different flavors of pop, like the dub-steppy “Sexercise,” the catchy “Les Sex,” and the softer “I was gonna cancel.” To be honest, this sounds more like Madonna than anything Gaga has ever done, but internet stan wars are for the mentally ill. My favorite track is actually the weird-ass b-side “Mr. President.” Apparently I’m the only person who likes it, so I’m just going to consider it written specifically for me.
 
Mr. President:



 
D機関  : 羅刹國
 
羅刹國 is the first album by D機関 , which is like the same thing as 黒夜葬 but different enough to warrant making a different band for. Idk, all I know is that is the same kind of gawfy Moi Dix Mois Castlevania nonsense that people here dig, but ignore because they don’t wear dresses. Good album nonetheless, just didn’t make my top list because nothing stood out enough on it to really floor: it’s merely a solid album. Definitely an improvement over his first mini-album under this name as well, which showcased some good ideas with very poor execution. 
 
Variant Cell→Apotosis (索敵機、発艦始め！):



 
グリーヴァ :  黒イ百合ノ花ト×××
 
グリーヴァreleased their first mini-album this year. To my dismay, it was only 1.75 new songs and the rest were all rerecordings. Thankfully, those rerecordings are great and were not just “remastered” (read: copied and pasted onto this album). It contains a great smattering of their early tunes, as well as early-like tunes, that are more aggressive than what can be found on their 2nd album. Thankfully the left off that god awful song “無常成ル世界ノ解答.” The unplugged and acoustic versions of their songs are surprisingly good as well. This didn’t make my top list because it could have used more unreleased material, although it was good for what it was.
 
相剋ノ[baiser] -黒イ百合ノ花ト×××version-:



 
Gwen Stefani : Baby Don't Lie
 
I’ve always liked Gwen, even when No Doubt were first starting to become popular in the early 90s when I was a little kid. Always dug her solo work too, even if I didn’t like the hyper exposed song “Sweet Escape” which still plays all the time on mom radio stations. This is her comeback single, and honestly I liked it a lot. It has enough catchy aspects and oomph to both make me remember it and want to listen to it again. The reason this is on the “honorable mentions” instead of the real list, however, is because of the embarrassing part in the middle. The music video is super vapor-wavy too, which is awesome.
 

This section is for songs that I really enjoyed this year, whether I listened to the full albums(and didn't like the entire thing enough to put up top) or not. You get five videos and the rest are mp3 samples because I am inept and can't figure out the HTML to get past the five video limit. ENJOY.
 
 
 
 
 

I am a huge fan of RuPaul's Drag Race and RuPaul in general. Mama Ru's song Sissy That Walk took a few listens to grow on me but now it's my pick-me-up song when I need to feel like I am invincible and can throat punch anyone who gets in my way. Forever mad that Miss Lake is in there instead of DeLa but alas, I was not a judge. Please enjoy Bianca being fabulous, Courtney making weird faces and Adore being... Adore-able. Pfft.
 
 
 
 

This song comes on the radio almost every day as I'm driving to work and I really love it. Like crank up the volume and make everyone else on the road listen to it kind of love. So one day I was finally like "Hey, I should go see the music video for this song!" MISTAKE MISTAKE RUN AWAY WHY DID I DO IT. I really want to know what Adam was thinking when he decided "Hey yo so I think it would be a great idea for me to stalk someone while essentially dry humping a slab of raw beef and sensually smearing blood all over myself. PERFECT, RIGHT????" 
 
 
 
 

I was so beyond excited when ender told me that JOL and Shiki were the first NAINE members to resurface in a new band. The band name gave me pause, like where would you even come up with something like that, you know? But this song pretty much hooked me from the start. It's the perfect mixture of everything I love in music and it's executed so well. My only issue is I would really appreciate it if bands, and people in general tbh, would stop putting fish in tiny jars. It is bad for them and will kill them. PLEASE THINK OF THE LITTLE FISHIES.
 
