Bear

As most of you know, I'm quite a fan of punk and its subgenres, and the Japanese punk scene sure deserves its own thread on the forum. I guess everybody on the forum knows bands like The Stalin, Anti-Feminism, Balzac, The Piass and so on, so I won't make a big deal about those, even though I am a fan of several of those. But feel free to talk about all kinds of punk from hardcore to d-beat to crust to horror punk to grindcore to skate punk to street punk to thrashcore to psychobilly and so on, but keep it to the bands that are on the punk side. Take grindcore as an example: please do talk about grindcore, but keep it to the bands rooted in punk.
 
Bands like S.O.B., Napalm Death and Extreme Noise Terror played a type of grindcore that belongs in this thread. These guys basically played hard, brutal punk with metal influences, unlike grindcore bands such as Impetigo, Terrorizer and Repulsion who were more on the metallic side and played and more death metal influenced grindcore. Same goes with metalcore and whatnot too. You get the point.
 
 
 
 
 
 
I'll start and post some of my favourites from the Japanese scene throughout the time:
 

Gauze
 
Formed in 1981, Gauze turned out to be one of the most influential Japanese punk bands of all time, if not THE most influential band from the punk scene in Japan. The band is recognized throughout the underground punk scene in the whole world to have released two of the best hardcore albums of all time with 1984's Fuckheads and 1986's Equalizing Distort, and the band proved to have a massive influence of the scene in Japan, as well as underground scene all over the world. So the band did get lots of recognition, but far from what they had deserved IMO.
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DR1f17xEzSo
 

S.O.B.
 
Another highly influential band, but unlike Gauze this band had more influence on the grindcore scene throughout the world, and grindcore legends Napalm Death, Brutal Truth and Carcass have all told lots about the influence S.O.B. had on them, Lee Dorian, vocalist on Napalm Death's two first albums, have always been open to how the band borrowed a shitload of S.O.B. riffs for their 1988 masterpiece From Enslavement to Obliteration. Lee Dorian and Shane Embury even went on to play on 1989's Thrash Night EP. The band started out as a brutal and fast hardcore band, before evolving into a pure gindcore band with 1990's What's the Truth?. Their debut EP Leave Me Alone consists of 9 songs, clocking in on 09,16 minutes, and their debut album consists of 18 songs, clocking in on 19:42 minutes. Too short? Nah. With the intensity of the bands music the lenght are more or less perfect.
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Eib9a4GM5M
 

G.I.S.M.
 
G.I.S.M. are robably best known for their strange live shows where Sakevi did plenty of strange things, like running into the crowd with a chainsaw, attacking front rows with a lit flamethrower, beating random concertgoers with a club, and firing gun shots on stage with a revolver, as well as attacking journalists and photographers who try to approach him. But beneath this, we find one of the early metapunk bands, blending hardcore and heavy metal into one raw, dirt mix. Their second album saw the band leaning more towards heavy meta, though, with close to no hardcore left in their sound. It's a great album, but not close to as good as their debut, Detestation.
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twFu0ZABwvk
 

Disclose
 
Disclose are one of the hundreds and hundreds of Discharge clones, but unlike all the other clones, this band is actually more or less just as good as the original. Disclose plays d-beat and sounds like a fuzzy and distorted version of Discharge, and for someone who worships the altar of Discharge it's impossible not to love this band. There's not really more to say. Fantastic band!
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pv7-ziKfbIQ
 

Framtid
 
This band here, is one of my all time favourite hardcore bands. Framtid isn't a very productive band, and during their 20+/- year long career they've only released two full lenghts (16 and 21 minutes long), a few demos and a few split releases. So yeah, not very productive and it took them 11 years from their first to their second full lenght. But who gives a fuck when the quality of what they're releasing is as high as it is? Two genius albums and two of the best in the genre. Raw, dirty and brutal hardcore. This band is hardcore hell!
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPJ07f4V6q8
 

Zouo
 
There's not too much info on this band around, but what I do know is that this band played top notch hardcore. Dark and dirty, with obvious G.I.S.M. influences, though the hardcore side of G.I.S.M. Fantastic band!
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bavbNYSA8_s
 

