TheStoic

that soko ni naru is sick wow...what the f*ck this is kreator, x-japan and j-indie's love child
memai siren was pleasant too someone get them on an anime !!!
i think we all know how much i love temari n grimoire so those were awesome wink wink
 
 

I am proud to have contributed on this thread!
Great to see bands like Grieva, Soan Project, Grimoire and even Yusai, who appear quite promising!
Probably I will revaluate Lack-co, as their debut work didn't impress me at all...
I have Sokoninaru, Majiko and Shishamo's latest works on my listening list, I think that they will have more priority now!
 

"METALIN" PV

I hope not another mainstream Rock Song with a whoo whoo Yeah Yeah refrain😂😅

- The GazettE will release a 30 second teaser with no music foreshadowing a mysterious announcement for mid-2018.
- Dir en grey will disband after Kaoru is diagnosed with a form of reactive arthritis that prevents him from playing guitar, thus losing the main composition inspiration for the band in its current era; Kyo will stay in sukekiyo; Die - Decays; Toshiya will start a clothing line; Shinya will fade into the distance
- Akane from D.I.D, shocking the VK World, will commit suicide.
- Dadaroma will release a follow up EP that is mediocre and mostly compiled pre-released A-Sides
- lynch. will release an EP, after taking some time to resolve the Akinori situation,  a month after they announce their new support bassit in Q3 2017, and it will be solid.
- Ryo will will front a new band with Nii, Katsuya (Ex-CodeRebirth -> Misanthropist) and support members and it will be the most hype of 2017
 
Some of these sound very depressing, but I genuinely think they will happen.
 

To me, the popularity of post-hardcore and screamo music with younger audiences also peaked in that same '09 time, which, stylistically, V-Kei shared sonic similarities with.  Not to mention American festival runs were featuring Japanese bands (like family values with Dir en grey, a Taste of Chaos with Mucc/D'espairsRay, etc.) to build the Japanese music exposure with artists that shared their sound with.
 
... but then came the EDM and Dance-pop wave that took the wind right out of the sails of rock popularity.  Now you have metal artists pushing more electronics into their sound to try to bridge that gap, and it is just not keeping people interested in the genre.
 
I think the decline of V-Kei has more to do with the decline of Rock in the face of dance-pop and EDM than it specifically does with just the niche of V-Kei.  I mean, you have people also jumping on the K-Pop bandwagon now more than ever, showcasing the popularity of embracing Dance-pop/EDM sonic sound that is "so hot right now" with the kidz of today.  Rock and metal festivals are also struggling in the U.S. to stay afloat, so it shows that right now, there is no money in promoting the genre.  As a result, less people are exposed to rock-oriented groups that typically would not seek them out, and you have decline.
 
Luckily the internet is alive and well and people have many resources to search for music; The responsibility is now on people like us to bring V-Kei, J-Rock, and guitar centered music to the younger group of impressionable listeners that are more interested in mumble-rap and EDM divas today.
 
Those are just my thoughts.  This is an interesting topic!

To me, the popularity of post-hardcore and screamo music with younger audiences also peaked in that same '09 time, which, stylistically, V-Kei shared sonic similarities with.  Not to mention American festival runs were featuring Japanese bands (like family values with Dir en grey, a Taste of Chaos with Mucc/D'espairsRay, etc.) to build the Japanese music exposure with artists that shared their sound with.
 
... but then came the EDM and Dance-pop wave that took the wind right out of the sails of rock popularity.  Now you have metal artists pushing more electronics into their sound to try to bridge that gap, and it is just not keeping people interested in the genre.
 
I think the decline of V-Kei has more to do with the decline of Rock in the face of dance-pop and EDM than it specifically does with just the niche of V-Kei.  I mean, you have people also jumping on the K-Pop bandwagon now more than ever, showcasing the popularity of embracing Dance-pop/EDM sonic sound that is "so hot right now" with the kidz of today.  Rock and metal festivals are also struggling in the U.S. to stay afloat, so it shows that right now, there is no money in promoting the genre.  As a result, less people are exposed to rock-oriented groups that typically would not seek them out, and you have decline.
 
