TheStoic

Has anyone gotten the chance to hear this single of his? I enjoyed the solo album work, and look forward to hearing the new material from Ai.

So how is my BFF doing today? Thanks seurong!

Sorry for the potentially rookie question my friends, but is anyone aware of J-Music forums like MH that cater to news and updates about all these great indie and major Japanese rock bands. Since a lot of my favorites outside of the vk/metal scene are not covered here, I would hope there is another place to join to get the inside info. Usually I find out about releases from some of my favorites like HaKU, Hello Sleepwalkers, Bump of Chicken, Androp, and many more well after release - which is something that I am not proud of and hope to rectify. Any helps would be greatly appreciated.

I liked their last album for sure and am also surprised at the pace. This is great news after a rather depressing week of disbandments!

I was honestly surprised (and pleased) at the NYC show when the crowd got the courage to get a pit started. From my experiences at other J-Rock concerts in the US, the audience has never really gotten into the music enough to start one. Perhaps it is due to the overall testosterone levels in the audience being lower vs. a typical American metal show, but I have been to plenty of shows were even the ladies jump in from time to time. As a rock and Metal fan that has been to many concerts, I just accept the mosh pits as part of the show (and honestly enjoy hopping in as well from time to time - although I don't really initiate one). The energy of the crowd around me during the concert was very high and positive - even in the pit itself, and seeing other fans right next to me going insane in sync with the song sections was everything a passionate show should be. I have evolved to love UGLY so much more after the live performance with the shared energy of the pit - it was a great moment in the overall show. Yes - some people ignored the request of no photos - which was distracting and I had hoped we would respect the bands wishes, but most of the show overall there was not a sea of cameras and people were really getting into each song and having a good time.

I would rather they take their time to produce an album of all original content. Sure - I would love to have my hands on new music earlier, but I would rather wait if it means we are given re-packaged Dadaism material again and again.

I will be sad if Ryo tries to pull a Juri... ....but by the sound of his covers and the fact he was Giru's main composer, I doubt he will turn his back on Rock. Satoshi's dirty and melodic vocals are so powerful though - it sucks thinking that he will abandon them since REDMAN was not an aggressive style side project. I will have faith in Ryo. You never know - maybe all these disbandments will lead to a super-group.

@doombox Thank you for introducing me to Last Calix! Hopeless is an amazing track - so when I looked deeper into what was on this page for them, Anemone blew me away! I love the band - and did not even realize that their vocalist performed melodic vocals for the Misanthropist until it was reiterated. Love it. @tetsu_sama69 I have never listened to Blesscode - but that track was on point. It gave me some crazy DuelJewel vibes - which was a great surprise. I also never listed to Neverland, but the recommendation has piqued my interest in more. Thanks!

I don't care what anyone else thinks - I'm so into this band. Inhale and now this make me love them all the more.

I really hope Satoshi is brought back into D.I.D. - I love his style of playing and really hope D.I.D could get back on track to be consistent (but they always seem to be on shaky ground). Nonetheless, while I was not into the demos that much, it is always unfortunate to hear of a group of beloved veteran musicians in the scene calling it quits.

While this news is not as unexpected as Girugamesh's disbandment, I am still sad to see another long time band in the scene call it quits. I honestly enjoyed their releases and stuck with them even in recent years, so to see this announcement with so many others makes the month of May a dark time for the J-Rock world.

Reading this was unexpected and genuinely painful and saddening. I have been along for the ride ever since 2006 when the PV for Owari to Mirai was released and made me fall in love with their sound. Their recent revival blew me away and made me excited for their future, which made this announcement hit all the harder. Much like the announcement when D'espairsRay disbanded, it will take me a while to accept and come to the realization that one of my favorite bands in the scene is no longer creating music together. This is just terrible news.

I was listening to some of their 朽木の灯 [Kuchiki no Tou] era material yesterday and really miss the love and excitement I had for them in that era. I actually enjoyed the T.R.E.N.D.Y. release and forever will have positive feelings for this band as they were one of the main bands that got me into J-Rock back in the early 2000's, so I will look forward to this release - I hope it is something darker than the Aki collab they just did.

They cancelled the Argentina gig? What the hell happened!? Was it related to Visa's or something like that, or another reason?

Glad to hear of another GazeRock fan that adores 蜷局 [Toguro] as much as I do. I also was a huge fan of the song when it was released. I like the review you put up as well - it is cool to hear your take on the songs and artists. I honestly find a lot of great songs tucked away in the B-Sides of all of the auditory impression version singles from the Gazette. Uncertain Sense, Without a Trace, The True Muderous Intent, and Hesitating Means Death are just a few songs that I like tucked into B-Side singles that don't get their due love. Hope to say hello if I see you at the NYC show.

Wow - just wow! So heavy and powerful - much better than Ugly in my opinion. With more spins this just might become my favorite track off of the DOGMA era.

