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I am very, how you say, "out of the loop" with most of the current visual-kei scene. For a more direct request, what would some of the most relevant current Nagoya-kei bands be? I'm a huge aie/deadman fan and have followed all of his projects very closely, but who should I be listening to outside of aie's work? And for a...broader request, who do you feel to be some of the most "stand-out" current visual-kei bands? Not confined to any particular style, just a few talented acts that are a cut above the rest, in your opinion. Thank you!

You're all tremendously friendly folks. I look forward to the time I can spend here.

Guardians of the Galaxy (finally!) Definitely lived up to the hype.

Someone, anyone, please bring sukekiyo and THE NOVEMBERS to the USA. What a show that would be.

Purchased an Xbox One to play Destiny with friends a few months ago and have since invested in far too many games for the time that I actually have. Just beat the first Halo in the Master Chief Collection; moving through these slowly, but enjoying replaying so far. Otherwise I find myself trading off between Shadow of Mordor and Grand Theft Auto V. In truth, I'm more of a PC gamer these days, but I'm trying to keep myself from getting too invested in any PC titles in order to polish off a fraction of my console backlog. As far as handheld gaming goes, I'm swapping between Virtue's Last Reward, Etrian Odyssey IV, and SSB on 3DS, while Persona 4 has hardly left my Vita in the time I've had it. I don't know how I anticipate I will ever make a dent in what seems to be an endless and every growing backlog.

Hello. I've been browsing your lovely community from the shadows for the past few years and have finally decided to dive in and post a bit. I've been a visual-kei fan for a little over ten years, but I fell a out of love with the scene for a good while due to other interests and a lack of compelling output from the newer artists I was aware of. My personal favorite bands are/were deadman (and literally everything aie is involved with), Dir en grey, Vidoll, Kagerou, Plastic Tree, Pierrot, etc. I used to run a small VK forum that very badly wanted to be an English "Visunavi-esque" webpage featuring a small encyclopedia of bands, but it was a failure of sorts outside of helping me build stronger relationships with other friends in the community. Outside of this, I love video games and fashion. I play guitar in a band called Barrow and a band called Weathered which has a confusing internet presence due to a cease-and-desist induced name change. Thank you for reading and I look forward to getting to know the community.

This record sincerely feels like the most energetic effort in Dir en grey's more recent catalog -- it's exciting and surprising, a bit more straightforward than Dum Spiro Spero or Uroboros, but I think it's a better direction overall. I personally consider everything after The Marrow of a Bone to be where Dir en grey truly began to reinvent themselves as a "metal" band and out of those albums, this one resonates the most with me at the moment. Granted, this is going off of two listens, but it appeals to the part of me that likes heavy music while feeling a bit more like an older Dir en grey record in some aspects. The choruses soar and Kyo's vocals are absolutely standout, while I feel the rest of the band is really hitting all of the right marks. "Un deux" is a fantastic opener and I think skipping the typical "epic" intro really sets the tone for the record, while it closes out perfectly with "Revelation of Mankind," which feels so much like "Saku" at certain points that it's almost chill-inducing; it's hardly the same song, but it's the chaos leading to melody that feels similar. I'm beyond pleasantly surprised with this album and can only hope that they make their way back to the USA soon; seeing them live last year brought them back to the forefront of my favorite artists and while DSS may not have been my favorite record, this is just an absolutely tremendous effort, above and beyond all expectations. "ARCHE" is quickly becoming a contender for album-of-the-year.