Atreides

I have very mixed feelings toward this album. I used to be a huge Versailles fan, but somewhere along the line with their hiatus and the disappointment that was Jupiter, I lost some of the wonder that their epic orchestral arrangements used to bring. I can sum up my main disappointment with this album in one reason though, and that's the mixing. While it's really great to hear new recordings of old hits, several times they are more accurately described as misses, ending up with some of the quirks of the original recordings being polished out rather than having had new life breathed into them.
 
Here's my take: the drums have been brought up in the mix, which is always pleasing with metal music; for the most part, the re-recorded vocals are much cleaner, although this is largely redundant on more recent tracks; and on the other hand, the bass has (disappointingly) sometimes been muted more into the background, leaving standout moments in some tracks like DESTINY a little lacking. In addition, for whatever reason the orchestral accompaniment sounds a lot more synthetic than it did before, meaning some of the atmosphere and spectacle is gone from the more dramatic tracks like Love from a Dead Orchestra.
 
While it's great to see new recordings of the older tracks like Shout & Bites, Dead Orchestra and The Revenant Choir, whether they have been significantly improved by being brought up to date on recording quality and mixing is up for debate. Furthermore, while it's nice that everything was clearly recorded to fit a uniform standard, several of the newer tracks feel somewhat unnecessarily renewed. In my opinion, the original versions were plenty good enough and the new ones are just a little too clean, losing some of their magic. I'm particularly disappointed in DESTINY, where the slick bass in the bridge that kind of served to introduce fans to new bassist MASASHI is all but lost in the mix, and the new vocals feel more clean than emotional compared to the original. That said, when the new takes benefit from being re-recorded, they do really shine. Shout & Bites and zombie in particular are great.
 
To round off this 'best album', the two new tracks are sadly rather forgettable; or at least, upon the first couple of listens, they didn't leave me with too much of an impact. It just felt like 'oh, Versailles are back!' This reveals for me a slight danger at the legendary group's return: while it's clear from their forays with solo work and Jupiter that, despite being individually talented musicians, they work best together as Versailles, this best album also reminds us of their signature style. And while more Versailles can only be good news, they need to be careful to remember what about their composition and world-building made them special, rather than playing it safe, when it comes to future releases.
 
As a whole, particularly for new fans, this is a great album. But for someone who has followed Versailles since they first emerged on the scene, as an attempt at producing a 'best' album, it falls a little short.
 
The return of Versailles is like a little kid coming home from school and showing their parents what they made that day. It's cute, but they tried a little too hard.

| I couldn't imagine a more amazing return for one of my favorite bands!
 
August was a month of beginnings for our favorite band of Visual Rock Royalty. Hizaki had his solo album come out after being highly anticipated for quite some time and Versailles themselves reunited for a magnificent show on the 7th! This could only be the harbinger of something great to come. 
 
In lieu of coming straight back with an album or EP of new material, the boys decided to do a self-cover album featuring two new songs. This is astounding because most visual rock artists historically have done vaguely remastered versions of their classics and stuck a couple new songs on there as an afterthought. Versailles obviously put a lot of thought and effort into this release and made it quite clear that they had their je ne sais quois back after a 4 year hiatus (and a string of releases that lacked their 'it' factor).
 
In all honesty, the release has left me with a certain level of confusion. First of all, where was this passion on Holy Grail and Versailles? Because honestly I'm not certain I've ever heard such amazing music played as though the artists were just going through the motions as I've heard on those albums. Here, we have the boys playing their old songs gracefully (e.g. Zombie, Aristocrat's Symphony, After Cloudia) and their newer songs played with a passion insurmountable (e.g. Masquerade, Phillia, Destiny). Part of me wants to know what they did in the studio to make these songs sound inexplicably 30x better than the originals, part of me doesn't care because I'm glad I have them back.
 
