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Artist: My Fairytale Single: 鳥籠トロイメライ (torikago träumerei) 1. 鳥籠トロイメライ 2. トリックアート・ゴシック・マンション (trickart gothic mansion) 3. 白昼夢とアンソロジー(hakuchuumu to anthology) Rating: | Rejoice! Fresh new VK talent! Oh wait, they're going on hiatus... My Fairytale is a newcomer to the VK scene, having formed in mid-2014. I first caught wind of them as I was crafting my 2014 EOTY list. To quote my colleague @Jigsaw9, their “IKEA kei” look lured me in and I decided to give their previews a listen on YouTube—let’s just say their Tokyo under note maxi-single was a last-minute entry to the “honorable mention” section of my list. Flash forward to summer 2015 and now, we have the band’s next single 鳥籠トロイメライ (torikago träumerei). This makes me happy not only because we get to hear more from them, but because they are the latest in the trend of VK bands using random German loan words—yasss, I mean, jasss! Even from the song titles, you can sense the sort of fanciful world My Fairytale is trying to conjure, so let’s travel down the rabbit hole! Light as a feather, the title track begins with twinkling piano, compounded shortly after with an eruption of ethereal, twangy guitarwork and vibrant basslines. The bass is surprisingly prominent, considering the fact that their bassist left earlier this year due to the ever-original “musical differences.” Other highlights include a pleasant guitar solo and some bars featuring elegant waltz-y time signatures. Kudos to drummer Neo for this compositional beauty; he seems to do a lot of the heavy lifting in the band’s songwriting! Music aside, one of the best parts of the track (and the band, let’s be real) is vocalist Kate. I’ve probably overstated my preference on MH for clear, higher-pitched male vocals, but let it be known that Kate has quickly become a new favorite! In fact, with his voice and the soft, evocative music, I’d even argue that 'torikago träumerei" is an exemplary piece of modern “white kei.” The Zephyr fan inside me approves! Now, I just need a washed out, misty PV on a bright white backdrop and we’ll be all set. The delicate mood is shaken up with track two. “トリックアート・ゴシック・マンション (trickart gothic mansion)” features a steady electronic element throughout, calling to mind Moran’s heavy beat-driven tracks like “今夜、月の無い海岸で (tonight, at the seaside without the moon)”. My Fairytale’s take is a bit more mischievous sounding though, channeling hints of that LIPHLICH-esque cabaret atmosphere and chugging along with a groovy momentum that emanates throughout the track. Though there’s nothing to dislike here, the track is a bit one-note, not treading too much unpredictable territory. However, “trickart gothic mansion” does serve as an effective transition into the last track, which continues the dark, cheeky feel and infuses it with a zippy “Latin” vibe. Lively acoustic guitar graces us from the very beginning of the single’s closer, “白昼夢とアンソロジー(hakuchuumu to anthology),” making for a “shuffly” quality. One of my favorite parts of this song is the dramatic bridge before each chorus, featuring creepy melodies and epic drumming. The acoustic guitar solo and the following interlude are simple, but gorgeous and bring back the band’s signature piano. And there you have it! Naturally, I gravitate mainly towards the title track, but I'm also starting to come around to tracks two and three. What becomes crystal clear with this single is that the band can dabble in any number of genres and still deliver beautiful music. After Tokyo under note, I thought their dark piano-driven sound would be their signature style. However, after listening to previews of their debut live-limited single and hearing torikago träumerei, My Fairytale appear intent on making the stylistic rounds--the way they are performing so far, I say, more power to them! I would say that it has me excited for whatever they do next, but @Trombe just broke the news that both guitarists are also departing and the band will go on hiatus. While this is pretty devastating, there might be a glimmer of hope, because drummer Neo (ostensibly, the lead composer) is still with the group. Will he and Kate be able to revive My Fairytale with new members? All I can say is I hope so. It would be a shame for yet another VK band with so much potential to dissolve before they even have a chance to soar. What did you think of the single? Support the band! Purchase @ CDJapan Purchase @ HMV Purchase @ YesAsia