Death Side
 
Pure hardcore with fantastic leads and great riffs and vocals. Not as raw or ugly as some of the other mentioned here, but just as good as most of them.
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1gJHPGoPS8
 
 
 
Other great bands to check out:
 
Unholy Grave
Deathpeed
Kriegshög
Outo
Gudon
Electric Funeral
Crow
Paintbox
D.B.S.
Ghoul
Kuro
Nurse
Disarray
The Rustler
Swindle Bitch
Kyah
Mental
D-Clone
Forward
Confuse
 
and
so
on
 
All these are well worth checking out IMO. Great bands, al of them.

Ray Harryhausen: Special Effects Titan - If you're just slightly interested in what goes on behind what you see on the screen when watching a film full of special effectis, either it is stop-motion animation or CGI, then this should be of interest to you, as it goes through the film-life of Ray Harryhausen, the greatest animator of all time. You geat an interview with the man himself as he talks about his films and work, and also with folks like Peter Jackson, Steven Spielberg, Tim Burton, James Cameron, John Landis  John Landis, Terry Gilliam, Joe Dante, Guillermo del Toro, Vincenzo Natali, Ray Bradbury and more, as they talk bout Ray Harryhausen's influence, not just on themself, but on the world of cinema itself. One of the most influential guys to work with film! This is a must-see IMO.
 
Snitch - Mediocre, though decent enough actionthriller with The Rock. Nothing out of the ordinary, but OK entertainment on a thursday evening.

That sounds disgusting.

Thank you for reminding me of Fullmoon and Infernum. These are records I had and even gave a spin as a kid, however I was too dumb at the time to appreciate any of the classics from the Polish scene. An year or two later I finally got into Graveland and Veles, but had already forgotten about Fullmoon and Infernum so I never got to give them a second outing.  
 
What'd ye think of the last years Peste Noire? I gave it a shot yesterday and... I really don't have an opinion on it. Requires more listens. 

Goddammit, that distortion/guitar tone on the first Bloodbath album is slaying me so hard... especially here:
 


 
Yay for 6-stringed buzzsaws / electric razors~

Good boy!
 
Also, talking about Bloodbath - here's another recommendation:
 

Bloodbath - Toxic Death
 
No, this ain't a release by the Swedish death metallers, this is a thashing death metal release by a Serbian band from 1990. Boodbath plays raw, agressive death/thrash that sounds like a mixture of bands such as Merciless, Possessed, Necrovore and Morbid Saint. It's not original, not even for its time, but it's got plenty of character and it's a exhibition in brutality and agression. Do yourself a favour and check out this masterpiece!
 

As long as a band manage to keep up the quality there's nothing wrong with releasing a shitload of albums, EPs and singles in a short period of time.
 
 
Njiqahdda released 8 albums and 4 EPs (all well over 30 miuntes long) from 2007 to 2009 and the majority of this material is of very, very high quality. And in this time the two members also released 4 albums and 1 EP with their band Oaks of Bethel and 1 EP with their band Funeral Eclipse. There's nothing wrong with releasing this much if you fully capable of keeping the quality up. The only problem with doing something like this is that it is hard to keep up with the releases, but I've got all the time in the world so it's nothing but joy IMO.

As long as a band manage to keep up the quality there's nothing wrong with releasing a shitload of albums, EPs and singles in a short period of time.
 
 
Njiqahdda released 8 albums and 4 EPs (all well over 30 miuntes long) from 2007 to 2009 and the majority of this material is of very, very high quality. And in this time the two members also released 4 albums and 1 EP with their band Oaks of Bethel and 1 EP with their band Funeral Eclipse. There's nothing wrong with releasing this much if you fully capable of keeping the quality up. The only problem with doing something like this is that it is hard to keep up with the releases, but I've got all the time in the world so it's nothing but joy IMO.

I am among those who love Withering to Death, though it's not as good as  Macabre, Uroboros, Gauze and Missa. But it's a good album. Kodou are probably among my 5-6 favourite Dir en grey songs.

I might check out Dissection then, thanks!
 
