paradoxal

SERIOUSLY BLESSCODE, JUST GO FUCK YOURSELF. A LIVE-LIMITED SINGLE?? ARE YOU SERIOUS?!
 
Btw here's the single art.

 
My feelings towards this release are quite complicated. I think the title is so amusing, but OMFG JUST STOP WITH THOSE LIVE-LIMITED RELEASES.

SERIOUSLY BLESSCODE, JUST GO FUCK YOURSELF. A LIVE-LIMITED SINGLE?? ARE YOU SERIOUS?!
 
Btw here's the single art.

 
My feelings towards this release are quite complicated. I think the title is so amusing, but OMFG JUST STOP WITH THOSE LIVE-LIMITED RELEASES.

WRITE-UP:
 
INTRO:
  The latest album by ALSDEAD, featuring the debut of their new drummer NIKKY (ex. GALEYD), and another obligatory change in their overall sound, feel, and direction.   An album that feels much more 'complete' than its contemporaries, with a solid feel and delivery throughout, providing another replay-button-friendly experience to my library.  
THE SOUND:
 
As similar to previous albums as it is different, they have kept the hard edge to their sound, while putting more emphasis on the individual instruments, and made the vocals fit in more as not necessarily leading the track, with melodies that are still strong and memorable, but do not rise above the value put on the guitars, or other instruments.
 
The signature cinematic ALSDEAD synth sound is back, with an even higher quality than ever. They definitely distinguish themselves as having some of the best synth's today, with more tracks that allow you to pleasurably follow the synth all the way through, and simply enjoy the unique tone, melodic value, and refined nature of production surrounding them. To me, the usual sign of having great tone is having notes that sound not as if they are coming from an instrument, and aren't registered by the listener simply as strings being picked, or keys being pressed on a keyboard, and ALSDEAD definitely accomplishes this on IDEA 
 
THE FEEL:
 
The tracks STARLESS and KILL THE KING should give you a starting point of what this album will sound like. It wavers in both directions: Softer with more synths, and harder with more grit and rough guitar. It is atmospheric, yet still comes off as a track-by-track experience, based on emotional expositions, raw emotions put into words that are either carefully articulated in Picture, or rudely shouted in D.9.N. 
 
It's emotional, atmoshperic rock-music storytelling that is delivered not with sap and melodrama, but with attitude.
 
HOW IT STACKS UP TO PREVIOUS ALSDEAD ALBUMS: 
 
If you have been following them, you have probably noticed that each album marks the end of one term in ALSDEAD's sonic history, and begets another. Their debut had an emphasis on heavy emotions, bad mental states, and a wailing, dramatic sound to match this. MODALITY felt like a series of short stories, with more of a straight-forward rock feel. Seperator felt like one long, interconnected story with a deeply atmospheric feel, and dark, sleepy nature to it in between harder songs.
 
IDEA almost feels like it mixes all of these elements together, while adding in some hard rock, some soft ballad elements, and some 90's rock mechanisms.
 
In terms of overall experience and enjoyment, I think after the initial adjustment to your expectations, and the fact that it doesn't sound exactly like older ALSDEAD, it holds up very well as another great entry into their library.
 
 
Track Count: 13
Listens: 20-25
Production Quality: 
Overall Rating: (This rating took some time to think over, as my first impression was of a 4.0, then built up to a 4.5 after about 20 listens, yet if I go with my gut, and realize how every track on this album hits home with me, and how much I am now enjoying it, I have to give it a 5.0)
 
Worth the Purchase?
If you have enjoyed their singles since Seperator, and have been a fan in general for any of their past releases, I highly recommend this. A solid album throughout, that shows no signs of inserted filler. The tracks are all solid, none get left behind in memory, each one brings something to the table, and overall this is a stand-out album that brings a lot to the table.

Every single band you have mentioned sounds different from the others. I don't even like the GazettE nor listen to them much anymore (well, not as much as I used to); but to say that these 5 bands sound the same is honestly quite mind-boggling.
Although I guess this isn't as preposterous an assertion as some other claims I've heard - namely, "ALL oshare bands sound the same," or "ALL neo-vk sounds the same" - which I simply can't take seriously because (i) these people probably haven't heard a significant portion of what constitutes "oshare" music, let alone "ALL"; and (ii) it's just a lazy way of dismissing a kind of music they don't (happen to) like.

