Jump to content
Monochrome Heaven is closed. We have moved to JROCK ONE.

Shmilly

Veterans
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Content Count

    625

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    2

Posts posted by Shmilly

  2. Posted

    • far east dizain

    Cry My Name From The Light was pretty awesome but the rest of the album... so average. A couple of decent tracks but I'll agree this was a big disappointment this year.

     

    • Yohio/Disreign did Gazette better than Gazette

    Only because, like Mediena, they just took the Filth in the beauty breakdown and used it as a main riff XD But seriously, I don't get all the Yohio hate, he has a good voice and Disreign did a fantastic job both musically and visually of proving VK can work outside Japan too.

     

    • the best song released this year by nocturnal bloodlust was a cover of a taylor swift song

    Bro are you for real? Juusou also came out this year and it's pretty much their best song ever. Got to disagree here.

  9. Posted

    ^ They've never been the kind of band to include single tracks on albums, or at least not yet.

     

    I wouldn't mind if they released all those one-off singles on some sort of collection album tho (even in re-recorded versions a la their 'special' mini album).

     

    Speaking of this, they need to damn well re-record Dead[en]D itself at some point. I have the original demo CD and the PV collection version, but it's still never appeared in an official format. And in my opinion, it's one of their best tracks too.

  14. Posted

    I'm going to the live so I guess I'll order the limited edition...

     

    BTW it seems like you have to choose a member for the bonus goods, it doesn't come with all 4. So handwriten lyrics from Maki, entrance to the guitar or drum session by Shin or Nikky, or a message card from Yosuke.

  16. Posted

     

     

    Signal / M・E・L・T -piano arrange- [CD] / from their live DIVE TO BLOOD -scars away-

    Signal / BOOTLEG LIVE DVD [DVD] / from their one-man Night of Judgement

    Signal / Crossing fate [CD] / from their last one-man Crossing fate

     

    カルディア (cardia) / 末広がり「八袋」 (suehirogari) / goodie bag including live DVD and SE CD / limited at official web shop

     

    Riddick / 君の居た場所 (kimi no ita basho)

    Riddick / 陰我 (inga)

     

    CROW / COLORS ON WILD / 2004.02.01 mini album, maybe live limited

     

    ONE OK ROCK / Around ザ world 少年 / Unreleased 2009 single, exists only in promotional use CD form

     

    DAMY / 『 』 / first live-distributed single

     

    ISDEAD (「xxx」is D£AD) / ISDEAD Memorial Album / live-distributed full album from their last live

     

     

    UPDATE~

  19. Posted

    It'll be interesting to see where this project ends up. I agree that the final 'movement' will probably just be a huge one man show, but it would be cool if they did something surprising instead. With the physical copy of DOGMA ltd ed saying 'hold onto this box until 5th movement', I wonder if the 5th movement will be some kind of live instead. Which means the final act could be a real curveball like... another album?!

  21. Posted

    I'll admit that I too was a bit disappointed on my first listen to DOGMA; it's not a lie that on first impression a large chunk of the album seems to blur together, and through perhaps a combination of poor track ordering and little compositional and stylistic variation, a lot of these bland metalcore efforts are sadly forgettable. However, determined to give this album a chance and a fair judgment, I've been listening to it a lot lately and I have to say it's grown on me. There's still several tracks that are so average I decide to skip over them, but some of the mid-album haze begins to show redeeming qualities if you give it the time to.

     

    First the songs I really like: the dramatic and atmospheric atmosphere of OMINOUS easily places it as my favourite track here (much like TO DAZZLING DARKNESS provided an awesome outro to BEAUTIFUL DEFORMITY before it). Certainly had this album followed up on the promise OMINOUS showed as a teaser with more moody, thematic compositions then this could have been one of the GazettE's best releases to date.

     

    Next is probably DERACINE. Toning down the over the top chugging and focusing on powerful and memorable vocals (yes, this is Ruki) makes DERACINE a track well worth repeating in my opinion. Maybe it's partly an effect of this track dividing up other more forgettable songs, but personally I love this one.