Artist: グリーヴァ (Grieva) Album: 妄想主義者ノ背徳。(Mousou shugisha no haitoku.) 1. Type[艶] (Tsuya) (SE) 2. 自己精神殺害推進會 (Jiko seishin satsugai suishin) 3. 妄想主義者ノ背徳 (Mousou shugisha no haitoku) 4. Art play 5. 夢デ逢ウ貴女ガ削除デキマセン。(Yume de au kijo ga sakujo dekimasen.) 6. 密室104号室～暗イ部屋二僕ト君～ (Misshitsu 104-goushitsu～kurai heya ni boku to kimi～) 7. 腐『furan』乱 Rating: | No need for grievin', visual kei is not dead! Grieva sure came into their own over their few years of activity. Starting out as a glaringly obvious exercise in old-school DIR EN GREY fanboyism (pretty much producing a blueprint replica of the Gauze album), they raised lots of eyebrows but also gained an ever-growing fanbase. They've been churning out release after release like clockwork, a practice that few can pull off successfully while maintaining quality. These guys, however, not only manage to put out consistent tunes, but also seem to be slightly evolving every year. While there's no drastic change in sound (thank god for that!), they're constantly tweaking their formula and instrumentation to achieve a greater effect. Their latest mini album, Mousou shugisha no haitoku demonstrates this tendency excellently. From the kick-in-the-teeth industrial beats of the intro to the impressive sonic diversity of the closing track, Grieva presents a fine-tuned version of their vision: building upon the legacy of the old-school with youthful vigor, and a tad more than a pinch of craziness. On the one hand, compositions like the title track or "Yume de au kijo ga sakujo dekimasen" burst forth from the speakers with a mixture of yesteryears' melodic sense coupled with a truly modern (or post-modern?) approach. On the other hand, we're inevitably treated to a small number of songs where Grieva wear their hearts on their sleeves a bit too obviously. It's hard not to recall exact moments from DIR EN GREY's back catalog when you hear the intricate lead guitars of "Art play" or the jackhammering bass in "Misshitsu 104-goushitsu～kurai heya ni boku to kimi～". The difference this time (compared to, say, their debut album) is that they were able to fully integrate these parts into their songs, not sticking out like a sore thumb throbbing with plagiarism. "Misshitsu 104-goushitsu..." even has a music box interlude reminiscent of a certain DEG classic – it's hard not to crack a smile of appreciation at the homage. The arrangement and delivery of the songs deserve praise too, where it's due. Even though the mini album starts off in a rather repetitive fashion (after a surprisingly bangin' intro SE) with "Jiko seishin satsugai suishinkai", they more than make up for that later on. Tracks like "Art play" employ a wide array of styles, from metal chugging to upbeat ska-influenced guitars, resulting in nice changes of pace and dynamics. As soon as you're beginning to feel you're listening to 'just another typical Grieva tune', they change it up ever so slightly, introducing an interesting guitar tone or effect. In short, it's hard to get bored while listening to Mousou shugisha no haitoku. This statement is ultimately solidified by the closing track "furan", an ambitious composition that goes from a punky, all-out shoutfest (props to those pipes, Kyouki!) to an unexpectedly sweet melodic guitar solo, short bass and piano interludes and a driving chorus. It is a thrilling, dare I say progressive, finish to an already cool release. A year ago, with the release of their 2nd full-length album Shuuen, I couldn't imagine Grieva going any further in terms of quality, but along came this release and blew me away. Granted, Kyouki and co are still far from being the most original bunch of visual kei musicians, but who needs that when you have a reliable, constant supply of kickass tunes to rock out to? I could hardly ask for more. Support the band! Buy the mini album @ CDJapan Buy the mini album @ Yesasia

Artist: 雨のパレード (Ame no Parade) Album: new place 1. new place 2. encore 3. bam 4. inst/□ 5. 僕≠僕 6. 