Even with all of Kamijo's practice writing and pronouncing English words, he still seems to have a hard time. Without Zeus's help, I still would have no idea that he's saying "Raise a living corpse" about halfway through "Zombie." Not to mention "Shout & Bites" has all those growls that seem to have not improved at all. Sure the songs are still bangers either way, but one would think he could've gotten a little more used to the  "mouth feel" of the English language. In any case, none of that is as baffling as how we manage to now have a third unique version of "The Love From A Dead Orchestra." Not as though I'm complaining, however, this song is an unparalleled masterpiece.
 
Finally, after all the confusion, one must admit the new songs are a brilliant example of two sides of the same coin. Versailles' ability to create a head-banging symphonic rock opera like "Melodic Thorn" and a romantic power-ballad that isn't entirely depressing a la "Chandelier." 
 
Opinions may vary on whether they're better together or apart and I think all those opinions have truth to them, but ultimately one must recognize that these musicians are geniuses and really know their way around creating pieces of music that generate discussion.
 
Full marks.
 
 
Support the band!

CDJapan

Many bands on the list come and go, but here is a recent one with active bands:
 
1. DADAROMA
2. Dir En Grey
3. DEZERT
4. Gallo
5. ALSDEAD
6. the god and death stars
7. Hollowgram
8. Nocturnal Bloodlust
9. Mejibray
10. Codomo Dragon

Holy shit, YES! Does that mean we get a new album around July/August next year? Hooooooooly shit!

I finally have control of my scheduling now for work so I should be able to attend dubs every sunday once again.  I'll catch ya all in there tomorrow!

Isn't it funny how anime for Japanese is just animated series, whereas for everybody else it's JAPANESE animation.

Seems fun, in no particular order:
 
1. @orange~
2. @K8A
3. @CAT5
4. @beni
5. @Pho
6. @Lestat
7. @lichtlune
8. @Tokage
9. @robkun
10. @leafwork
11. @indigo
12. @Biopanda
13. @Jigsaw9
14. @Alkaloid
15. @Original Saku
16. @gekiai
17. @Jun_
18.  @Hakoniwa
 
If there's anyone else I missed who jams out with us in dubtrack shout out to you!

Yall motherfuckers need Jesus. Seek help.

imag
 
I'm the guy. Look like a goon lmao.

Get ready to be disappointed
 

I've been keeping my hair tied in a knot most of the time lately. It has resulted super curly hair when ever I open it. Curls even last for a day or so.. yay ^^
 
 

some that i like
 
 
(be sure not to miss the little shriek at the end)
 
 

I'll leave some older stuff
 
 
 

I'll leave some older stuff
 
 
 

(sorry if there's a thread like this already. i looked as best as i could and didn't find one, but maybe i just missed it. if there is one feel free to close this one)
 
as said in the title, we'll be talking about the screamers, shriekers, and the growlers of visual kei! the dirty and the heavy, the stuff that makes your throat hurt just by listening to it.
 
growler: 
 
shrieker (although there's lots of growling in this song as well):
 
screamer:
 
and what screamer thread would be complete without deviloof?:
 
throw some kyouka in the mix:
 
those inhales that just make your stomach twist:
 
 
whatever these are, but they sound good so it's fine:
 
good shit:
 
share what you think are good screams! all are welcome!

Me n my wife  

imag
 
I'm the guy. Look like a goon lmao.

Totally...
Okay as a guy you shouldn't have sex talk or sex or anything related with underage girls.
But still as a woman, I think you also can ignore/avoid those type of guys.
Of course if they wanna meet you up somewhere and you go there, man GIRL you know he is 30+... kinda stupid already to meet up an person way above your age.
So don't know (-_-) woman can be pain in the ass and to love to hurt man. 100% if a dude is kinda famous. 
I think he just had some bad luck.

my birthday's in two days... guess what that means?
 
GOING BROKE AND NOT FEELING GUILTY until reality hits you right after you click the order button.

pets and animals

Yoooo!
 
I was in a GAKIDO throwback these days, and I've noticed how their little harmonica gimmicky is a nice touch, specially in Cinderella:
 
 
They even do it live:
 
 
earlier miyavi it aswell:
 
 
Kra did too:
 
 
I'm looking for moar harmonica infused VK, if you happen to know any other song, please share!
 
Thanks!

Favorite harmonica kei: