TheStoic

I'm into this - I was sad to hear the disbandment of Biosphia, so to hear this new band is similar in sound, I'm happy to embrace them.

I'm so into this. Their first LP was great - so I'm psyched to hear this is coming out just around the corner.

I'm always ready for a new Cinema Staff record. Blueprint was a solid release - I am surprised they wrote new music so soon after the last LP!

I used to love E+T - however, they are kind of like A9 was to me a few years ago - no real excitement from their music, but I would always listen to it with hope. Lets hope they pull a Phoenix with this new EP and surprise me. I still have hope.

I'm hoping for a mid-tempo, melancholic ballad - in the vein of Reila. or Without a Trace. Dogma had lots of fast and heavy tracks, so I am yearning for a contrast.

I hoping the full length is mostly new material and not a slew of re-recorded singles. There has been a decently long break from activity, so I will hope for the best.

I tried about 10 times to get into Born, and while a few songs caught my ear, they never worked their way into my heart. Unfortunate to hear they are disbanding, but I am not too heartbroken.

I'm not a fan of sub-par production values on studio recordings from artists or labels - despite the band being talented (I'm looking at you Sel'm...). I also hate fangirl/fanboy immaturity in general - which is rampant in the community. Typing Random onomatopoeia in all caps and constant doting on certain members (detailing your every sexual fantasy that is never happening) for the sake of the attention is annoying spam, and it bothers me.

As a fan of progressive metal and the "djent" sound, I'm always glad to hear Giru continue with it in their tonal direction. I have always liked their ability to weave melodic vocal melodies into their songs as well, while maintaining the heavy edge. I solid single and look forward to the EP release.

If the music behind the revival is not in the same vein of the original lineup, it will be hard for me to support this RE:vival. Sure, they might be able to cover the past material, but until I hear original music, I won't hold my breath in anticipation.

Unwish is stellar. Love this - I can see why I liked CodeRebirth so much after hearing this!

Satoshi just needs to come back. Those riffs he created are not the easiest to replicate, and I always liked his style.

I had a great time at the Seattle show, although I felt the encore performance was short compared to the Japan leg of the tour, with 4-5 songs in the encore. Still, it was great to see the band live again. I hope Kaoru's hand heals. He definately has less pick control having to tape the pick to his hand.

I'm always game for a Cinema Staff release. I liked Blueprint earlier this year, and hope they keep making great music!

I voted for more non-VK reviews, since I am already into the VK scene, I'm always looking for new artists to follow. However, the best of the month lists are a favorite of mine now since I get a ton of new artist exposure through that meduim, so it mostly satiates that desire.

