Visutox

Lynch. Season is in full swing again, with the release of AVANTGARDE. Given the previews and the release of the FAKE PV alongside their yearly release of album, going into this album, the mentality is the same: This will be another Lynch. Album. You’re going to get the typical Lynch album songs with some new pizzaz thrown in here in there. In other words, expecting anything drastically new is hella silly. Lets get right into it.
 
 
Minus the intro, The album kicks off with of course, a “standard” Lynch. Track: Evidence. Its pretty much the upgraded and lower tuned version of Gallows, Moment, Marrow with newer elements to it. The repeating breakdown on this track is just Lynch again nailing and getting better at this metalcore aspect. Hazuki saying “are you fucking ready, GO!!!!” and the instruments getting into it puts a smile on my face and makes me nut several times.

 The chorus and the middle part of the song where it seems as if the band is singing all together (or maybe its just Hazuki’s vocals layered on top of each other), is a nice show of growth and for some reason gives me a warm feeling.  These types of Lynch. songs are  by far my favorite and I’m glad that it took two albums to get another one. It was worth the wait and definitely a highlight/great way to start off the album.
 
Pledge: If AVANTGARDE was to have another song/PV for promotion, I feel like this would be it. Its definitely a radio-ish type song, which isn’t a bad thing. It’s a very simple track and it too shows Lynch doing new things. The key in which this song is in is abnormal for me to hear Lynch in despite it being one of my personal favorites. The added instruments in the background gives this a much lighter feel than the average Lynch song. Also, same with Evidence, I like ending part where Hazuki (and maybe Co.) is singing the Lalalala part. That warm feeling struck me again haha. A nice follow up.
 
F.A.K.E: IDC what anyone has to say, this track is BOSS AS FUCK.  Its another typical lynch track but its still engaging as hell. And that break where Akinori does his bass solo and the track explodes
 

 
 
GETS ME ROCKING EVERY TIME. Its AWESOME. I dead ass spend half an hour to 45 mins since this album dropped listening just to this song. This album starting off on the right foot.
 
DAMNED: I tend not to give too much attention to these 2 minute Lynch. Tracks because I feel like they’re pretty forgettable for the most part and are just made as filler. But…..I’d be lying if I said I rocks with this one. It’s a banger and the breakdown reminds me that of the recent rendition of Im Sick Bcuz Luv u, which too is a behemoth in its own right. Solid track.
 
UNELMA: This is the fresh track of the album. I can’t tie this to any of their previous material, which is great. Its super rockin, and gives off an old-ish vk vibe but modernized in the bands style. Reo and Yusuke really shine here, especially on the chorus and solo.  When Lynch. want’s to/can, they can really breathe in some new life into their discography, this is a clear indication of that. I’d love to see what they could do with more tracks of this nature.
 

 
PHANTOM: Another pretty fresh track, where I can’t tie this to previous material. From the jump this track got me with chills running down my spine. Again both Guitarists shine brightly here. Yusuke’s Delay effect in the beginning and throughout the guitar is the backbone of this song and helps give it that dark and eerie feel. Reo’s solo is just…..Oh man…I can’t
 

 
 This is a straight, bonafide gem right here. I can actually envision Hazuki wearing a mask or something while performing this. I want to see this shit live. It’s the best song on the album.
 
KILLING CULT:  Perfect follow up from Phantom. Its fun, new, still on the really dark side but also sinister. The bridge puts you in this kind of hazy-ish feel which is soooo cool and Hazuki’s vocals play such a huge part in this. Actually, Hazuki shines a lot in this track for some reason.  Its nice to see him use his voice in ways that I’m so used to hearing it when it comes to the typical Lynch songs. This track is another one that I can’t wait to see live. I have a feeling it will be 10x more enjoyable. Great track.
 