I can dig that setlist. In reality, at this point I am pumped to see anything. I wish there were a few more nods to the content on DIM, but that is OK since it seems they are focusing on playing their high energy bangers. It makes sense for the audience overseas. EDIT: By the way - everyone going to the NYC show better go insane before and after the encore! We need to get a second encore if we can! I doubt it - but if the energy is right - we can do it!!!!

2016 has been a great year for anticipated releases from me so far. I have already been into the following (in no particular order): Deftones - Gore Daughter - Not to Disappear After the Burial - Dig Deep Anup Sastry - Bloom Dadaroma - Dadaism #2 Girugamesh - Chimera Far East Dizain - Inhale Hands Like Houses - Dissonants O'Brother - Endless Light Plini - Every Piece Matters Polaris - The Guilt & The Grief Polyphia - Renasciance For the ones that have not been released, I can't wait to hear the following: Nocturnal Bloodlust - Zetes (20 APR) GazettE - Undying (27 APR) Cinema Staff - Eve (18 MAY) Saosin - Along the Shadow (20 MAY) Architects - All Our Gods have Abandoned Us (27 MAY) Thrice - To Be Everywhere is to be Nowhere (27 MAY) Dir en grey - Untitled Single (JUL) Also - I have been seeing studio update videos from the following bands showing they are working new material - hopefully being released in 2016: Bad Omens, Upon a Burning Body, Periphery, Monuments, Tool

I have given this album quite a few spins in the last week, and I must say that I enjoyed it, but it did not have the same addictive impact that Diamond Eyes and Koi no Yokan had over me. Honestly, I was a moderate fan of Deftones in the 90's, but the post-Chi Cheng ear sound that arose with DE and KNY really made me fall in love with the band and kindled a deeper appreciation for their past material. I saw their first show of 2016 at the MusInk festival in Costa Mesa, CA, which got me pumped after hearing them play Doomed User live for the first time. With that said - I had very high hopes for the record - almost too high for my own good - and was left with wanting more by the end. That is not to say it was not a good record, but it did not meet the same tier I enjoyed with WP, DE, and KNY. The single tracks - Prayers/Triangles, Herats/Wires - are really solid favorites for me in addition to Phantom Bride, (L)mirl (The chorus on that one is amazing), and Gore (the heavy sections are the hardest hitting on the album). I love the Deftones, and hope that they continue to create and share their talents with us.

Given in the interview they have stated that the setlists are limited by the tunings available to them, I hope that they bring enough guitars to explore their discography - however, I am sure a lot of the material will fit the drop-B tuning or whatever the DOGMA tuning was since it was their latest. They usually will always play tracks like Filth in the Beauty as well - so we can count on much of the material in the last decade to be fair game. I do admit I am partial to everything from 2005+ (but still adore 犯行声明文 [Hankou Seimeibun] EP as an outlier) - so as long as they play a variety of material from the last decade, I'll be happy. I hope they play 13Stairs[-]1 since it is one of my favorites and always looked amazing live, but other "older" favorites I have like Reila., 体温 [Taion], or Bathroom I am sure will not be played. Here is to hoping!

Thank you for sharing the interview @emmny. I'm looking forward to the NYC show and will be in attendance. It is great to know that Undying will be released prior to the show so that I can listen to it and get pumped for the tour! Right now I have to re-align my fleeting musical obsessions into a GazettE phase so that I am even more excited to see the show. I hope the energy of the U.S. crowd for them is high and that every show is sold out to encourage more shows in the future. I have really enjoyed the Project Dark Age material and have been with them for so long that it will be great to experience the music first hand.

While I embrace my Okinawa-Expat status as the life event that got me into J-Rock as a whole, by no means am I immune to the draw of Western music, although I routinely an annoyed with people that write off Japanese music just because it is not in English. My collection is about 35% Japanese, 50% English, 10% instrumental, and 5% other language. For this - I can't say I am the expat. I do have some elitist opinions, but try to mask them as I understand taste really is subjective.　　But I am not immune to judging when people tell me their favorite music is a regurgitation of the billboard top 40 artists. I've been into the scene long enough to feel like a shadow. I can name my fair share of artists, albums and songs to fit in, but don't expect me to really care about the trials and tribulations of each band member. I'm into my favorite bands, but am willing to expand my horizons. I try to really listen fully to each release, and don't keep what I don't like. My infrequent yet consistent presence on MH might show I am a legit 影人.

I really got into them last year after they were featured in the Monthly best of tracks. I have enjoyed all they have put out - so I am also sad to read this. Frequent disbandments seem to be the standard nowadays - which sucks.

That was just OK - the frenetic piano was something a little different, but I greatly preferred the punchy, downtuned guitar sound of the original MBHI. I'll sample their first offering, but I'm not really into this yet.

I see them playing the instruments - but I can't really make it out at all in the mix due to the heavy wave of electronica noise flooding the sound. I want to like this - but it is going to have to grow on me. I feel that if I gave it a few proper listens, the melodies would hook me, but I'm not in love. Of course it is a new direction for the band that is not my typical taste, but maybe being challenged will open my musical horizons. I'm willing to try since I like this band quite a bit.