Great Thread as I am a sucker for nostalgia trips. Since this page features Japanese music, I will start off with the nostalgic tracks that introduced me to my love of Japanese music. Bump of Chicken - 天体観測 [Tentai Kansoku] I moved from Southern California to Okinawa Japan during my sophmore year of high school in 2001. At school I quickly made friends with a half Japanese-half American friend, Charles (AKA Cha), who introduced me to Japanese culture, music, movies, food - you name it. One of our favorite past times was to go to the local Arcade after school and play Guitar Freaks and Drum Mania together. This game introduced me to many of my first Japanese favorites, such as Hide (Rocket Dive), Hitomi Yaida (Andante; My Sweet Darling), the Blue Hearts (Train-Train) and Penecillin (Romance). However, the song that resonated most with me and was our favorite to play together was 天体観測 [Tentai Kansoku] by Bump of Chicken. After hearing this song, I bought the Flame Vein EP and Jupiter album soon after, and fell in love with every song from both records. To this day - those songs all take me back to that time. ケツメイシ　[Ketsumeishi] - トモダチ [Tomodachi] Due to the fact I lived in Okinawa, ケツメイシ [Ketsumeishi] songs were ubiquitous. The group was from the island, and Cha adored them. Due to the fact the group had multiple emcees in every song, Me, Cha, and my other good friend Shawn would pick an member to sing as at Karaoke, and would sing their songs together. For us, Friday nights were defined by Karaoke. Our small group of friends would fit into a small Japanese Karaoke room and sing out throats sore, and this song was always the last one on the playlist to sing together. It became our anthem, and now that I am older, and our friends are spread all over the globe in different palces, the lyrics hit so close they make me cry for those times again. It is a song that pierces my emotions - and makes me miss my best friends - friends I will probably never see again. Dir en grey - Ain't Afraid to Die After my friends and I became infatuated with Japanese music from Guitar Freaks/Drum Mania and Karaoke, I knew that I wanted to find other artists to listen to with more of a hard rock edge that I loved. As a result, I started going to blogs and internet pages about Japanese Rock, and started listening to the classic artists of 90s VK, such as X-Japan (from my love of Hide), Luna Sea, L'arc~en~ciel, Siam Shade, Janne Da Arc, and Gackt. In the English speaking blogs I joined, these groups were among the most popular - but when I saw the song of the week on one site as Ain't Afraid to Die by Dir en grey, I fell in love with the song. It was darker and more melancholy than the other artists, and I was transfixed by it. Once Kisou 鬼葬 [Kisou] was released in 2002, I bought it immediately - and I fell in love with it. From that day, I was obsessed with Diru and bought all of their past work, and eagerly awaiting every subsequent release. If it was not for this song, I never would have gotten into VK or bought albums by my other early favorites, like Mucc, D'espairsRay, and the GazettE after reading magazines like Fool's mate and Shoxxx in music stores. The rest is history. Now over half my music collection is Japanese. All because of these three songs most likley.

I'm psyched for this release! Love the heavy djent vibes with Keita's vocals. I liked the first release, but the sound in this preview already has me more excited.

Fuck yeah - those previews are Stellar! I am all about this release. More excitedthan I expected.

Let's hope this rocks. I'll eagerly await previews.

These set lists are all great tracks. I'm getting excited to see them in Seattle for the North America Tour in November. I hope the set lists stay similar. I'd love to see てふてふ live.

Opening the vocals with the chorus was somewhat awkward to my ears. I wish the vocals would have started with the verse. The vocals sound way too loud in the overall mix. I wish the instruments were more promient. Outside of that, I think the song is alright.

Usually I am all about DIV, but this single dialed up the EDM too much for me in the chorus, and it felt like I was watching and listening to a K-Pop group. I'll hold out for it to grow on me, but I'm hoping there are promising B-Sides. Given the ammount of Recycled material on Secret, I think the group is plateauing right now and needs some inspiration.

If I was forced to choose one era, I would have a difficult time, but I have honestly enjoyed the evolution of the band from their early tracks to now. Ain't Afrad to Die was the first Dir en grey song I heard after seeing it rated the #1 release of the month on a J-Rock website I frequented. I had a friend of mine download it off Audiogalaxy, and I thought it was beautiful. I always loved dark and melancholy music - and that song filled that void. I soon after purchased 鬼葬 [Kisou] at my local Fukuhara as it had just been released, and I was captivated. It was so much darker, heavier, and manical than the other J-Music I had been introduced to by my Japanese friends, and I embraced it. After 鬼葬 [Kisou], I went backwards in the discog and bought Macabre, then Guaze, then Missa (that one was hard to find in stores) - and downloaded the early tracks and B-Sides that I couldn't find. I became a loyal fan ever since. From that point, I purchased every EP and album following it that was relased and have enjoyed them all, and still enjoy them all. The more I listen to their releases, the more I come to feel that 鬼葬 [Kisou] is my most beloved album by them. It was experimental and varied, with a great mix of slow tracks and headbangers. But I still have grown to love their current incarnation, and actually have widened my muscial tastes becuase of their evolution.

Sitar doesn't really make me think of Halloween... but alright. I like the instrumentals well enough, but am not enthralled.