Visutox

I made an account here right around the time that Batsu was nearing the end of its peak. I would casually just lurk and maybe post here and there but nothing serious because it wasn't as lively as Batsu was.  Then Batsu died and became the infamous Fukkatsu, which didnt last that long but seemed to generate a reputation here of being uber serious Dir en grey Stans haha. I then gave forums a break and for some reason i decided to poke around here years later and ran into the chat where @CAT5was very welcoming. Through chat i was able 2 reunite with my  long lost fellow negro @WhirlingBlack and make new friends which I hold very dear ( @allisapp@Jigsaw9@Carmelzors@paradoxal etc.) . Posting in the forums regularly now has also introduced me to more cool people which I enjoy interacting with daily  (on here or elsewhere online)/ whenever we bump into each other in a thread. I love this place. There's a legitimate effort here to keep it fresh and running smooth (despite the antics). Long live MH.
 
 
 
Jk, my ass is just here for the downloads. Y'all ain't shit.

Ten years ago today, Spike760 and myself decided that we wanted to start a Japanese Rock forum. After a while of debating, we eventually settled on Tainted World (after the D’espairsRay song of the same name). Frankly, neither one of expected it to last all that long; this would hardly be the first forum that we had run together that didn’t go anywhere. But what started as a fun little project somehow blossomed into an amazing community. The fact that this site still exists after all this time has little to say about Spike and my’s original plan and everything to say about the members here. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for helping build this site into what it is today.
 
While I was one of the key founders of this site, Monochrome Heaven is so much bigger than just me. That became clear to me when we went under the transition from Tainted World to our current name back in 2011. While to really understand why this is so important requires more context, I don’t want to go into a full on history lesson. But since that point, so many members have stepped up and dedicated themselves to this site, putting in the time and effort (and money) into making Monochrome Heaven as great as it possibly can be.
 
To every member that has joined and felt like they were apart of a community over this silly niche interest we all have, I raise a glass to you. You all are what have made this place special. And to every staff member, current and past, no words can express my thanks to you - you are people that I have come to admire and consider good friends.
 
But this post isn’t about me, but about the Monochrome Heaven! I want to hear from all of you as to why this community is special, why you’ve becoming coming back for 10 months or 10 years. Or tell us one of your favorite moments from your time coming, whether that was a release you were looking for forever or a stupid meme that took over the forum.

Here’s some from other users to get things started!:
 
 
 
@-jibakurei-
 
@SEKHMET
 
@Ada Suilen
 
@Flame-X
 
@Seiji
 
@Platy
 
@efuru
 
@saishuu
 
@Furik
 

This is about as crunchy as death / doom can get. Comes from an amazing album, never heard of this band until now but I am so honestly glad that I discovered them. 

Tracklist:
1. 枯詩
2. Cassis
3. D.L.N
4. CALM ENVY
5. reila
6. UNTITLED
7. WITHOUT A TRACE
8. 紅蓮
9. 白き優鬱
10. PLEDGE
11. 絲
12. 体温
 
| Is 2017 the year of boss album re-recordings?
 
The initial announcement of Traces Vol. 2 had me cautious. Traces Best of 2005-2009 was an uninspiring grab bag of singles designed to please, but it didn't feel like anything more than a standard compilation. Traces Vol. 2 is a different beast entirely. Once the band announced the album would be completely re-recorded ballads featuring some older songs, it went from a blip on my radar to the most awaited release of the first quarter of 2017.
 
Versailles' The Greatest Hits collection album earlier this year had a very similar goal; take old classics and update them to fit a band's new style and budget. Versailles were more liberal in what songs they selected, but I believe the laser focus on just ballads works out for the GazettE. Ballads are their strong suit, even if I'm not the biggest fan of most of them. The production job is good considering the band did it themselves, but it is not perfect. Small things here and there bring the score down such as the main melody of "CASSIS" being buried under all the other elements, the washed out snares, or the prominence of the drums in all songs. I attribute these choices to the audio equipment they used not being neutral on all fronts. I wish I knew what equipment they used because it would be handy to hear the album the way they intended. However, it's not a deal breaker.
 
I've been craving for the band to put a new take on some of their old classics, and the band has at least taken into consideration some of the songs we really want to hear. Opening the album with the rare throwback "枯詩" (Kareuta) is a good way to curry favor from their more cynical, nostalgic fans like me. In addition to "枯詩", the tracks I was interested in most were "体温" (Taion) and "絲" (Ito), both of which sound amazing. The new heavy sections in "体温" were revised and clear up a lot of the transitional awkwardness of the original. It loses some of that "cowboy western" feel of NIL in exchange for more despair and sadness, but I might prefer the new version with a few more listens! Within the context of Traces, it works. "絲" in particular is a very early ballad I would have never expected them to consider! It sounds like a brand new song and is the best example of musical growth I can muster.
 
Other ballads, such as "D.L.N" and "白き憂鬱", did not resonate with me in their original forms but get a new lease on life on Traces. It irks me that "reila", "Cassis", and "紅蓮" are on both Traces but the effort put into these new versions make their inclusions more than acceptable. Unlike the first Traces, there is no explicit mention of a time frame the songs come from. A lack of "千鶴" (Chizuru), OMINOUS, or an extended version of "余韻" (Yoin) is enough to dock an entire point. In place of more recent ballads like "Without A Trace", "PLEDGE", and "UNTITLED", which in contrast don't sound too different from the original versions, I would have liked to see the aforementioned tracks or even earlier ballads such as "十七歳" (Juunanasai).

Then again, the fact that they avoided everything post-TOXIC on Traces 2 is damning in itself, wouldn't you say?
 
Traces Vol. 2 is the most cohesive and focused The GazettE album since DIM. Perhaps the familiarity of the tracks is at play here, or knowing before hand that there would be no forced musical experiments to switch up the flow of the album. It's just the listener, the band, and sixty seven minutes of some classics, some reinterpretations, and at worst pleasant background music. The amount of missed opportunities are minor - if any even exist.
 
 
 
Support the band!
CDJapan

Not a huge Kpop listener but my sister suggested me to check this out, and I liked it. It's pretty chill and somewhat catchy, as I like it to sound like. 
 
 

I decided to go through reading some of your older posts so that I can understand the situation. You obviously won't be making the same "mistakes" if you decide to stop posting anything. The best way to learn from our mistakes is to avoid making them despite being under the risk of screwing up. Besides, we all screw up at some point, right? Why wouldn't we deserve you? It's not about deserving this or that or whatever you think it is, it's just about having fun. Btw, we get it, you're sorry. (there are people on here who can be really disrespectful without even being sorry about it, so yeah). Have a nice evening, and don't overthink all of this too much. 

I decided to go through reading some of your older posts so that I can understand the situation. You obviously won't be making the same "mistakes" if you decide to stop posting anything. The best way to learn from our mistakes is to avoid making them despite being under the risk of screwing up. Besides, we all screw up at some point, right? Why wouldn't we deserve you? It's not about deserving this or that or whatever you think it is, it's just about having fun. Btw, we get it, you're sorry. (there are people on here who can be really disrespectful without even being sorry about it, so yeah). Have a nice evening, and don't overthink all of this too much. 

I decided to go through reading some of your older posts so that I can understand the situation. You obviously won't be making the same "mistakes" if you decide to stop posting anything. The best way to learn from our mistakes is to avoid making them despite being under the risk of screwing up. Besides, we all screw up at some point, right? Why wouldn't we deserve you? It's not about deserving this or that or whatever you think it is, it's just about having fun. Btw, we get it, you're sorry. (there are people on here who can be really disrespectful without even being sorry about it, so yeah). Have a nice evening, and don't overthink all of this too much. 

I decided to go through reading some of your older posts so that I can understand the situation. You obviously won't be making the same "mistakes" if you decide to stop posting anything. The best way to learn from our mistakes is to avoid making them despite being under the risk of screwing up. Besides, we all screw up at some point, right? Why wouldn't we deserve you? It's not about deserving this or that or whatever you think it is, it's just about having fun. Btw, we get it, you're sorry. (there are people on here who can be really disrespectful without even being sorry about it, so yeah). Have a nice evening, and don't overthink all of this too much. 

How bad editing ruined Iron Fist’s fight scenes
 
Both scene included in that link are nothing short of shocking. Garbage!

Checking out some asian metal with folk influences, and my newest discovery is Taiwain's Bloody Tyrant who plays a form of melodic black metal with lots of traditional folk influences, as well as touches of symphonic black metal. I've only checked out this album, but this sounds really good after one listen. It's hard to talk about a band like this without mentioning other Chinese bands like Chthonic, Deep Mountains and Anthelion, and even South-Korean melodic black/death metallers Oathean could be mentioned.
 
Looking forward to hearing the other albums. Really appreciating the folk influences on this album.

Looks like Ryo (ex-Girugamesh) also participated in producing the album.
 

it's called 'sinners' because they associated with weed smokers

In general, my family is quite tame on Facebook — with the exception of my Mother's sisters. I believe I am only befriended with one of them, because most will attempt to unveil your 'hidden agenda' from any small thing you post. They are always fighting over supposed incidents on Facebook because of the unnerving unending suspicion they seek behind every update. If one has lunch with another, the others who were not present will begin to comment with snarky remarks and push their ego until they get noticed. It is honestly tiring.