Luckily the internet is alive and well and people have many resources to search for music; The responsibility is now on people like us to bring V-Kei, J-Rock, and guitar centered music to the younger group of impressionable listeners that are more interested in mumble-rap and EDM divas today.
 
Those are just my thoughts.  This is an interesting topic!

- The GazettE will release a 30 second teaser with no music foreshadowing a mysterious announcement for mid-2018.
- Dir en grey will disband after Kaoru is diagnosed with a form of reactive arthritis that prevents him from playing guitar, thus losing the main composition inspiration for the band in its current era; Kyo will stay in sukekiyo; Die - Decays; Toshiya will start a clothing line; Shinya will fade into the distance
- Akane from D.I.D, shocking the VK World, will commit suicide.
- Dadaroma will release a follow up EP that is mediocre and mostly compiled pre-released A-Sides
- lynch. will release an EP, after taking some time to resolve the Akinori situation,  a month after they announce their new support bassit in Q3 2017, and it will be solid.
- Ryo will will front a new band with Nii, Katsuya (Ex-CodeRebirth -> Misanthropist) and support members and it will be the most hype of 2017
 
Some of these sound very depressing, but I genuinely think they will happen.
 

- The GazettE will release a 30 second teaser with no music foreshadowing a mysterious announcement for mid-2018.
- Dir en grey will disband after Kaoru is diagnosed with a form of reactive arthritis that prevents him from playing guitar, thus losing the main composition inspiration for the band in its current era; Kyo will stay in sukekiyo; Die - Decays; Toshiya will start a clothing line; Shinya will fade into the distance
- Akane from D.I.D, shocking the VK World, will commit suicide.
- Dadaroma will release a follow up EP that is mediocre and mostly compiled pre-released A-Sides
- lynch. will release an EP, after taking some time to resolve the Akinori situation,  a month after they announce their new support bassit in Q3 2017, and it will be solid.
- Ryo will will front a new band with Nii, Katsuya (Ex-CodeRebirth -> Misanthropist) and support members and it will be the most hype of 2017
 
Some of these sound very depressing, but I genuinely think they will happen.
 

Time moves on and irrelevant art forms and their instruments get thrown into the very crowded dustbin of history. If you have any doubt about this, I'd like to ask you to name the top 10 premier bebop musicians today, or how about something that sounds like it was from the paradise garage? how about poodle rock? is anyone playing like Weber lately while painting like Monet and catching the salon by storm? They're all gone from the popular consciousness and live as mere perverse retro curiosities ( new post-punk and goth rock fucking eww ) for a handful of people. Scenes, genres and movements always come, go and never come back in the same form. If you ask an enthusiast he'll no doubt tell you about all the killer up and comers, but that's all bunk and they know it too. Nobody's touching Billie Holliday, there's not going to be a new Beatles, nobody's turning back the clock and doing nu-Bach in a manner that won't be scoffed upon by anyone who's serious and in the know. Visual kei in that regard is, to be quite honest, finished. I'd say its creative, artistic peak ended right when the turn of the millenia labels dissolved, and the European boom was caused both by the hot air from that period and the aptness of visual kei musicians to appropriate the emo/scene stylings as mentioned before (see the mallgoth act D'espairsray and nu metal Girugamesh for proof of this ). Visual kei's adaptability has given it such a lifeline for sure. There's not a whole lot of genres that can keep moving the needle and making money both domestically and internationally the way that it has. We've literally outlived and survived the deaths of hair metal, goth and mallcore. Probably only the general metal subculture can boast such a staying power, and they too have been struggling to stay on the surface since all that Anthrax skate metal and the alt-rock Metallica boom faded away. Now even big names can't sell out in fucking _Finland_ and underground classics struggle to pull. In my pessimistic thinking we are at the tail end of this rock guitar saga, and it's due to the gradual withering away of rock music's cultural and demographic base. 
 