夜の匂い 7. YES 8. AM4:29 Rating: | WAIT WUT? NON-VISUAL VISUAL ROCK?!?! If you thought Visual Kei was the only musical paradigm in Japan where you could find bands with a strong emphasis on, well, visuals, then you're wrong! Up-and-coming indie outfit Ame no Parade offer an entirely immersive "art-rock" experience. The quartet consists of Kohei Fukunaga (vocals), Mineho Osawa (drums), Kosuke Yamasaki (guitar), and Ryosuke Korenaga (bass). Additionally, they have their very own in-house creative staff - a painter, a fashion designer, and a jewelry artist. With this inventive ensemble, the band has a firm foot in the music arena as well as the art world, which lands them atypical gigs at places like fashion shows and art galleries. But for a band with such a dynamic focus, how do they hold up on a strictly musical basis? new place, Ame no Parade's third and latest mini album, is the perfect place to explore this question. It's their second release under the highly esteemed indie label Zankyo Records, and for most indie-heads, that's an automatic sign of quality. As musicians, they're as competent as any other bands on the roster. Drummer Mineho is especially ingenious. Having previously played in jazz bands, she brings a certain eccentric grace that perfectly accentuates their post-rock leanings. Kohei's singing is also a pleasant draw for the band. He has that typical, effeminate vocal tone that you can find in any number of radio-ready Japanese indie-rock bands (think plenty, people in the box, dry as dust, etc), but his delivery is pristine and soulful enough to distinguish him from his peers. Kosuke and Ryosuke are no slouches either, as the former makes clever use of effects pedals to create different guitar tones and variations without straying from the band's sound, and the latter's buttery basslines are the icing on the cake. When these four coalesce, they're easily capable of making magic, but that's not always a guarantee. Title track and album opener "new place" is an excellent example of when they get it right, though. As soon as the song starts, the melody of the opening riffs and Kohei's catchy "ooh"s and "woo"s are enough to make you think that you're about to hear the latest EDM hit, but as soon as Mineho's drums kick in, you realize that you're in for something a bit different. Whether it's the subtle, yet deviceful drumming, the minimalistic and calculated guitar, or Kohei's piercing vocal lines - Ame no Parade's strength lies in taking the familiar and repainting it from different musical palettes. The result is usually atmospheric pop with the combined ingenuity of indie-rock, post-rock, and math-rock. In addition to "new place", "encore" and "僕≠僕 (boku≠boku)" are the tracks where this style of songwriting works best. But even with such a potent formula, the band doesn't always replicate the same results. The 'sparse-verse-to-explosive-chorus' structure that was established in the opening track is recycled throughout the first leg of the album and wears especially thin by the third track "bam" - a song with much less impact than its title insinuates. "YES" and "夜の匂い (Yoru no Nioi)" are more amorphous in design, but the melodies are demure at best, and neither Mineho's intricate percussion nor Kohei's crooning is enough to sustain interest. With these tracks, it feels like the band was more interested in establishing atmosphere rather than engaging the listener. Furthermore, the instrumental interlude "inst/□" seems like an unnecessary prelude to the song that follows, and the final track "AM4:29" is five minutes of ambience with no intrinsic value other than sounding like 'a good way to close the album'. All in all, new place is a decent release from a promising young band. It's got some good songs and a few potential growers, but your experience with it depends on just how much you'll be able to tap into and appreciate the band's aesthetic. They've certainly got the chops to make compelling music, but for now, it seems like they're more focused on curating than creating. Support the band! Purchase new place @ CDJapan Purchase new place @ HMV Purchase new place @ iTunes JP

Artist: NoisyCell Album: Sources 1. Flagship 7. CONTINUE? 2. Blaze a Trail 8. Bluff 3. Dream Box 9. Pool of Water 4. Shelter 10. Birth 5. Insomnia 11. (Over You) 6. Last Theater Rating: | A ambitious effort from screamo's new kids on the block. Living up to their name, NoisyCell have been creating quite a buzz in the last 2 years. They teamed up with Pablo (Pay money To my Pain) as their producer and have been taking the alternative rock scene by storm. Sources is their first full length offering that picks up exactly where their last mini album left us. They got on the anime theme train early and seem to be content with riding it until the wheels fall off. The songwriting on Sources is solid and its energy is intense. Guitarist and clean vocalist Ryosuke - not to be confused with the other guitarist/screamer, Ryo - has an incredible range to his voice. It positively soars in the second half of this album when mid-tempo songs take root and come one after another. His voice, in and of itself, becomes a major focal point for this band despite personal bias for vocalists or not. That