Bear

 

And a teaser: http://shop.napalmrecords.com/arkona

Not the B movie nonsense that was Gackt's film.

 

Now what's wrong with b films?

But if one consider visual kei a genre, then that also means that one consider Schwarze Stein, Versailles and Lynch to be playing the the same type of music, which they obviously ain't. You have one electronica band, one metal band and one rock band. Are these guys really playing the same type of music? Because in 2014 genres are based on the music they play, not the way they look or what they sing about. And I am having a hard time putting these three into the same genre.

You're so far off with those comments. The metal community really isn't close minded. Like not at all.

 

 

And Grieva sounds pretty good. They sound like a band that made a shitload of songs in the late 90's, but then split ut, for so an reform 10 years later and record those songs. Old school sound in a modern production.

We Are What We Are - Piss fucking boring horrordrama that actually made me fell asleep a couple of times, something which have happened 2-3 during my life. That kinda says it all, doesn't it? It's a remake of a Mexican film, which from what I read has a shitload in comming with the awful The Hamiltons. But no, there was absolutely nothing throughout this film that caught my interest. Poor, poor film.

 

Psycho - Alfred Hitchcock was a genius and one of the biggest and best directors ever, and Psycho is his absolute best film. Need I say any more? No.

No, I don't think so. Everyone I have ever known since I got into Japanese music myself have been into Japanese music. I've introduced people to visual kei, but those have already known at least a handful of Japanese bands.

Quality wise the debut of Les Discrets is more or less the same as the second one, but sound wise they're actually a bit different. The first sure has more post-metal elements in it. Brilliant band!

 

Agalloch could probably be a nice place to continue. They've always developed their sound but without losing their own identity. Started of as a very black metalish band but went further and further away from black metal for many years, before returning to their roots with the masterpiece that is Marrow of the Spirit before releasing their most blackened, dark and brutal release in form of another masterpiece, Faustian Echoes. The Mantle would probably be a fine lace to start though. It's where I started as well. Though I prefer some of their other albums today, but it's still an amazing album.

 

It's Neige, aight. He's got a beautiful voice if you ask me. Perfect for this kind of music. He's also got what's perhaps the most inhuman voice ever (ref: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLSUQYzqXZ0). Them shrieks, baby. Them shrieks. Insane. Best vocal performance ever PERIOD. Så nasty, rotten and disgusting it almost makes you sick. He's not exactly doing a bad job here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9erbq49fEUQ) either. Christ almighty.

 

 

You'll find some similarity in Old Silver Key (Drudkh + Neige) where he sings in English. And obviously Les Discrets.

It's not metal, but considering Alcest have been a metal band for 15 years before releasing something that isn't metal I don't see a single reason not to talk bout them in a metal thread. Their weakest release since the demo, yet a brilliant album. Says all about Alcest's qualities to be honest. And I am not sold on "Away" yet. I think it is a good song, but it doesn't quite fit with the rest of the album, much due to the song being sung in English. Not too fond of that when the rest is sung in French, a language superior to English when it comes to music.

Questions:

 

1: Don`t worry about others, is Visual Kei a genre, or a scene, or something else, to you?

 

To me, visual kei is nothing but a scene or something like that. A genre is something that says something about a bands sound, and while a certain genre can be broad and have a lot of different sounds within it, it still says something about the sound the bands have. Visual kei says nothing about the sound itself as it range from electronica to thrash metal to pop and rock and so on. You can play death metal and be a visual kei band. You can play acoustic folk and still be considered visual kei. So no, not a genre to me.

 

2: Most of the time can you tell the genre, or if you will like a band based on their look?

 

One can often tell the genre, but one certainly can't say if one will like or dislike a band based on their look. A bands image says nothing about the quality on the music. You can look good and make shit music, just like you can look shitty and make good music.

 

3: Do the looks matter to you? If the same band dressed in Jeans and T-shirts with short hair, would you be as interested?

 

No, it does not. I don't mind a interesting/good looking band, but it won't matter at all when it comes to music. A good image however can be the difference between checking the band out or not, just like a good or bad coverart can be the difference between checking something out and not.

 

4: Do you search for music by sub-genre, such as Nu-Metal, Alt. Rock, etc?

 

Yeah, I do. It all depends on what I want. If I want some new ambient black metal I will search for ambient black metal. If I want some nu-metal that's what I search for. But I don't do this often as I don't tend to search for a certain type of music.

 

5: Do you get annoyed when others label your favorite music as genres which you don`t agree with?

 

No.

 

Bonus: If a band starts as Visual Kei, even if they change, are they Visual Kei 4 Lyfe?