 
 
 

The Korean group that's taking 2NE1's place in my heart as #1. I haven't had a chance to listen to the full album this track is on but if it's anything like their previous releases I'm sure it's fantastic too.
 
 
 
 

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|
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In This Moment - Dirty Pretty

It was too difficult to pick between Sick Like Me and Dirty Pretty so have both of them cause they're both fantastic. I love them more each time I listen.
 
 
 
 
 
MUCC - ENDER ENDER -Album Edit-

So I'm still not on the MUCC train despite the fact that ender has been trying for years to convert me. I tend to have a few songs I like on each release so unless they decide to put all the songs I like onto one album, I don't think they'll ever end up fully on my best of list. I'm trying, I swear. This song is super fantastic though.
 
 
 
 
Lacuna Coil - Die and Rise
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFttR7bvogo
I just really enjoy this song. Didn't add the video because it's just lyrics and I didn't have the mp3 for a sample bar. Sorry guys.

Just gonna confess upfront that the title of this thread is legit and I literally have no clue what on earth I am doing here in this list. I am horrible at explaining why I like things beyond "THIS IS GREAT YOU SHOULD LISTEN" so if you can get through all of my nonsense and come out of it with some new tunes to jam to, awesome. If not, please don't mind me. c: I swear next year I'll have a better looking list with better blurbs. ;;  Bless Cat and Zeus for putting up with all of my stupid questions as I worked on this. They da real MVPs.
 
Fave tracks samples are in order as listed above mp3 bars.
 
 
NAINE - THE WALL and NEW ANSWER IS NEW ENDING

Fave tracks: THE WALL; NIGHTMARE; BEAUTIFUL CRIME
   

 
 
 
 
Schwarz Stein - GEBET, COCOON -Fallen- and Sleeping Madness

Fave tracks: Rise to Heaven -2014-; COCOON -Fallen-; Lilith
   

 
 
 
Favorite Weapon - Sixty Saragossa

Fave tracks: Hollow; Let's Shake On It
 

 
 
 
The Amity Affliction - Let The Ocean Take Me

Fave tracks: Pittsburgh; Don't Lean On Me
 

 
 
和楽器バンド - ボカロ三昧

Fave tracks: セツナトリップ; いろは唄; 脳漿炸裂ガール
   

 
 
倖田來未 - Bon Voyage

Fave tracks: SHOW ME YOUR HOLLA; Dreaming Now!
 

 
 
浜崎あゆみ - Colours

Fave tracks: Terminal; Merry-go-round; Lelio
   

 
 
HORA - DESOLATION BEAUTY

Fave tracks: DESOLATION BEAUTY; MOONRISE; CARPE DIEM
   

 
 
ＭＵ - Discovery of the AVALON

Fave tracks: 神世界; 幸せの代償
 

 
 
Black Gene For The Next Scene - 廃憶のdanceパレード

Fave tracks: Light is there; 空から零れ落ちる100億の光
 

 
 
exist†trace - WORLD MAKER

Fave tracks: Imagination; スパイラル大作戦; 長い夢の終わりに
   

Edit: Maria-chan, you always look so adorable. ;;
I try not to spam in this thread so much because I just want to compliment everyone ><

Holy hell, I want your hair colour.
 
Anyway, figured I might as well post a pic of me. This is one of the few selfies I'm semi-comfortable with.

We all see fashions and styles that we would love to have ourselves, but style can come with considerable work sometimes.  The goal of this thread is to promote exercise, getting in shape, constructive feedback, and provided the motivation needed to achieve the healthy look you’ve been wanting.
Did I mention you can win free VK stuff?  Because you totally can. 
 