Also thanks for reminding me of Hypocrisy... last year I started checking them out more in-depth (I had only seen a couple videos before) and quite liked what I heard! Nothing fancy but all-around solid stuff with a captivating atmosphere. Then my interest kinda fizzled out but I might listen to more of their stuff soon as I'm on an extreme metal kick lately anyway.

The first album is a melodic black metal album, the second is a mixture of melodic black and melodic death metal and the last one is a melodic death metal album. The two first are pure 6/6 albums in my eyes. Fantastic albums in every way possible.
 
 
Hypocrisy should also be mentioned. Abducted and The Final Chapter are both fantastic melodic death metal albums where they manage to mix death metal with melodies. Both are classics!

It seems we both have the same problem with typical melo-death then. xD
 
Also, I've never listened to Dissection before but these tracks seem pretty fine! I was always under the impression they were black metal (or always read about them in this context) but I can kinda see/hear this "melodic extreme metal" you were going for.

Allright, fair enough. I'm not the biggest fan of meloic death metal myself, but I love a lot of the early bands within the genre, in the times before melodic death metal was synonymous with melodic extreme metal. The lack of death metal in melodic death metal is my main problem with the genre. Most bands fail to blend the melodic aspect of the music with the brutality and heaviness of death metal, and that's a problem.
 
Dissection's Reinkaos is recommended. Completely different from their earlier stuff, and much more in common with mid 90's In Flames, just a lot darker, yet catchy as fuck.
 

Yes, the design is often (though, far from always) the same, but the size ain't the same as you said. Great artwork, and especially artworks with lots of details, will always look better when bigger. It's the same as with posters or whatever. What's better and cooler to look at; a 20x30cm poster or a 60x90cm poster? I'd go with the 60x90cm every single day of the week, all year long.
 
But as I said, a CD is more practical and it sounds good, but me, I buy more than the music whenever I buy something. I buy a whole package, which I why I have become very careful with what I buy.

Wow, didn't know this band. Just listened to this song and I really loved it, which is normal when you're a fan of Tolkien's world. Going to try their discography asap but especially that album, '...Where the Shadows Lie'. The female vocals amazed me on that track, and the growls sound pretty awesome to me. Concerning the track, nothing to say if just that it's amazing, I love the atmosphere there is in that song and the lyrics as well. Thanks for sharing, dude!

Battlelore - ...Where the Shadows Lie
 
With fantastic coverart by known J. R. R. Tolkien'-ullustrator Ted Nasmith it's easy to understan what kind of themes this band deals with. ...Where the Shadows Lie is Battlelore's debut album, and a fantastic album in my eyes. It's hard to say exactly what genre Battleloe belongs in, but they play a mix of power metal and goth metal with hints of melodic death metal and folk metal, topping it with "beauty and the beast" vocals. Neither of the two vocalists are very talented, but they supply eachother very well and there's plenty of memorable vocal lines (such as the female vocals in Fangorn!) without ever going over top with anything, though the growls are a bit special and certainly not for everyone. They also managed to get their own soun and there's not really any bands out there sounding like this, and that's positive. I'm enjoying their lyrics as well (more or less always baese on something Tolkien) and it really fits the atmosphere of the music.
 
 

Macabre are by far my favourite Dir en grey album.

The thread kinda says it all, doesn't it? What's your prefered format and why?
 
As for me:
 
1. Vinyl
To me, vinyl sounds warmer than tapes and CDs, and there's something very magical about flipping it over after you've heard the A-side. It's a format for when you're gonna focus soly on the music an pay a little extra attention to the music. Get yourself a glass of your finest whisky/wine/beer and enjoy the huge artwork, read the lyrics (if it has that) and just enjoy the music to the fullest without fuckign around with your computer or phone or anything else. It's the format which makes listening to music a bit more special.
 
2. Tapes
A small, beautiful format which tts rough sound makes it perfect for demos and certain genres (black/death/thrash metal for instance), and it's a fantasticly charming format to me. It's a fun format, and a format that gives me a bit extra that the CDs lack. It's cheap too, which makes it possible to get three of these for the price of one CD.
 
On the minus side it's a format that will get damaged over time no matter how well you take care of it. Time will fuck 'em up, even if you don't, and that sucks. But it's worth it.
 
3. CDs
Sounds good, but gives me nothing more than the music, and for someone who pays for a lot more than just the music there's nothing to gain here really. Sounds good and is easy to deal with and take care of, but the artwork's small as fuck and there's nothing special about it. Nothing special at all, and a format I spend close to nowt on. I'll only spend money on CDs if it's something really special or a band I collect (Sigh). But that's it for me. Most of my CDs are laying in bags somewhere and I'm not using them other than in the car and whenever we're getting drunk.
 
 
And you?

The thread kinda says it all, doesn't it? What's your prefered format and why?
 
As for me:
 
1. Vinyl
To me, vinyl sounds warmer than tapes and CDs, and there's something very magical about flipping it over after you've heard the A-side. It's a format for when you're gonna focus soly on the music an pay a little extra attention to the music. Get yourself a glass of your finest whisky/wine/beer and enjoy the huge artwork, read the lyrics (if it has that) and just enjoy the music to the fullest without fuckign around with your computer or phone or anything else. It's the format which makes listening to music a bit more special.
 
2. Tapes
A small, beautiful format which tts rough sound makes it perfect for demos and certain genres (black/death/thrash metal for instance), and it's a fantasticly charming format to me. It's a fun format, and a format that gives me a bit extra that the CDs lack. It's cheap too, which makes it possible to get three of these for the price of one CD.
 
On the minus side it's a format that will get damaged over time no matter how well you take care of it. Time will fuck 'em up, even if you don't, and that sucks. But it's worth it.
 
3. CDs
Sounds good, but gives me nothing more than the music, and for someone who pays for a lot more than just the music there's nothing to gain here really. Sounds good and is easy to deal with and take care of, but the artwork's small as fuck and there's nothing special about it. Nothing special at all, and a format I spend close to nowt on. I'll only spend money on CDs if it's something really special or a band I collect (Sigh). But that's it for me. Most of my CDs are laying in bags somewhere and I'm not using them other than in the car and whenever we're getting drunk.
 
 
And you?

True! That's what you get for going with practical special effects and actual miniatures. It just doesn't get old the same way as CGI does. Same goes for Metropolis too IMO. Because they used miniatures it stil manage to look fresh even to this date. Or Godzilla fo that matter. When buildings are destroyed there, they get destroyed and therefore it still looks real as fuck. After all, it is real, and something real doesn't get old or dated. Awesome!
 
 


From Blade Runner
 
 
 

 
From the set of Metropolis. One of my all time favourite pictures.

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True! That's what you get for going with practical special effects and actual miniatures. It just doesn't get old the same way as CGI does. Same goes for Metropolis too IMO. Because they used miniatures it stil manage to look fresh even to this date. Or Godzilla fo that matter. When buildings are destroyed there, they get destroyed and therefore it still looks real as fuck. After all, it is real, and something real doesn't get old or dated. Awesome!
 
 


From Blade Runner
 
 
 

 
From the set of Metropolis. One of my all time favourite pictures.

I know there's a similar thread for everything on the forum, but I thought physical copies and merch deserved its own thread. Pictures of you stuff is always a positive.
 
 
Went to this record thing today where lots of people have stands and sell their shit, and I ended up with the following:
 
Vinyl:

Don Peake ‎– The Hills Have Eyes (soundtrack)
Roberto Donati ‎– Mangiati Vivi! / Eaten Alive! (soundtrack)
Steve Moore ‎– Horror Business (soundtrack)

Tape:

Don Peake ‎– The Hills Have Eyes (soundtrack)
 
 
 
Soundtracks is the shit. Will try to add some photos when I have my shitty-ass phone around.

If it's a buy it's a buy, so a digital purchase also belongs in the thread.
 
As for me, I don't get why people would pay for digital flacs, but it's still a purchase, so please comment in this thread.

There's nohing bad with being stuck in a loop as long as what you're doing are of high quaity. As long as the quality of the music (or your art in general, be it music, film, comics, books or whatever) doesn't drop there's not a single need of change to be honest. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind bands changing their sound, but I don't mind bands staying the same either.