PRAYER: This is where the album gets a lil iffy for me. This track just gives off the vibe that it was done just to fill space. Its more or less another rendition of a track that they have on the same album, FAKE….and it’s the inferior version. It’s Very forgettable. Nothing more to see here.
 
NEEDLEZ: Another forgettable song, that I don’t wanna waste time on typing about.
 
THE OUTRAGE SEXUALITY: Ahhh….ok. Another typical 2 minute Lynch song that I wanted to disregard but I ended up liking. I feel like it could do without the chorus. But still, nothing spectacular that id go back to.
 
FAREWELL: I’m not a big fan of this song, largely because it reminds me off of one of those songs off of IBIM, which alongside most of the album, I found to be boring. BUT it makes sense as a closer at least to me. Nothing really going on here too to be honest.
 
In general, this album did what it was supposed to. It catered to people who know Lynch for doing what Lynch does. And It caters to those who want to see the band do something different.  As for how the album flowed, I believe it started off great and kept a solid consistency in regards to what it was supposed to do as a Lynch album. But the end bit really harmed it in my eyes. Besides those tracks, I really enjoyed this album.  If I had to rank it in the cluster of albums they’ve been dropping yearly, it easily falls second to D.A.R.K which I believe is the best thing they’ve done since signing to King records.
When including all of the songs this gets a solid 7.5/10
Take out the end bit : 9.5/10
Now give me a live DVD you SOB’s.
 

Sorry for double-posting but...
 
...also, new Cult Of Fire song, hell yeahhhhhh!! Can't wait for the EP to drop, only a month or so to go.
 
 

Okay, totally ready for that new album.
 
 
Also, lemme just link this earth-shattering awesomeness real quick:
 
 
(new album coming on Oct. 28 woohoo)

I've been really loving the new gojira album.  Magma is a great release. But I've seen hate for it because it's bit more accessible than their other releases, which is kinda of a dumb reason to hate an album for when the core of the music is still there.
 
 
 
I'm really digging the new devildriver album too. Haven't heard them on point like this since Pray For Villains. Daybreak has a lot of killer  groove metal tunes.  My only gripe is the production which I feel could have been tighter.
 
 
And speaking of Djent, I'm curious about Periphery's new album.  I liked Omega and Alpha but P1 and P2 were my fav albums by them. 
 
 
 
On some other releases
- Kilswitch Engage's Incarnate was great.  Best album they've put out since As Daylight Dies. Jesse's vocals really shine.
- Volbeat Seal the Deal was actually not boring. Glad they redeemed themselves after their last disappointing release. 
- Issues's Headspace was a good and much stronger release than their debut. Gotta love their mix of RMB and metalcore, who knew it would work so well?
-I See Stars Treehouse was a bit of a letdown. It's hard to even consider the release a metal album at all. It's like they tried to pull a BMTH but not as successfully. 
 
I am  hyped for that new Jason Richardson solo album. Guy is one of the best modern shredders around and he's finally releasing a solo album. From the looks of things it's gonna be an amazing shredtastic djenty progressive metal release with some really cool guests.
 
 
 

According to Last.fm going down, I should back up fun facts I wrote about Girugamesh here.
Some of you may have read it already from my group there.
 