How it works
 
Make a post with your fitness goal and where you are now.  Pictures of what you are shooting for can help others visualize what you want.  (Pictures of yourself are completely optional)
Post updates!  What have you been doing for your workouts?  Have you noticed any positive changes since you’ve started?  Everyone who posts at least one update each week will get one entry into a drawing at the end of the month.  More details on the drawing and prize below.
Want a second entry each week into the monthly prize drawing?  Those who provide regular constructive feedback for others will receive another entry into the monthly contest.  Feedback should be polite, but it should also be critical.  Feedback that only consists of “Great job!” doesn’t really contribute much, suggestions for improvement and areas to work on are examples of great feedback.
Lastly, we are using a bit of an honor system here.  If you didn’t do a workout, don’t post and say that you did.  We’re all trying to improve and support each other, let’s keep things positive.
 
Now for the part we’ve been waiting for.  The FREE STUFF!
 
A winner will be randomly chosen at the end of each month using a random number generator.  Once chosen, I’ll look at the last.fm profile of the winner to determine which prize they get.
THIS MONTH’S PRIZE IS A CD DONATED BY RAREZHUT.
Seriously check Rarezhut out (www.rarezhut.net) for all the CDs, cassettes, DVDs, and VHS you have a hard time finding elsewhere.  They ship internationally, provide sample clips of the stuff they sell on their website, and have a great “fuzzy” search system so you can find what you are looking for.  Possibly the best part is that they provide a CD with digital rips (using professional-grade equipment no less) of all VHS and Cassettes that you buy since not everyone has a VCR or cassette deck.  Plus it’s run by our very own Biopanda XD
 
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I've tried several different workout trackers and logs in the past, but my favorite by far is Fitocracy.  It has hundreds of exercises in its database, so adding them is a breeze.  The biggest feature (and my favorite) is that is makes working out into a game.  You log your workouts, get points, level up, complete quests such as running or biking a certain distance, and it's all free.  There's the social aspect too.  You can join groups, friend other Fitocrats, and even challenge others to duels.  There's an optional paid membership called "Hero mode" and individual coaching, but the free features are still more than amazing
https://www.fitocracy.com/
 
Our very own MH group on Fitocracy
https://www.fitocracy.com/group/19063/?about

I've been speaking to a couple of my comrades, namely  and @fictioninhope, about making this thread to have a place to share bands with and/or of women in the Japanese music scene. Visual kei and beyond. 
 
I've noticed a lot of times over the years I'd be in music communities and a random "girl" band would come up, and when asked what other female j-rock artists they enjoyed, most of the people could only name a couple off hand. Not because they didn't enjoy female musicians, but simply because they weren't exposed to any. I'm hoping this thread can change that and the wonderful members of MH can share their favorites here. And also have discussions about women in the industry and the pros and cons of it. 
 
I'll start off with some recent finds from the last few months. I'm always excited to see new faces, maybe some MH members can shed some light on these bands?
 
I recently found out this band is major on Victor Ent.? Not too bad, but their costuming made me expect something a little more epic. 
 
GANGLION
I think this group has been around a while, I know I've seen their name. But this song sounds like they may be worth looking into.
 
 
I think bands like Exist Trace, and Danger Gang won't need introduction in this thread. By far, I listen to a lot more non-visual bands so a couple of my recent favorites in that realm would be
New album is coming soon and I'm over the moon. All aboard the hype train. Choo choo! 
 
HEAD PHONES PRESIDENT
Anza was probably the first female rock vocalist I heard and I've been obsessed ever since. She's amazing.
 
And this band is a super recent find for me but I'm getting addicted to their brand of excessive cuteness. I can't fight it. ;;
SHISHAMO

Prepare for cavities!
 
So MH, who are some of the J-rock (or pop or hip-hop, it's all good) women in your life? Tell me all about them.

Holy hell, I want your hair colour.
 
Anyway, figured I might as well post a pic of me. This is one of the few selfies I'm semi-comfortable with.

Holy hell, I want your hair colour.
 
Anyway, figured I might as well post a pic of me. This is one of the few selfies I'm semi-comfortable with.