I think he meant the opposite. My favorite vocalists have that generic 'girly' voice, and I'm pretty sure he meant bands such as Royz, アルルカン, コドモドラゴン，etc. There's nothing girly in Kamijo's or Asagi's voice

MRC and the subsequent singles have really been the best shit this band has put out, and they've become the only visual kei band I give a toss about anymore. Blackdoll's insistence on discrediting the "old school" all the bloody time is very strange, considering that I don't think any other band today takes cues from the visual kei tradition and does it as respectfully as Lycaon does. Their sound now is such an unique blend of contemporary influences and old school trademarks that they can actually make songs like TABOO without coming across as a parody band like all the revival bands that have been popping up lately. 
 
The peoples fascination towards their earliest releases I wish was a mystery to me, but quite frankly it isn't. It is not the first time the bulk of the community gets conned by a repackaged Asian Limp Bizkit. Upon closer examination one should note how they're more aggressive now than they've ever been before, it's just that they're being more subtle with it. Long gone are the simian nu-metal grooves of their old music and Yuuki's performance has evolved beyond the juvenile cries and growls of a solipsistic coward into something powerful that actually bares relevance in the visual kei canon. Yuuki's undeniable front man chops and the aggressive as shit synth, drops and church bells on 残酷のサロメ get more across than the imbecilic meathead riff and bland VK shtick on 88 ever could. 
 
Their concept has been developed to a fine point and unlike pretty much any other band in the scene today, they're getting more abrasive as they go along. The divided opinion on this band only goes to show that they're more relevant than all those sappy droning dogshit bands that the visual kei intelligentsia approves of. Eros pissed people off? Good. They can sod off and go be false elsewhere ( maybe bad metal is still in the vogue, go pollute their scene ). 
 
In short: This band rules and people who don't like their visuals should give up on visual kei and go listen to Korn instead like they really want to. 

Please vote for these pics!

VOTE UP:
http://www.last.fm/music/%E3%83%97%E3%83%A9%E3%83%8D%E3%82%BF%E3%83%AA%E3%82%A6%E3%83%A0/+images/101480405
 
VOTE DOWN:
http://www.last.fm/music/%E3%83%97%E3%83%A9%E3%83%8D%E3%82%BF%E3%83%AA%E3%82%A6%E3%83%A0/+images/99484749

planetarium will distribute a new single "深海に降るプラネタリウム(shinkai ni furu planetarium)" on their free one-man live on 2014.11.09 at Doutonbori SHRIMP in Osaka.
 
[OPEN / START] 16:00 / 16:30 [DOOR] ￥0 / ￥0   Also their OHP has been updated with their new look.             PS. Any of you guys in Osaka then?

planetarium will distribute a new single "深海に降るプラネタリウム(shinkai ni furu planetarium)" on their free one-man live on 2014.11.09 at Doutonbori SHRIMP in Osaka.
 
[OPEN / START] 16:00 / 16:30 [DOOR] ￥0 / ￥0   Also their OHP has been updated with their new look.             PS. Any of you guys in Osaka then?

For the lulz - introducing the super official MH J-meme thread! I think you get the drift - share the best J-music related memes/funnypics/younameit that you've found in the interwebs or made yourself!
 
Following pictures are made by anonymous, yet extremely hilarious meme creators.
 

 

 

 
 

For the lulz - introducing the super official MH J-meme thread! I think you get the drift - share the best J-music related memes/funnypics/younameit that you've found in the interwebs or made yourself!
 
Following pictures are made by anonymous, yet extremely hilarious meme creators.
 

 

 

 
 

For the lulz - introducing the super official MH J-meme thread! I think you get the drift - share the best J-music related memes/funnypics/younameit that you've found in the interwebs or made yourself!
 
Following pictures are made by anonymous, yet extremely hilarious meme creators.
 

 

 

 
 

For the lulz - introducing the super official MH J-meme thread! I think you get the drift - share the best J-music related memes/funnypics/younameit that you've found in the interwebs or made yourself!
 
