Shmilly

I have very mixed feelings about this band. I was on board with the hype in the lead-up to their first single, but after hearing it, it was mostly forgettable other than the title track. This new preview also sounds pretty generic to me. I think the members are talented but I'm worried they won't take off because the most memorable thing about them is their outfits.

I think someone involved has a lot of money to throw at this project because Muku's costumes in particular are insane. And of course the 3D projection mapping at their first one-man was really cool but can't have come cheap.

Second opinion time.

So I got a copy of the album, listened to it through a few times in CD quality, and it's really grown on me. There's more variety than people make out (admittedly mostly thanks to songs not written by Issei) and the mixing isn't god-awful. Agreed, it's not quite professional studio-level quality but for a first release recorded in an apartment, it's not bad at all. I would say that the second press is a good purchase since it includes most of the good tracks and leaves out the instrumental fillers. I do really like unknown though and Blink is good apart from the highs.

As for the whole 'Issei is a dick' conversation, all I have to say is that his personality or private life don't have any bearing on his musical talent or whether or not you can enjoy the band's music. The dude's a good drummer, has a good ear for upcoming talent, and writes decent stuff. Not condoning his attitude or behaviour in the past, but as far as the music goes it's irrelevant in my opinion.

Mixed feelings... this album is looong. Definitely carried by the vocals but I like their vibe. The deathcore tracks get intense and the poppier ones have surprisingly catchy choruses - 受難 in particular caught my attention on YouTube because of that after the initial impression that this was just another dark screamy band. It's nice to see another vocalist on the scene with solid gutturals and cleans though, a lot of the really intense metalcore-kei bands suffer from poor or repetitive cleans imo. (Highs are a little nasal though XD) Instrumentation is nice if a little messy composition-wise at times and with occasional unnecessary elements, but a very solid and surprisingly dense release for a new band, especially considering they managed to record a whole album's worth of songs just for a run of 250 copies. Just trying to get one for myself now, it's so damn expensive lol.

17 hours ago, X-Marc said:

The list isnt that up to date i noticed. Ill fix that coming week.

I dont have the DizSolid cd anymore since i shipped it off to you. Sorry to hear it never arrived

That's a shame. If you still have a digital copy (especially lossless) I'd be grateful if you could share it.

Just wanted to say that I bought (paid for) the DizSolid CD in late 2016 but never received it. Sent a follow-up message but no reply. Seller claimed it was sent at the time but it's been re-listed here.

@X-Marc would be happy to try and resolve this if you're willing to communicate about it. Can dig up an old PM thread about it.

Sad but not unexpected. She's still so young (they all are really considering how long they've been in the industry... well, that's the idol business I guess). I wish her all the best for the future.

I'm excited for the next phase of BABYMETAL though. The two recent singles and new song 'Tattoo' which they've been playing live sound great; I think they'll announce a new album at the end of this tour. From the live footage I've seen recently the remaining girls have really matured as the BABYMETAL mythos is beginning to develop into something quite unique.

Damn this really sucks, I was just thinking we haven't seen any new material from them in ages. Cazqui is imho one of the most talented guitarists in the VK scene right now and I hope this doesn't discourage him from pursuing other musical projects in the future. 

As for NCBL, it's hard to see how they'll avoid disbanding without any guitarists...

Looks like they were busy in their 'down time' getting the new drummer up to speed and recording new material.

There's a little studio footage on the fan club site, showing them rehearsing with the new lineup and also recording vocals for one of the new songs (kiss wo shiyou).

Good news. I remember enjoying something from them a while back so I might have to check this one out.

Pumped for the revival live. Already got my entry in for the ticket lottery so fingers crossed.

As for the album... it's less of a 'best' album and more of a 'here's the rest of the songs we didn't put on VANDALISM'. The reused tracks will be unchanged from VANDALISM, the other old B-sides will be remastered and the new song is an unfinished track they were working on when they disbanded.

