TheStoic

I agree that they should just reform. For my tastes, I have no issues with Sujk composing a few songs (I honestly liked his solo efforts), but just don't let Juri bring Blanche into Deluhi. That stuff was awful! Leda is untouchable in my book - he always makes great music.

I will support anything featuring a mix of Meth. and Eat You Alive. damn - I wish this would evolve past a session band and turn into something permanent. I haven't heard any songs from Sevenlize or Sacred Aeolia, but I'm going to do some research to find something.

I also really liked Gallows - and I was surprised to see the level of dislike it garnered.

This sounds amazing - Did -273.15℃ ever have an official release? I love the compositions that Satoshi produced for Para:noir and D.I.D - and with vocals from Yuuki - It is guaranteed to be good.

Cool samples. I like the overall sound, although it is nothing that defines them outside of the standard scene. Nonetheless - it is good music.

I'm intrigued. The verses are what pulled it down, but I liked the overall sound. I look forward to seeing what else comes from this effort.

I love the focus preview instrumental - but to be honest, I'm not digging the vocal melody. The vocal tone/effects that Kyo is singing into felt off in the mix. But the eastern vibe is very cool.

Either announce you are getting back together or releasing something new - that is the only way people will care about anything Deluhi. Given that Leda, Sujk, and Juri have not maintained relevancy since completing their solo works, they need to come back.

Now with more thought, I forgot to mention these great ones too: Soundwitch: Onmyouza:

I love Head Phones President and Exist Trace - so glad they were already mentioned (and probably don't have to be). Dazzle Vision is fronted by Maiko - I love her growls! Mary's Blood makes decent hard Rock: When first getting into J-Music, I had a friend that loved Tomiko Van and Do As Infinity. I like it - it is soft rock. I also was into Go!Go!7188 early on as well. Alternative sound: One of my other introductory artists to J-Music was Yaida Hitomi, who also makes pop rock. Olivia was also a half Japanese artist that I liked in early days: These are not "Girl" bands per-se either, but a lot of my favorite alternative bands have female bassists that add vocal harmonies - such as HaKU, Hello Sleepwalkers, and Ling Toshite Sigure. There are also the other obvious groups like Scandal, Babymetal, and Waggakki Band - but I tried to mention acts people may have not tried before. I know there are more, but those are the ones off the top of my head.

^ Great! In that case, try the following from Dir en grey: ... and some semi-Acoustic songs from them that have a similar vibe: You can also try Without a Trace by The GazettE, 壊れていく世界 (Kowareteiku sekai) by Girugamesh, and one of my favorite acoustic instrumentals, Zero by Janne da Arc (a disbanded J-Rock band).

I remember you saying early you are just starting to explore the VK/J-Rock scene, so I'll try to give you some big names that usually have a big following in J-Music circles. For me personally, I would like to recommend to you Dir en grey's Undecided -glass skin vers.-. This was a B-Side off the Glass Skin single, but the original is also amazing - but not all acoustic. It has the same melancholy sound as the RES track you mentioned. Diru has many other great acoustic tracks too - if you are interested I'll recommend more from them. Gackt also featured a lot of acoustic arrangements in his career, even an entire acoustic album, "The Seventh Night". However, I always like the track Tsuki no Uta from his acoustic offerings most. The GazettE have featured some acoustic tracks too - Last Heaven from their latest release is a good example of that, although I prefer the partial acoustic track by them, Reila. or the song DLN: If you like any of these, let me know and I can try to look up even more.

Ever since the release of "This Cloudy" I have been interested in what they have been able to do. They make decent music, but nothing that has made me adore them yet. Still, I always look forward to their releases now.

I'm married - she doesn't like J-Rock, however - she did buy my Diru's Blitz 5 Days from EBay and Mucc's Kuchiki no Tou as Christmas presents when we were dating, so I knew at that point my J-Rock love would be tolerated.

I voted for Vulgar - but that was a very difficult vote to cast. While Kisou was the first album I bought by them and really made me love them, my obsession with Dir en grey was at its peak when Vulgar came out. Kasumi, Drain Away, and Child Prey were the perfect buildup singles that flooded my ears that year before the release, along with Six Ugly EP and the 5 Ugly Kingdom DVD. I remember clearly freaking out the day before it released, because the ultra powerful Typhoo Maemi was rolling towards the Ryukyu Islands and I thought I wasn't going to be able to pick up my order due to the weather. I went early and it was already on the shelves, and I bought it. The Typhoon locked me in the house for nearly a week, and all I did the entire time was listen to Vulgar and play Soul Calibur II (which released a week before for PS2). When I go back to that album now, the rush of nostalgia hits me like a tsunami. I can't ignore it.

