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Both mini albums and the single Cross of Sin are good. I find it a bit hard to believe this is the sound of a new band since the scene is full of mediocre/bad sounding new/old bands. Also the songs sound a bit too polished for a new band. If there are producers behind these guys, they have done a good job. My only complaint about this band is their ugly/ridiculous (and also generic and cumbersome looking) outfits. Yet a lot of VK bands dress that way. Does the reord label want them to look old-school VK? I don't get the apeal of those at all. I am complaining that because I don't think these guys themselves even look happy wearing those.

Weird. They are going to cover a song by a band I am not into? I wonder what the Moran version will sound like. Anyway, it's just a single so whatever. And weren't tracks #03 and #04 included on their album already? Again, it's just a single so whatever. At least I get one new song...

What! I just discovered this band and they sound great! What the hell did he do? lol I can still hope that they will find another vocalist that can sing as well as him and not disband...

Great news. Really a promising band. Their two mini-albums and previous singles are pretty nice. And the new single sounds even better. Good to hear that they have one-man lives.

 

I absolutely cannot stand most Western bands that (arguably) fall into a similar genre/style as them (example: the annoying as hell Finch). But Catfist has done this type of music quite well. Maybe the problem is the Western bands' bad melodies, vocals and lyrics.

 

I think they should do mostly singing and scream less (or not scream at all) like in some of their recent songs.

If his voice isn't powerful, then that means ballads SHOULD suit him, not the other way around. If you fall asleep to it, then that also means his voice is good for ballads seeing as how when the voice doesn't match, the song loses touch and doesn't have the effect it wants to portray.

 

That's not always the case. Every vocalist is different. I never liked any ballads Screw did. Maybe it's not the singer, it's the melodies. Actually most good ballad pop singers don't have voices like Byou's. They are usually higher-pitched, with more range and more powerful.

 

Yet again, I usually don't like most ballads rock bands I listen to (including Western bands) have done unless they are really really good, with some twist and without sounding like a generic pop singer's works (Teardrop and Niji no Yuki by Alice Nine are examples of this type and I don't like both). That's just my personal preference. I remember being stunned by Saosin's first EP and first album. But when they did one ballad song on their first album, that song just failed miserably IMO.

 

If you want examples of good ballads by rock bands I like, check out the softer, slower songs by British band Rialto (such as Summer's Over, When Were Together, Catherine's Wheel), and Sometimes and There's a Star by Ash. Actually Ash did quite a few ballads. Almost all of them are good with the exception of something like Starcrossed (another example of sounding too much like a generic pop song). But you can argue whether the songs by those British bands are indeed ballads at all since their music is generally not hard.

 

I personally like the soft vocals + heavy hard rocking music combination, that's why I got into Screw. I just find this type of music can help fall asleep. Every person is different. I don't usually like ballads and never listen to ballads to fall asleep.

My current favourite band is Scarlett. Their music is Showa-style chamber pop mixed with a punky/indie sound - very unique, genuinely good and stands out in VK. Whoever can come up with those melodies are geniuses.

 

I also like: LIPHLICH and Moran (jen:ga, Replay, Heroine, latest singles... all amazing).

 

Thank god I have lately found some great bands that are doing stuff not many/none VK bands did. I need more jazzy/indie/orchestral/sophisticated sounding music instead of the common stuff on the scene. I know Dolly did a bit of that kind of different stuff but I am not into most of their songs. It's their label mate LIPHLICH who made it.

I think their best album so far is X-Rays, which has a slightly different sound from latest albums (I only got into Screw recently). I am not unhappy with their newer sound. They don't have to release the same album over and over again. But half of the tracks on Duality and Biran are forgettable.This album at least is better than the previous two. I only don't like Teardrop and about two other tracks... Most Xanadu B-sides are actually more suitable to be album tracks.

 

Byou's voice is not powerful (also ballads don't suit him at all), that's why I listen to Screw to fall asleep. lol This shouldn't be a bad thing, depending on how he uses his voice.

 

Maybe most VK/J-rock bands shouldn't release albums so frequently to improve the quality of their releases. I think about two years for an album instead of one album every year is better.

I agree with everyone. This album really is AMAZING (and I am not even a fan of Versailles). The symphonic elememts are so nice. I have no complaint about the song lengths. It seems to me longer and more complex are better for them. To my surprise, ALLEGORY CAVE is a different one from other songs and one of my favourite tracks despite being shorter. I really like the beginning vocals/scream.

 

Forever with You is IMO the weakest track on this album. The backing vocals towards the end are really annoying (maybe this song would have been better without the backing singing), as annoying as the Introduction. I always skip those two tracks when listening to this album.