My mom only posts stuff about good vibes and my grandma (who learned to use it recently after 63 years of tech illiteracy)  posts stuff about the war against the devil, Jesus wanting to enter your house "type amen and like if you want jesus in your house" it's actually quite funny, she posts a lot of stuff about farms and animals, so I keep an eye out for that. Overall my family doesn't bother me on social media, but I do refrain from sharing certain things like LGBT comics or images etc. coz I can't be fucked with internet rage.
 
I have a friend who has his whole family on his FB (mom, grandma and aunties included) and he openly likes and shares anime tits and lewdness without his family giving a fuck... it's weird.

Paul wardingham is quite dope
 
 
Sithu Aye- His material ranges from metal inspired rock pieces to shreddy rock type stuff.
 
Can never go wrong with paul gilbert.  One of the original shredders.  Guy has some sick skills and inspired a ton of modern metal players for a reason
 
 
Might be cheating since not all of their album is instrumental, but nonetheless it's some great, epic and modern sounding metal. 
 
Might also be cheating but both of Shokrans albums have instrumental versions and they are just as amazing without vocals. Djenty, technical, Egyptian prog metal.
 

Just continued playing BoTW. Played for 9 hours straight, it's a really great game.
If you have a Wii U then get it ASAP. I personally don't think getting the switch is worth it until christmas/early 2018 probably.

I bought The legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild today.
Played 2 hours and now I'm at work.... Can't wait to get home. Shit was amazing.

Working my way through the mass effect series. Finished the 1st one and I'm on to the 2nd installment. 

Dragon Ash 20th anniversary new single "Beside You" will be released on 2017.03.29, in three types:
 
CD Only: VICL-37251 / \1,000yen+tax
 
Tracklist:
1．Beside You 2．Circle
 
CD＋DVD : VIZL-1117 / 2,980+ tax with:
30cm×30cm Vinyl-like LP Package
32 pages photo album
Logo sticker

Limited Edition CD＋DVD :VIZL-1118 / 1,980+ tax with:
Logo sticker

20 years of Dragon Ash DVD Tracklist:

・The Day dragged on / 1997.11.20 SHIBUYA ON AIR WEST
・Future / 1999.4.11 AKASAKA BLITZ
・Fever / 1999.4.11 AKASAKA BLITZ
・Cool Boarders / 1998.10.6 SHIBUYA CLUB QUATTRO
・Humanity / 1999.10.7 YOKOHAMA ARENA
・百合の咲く場所で / 2001.5.5 Tokyo Bay NK Hall
・Fantasista / 2003.11.23 Tokyo Bay NK Hall
・Scarlet Needle / 2005.11.25 YOKOHAMA BLITZ
・Fly / 2007.6.28 Zepp Tokyo
・Velvet Touch / 2009.5.8 Zepp Tokyo
・SLASH / 2011.4.22 Zepp Tokyo
・The Live / 2014.4.20 Ishinomaki Onepark ）
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

I listen to a ton of instrumental music, not just metal. But a good portion of it is instrumental metal. As guitarist I'm usually attracted to a lot of technical and guitar shred type material.
 
 
Really recommended Angle Vivaldi for technical, yet very emotional and melodic material.
 
Another of my favorites is Polyphia, They're recent material has toned down the metal for a more rock vibe but they're still incredibly amazing.
 
 
 Another great release was the recent solo album by Jason Richardson. The guy is an absolute monster on guitar. 
 
Gotta love early intervals for their djenty prog metal.
 
And of course anything by Keith marrow, or Jeff Loomis
 
 
Be back for round 2.

Really nice Visutox, I really really dig Buckethead too! I've been listening to his pike series a lot, tho I only like the heavy riffing ones haha. His mellow stuff is also nice, but what I really like is when he just shreds and noodle it haha.

The only instru-metal (love that word haha) I've been listening to lately is Buckethead and Vipassi. The fact if whether Buckethead can be qualified as metal or not is arguable but thing is the man is incredibly gifted. I love when the music gets progressive or simply when it adds that avant-gardiste touch. Really amazing stuff.
 
 
And for the curious ones, Vipassi is the side band of three Ne Obliviscaris members and they play what sounds like (instrumental) technical death metal to my ears. The bass line sounds exactly like Obscura but that ain't a bad thing at all. This shit is enjoyable as fuck. 
 
 
I also enjoy listening to some Angel Vivaldi sometimes when I'm on the mood. And obviously AAL, which are absolutely great. Not a huge fan of instrumental metal though, as I love to have some sick gutturals on my metal but hey, sometimes it's exactly what you need. So this thread is a good thing for me to discover some stuff. 

DIAURA's school shooter youtube video album cover is the worst in vk history