 

No, they are not.

No, I didn't know. Nor did I have the time to search for it when I asked. I just saw a thread about anime and saw an opportunity to finally ask. But can't a mod just take the last 11 posts and move it into that thread?

I'm not quite sure what you're getting at here. Might be because I am half asleep at the moment. But are you saying the production have its weaknesses because of the label the album was released on?

I read "Heidi. Fly High" and thought we'd get us a new release. Bah. One of the better bands within the scene nowadays.

Really? I think the album is almost overproduced. Would have loved for it to be a bit more lo-fi. More like the debut album. Still consider the debut to me a masterpiece though. Brilliant album.

 

 

And this year have started off great too as far as metal goes. Been som really, really good releases so far.

Seen some of the stuff mentioned here (Ergo Proxy, Wicked City, Perfect Blue, Paprika) but I'll check out the others. And I don't mind robots or stuff like that. As far as this go I don't mind if it's sci-fi noir, horror noir, neo-noir or whatever. Or sci-fi-horror for that matter. Or just noir, sci-fi or horror. That doesn't matter.

Not sure if I ever asked about this here, but I am looking for certain types of anime. Not sure if I'll ever find anything like it, but it's woth a try.

 

Anime noir. Does it exist?

Anime crime. Something dark and serious.

Anime horror. Again something dark and serious.

 

I'm not looking for some lighthearted crime or horror. I want something dark, serious and grown up. I'll take films as well. What are the chances of finding something like this in the world of anime?

I see. I'll make a list of ten then.

 

1. Sigh

2. Sabbat

3. Framtid

4. Mono

5. Abigail

6. Disclose / Syphilitic Vaginas (not sure if these guys are Swedish or Japanese)

7. Boris

8. Flower Travellin' Band

9. S.O.B.

10. Coffins

 

If I made this list again in a week or two it'd be different. Then I'd probably find a place for either Gauze, Melt-Banana, Kriegshög, Gallhammer, Arkha Sva, Magnesium and so on, or several of them. And the week after it'd be different again and so on. But the two-three first ones would be the exact same every single week.

I see people mention Boris, Church of Misery and Mono, so are we just talking about Japanese rock/metal in general here? Or something more specific.

Sunbather was disappointing. Those god damn fillers. Should have done as they did with their superb debut album and just released something short, because without the fillers Sunbather wouldn't stand back to Roads of Judah the way it does now.

I guess nobody here would ever go to Norway for a concert, but did anyone see this years Inferno Festival line up? By far the best they've ever had. Insane!

 

Bands I must see:

 

Deathhammer

Impiety

Mystifier

Vemod

Blasphemy

Mgla

Necros Christos

Sigh

Black Witchery

 

Bands I'll have a look at:

 

Dimmu Borgir

Hatebreed

Obliteration

Gehenna

Tulus

Rotting Christ

Watain

Oranssi Pazuzu

 

 

Nine bands I'll see for sure, and eight bands I'll have a look at, and if it's good I'll watch the whole set. If not, I'll go have ten beers and talk to people. Should be a great week for sure. Massive line up!

Been quiet here for a while I see. I've been at my brother for a bit over two weeks, and while he's been at work I've watched a billion films using his Netflix. How people can complain about Netflix' selection is beyond me. You've got old films, new films, films within all genres, b-films, a-films and so on. Excellent!

 

The Black Klansman - Old school blacksploitation film about a man who gets his kid killed by the KKK and goes undercover. This was propably made as a very serious film, but in 2014 it's hard to take it that serius. The black man is almost as white as me, the acting's poor, the dialouge cheesy and so on, but it's geat entertainment nonetheless.

 

Bamboo Gods and Iron Men - More blacksploitation, this time with a badass James Iglehart in the main role. Cheesy as fuck, but entertaining! Liked it a lot.

 

1313: Cougar Cult - I'm just gonna post someone elses review of this, because I can't do it any better:

 

Cougars? More like velociraptors! These worn out cows moo about the mansion rubbing on mostly naked 20 something young men (who are not packing quite as much in those tidy whites as one might expect). When the old cows get going, these ridiculous clip art cougar faces (generated by a 486 computer, no doubt) appear over their real faces. Then we get generic halloween music, or the occasional dramatic score from the 1950s. WTF? This isn't even close to being softcore porn, it is just a bunch of gay actors wondering around in their underwear, (or rubbing their naked chests obsessively as if they have the hives), in a nursing home, dodging mid-90's special effects.

 

Saw it with my brother and we both laughed our asses off during this film. What a film.

This is an actual picture from the film:

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p232/iphignia939/1313%20cougar%20cult/vlcsnap-2012-08-13-19h32m38s57.png

 

The fact that there's about 10 other 1313 films isn't but shocking to be honest. He even had what I'd cal a decent budget for this film. 1.000.000 USD should be enough to at least get better effects than this. Hah!

 

Drug War - Johnnie To deliver the goods as usual. This isn't as deep as his other films, and there's not that much to dwell into here. The pace is insane and it's all just brutally awesome.

 

21 Jump Street - Hilarious film, and I am looking forward to the sequel.

 

War of the Arrows - Lovely South-Korean period drama set to the second Manchu invasion of Korea. It's about an archer who risks his own life to save his sister. Great, great films with a good story, great acting, brilliant set pieces and action out of another world. Loved this film!

 

Solomon Kane - Surprisingly good Sword & Sorcery film from 2009. I've had this on my watchlist since forever, but that was only because the poster is great. Didn't expect anything to be honest. But what I got was a great S&S film that managed to evoke the S&S feeling from the great 80's. Solid plot, solid acting, solid special effects, solid directed and lots and lots of badassery. The ending was a bit disappointing, but nothing too shabby.

 

Double Dragon - Every single human being who grew up in the 90's knows Double Dragon, and everyone who grew up in the 90's have spent almost too many hours on the badass game. This film came in the middle of the 90's and is really fucking bad in a good and entertaining way. Nothing here actually resembls Double Dragon. The characters, both good and evil, and awful, the dialogue's campy at best , the acting's horrid and the special effects are really bad, even for being made in the mid 90's. Despite all of this, the film's entertaining as fuck. Everything's stupid, retarded, idiotic and what not, but yet the film's more badass than a fucking train. All that's missing is some neon lights. That would have perfected the film.

 

Hot Rod - Great, silly, stupid comedy with a great Andy Samberg in the lead. Over the top and stupid. Liked it!

 

Virgin Witch - Great occult and erotic horror film from the early 70's, with the beautiful sisters Vicki and Ann Michelle in the leads. It's slow, and focus a lot on showing skin, but I really liked it. Got The Wicked Man feeling at times. Lovely!

 

Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame - Great action adventure with Andy Lau. Loads of brilliant kung fu and generel badassery. Some some of CGI sucks, but most of the time it works really well. I did miss a bit more crime in the film, though. But it was great anyway.

 

 

Miami Connection - Look at that beauty of a poster. Doesn't it kind tell you everythig you need to know about this brilliant piece of cinema? You've got one gang that's a bunch of nerdy taekwondo synthrockers, and another which are drug selling biker ninjas. You've got loads of violence and blood, acting the world haven't seen anything like since this film and dialogue that sounds as if it came straight from god's own mouth. Brilliant! And that soundtrack, guys. That fucking soundtrack. Awesome! One of the most badass films from the 80's.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqwntLBY9tA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVtyOwcQo-w

 

All the Boys Love Mandy Lane - Great slasher with a bit of originality in this. I was really surprised by this film, and Amber Heard really impresses me.

 

The Thieves - OK, though a bit disappointing heist film. You've got a brilliant cast and stuff, but the problem starts when they try grabbing around way too much at the same time.  It's just too much happening at the same time to be honest. But it wasn't bad. I was entertained.

 

Masquerade - Brilliant period drama from South Korea, set in the middle of the Joseon dynasty. It's a film that both cheer youand touch you, much due to the brilliant portrays by Lee Byung-huns (who plays to characters). And the visuals are stunning. It's almost a chamber film where everything happens inside, but the few shots outside will take your breath away. Beautiful film!

 

Chocolate - Crazy martial arts film about a autistic girl that learns martial arts by watching films (Ong Bak, Tom yum goong) and playing games. A lot of the martial arts you've seen before in the two metioned films as she copys them, but that doesn't matter at all. Crazy! The story isn't all that, even though I liked it, but it's all about the acton here, just as in Ong Bak and Tom yum goong. After this film was finished I realised that the director is noone other than Prachya Pinkaew, the man behind Ong Bak and Tom yum goong, so no wonder it gave me much of the same feeling. Anyway, great film. Crazy, insane and intense!

 

Humanoids from the Deep - Great 80's monster horror that will give you nothing knew to chew on, as you've probably seen everything before. But who cares? It's a huge fucking cheese party, and cheese being soem of the best in the world (both on film and as food) I just can't conplain about that.

 

Brutal, mutant fishes comes u from the deep and kills the men and rapes the beautiful women. Don't need more than that. And the Alien-scene was brilliant, just as it is in Alien.