On 9/30/2018 at 11:29 AM, -NOVA- said:

Ballad  ???? or disguise the song as a ballad then kick it into overdrive after the intro

 

That would be Epic

 Awesome look as well xD

 

How did you call that?!

8 minutes ago, Yukami said:

 

Personally I like it, although the English is hilarious.

So in order to watch RAZOR's tour final, I took the plunge and invested in premium membership for NicoNico. But it's only possible to watch ended streams for a month or two after their original stream date, so I wondered if anyone knew a way to download from NicoNico, or even just record streaming video in HD.

Of course, if I can find a way to do this I might be able to help you all out by grabbing some other premium-only content or live streams...

1 hour ago, anadentone said:

I dunno what it is but Ryoga  seems to the best in this band than Born. It's like Razors music lets Ryoga's voice be real.

I completely understand! He has a wonderful voice but that persona he wore for Born didn't always let him use it to its full potential.

I hope we finally get some recorded versions of the songs they've been performing since they formed.

Excellent news, these guys are on a roll recently.

These guys work fast! First release is a 14-track album and then a 4-type single with 4 songs, a music video and making, and live footage too. Now they're putting out another full album? Great news if they can keep up the consistency.

Maybe it's just scare tactics? Like 'you know who you are.' Depending on the personality, just a deterrent might be enough to stop them even attempting to get into another show, or at least to stop sharing inappropriate information. Bangya can be EXTREMELY obsessive over their favourite bands, if they were banned from a concert I imagine they'd be pretty upset.

btw I have the setlist for the last 2days if anyone's interested but it'll take some time to type out bc they played OVER 50 SONGS

15 minutes ago, Wakarimashita said:

I would say yes if they're planning on a huge release campaign as a farewell to the fans... Like, a "best of" in 2 versions, live DVD from the last gig etc

No recording equipment at the last 2 shows so I doubt there's a DVD coming.

I think they will announce a new member. Tonight at the end of the show Yoshiatsu told everyone to hold tight so it sounded like they're not going to disband yet. I think they just need some time to get over Yusuke leaving since he was their leader and friend.

Sounds great. I love how hard these guys go considering the poppy energetic atmosphere.

Wow, that's a shocker. Gutted about the hiatus but grateful to be attending possibly their last shows. All the best to Yusuke for his treatment and recovery.

Sounds decent, looking forward to something recorded in a studio and not a live house.

That's a shame, they were really promising.

Still missing colaps vision too...

Nice review. While it would be accurate to say that this album reminds me of many past albums at once, I think it would be doing an injustice to NINTH not to credit it as its own 'era' of Gazerock. The band hasn't just thrown in callbacks to their lengthy discography, they've evolved and grown in a way I didn't think was possible this late in their musical career. With Reita himself admitting in an interview that it was hard to get out of the 'dark' phase they found with DOGMA, and some interesting comments in the interviews and liner notes of the album (these can be found in the 'Reference Book' for those who can read 日本語 until someone other than me can be bothered to make a translation), I think the band surprised even themselves with some of the compositions on this album.

Falling was always an excellent track and remains possibly the only real stand-out, but that by no means discredits the rest - in fact, this is one of the most consistently pleasing albums we've had from the GazettE in a long time. NINTH ODD SMELL was made to be headbanged to live; THE MORTAL has a gorgeous juxtaposition of an oppressive instrumental atmosphere and Ruki's soaring vocals; BABYLON'S TABOO, while not my personal favourite, is one of the most alternative, industrial-sounding experiments we've heard from the band; and the old-school vibes of 裏切る舌, which the members wondered if newer fans would catch on to or applaud as something new and original, were a fun shake-up towards the back end of the album. TWO OF A KIND is possibly my second top track, it hits hard and the ending is to die for, and UNFINISHED brings things to a close in a nostalgic way very reminiscent of truly old-school GazettE 春雪の頃 (shunsetsu no koro).

The fact that I have something to say about pretty much every song should speak volumes about the album as a whole. It's varied but consistent, a quality somewhat lacking in recent efforts, and one of my easiest recommendations for getting into this now almost legendary band.