GIRUGAMEME
- Every Girugamesh release until "volcano" was always written "Very special Thanks to : 蜉蝣 (Kagerou)" or something similar on the credit page.
- If you're listening to 不純愛(L), it will show up as 不純愛♥ with a big red heart on MSN. Not sure if it's the band's intention.
- The song "Bombshell" by Powerman 5000 had been often used as the opening song of their live concerts in 2004-2006.
- The bassline in Sel'm's オリエンタルリリー sounds very similar to ミッドナイト at the intro.
- The correct romanization for the song 枯咲き歌 is "Karezaki Uta".
- Sadie's 迷彩 (meisai) and Girugamesh's 【獄】 (Goku) have the same intro. (Goku was released first.)
- 拒絶された机 (kyosetsu sareta tsukue) is the only song that's still unknown who composed it.
- The shortest track ever is 男魂 (Otoko Tamashii) which is just 3 seconds length.
- The live dist. DVD 千名阪ツアー配布DVD is one of their secret releases.
- The speech "An Appeal to the Red Army" by Vladimir Lenin was used in 亡者ノ行進 (Mouja NO Koushin).
- The single 零-ゼロ- (Rei-ZERO-) was sold in advance at the live concert on March 22, 2006 (which was also the date GLAMOROUS SKY was distributed).
- The live dist. CD "jelato" had been rare for over two years until it was leaked in September 2006.
- The live dist. CD ミッドナイト (MIDNIGHT) had been a secret release of theirs until it was discovered in 2006 and leaked in mid 2007.
- 零-ゼロ- (Rei-ZERO-) was co-written by the two members of the band, Nii and Ryo.
- DEATHGAZE's abyss PV was probably shot at the same location as 終わりと未来 (Owari to Mirai) PV. (Girugamesh was first.)
- Their first oversea live was held at The Wiltern Theatre, Los Angeles on May 26, 2007 (J-Rock Revolution Festival day 2).
- The lyrics on Reason of crying regular edition booklet are handwritten by Satoshi.
- The self-titled album "Girugamesh" was released on Shuu's 23rd birthday (December 26, 2007).
- ROCKER'S from the limited edition is sightly different from the regular one at the end of the song.
- The song "stupid" doesn't have lyrics written on the booklet.
- The Girugamesh logo on MUSIC CD looks similar to Metallica's.
- Mariko Goto (ミドリ Vo.) is the guest chorus in the song evolution.
- No even a single or an old song included in the self-titled album and MUSIC.
- From the album MUSIC onwards, the whole band has been given credits together as the music composers on the booklets.
- If you don't know this guy, you're not a die hard Girugamesh fan.
- ALIVE was the first single in 3 years since 2006.
- They used the photo of a 5 year old boy as NOW album art which referred to the years that the band had been active so far at that time. (And also their mental age? XD)
- NuTz (Fly Sleep Fly Vo.) is the guest chorus in the song BEAST.
- In DIRTY STORY PV, Satoshi sings "I wanna be a sincere man, SAY!!" which sightly differs from the audio track on CD.
- In July 2010, tons of the people on Last.fm were fooled by the fake song the foolish mindcore. (Me included.)
- The title of the album GO could also refer to their fifth album. (Go = 5 in Japanese)
- The previous singles, COLOR and Inochi no Ki, included in GO were left untouched unlike the ones in their other studio albums which were at least re-recorded.
- ShuU is the collaborating bassist in the song 翻弄(Honrou) on Daisuke's last album.
- They released a song titled "pray" as a charity song via iTunes Store on April 13, 2011 to help the tsunami victims.
- On October 19, 2011, their OHP had become a blank page with the number 13. Later, it was revealed on October 23, 2011. (Which was the announcement about their new tour and a new live DVD to be released in February 2012.)
- Satoshi is the guest vocalist as the screamer in the song No Reason in the Pit by ROACH. More info
- They had a song tribute to Tatsurou (ムック) called たたたつろー！！. It later became 絶頂BANG!! with alternate lyrics.
- 斬鉄拳 (zantetsuken) released in 2012 was a one-type single in ages since 零-ゼロ- in 2006.
- In late 2012, the band had paused all activities and stayed quiet for almost a year in order to focus on practicing to improve their musical skills, and they made a comeback on July 22, 2013 (Which was also Nii's 29th birthday.)
- Satoshi joined another band named REDMAN as the vocalist in late 2013.
- If you order the album titles they have released so far, it's gonna be "Girugamesh MUSIC NOW GO MONSTER".
- They had two distinct songs with the same title: Intro. One is from the self-titled album, and the other is from MONSTER.
- On February 20, 2014, Nii and Ryo opened a joint Twitter account, and Ryo clarified that they both were actual blood-related brothers. This was kind of a big shock to all Girugamesh fans. It had been 10 years they kept it a secret.
- The LIVE BEST tracklist order resembles a setlist they could have played live.
- gravitation was the first one-typed album ever.
- They had a live distributed album containing 25 pre-13's reborn songs (2 CDs) titled "CORE BEST" released on October 11, 2014. This was the first live distributed CD in over 8 years since Omae ni Sasageru Minikui Koe in 2006.
- In May 2015, Shuu joined the band named KEEL as the bassist.
- 2015 was the first year the band had no releases.
- On May 2, 2016, they announced their disbandment ending their 12-year music career, and the last live would be held at Zepp DiverCity on July 10, 2016. (BORN and SCREW also disbanded on the same day. Coincidentally, it was on hide's 18th death day. )
- 希望ト夜 (Kibou to Yoru) by グリーヴァ is a 【獄窓】 (Gokusou) rip off.
- ラストダンス (Last Dance) by ザアザア (Xaa-Xaa) is a Dance Rock Night rip off.
- Their last song titled "period" was distributed at the last live and available to purchase online later on; unfortunately, it was never played live.
- There is a small typo on the last live DVD booklet. 縁enishi became 緑enishi which the latter is read "midori". lol