I have my own fantasies about the evolution of visual kei as an active counterculture as opposed to a dull consumer culture. Agendered danger lurking in the metro stations near you; they'll know us by the trail of blood and the smell of hairspray. It's all complete fantasy however that I entertain with like three people max. In reality I know we're over and done with as a seismic cultural force. This however doesn't mean that everything is lost. While I don't think MH contributed to the fad beginning or ending, I certainly think MH has contributed massively to the staying power of visual kei on the internet in an age where everything else is disappearing. That Japanese indie analogy is an apt to make, because there's no reason why we shouldn't be in that same position had there not been these stalwarts of vk culture like MH have withstood the storms of the passing time. This was achieved by the unending dedication and efforts of the core-group that keep coming here year after year after year. If there were double the people with as much heart, perseverance and ability, who knows where we would be. Could the boom period had been extended by the valiant and most importantly of all, smart and applicable endeavors of a few dozen dedicated enthusiasts? I don't know. Bless this website either way and all you people who keep coming and contributing.
 
I won't dare to wager ( but i'll haughtily speculate ) why the laptop took over rock 'n roll, but stuff like the global demographic shifts were just too much for it overcome. The popular sphere has drastically diversified both nationally and racially. The stuffy dadrock crowd is losing their death grip on the entertainment zeigeist and big festival lineups are a testament to this. The rock bands pulling the big crowds are really fucking old, and the audience is only a notch younger. Sure the vk bands can draw a garage-full of people and enjoy the company of a few snappy young women — that's it though, no one else cares. The faucet has dwindled down to a point where it is increasingly harder for bands to sustain themselves. It just happens to be a form of music that doesn't speak to the majority of people anymore, not to the young person in school or the higher cultural crowd either for that matter. Electronic music is thriving both commercially and artistically, even hip hop is still doing a fabulous job of innovating itself; all the while one of our biggest newcomers ripped off a decade old deathcore album just last year. Even selling CD's in this day and age is dated, and labels are dying to adjust before the inevitable fall. The electronic underground, even hip hop has managed to adjust and evolve to a degree in the way music is released and spread ( a lot of the big names aren't even releasing full LP's anymore. Just songs, for free on youtube and whatever ). 
 
I'd honestly like to know what kind of social factors contributed to the rise of scene culture. Remember those bands like BrokeNCYDE, BOTDF and etc.? Where were we at the time, as a culture, that stuff like that was tapping into our consciousness. Nothing happens in a vacuum and people don't just decide what to think, feel or do out of the blue. There are reasons for everything in the social and economic fabric of societies and It's an interesting question fo' sure.
 
 I know my way enough that if I want to make an impression, I wouldn't go telling a cool stranger by four euro latte's that my taste in music is essentially the Japanese Poison and Coal Chamber. I'd embarrass myself either way if I left it at that or started nervously flinging my hands and explaining how deep down this culture is really gr8 and transgressive art. My heart stays true to bijuaru kei either way. I'm going down with the ship and I'll keep on making-a-fool of myself on a daily basis. So that's why this is my favorite thread, because I have a hard time of letting go of the glory days of my youth and its music, endlessly try to rationalise it by intellectual gymnastics. While my death slowly approaches and even the last patches of grey hair are falling out, in my mind I'm still young and full of cum, ready for adventure. 

To me, the popularity of post-hardcore and screamo music with younger audiences also peaked in that same '09 time, which, stylistically, V-Kei shared sonic similarities with.  Not to mention American festival runs were featuring Japanese bands (like family values with Dir en grey, a Taste of Chaos with Mucc/D'espairsRay, etc.) to build the Japanese music exposure with artists that shared their sound with.
 