I started in 2001 after moving to 沖縄 [Okinawa]. My best friend was half Japanese, Half American (We called him the "Cracker Jap" - which yes is terribly offensive, but he came up with it) and introduced me to Japanese music through countless hours of playing Guitar Freaks and Drum Mania at our local Game Center. From that game I got hooked on Train-Train by the Blue Hearts, Hide's Rocket Dive, 天体観測 by Bump of Chicken, and ロマンス by Penicillin. From there I found out about the bigger named Japanese bands, like X-Japan, Luna Sea, Siam Shade, L'arc~en~ciel, Janne da Arc and Gackt and starting visiting the now defunct blog http://jrock.pitas.com (Shiroi Heya) [if you want a moment frozen in time - visit that page) and learned about the world of J-Rock through their recommendations. I remember that Ain't Afraid to Die by Dir en grey was their top song of the week - and due to that I bought 鬼葬 and my world was changed by that album. After that I just wandered Tsutaya, searching for dark J-Rock bands and scoured VK magazines like Cure, Shoxxx and Fool's Mate to learn about band names, then would buy their CDs if I liked their look - without hearing a single sample song. I did this for years. This was how I found out about The Gazette (I bought 犯行声明文), Mucc (I bought 我在るべき場所), and Nightmare (I bought 茜) I even recall literally driving two hours to Naha to buy Born by D'espairsRay after seeing it during a school field trip, but not having the money to buy it. I miss those days and memories. J-Rock has evolved so much since then, and I love it all the more.

I used to sing my ass off at Karaoke with friends in high school to this. It is funny because you can tell it is English - but the lyrics are all slightly off. In reality - it is not that bad of English, but my nostalgia is too strong to ignore it as one of my Engrish Favorites. Lyrics: However - I think "Cleaver Sleazoid" parodies take the cake too.

I honestly don't really care about the fashion choices that much. When in high school I thought it was cool, and I used to be able to basically pick a band to listen to based on look since bright colored groups in Cure and Shoxxx usually meant Oshare Kei sound (like An Cafe and Kra; which I hated), and the Dark or Scary looks menat they were heavy. But now that I am older, I really don't care about the look as much - I have just accepted it and appreciate it for what it is (My American friends will never seem to accept it when I introduce people to it). As long as the music is cool, I like the band. But I do lament over the poppier trends that are taking hold. It seems that many great bands of the mid-2000's that started out dark and heavy gained a following and then went pop - such as Girugamesh, 12012, A9, and many others. However - I see that now the influence of progressive metal/djent and metalcore is influencing some bands in a heavier direction, but those bands are also typically more Americanized. Giru and 12012 made a huge turnaround as we all know, and even a formerly pop-focused band like SuG are now making heavier tracks - which is awesome and makes me want to give them a better chance. Either way - the sound of VK and J-Rock in general is still something that stays interesting compared to the rest of the world output, in my opinion. And like all other trends - it will evolve with time and what sells.

I have given up on A9 - not intentionally, but because once this sound was gone: ... my interest faded. 絶景色 [Zekkeishoku] was their PSC Zenith for what I loved about them - but as they got bigger and poppier, I hoped that it was due to label pressure and not musical desire and taste. There is an ounce of me that hopes their sound will change with the future - but either way - I'm one of those annoying fans stuck in nostalgia over "the old" A9.

I just bought myself a 2015 Rail Pass for this hype train. That guitar tone at 0:40 was cool as hell. That name though - trying too hard to be edgy and vulgar - it just ends up sounding ridiculous...

No tears shed on this announcement. After San went generic, boring VK with this effort, I realized that Jin was the force driving the dark and heavy sounds now found in The Black Swan. It is sad too, since I liked his output in Nega/Perestroika - I though he would have done something more interesting. At least we still have The Black Swan.

I had no clue that Thrice and Brand New are in the studio again! That is stellar news for me since I adore both acts! Confirmed: Lycaon - Camera Obscura Sukekiyo - Vitium Periphery - Juggernaut (Alpha & Omega) Dead Sara - Pleasure to Meet You DIV - Secret SuG - Black Debut from 21g Screw mini's Unconfirmed: The GazettE (Something is bound to come out) The return of D.I.D

The band is performing extremely well at lives currently. That performance of Chain Repulsion was tight. Kyo sounded great! I really hope they consider a U.S. Tour in support of Arche. I will be there in a heartbeat!

Knowing San (Ex-Nega) was involved made me interested in this band at first, but after hearing samples, the intrigue was damaged. Let's see if this turns out to be anything outside of generic.

The more I listen to and revisit their 2014 release Psycho Monsters, the more I end up really enjoying it. I honestly thought it was a solid release, and I tip my hat that they are making it happen. I will always be interested in hearing what will come next for them.