it is announced at lynch. one-man live tour "DARK DARKER DARKNESS #2 -My name is evil-" tour final at Shinkiba STUDIO COAST at 2016/05/08 that their new album "AVANTGARDE" will be released at 2016/09/14, although details have not yet been announced
 
 
btw they will hold their live tour since Niigata LOTS at 2016/10/16 and up to Nagoya CLUB QUATTRO at 2016/11/17
 
 
SET-LIST at 2016/05/06:
 
01.MOON
02.ANTARES
03.GREED
04.INVINCIBLE
05.MIRRORS
06.THE FATAL HOUR HAS COME
07.GHOST
08.ILLUMINATI
09.melt
10.ENVY
11.MELANCHOLIC
12.D.A.R.K.
13.GALLOWS
14.BEAST
15.INVADER
16.COSMOS
17.59.
18.I BELIEVE IN ME
19.ALL THIS I'LL GIVE YOU
20.pulse_
21.EVOKE
 
EN1
01.JUDGEMENT
02.EVILLY
03.DAZZLE
04.LIGHTNING
 
EN2
01.TIAMAT

it is announced at ギャロ(THE GALLO) one-man live "THE TOKYO SOLOMON CIRCUS ALDEBARAN" at Shinjuku BLAZE at 2016/05/06 that their new album "LUCIFERO" will be released in 2016 autumn, although details have not yet been announced
 

After being impressed with Rotting Christ's newest album, Ritual, I decided it was about time I gave their other recent albums a new chance as well and I am slowly starting to truly get into them. Rituals, Κατά τον δαίμονα εαυτού and Aealo are really doing it for me these days. Will start working on the four albums released from 2000 to 2007 soon too. See if they do more for me now than they did a few years back.
 
Always loved Time Stands Still from Khronos though. What a song!

thx for this bright little gem tbh, gazette (or anyone else for that matter) could never:
 

 
I hope they don't end up poprocking in shitty new bands by september

http://sorrowplagues.bandcamp.com/album/sorrow-plagues
 
Check that out, guys. Atmospheric/depressive black metal drowned in synth in the vien of (newer) Woods of Desolation. Three tracks in it sounds very good.

ol bae

Finnish pagan metal act MOONSORROW will release its brand-new, seventh studio album "Jumalten Aika" - which means 'The Age Of Gods' in English - via Century Media Records."There are a lot more folk music influences present in "Jumalten Aika" than earlier", comments Henri Sorvali (Guitars, keyboards & vocals). "This time around, they are more deeply integrated to the overall sound. "Jumalten Aika" is like a circling wolf biting the hardest when you would never expect it. The music is unchained aggression, deep mysteries of the North and thundering witchcraft combined together in a molten forge of the Gods and reminds us all of something that never left our blood and soil.