... but then came the EDM and Dance-pop wave that took the wind right out of the sails of rock popularity.  Now you have metal artists pushing more electronics into their sound to try to bridge that gap, and it is just not keeping people interested in the genre.
 
I think the decline of V-Kei has more to do with the decline of Rock in the face of dance-pop and EDM than it specifically does with just the niche of V-Kei.  I mean, you have people also jumping on the K-Pop bandwagon now more than ever, showcasing the popularity of embracing Dance-pop/EDM sonic sound that is "so hot right now" with the kidz of today.  Rock and metal festivals are also struggling in the U.S. to stay afloat, so it shows that right now, there is no money in promoting the genre.  As a result, less people are exposed to rock-oriented groups that typically would not seek them out, and you have decline.
 
Luckily the internet is alive and well and people have many resources to search for music; The responsibility is now on people like us to bring V-Kei, J-Rock, and guitar centered music to the younger group of impressionable listeners that are more interested in mumble-rap and EDM divas today.
 
Those are just my thoughts.  This is an interesting topic!

To me, the popularity of post-hardcore and screamo music with younger audiences also peaked in that same '09 time, which, stylistically, V-Kei shared sonic similarities with.  Not to mention American festival runs were featuring Japanese bands (like family values with Dir en grey, a Taste of Chaos with Mucc/D'espairsRay, etc.) to build the Japanese music exposure with artists that shared their sound with.
 
... but then came the EDM and Dance-pop wave that took the wind right out of the sails of rock popularity.  Now you have metal artists pushing more electronics into their sound to try to bridge that gap, and it is just not keeping people interested in the genre.
 
I think the decline of V-Kei has more to do with the decline of Rock in the face of dance-pop and EDM than it specifically does with just the niche of V-Kei.  I mean, you have people also jumping on the K-Pop bandwagon now more than ever, showcasing the popularity of embracing Dance-pop/EDM sonic sound that is "so hot right now" with the kidz of today.  Rock and metal festivals are also struggling in the U.S. to stay afloat, so it shows that right now, there is no money in promoting the genre.  As a result, less people are exposed to rock-oriented groups that typically would not seek them out, and you have decline.
 
Luckily the internet is alive and well and people have many resources to search for music; The responsibility is now on people like us to bring V-Kei, J-Rock, and guitar centered music to the younger group of impressionable listeners that are more interested in mumble-rap and EDM divas today.
 
Those are just my thoughts.  This is an interesting topic!

A few predictions.
THE NOVEMBERS will release either a new single or an EP. I don't think they'll be quiet, whatever the case. 八十八ヶ所巡礼 will drop an actual full-length album to make up for leaving us musicless in 2016. cinema staff will release SOMETHING. these guys have been putting out music like crazy. 凛として時雨 hopefully put out something redeeming. maybe a new single? ....or 凛として時雨 return just to disappoint us again. TK makes another anime theme. This time, his most annoying yet! siraph will drop another amazing EP. another new lynch. album [2] downy goes back into hiding for another 3 years.  
That's all I got for now. I do hope for new music from some lesser known bands that probably aren't worth mentioning, though.

Recently all I've noticed was a great indifference to it by the people whom I've been forced to explained it to. Some still remember An Cafe, Dir en grey and Gazette from ten years ago, and others just don't really care which way or the other. So far it has fallen from the common consciousness in fact, that one person thought I had conversed about something called "visual gay" the whole weekend, and she fancied it better not to inquire any further on the matter. 
 
In middle school it was a different deal; I was loud and proud with my weebdom and had a picture of An Cafe on my computer's desktop for the longest time. Many an argument were then ended by my mates just calling me a fag, and that'd be that. That's back when everyone still knew about anime, manga and visual kei, so the reactions to it were more polarised as well. As all the kids back then were into Slipknot, you'd sometimes show them something which was more palatable and met with a warmer response, like Dir en grey. One person from my school I managed to convert even.
 