 

Bloody Birthday - Great arly 80's slasher with some really creepy kids. Liked it a lot!

 

Galaxy of Terror - In the wake of Alien and its succes we got a billion clones, and this is said to be one of them. I disagree with that. Yes, there's a lot fo Alien elements in the film, but not enough to call it a cloen or rip off IMO. Cool characters, great mongoloid dialogue, awesoem monsters, good set design and geat gore. And ONE scene with Taaffe O'Connell that's out of this world. Amazing!

 

Produced by b-film legend Roger Corman, so you kind know what you get.

 

Forbidden World - Another Alien clone, and this time it's actually a clone. Great one as well. Badass effects, badass monster, badass characters and lots of blood and gore and stuff. Cheesy as fuck!

 

Produced by b-film legend Roger Corman, so you kind know what you get.

 

Piranha 3D - Amazing remake of an even more amazing film. This reall caught me off guard. Thought it was really, really good. Lots of blood and gore, titties and asses, and last but not least hungry pianhas. Cheese fest deluxe, but that's how we like it, right? Loved the cameos by Richard Dreyfuss and Christopher Lloyd. Fantastic! This movie should be perfect together with a six pack of beer and some friends.

 

Piranha - Had to see it again and it is still amazing. Despite being a Jaws spoof, I think it's more or less on the same level as Jaws. No Jaws rip off are better than this. Brilliant film!

 

Deathstalker - Boobs & sorcery part 1:

 

Deathstalker is a Sword & sorcery film that was released in 83, not too long after Conan the Barbarian which was a massiv success, and in known Roger Corman tyle (who was the producer) it tries to cash in on another films' success. This isn't a very good film, but it's a very entertaining film. The whole film isn't much more than lots and lots of tits, blood and violence. Awful, but awesome film!

 

Barbarian Queen - Boobs & sorcery part 2:

 

Another sword & sorcery film produced by Roger Corman, from 85. Tried to cash in on the current sword & sorcery trend that was at the time. Not as violent as Deathstalker, but it's much of the same anyway. Lana Clarkson has the lead, and she also had a rather big part in Deathstalker where she did nothing but walk around topless and fight now and then. A bit more dressed in this, but she still don't mind showing some skin, and she shows exactly what she's got, just like most other female characters does. Another so bad it's good type of film. Awesome!

 

Lana Clarkson's bloody beautiful, by the way. Mmmmh!

 

C.H.U.D. - Great b-film that was butchered when it was released, but that has gained some kind of a cult status in the later years. Deserved as well, because this was awesome. Not very good, but very badass and very entertaining!

I've heard the new Behemoth 3-4 time now and I am very impressed. By far their best since Zos Kia Cultus, and I would not be surprised if it grows to become a lot better than ZKC as well. At times it makes me think of Satanica. The melodies and the black metal inspiration. Very satisfied!

On my phone, so I won't respond to all that. But if one choose music as a job to earn money, but fail to do so, then they obviously suck at their job and disbandment are but positive. Good riddance and so on. One can't just start a band and expect to become rich over the night. Start it as a hobby and see how it goes. If it goes well, quit your job. If not, keep it as a hobby, unless it's something you don't really give a fuck about. Then just forget about it.

My point, which obviously didn't come through, is that if you actually care about what you're creating you won't give up after a year or two just because you didn't make money from it in that short time.

I don't think it's dumb. Maybe they really don't have money to run the band and they have no other choice. If they don't get enough to people on their live, they won't be able to record anything, make more music? Small visual kei bands are usually broke, I think this is the reason why they do it and it seems very logical if I think about it this way. I don't know why else would they do that.

Also, on the events, bands who gathered the least fans pay for the club (a lot of money, unless the whole event is sponsored by another band, then they don't), so maybe they want to avoid that.

Small bands from all over the world are poor and what not, yet most of them are fully capable to continue their band, recording albums and releasing them, and play live now and then despite never having played for a crowd bigger than 30, and despite never having been paid anything for their lives. It's in fact the opposite, they have to spend loads of money to be able to play live.

Money ain't that big of an issue unless you:'er into it because of the money. Lack of money might hold you back a few years. You might not get to record and release it right now, but waiting a year or two should'n make you disappear, unless you're into it for all the wrong reasons.

Even the heroin addicts living on the streets here, with no income whatsoever other than the bottles they find on the street and what random people give them, are capable of recording and releassing here. How? They save small amounts of money whenever they can to be able to fullfill their dreams, even if it takes them a decade. Spirit!

Pathetic, and they are obviusly in it for the wrong reasons.