"Jumalten Aika" track-listing:
1. Jumalten Aika (12:43)
2. Ruttolehto incl. Päivättömän Päivän Kansa (15:21)
3. Suden Tunti (7:06)
4. Mimisbrunn (15:55)
5. Ihmisen Aika (Kumarrus Pimeyteen) (16:00)

Bonus disc:
1. Soulless (Grave cover) (3:18)
2. Non Serviam (Rotting Christ cover) (5:10)
 
 
 
Oh fuck yeah! I can't wait for this.

Not cool, Kyo. You may not agree with thom35's opinion, but that doesn't make it irrelevant. There's absolutely no reason to be rude, so let's chill out a bit.

The final movement of DARK AGE is Announced! Few More months to go!!
BTW: LOVE THE SINGLE NAME!

The mini album will be called “ZēTēS” and it will be released on April 20, 2016. The price will be 2500 yens (tax out) 
 

It's lit af

It's lit af

New MV's out!
 

And here's a small list of black metal releases that I've enjoyed from 2015. Most are fairly known within the world of black metal, but you might be able to pick up a few good albums from this list:
 
Mgła - Exercises in Futility
You should all know Mgla by now, and I will not spend any more time talkign about them. A must-have!
Archgoat - The Apocalyptic Triumphator
Dark, heavy and brutal black/death metal in the vein of Blasphemy, Beherit and Teitanblood. Another great album from a great band.
Cultes des Ghoules - The Rise of Lucifer
A rather unique black metal band that can be seen as a mix of Negative Plane, Mortury Drape, Katharsis, Necromantia and Mayhem. Fantastic band!
Macabre Omen - Gods of War - At War
Epic black metal with huge nods to bands such as Rotting Christ, Bathory and Hades.
Nocternity - Harps of the Ancient Temples
Cold, minimalistic and mid-tempo black metal that's just 100% greek. Great release!
Misþyrming - Söngvar elds og óreiðu
One of the many new Icelandic black metal of top quality. Semi-experimental black metal in the vein of mid-era Deathspell Omega and fellow countrymen Svartidauði, with strong The Ruins of Beverast vibes to it.
Dødheimsgard - A Umbra Omega
Dødheimsgard the way Dødheimsgard should sound. Avant-garde, experimental and mental. Crazy good shit!
Drudkh - Борозна обірвалася (A Furrow Cut Short)
A huge step backwards for Drudkh as this is the album after their first four that sounds the closest to their first four albums. Might be their best release after the firstfour too. I don't know. Good, epic album made for a walk in the forest.
Downfall of Nur - Umbras de Barbagia
While not very original, this is a very cool album that sends nods to bands such as Agalloch, Ulver and Wolves in the Throne Room. Folky, depressive and nice.
Peste Noire - La Chaise-Dyable
This is the album that shoul've followed 2011's L'Ordure à l'état Pur. Experimental, avant-garde and fucking white trash black metal. I think this album is superb!
Autarcie - Retour en crasse
Autracie is a band that walk the path of Peste Noire, or, the path that Peste Noire started with their demos and first full-lenght. I think "medieval black metal" is a very fitting term. Another fantastic album by a fantastic band!
Sale Freux - Crèvecœur
Another band that has found the majority of their inspiration from the old sound of Peste Noire. More rural than Peste Noire and Autracie, but it shuld please fans of old Peste Noire or Autracie. Maybe a bit more ritualistic.
Glaciation - Sur les falaises de marbre
A french "super group" with Neige, Winterhalter and Indria Saray of Alcest/Peste Noire, RMS Hreidmarr of Anorexia Nervosa/The CNK and a few others. I was really impressed by their debut 1994, and this isn't much weaker. For some reason I think both this and the debut got a really pure DIY spirit to it. Not sure why. A bit punky edge to it.
Devouring Star - Through Lung and Heart
Another one of those dissonant black metal bands in the vein of mid-era Deathspell Omega and Svartidaudi. A bit easier to get into than the two bands mentioned, but still hard enough for most.
Lugubrum - Herval
These guys call their music "farmer black metal", and that's quite fitting for newer Lugubrum. In "recent" years they've gone down a path of weird, experimental and jazzy black metal unlike anything you've ever heard. To take one small example - you'll find traditional US power metal riffing, reggae and surf rock in this album. Well, on one single track. That is weird.
Ithaqua  - Initiation to Obscure Mysteries
This ain't nothing but a big, fat homage to Rotting Christ anno 91-93. Both the sound and quality of the music here reeks of Rotting Christ from this era. Brilliant release, and easily among my top 10 this year. It's so good, man!
Megiddo - The Holocaust Messiah
Great black metal in the veind of old Bathory, Celtic Frost, Hellhammer and Beherit, with more than one nod to bands such as Amebix, Motorhead and Black Sabbath. Top notch again from Megiddo!
 