Assuredly I'd still hear the usual "oh, I can't listen to that language" or whatever, but I'm already old enough to choose to not to associate myself with anyone that musically illiterate; and quite frankly I don't know how anyone could stand for such company for any longer than a cordial greeting in the rest room. 

I used to do this a lot: tell someone to listen to a song without any visuals and then get their impression of the music. It worked all the time with my brother, regardless of the fact that neither of us could understand what was being said. If lyrics are a big issue for people listening to music, then I don't think they care that much about the music.

To me, the popularity of post-hardcore and screamo music with younger audiences also peaked in that same '09 time, which, stylistically, V-Kei shared sonic similarities with.  Not to mention American festival runs were featuring Japanese bands (like family values with Dir en grey, a Taste of Chaos with Mucc/D'espairsRay, etc.) to build the Japanese music exposure with artists that shared their sound with.
 
... but then came the EDM and Dance-pop wave that took the wind right out of the sails of rock popularity.  Now you have metal artists pushing more electronics into their sound to try to bridge that gap, and it is just not keeping people interested in the genre.
 
I think the decline of V-Kei has more to do with the decline of Rock in the face of dance-pop and EDM than it specifically does with just the niche of V-Kei.  I mean, you have people also jumping on the K-Pop bandwagon now more than ever, showcasing the popularity of embracing Dance-pop/EDM sonic sound that is "so hot right now" with the kidz of today.  Rock and metal festivals are also struggling in the U.S. to stay afloat, so it shows that right now, there is no money in promoting the genre.  As a result, less people are exposed to rock-oriented groups that typically would not seek them out, and you have decline.
 
Luckily the internet is alive and well and people have many resources to search for music; The responsibility is now on people like us to bring V-Kei, J-Rock, and guitar centered music to the younger group of impressionable listeners that are more interested in mumble-rap and EDM divas today.
 
Those are just my thoughts.  This is an interesting topic!

To me, the popularity of post-hardcore and screamo music with younger audiences also peaked in that same '09 time, which, stylistically, V-Kei shared sonic similarities with.  Not to mention American festival runs were featuring Japanese bands (like family values with Dir en grey, a Taste of Chaos with Mucc/D'espairsRay, etc.) to build the Japanese music exposure with artists that shared their sound with.
 
... but then came the EDM and Dance-pop wave that took the wind right out of the sails of rock popularity.  Now you have metal artists pushing more electronics into their sound to try to bridge that gap, and it is just not keeping people interested in the genre.
 
I think the decline of V-Kei has more to do with the decline of Rock in the face of dance-pop and EDM than it specifically does with just the niche of V-Kei.  I mean, you have people also jumping on the K-Pop bandwagon now more than ever, showcasing the popularity of embracing Dance-pop/EDM sonic sound that is "so hot right now" with the kidz of today.  Rock and metal festivals are also struggling in the U.S. to stay afloat, so it shows that right now, there is no money in promoting the genre.  As a result, less people are exposed to rock-oriented groups that typically would not seek them out, and you have decline.
 
Luckily the internet is alive and well and people have many resources to search for music; The responsibility is now on people like us to bring V-Kei, J-Rock, and guitar centered music to the younger group of impressionable listeners that are more interested in mumble-rap and EDM divas today.
 
Those are just my thoughts.  This is an interesting topic!

There's a few things I want to point out while the topic is still young.
 
This is only reliable to gauge foreigner interest in visual kei. I do not know if Japanese fans of visual kei use Google, a different type of search engine, or if they avoid the process altogether and share privately. We have to combine this data with some other sources of data for more info. But this is a great start. The focus is on March 2009 but the rate of decrease is at its highest in 2010 roughly a year later. Then it peters out. What gives? Well, that's when Tainted World died off and we had to navigate to our ZetaBoards replacement. We used it until the end of 2010-2011 when we are able to get some real hardware and hosting providers (before we were running on total crap and the forum could barely stay up...oldies remember that). In that time I imagine a lot of people's interest died off since they couldn't get free music anymore. Tour managers shitting the bed bringing visual kei to the masses; fans shitting the bed asking for bands to come and then not going to the concerts. The sound changing. 2009 is where I'd peg the overall direction of visual kei to change to what it is today. I can't describe it aurally but we all know VK in 2016 isn't the same as VK in 2006. I think this lost a lot of people too when their favorite bands disbanded and there was no one to fill the void.

Noticed something interesting when I was exploring worldwide trends for the search term "visual kei" on google - that tiny spike earlier this year just happened to be when youtubers react to visual kei came out:

 
So visual kei is dead. And at the rate it is going now, will be even dead-er; A scene stagnating on the same looks and sounds, rarely venturing out musically if at all. But it wasn't always that way. Although it would be  appropriate to refer to the 90s golden era of vk to remind us of how opulent the scene once was, I want to bring back memories of 2009.
 
In October 2008, Kerrang ran a feature on jrock, publishing an article predicting jrock to go big in Europe in 2009.
And sure enough, google trends highlighted the correlation clearly, confirming that the search terms "j-rock" and "visual kei" did indeed peak between January and March 2009.
 
However, following vk's brief global success was a period of near-exponential decline - to what we see now as the lowest point of popularity vk has ever experienced in a 12 year time-span. Even that spike in August wasn't enough to break above 2004's lowest point.
 
Personally, I'd been a passive fan of visual kei for many years prior to 2009, but it wasn't until 2009 that I became fully engaged. One prominent catalyst was Japanese blogging platform Ameba launching its virtual community ‘Pigg’ that year, becoming a game changer in the way fans and bands could interact. Popular musicians were also given accounts powered by ameba, a la twitter's verified personalities.
 
I remember 2009 as a year that several vk bands were going major and gaining international recognition. It was no surprise that vk reached its global height by being much more accessible through social media and other digital channels. This momentum seemed to be gaining quickly until 2010 brought a sharp turn of unfortunate events within the scene and the emergence of kpop poached a large part of the international vk audience.
 
However, the situation in Japan is a bit different, as vk has been pretty steady since it had already declined by the turn of the century. The search term "ヴィジュアル系" on google trends says as much.
 
A few years ago, major labels published all those visual kei cover albums probably in an attempt to raise the relevance of visual kei, but the hype had pretty much died by then. The drought of talent and variety meant that each band was no better than the other, and was enough for many people to lose interest. Stricter piracy laws also meant that music had become less accessible, with people being reluctant to pay the exorbitant prices of some CDs. Not to mention the discontinuation of many vk magazines as an indication of the scene's current degradation. Marketing and business models that worked in the 90s and early 00s struggle to find significance in the present day, yet management has not evolved to adapt to current trends (or have done so poorly).
 
Now that the last of the influential underground vk labels is defunct, vk doesn't have the backing and budget as it once did. X Japan and Luna Sea are like the only lifeline left for vk - there can't even be a vk festival without either X Japan or Luna Sea in the lineup.
 
I remember reading an interview where Yohio mentioned that he kinda killed western interest in vk, but I don't particularly attribute that to those western vk acts damaging the reputation of this uniquely japanese scene. Bands such as D'espairsRay, girugamesh, the Underneath, Rentrer en Soi, Dio, UnsraW and Black:List etc who laid the groundwork for vk to make its mark in the west are no longer around. I'm surprised lynch. didn't carry the torch.
 
I don't want this thread to sound too much like #resurrectvk, but instead I want ignite a discussion (and maybe create a dialog) - how did the vk boom of '09 affect you in your country, what could've been done differently, or the best things to come out of  that little modern renaissance of vk history.
 
 

What is with everyone adding the "Whooooaaaah, Wooahhowwwohhh..."s to their music nowadays.  Stop it - just stop.
 
I want to like this effort, but I just haven't.