Following pictures are made by anonymous, yet extremely hilarious meme creators.
 

 

 

 
 

For the lulz - introducing the super official MH J-meme thread! I think you get the drift - share the best J-music related memes/funnypics/younameit that you've found in the interwebs or made yourself!
 
Following pictures are made by anonymous, yet extremely hilarious meme creators.
 

 

 

 
 

For the lulz - introducing the super official MH J-meme thread! I think you get the drift - share the best J-music related memes/funnypics/younameit that you've found in the interwebs or made yourself!
 
Following pictures are made by anonymous, yet extremely hilarious meme creators.
 

 

 

 
 

If a Tinky Winky shows up in your signature don't be surprised.

lol my thoughts exactly

This immaturity does nothing to impress me.

I think they meant that people waited for something 'epic' (=bang bang) but got something really lame (=pew pew)?

I have a lot of friends who are majoring in Japanese, and that's the exact thought I've always had - what the hell are you seriously gonna do with it, unless you actually move to Japan or start teaching the language or something. XD I don't mean to be rude on purpose, I have just never quite gotten the point. (pls explain someone)

mods are working on it!

I began to learn because I wanted a job for an airline but they were only hiring for someone who also spoke Japanese at the time. Where I live gets many Japanese tourists, but very few Japanese people live here. So if you do speak it you can make quite a bit of money, so I decided it would be worth it since I always had an interest in Japanese culture and entertainment anyway.

Nice thread here!
 
I have been living and working in Japan for about four years now and I think it's important to keep in mind where you are aiming at.
I started studying Japanese like seven years ago and at that time I would have never imagined I would be actually moving to Japan, have a nice job and play bands like I am doing now. But always had this kind of a dream to keep me progressing.
 
Especially when trying to learn the language, many times you would just want to give up.
I have been doing Japanese at university and always took it seriously, but after more than two years I couldn't read most of what was on newspapers and still had no clue of what people where saying on TV. It got slightly better after graduating but as soon as I actually went to Japan I noticed I wasn't anywhere near being fluent. And then after few months I suddenly realized I could finally speak and understand with no problems (o_o).
 
If you have the money and the chance to have one or two study years in Japan, just go for it. You get to learn more naturally and so much faster than being abroad (especially if you are going by yourself and have no chance to speak anything else than Japanese).
 
If you are considering about moving to Japan or working there, you can try to get a working holiday first as a tryout. Unfortunately my country has no working holiday regulations with Japan, so I didn't have this chance. I heard many horror stories about Japan before coming, but actually enjoyed it much more than expected. Ok, after a while you get to see all the bad points about being a foreigner in Japan but there are also so many good things too and spending few years overseas is never a bad thing anyway isn't it?
 
If you think you can get a job because you know Japanese or/and English, good luck I guess everybody's story is different, but most foreigners I know had troubles finding full time jobs unless they were married with a national or had powerful connections. Finding a job took me so much time and I was actually on the verge of giving up.
Even if you are going to study and do not need to work to pay for your school and life, do as many part-times as possible. This way you start getting used to jobs in Japan and some working experience on the field will make you look more reliable at job interviews. You can also meet tons of new people who might be helping you later and of course get more confident with the language. Being able to do something other than knowing the language is also a big plus as the country is already full of gaijin able to translate from/to Japanese or blonde guys who can teach English at language schools.
 
I made it sound quite hard, but if I could do it I guess everybody has a chance. I am not particularly clever, I don't come from a rich family and had no Japanese acquaintances when I first came. All you need to do is just moving forward without giving up. It's your dream after all isn't it?
Sorry for the long post! If you guys have some questions about Japan or learning Japanese or whatever, feel free to ask  

To be honest, I decided to major in Japanology as a second thought. I admit knowing that I will never be able to work as a interpreter and if I wanted to be a (written) translator, Finnish-Japanese won't make enough to live with it. Don't know if studying japanese language will help in travelling agencies or anything like that, but that's the road I am planning to take. 
 
Taking Japanese language gave me couple more years to think about what I want to end up doing, if I won't get anything relevant to the degree. :'D