 
That's it for now. Will check out the bands on Jiggy's list too.
 
Also, looking forward to hearing the new Cosmic Church EP. 2013's Ylistys was a really good and impressive album. Amazing to be quite honest. Should be good as fuck!

I was in the mood for some dark & grim stuff, so I did some digging around and catching up in terms of 'black metal 2015'... Some of my findings so far that sounded pretty cool:
 
Odious - Skin Age / Egyptian band playing symphonic black metal with lots of melodic oriental flair... at times a bit too over-the-top with all the extra orchestration, but that's what gives it its special atmosphere I guess. In any case, very much fun to listen to, even for those who are usually not that much into "full-on br00tal" extreme metal.
 
Batushka - Litourgiya / Mysterious Polish group mixing elements of black, doom and post-black metal with the sound of orthodox Slavic (?) liturgies and hymns and stuff. That should already tell you that even if it weren't much musically, the atmosphere would be top-notch, but thankfully everything's in order here. Creepy, ritualistic, majestic - killer record.
 
Au-Dessus - Au-Dessus / This is only an EP (the band's debut release), but a really fine one. The 'experts' say this is post-black metal, well I dunno, but it sure is great. Very nice feel with some melancholic and powerful melodies, and is surprisingly varied (but not wandering out of the usual BM spectrum much). Oh, btw the drum work is excellent! A nice surprise.
 
Non Opus Dei - Diabeł / Solid avantgarde-experimental black metal, actually quite digestable despite being kinda chaotic and dissonant most of the time. They got dat mystical menacing feel on point.

Pretty solid new track & killer video from Aborted, off their upcoming 20th anniversary EP (release: early January).
 

There is no easy way to say this…our mighty, noble friend Lemmy passed away today after a short battle with an extremely aggressive cancer. He had learnt of the disease on December 26th, and was at home, sitting in front of his favorite video game from The Rainbow which had recently made it’s way down the street, with his family.
We cannot begin to express our shock and sadness, there aren’t words.
We will say more in the coming days, but for now, please…play Motörhead loud, play Hawkwind loud, play Lemmy’s music LOUD.

Have a drink or few.

Share stories.
Celebrate the LIFE this lovely, wonderful man celebrated so vibrantly himself.

HE WOULD WANT EXACTLY THAT.

Ian ‘Lemmy’ Kilmister

1945 -2015

Born to lose, lived to win.
 
 
 
 
 
Shieeeeeeeet! An absolute legend, and one of the coolest guys ever. The guy's been a legend for a leat 35 years now, and that says it all. Human beings just doesn't get any cooler than this guy. And on the  bright side, he got another christmas and birthday to his name before he passed.
 

Goddammit... Rest in peace, Lemmy & continue to raise hell wherever you end up in the cosmos.