     

    While I'm unsure of its positioning in the overall album, BLEMISH is another great track for me. It's energetic with a catchy chorus and I'm sure this will work well towards the end of a concert. As it is, it's a very enjoyable listen in its own right without letting the metalcore influences weigh it down.

     

    Finally honorable mentions go to the two promotional songs DOGMA and DEUX, which are both solid works, and INCUBUS has been growing on me too thanks to the blend of female vox and screams that leads into the chorus.

     

    As for the other (more than) half of this album, unfortunately most of it is fairly average and sadly forgettable. Had the pacing been better considered, with more variety and at least a ballad or something to lighten up the oppressive chugging, this could have been a great release. Ultimately the most disappointing thing about DOGMA for me is that it didn't follow up on the promise the excellent marketing teased us with. I hope the GazettE take a moment now to pause and remember what's important in putting together an album made of entirely new material. If they can find a happy balance between the atmospheric tracks they do so well and more upbeat, energetic songs, I think their next effort will be awesome.

    Licio123 and Zeus reacted to this

  22. Posted

    Albums

     

    Aimer - DAWN | This woman has one of the most beautiful voices I've heard in recent memory. Powerful ballads, energetic rock riffs and haunting melodies combine in my favourite album from Aimer so far.

     

    the GazettE - DOGMA | While not their greatest work, the GazettE have presented us with another great album that leans a lot on their heavier side. Thematic OMINOUS, powerful DERACINE and energetic BLEMISH are my top tracks.

     

    MIYAVI - The Others | Expanding on his recent Western influence, MIYAVI's latest album is a stylish, catchy blend of slick guitar riffs and ever improving English vocals. Not to mention the title track is super catchy.

     

    21g - GENORATION | The first full album from these guys (and gal) is a decent effort, with GENO's husky vocals really selling the new group for me. The two single tracks are still the best in my opinion though.

     

    快進のICHIGEKI - The Period | While not as memorable as some of their past efforts, The Period is another solid release oozing with ICHIGEKI style.

     

    Mini-Albums

     

    DADAROMA - dadaism♯1 | One of my favourite releases so far this year. I love all the tracks, but I strongly believe that if these guys focused on the brutal side we get to hear in SEX! and ベルカとストレルカ (as well as the B-sides to their two singles) they would be stronger for it. The jazzy stuff is good but they don't really need that aspect in my opinion. That said, their newest PV is basically stylized porn to a visual kei song, so we can't complain too much. Yoshiatsu's impressive marketing skills have done wonders for bringing these guys to the forefront of indie VK in a matter of months from their foundation.

     

    Minerva - HEAVENS | Another new band with a very promising start. Vocals and guitar work are strong on this release. I hope their next offering has some better mixing though.

     

    「Story of Hope」 - Historia EP | While the clean female vocals struggle to push much further than average for me, what made this release memorable was some phenomenal djent-inspired composition and instrumental work to back them up. If that's your groove, check this one out.

     

    グリーヴァ - 妄想主義者ノ背徳。 | What can I say? These guys incredibly seem to pump out release after release with little deterioration in quality. Another solid mini-album, which while not my favourite so far, has a super catchy and energetic opener and a cool music box interlude that emulates that track's memorable chorus. Their singles this year were also great.

     

    ザアザア - コワイクライ | While their other mini was also good, this one for me is superior and one of my favourite releases of 2015 so far. Its short length is great for repeat listens and each track is memorable in its own right. I'm looking forward to their upcoming third mini-album now too. 

    nullmoon reacted to this

  25. Posted

    Crazy shampoo were fun but for me a lot of the songs were forgettable. DADAROMA appeals more generally to my taste these days, although I wish they'd stick to the heavy songs and less of the jazz. The jazzy tracks have their place, and they're not bad songs, but DDRM has the potential to be brutal and I think if they stuck to that path they would have a much stronger concept. I do like all of their songs so far, and I'm looking forward to the next single and album. Yoshiatsu is a brilliant marketing force and it shows in DDRM's well thought out advertising - releasing PVs (ahem, promotional videos, looking at you visual kei scene) and even full songs to draw in fans, and selling live only CDs (a business practice I hate, but it makes excellent sense when you remember it's only through lives that bands make any money: even major artists earn less than 5% on CD sales).

×
×
  • Create New...