doesn't mean the guitars and drums aren't their own tour de force, however. For a three piece, there's surprisingly a lot going on, sometimes even to the detriment of the songs if things aren't balanced. Sources opens with the song "Flagship" and the impression it left wasn't exactly what I hoped for. It's a hard pill to swallow, as it starts with an abrupt scream before small bits of melody creep in. Even as someone who loves this genre, it left me wishing for some kind of small instrumental SE just to get me remotely amped up before it blasted off. Its composition is messy, unbalanced, and even the beat didn't find its most potent groove until the song was more than two-thirds over. The following track, "Blaze a Trail", is basically the first song, only better. It has catchier melodies, heavier breakdowns, and the guitars are complementing each other with some purpose - not simply thrashing around as loud and fast as possible. However, there is no need to fear! NoisyCell finally get themselves sorted out with the next couple of songs. "Dream Box", my personal favorite of the entire album after its much needed rerecording, and "Shelter" keep things much smoother from here when it comes to song composition and balancing chaotic energy with visceral emotions. At this point, the album splits itself in two, which makes me wonder if Sources wouldn't have been better as two separate mini albums or a shuffling of the tracklist could have been useful to mix some of the heavier first half into the melancholic second half for dynamics' sake. "Insomnia" is an ambient instrumental track that brings the ride to a complete stop. It's there for one purpose: to let everyone know the song they came to hear is about to start. That song being "Last Theater", known to some as the ending theme for the anime Death Parade. High fives to whoever is choosing the music for that one, by the way. Things pick up again slightly with a punchy chiptune inspired track that folds in some current J-pop trends. And while it's a little random, it's a nice reprieve from the some of same-iness going on earlier in the tracklist. From here, things continue to get slower and more melodic. "Bluff", "Pool of Water", and "Birth" are all pleasant when they stand alone, but lose some of their shine stacked together, especially after the stop-and-look-where-our-entire-production-budget-went spectacle of "Last Theater". "(Over You)" works great closing up the album as it breaks out the acoustic guitars for a slow burn kind of build towards the huge anthemic and satisfying ending. I would have given this album half a star more for better track placement on a lot of these songs, plus a decent album intro. It's a rookie mistake. I expect maybe they overreached just a tad, and I can't hold their ambition against them too much. Otherwise, there's a little something on this album for everyone and I think anyone interested in screamo that is pushing the envelope will find this album worth a spin or two. Support the band! Purchase Sources @ CDJapan Purchase Sources @ HMV Purchase Sources @ iTunes JP

Artist: 赤西仁 Album: Me 1. Let Me Talk To U 7. Christmas Morning (2015 Mix Ver.) 2. Good Time 8. Dayum 3. Miss California 9. Mi Amor 4. We The Party 10. What Happened 5. Baby 11. [bonus Track] Go Gitt'er 6. Lionheart 12. [bonus Track] Mi Amor (Spanish Ver.) Rating: | Westernized Japanese? Doing it right! Jin Akanishi is one of the lead vocalists of popular boy band KAT-TUN as well as a solo artist. Last month, Akanishi released his third studio album, and the majority of it is how Namie Amuro’s latest attempts at creating a Western sound should have sounded like. The album’s Western feel comes from its many dance floor sounds, from the feel good single ‘Good Time’ to the mighty track ‘Dayum.’ The album starts off strongly with these hard hitting dance/club numbers. With ‘Good Time,’ Akanishi noted that he "wrote this song with the image of summer,” and while this certainly comes across with its upbeat presentation (both in sound and PV), the repeated hand-claps and the EDM induced chorus give it more of a dance floor feel. It’s a nice follow-up after the opening PV song, ‘Let Me Talk To U.’ This has a soul feel with a rhythmic build, featuring acoustic guitar during the bridges and a heightened chorus with a dash of folky elements in it. I didn't know where this was going as it started with a baby giggling/speaking, but Akanishi’s whispery vocals kick in straight away and keep this an engaging listen. Visually, it’s a gorgeous contrast of monochrome imagery against colourful flowers which goes wonderfully with the change from quiet verses into the louder chorus. With the third song titled ‘Miss California,’ I was expecting this to sound extremely Western. I wasn’t wrong. Its rapping section as the bridge, albeit a small part, is both very well done and well placed. The highlight in this one is its chorus, with a rather cowboy like sound to it thanks to the whistles and the Latin-flavored instruments that tend to pop up now and again. The song is surprisingly bearable for one which sounds like it’s created for Ke$ha. What’s more, the song is sung entirely in English. Doing it right, Akanishi! ‘We The Party’ doesn’t let up with the American vibe – most noticeably with its grammatically wrong name, and more English to further highlight this Western sound. A tambourine features in this one, as well as taps and clicks of the finger. This is the best song to showcase how precise Akanishi is with his English, especially during the rapping. Autotune is also involved within this one, and it may sound like a lot to digest as a whole but it actually works surprisingly well and flows the best out of the dance-y tracks. ‘Dayum’ very much gets a "D-AYUM" from me. At track eight, this one can be grouped with the above dance numbers, thanks to its energetic and dance-encouraging sound. It’s another song that features a tambourine, and it’s highlighted gorgeously with its quick, repeated shakes during the chorus. There's a lot going on here, but the song has a certain charm with its unstructured sound. Little jingles and strums of guitar with the sound of clapping going off here and there spice up the track until that tambourine comes in to emphasise the chorus amongst it all. Everything mashes together into a flawless number, making this my favourite out of the four dance numbers. With a neat batch of previous dance tunes, ‘Baby’ is the first slow song on the album. While the previous two have demonstrated Akanishi’s ability to rap, this ballad highlights his smooth tone, very fitting to such a genre of music. While ‘Baby’ isn’t the best ballad song – with literally nothing being noteworthy about it - Akanishi’s vocals really make up for it. It’s your typical Japanese ballad. The following song is how ‘Baby’ should have sounded like. ‘Lionheart’ features the gentle vocals Akanishi exhibited previously, alongside a tribal-like drum instrument and soaring choir vocals gives it an African vibe. It’s a massive upgrade which leaves ‘Baby’ in the dust. Never have I listened to a supposed Christmas song which didn’t sound at all Christmassy. Apart from the English lyrics, ‘Christmas Morning (2015 Mix Ver.)’ is a needlessly dramatic track which starts with guitars, similar to the foreign sounds from ‘Lionheart,’ but that’s quickly lost. This is the first track I wouldn’t mind not seeing in the tracklist. At track nine comes the PV song ‘Mi Amor,’ which got me hooked to Akanishi. This one is a dash of David Guetta meets MIYAVI – let me explain before anyone throws their guitar at me – alongside Enrique Iglesias, the latter being a key factor throughout this. The opening has some neat guitar work that instantly grabs your attention, because it’s done with the skill and swiftness of MIYAVI. Even the PV will make you question who the guy playing guitar is. The Spanish element now smacks you right in the face with the final track being a Spanish version of this song. ‘Mi Amor’ has it all; a thrilling beat break, catchy guitar work, and splendid vocals in both versions. Seeing as ‘Mi Amor’ is the standout track on the album, whatever follows has to be at least four and a half stars. Unfortunately, the last couple tracks really pull this whole package down. It would have been near perfect without ‘What Happened’ and ‘Go Gitt’er.’ What DID happen, Akanishi? The first of the two start of promising, with nice little taps of a high pitched keyboard. I was enjoying his vocals until he started rapping, and it wasn't in the same way he had done before. Akanashi sounds like an amateur trying to freestyle to the beat. The mix of a boy band sounding bridge against a slow ballad rap doesn’t blend together at all. It doesn’t help how his rapping in this one sounds completely different than his singing. I usually like contrast, but here it’s unbearable. The first bonus track (the other one being 'Mi Amor (Spanish Ver.)) ‘Go Gitt’er’ fails harder than ‘What Happened.’ The last track shows how Akanishi’s attempt at the Western sound could’ve gone down if most of 'Me' sounded like this one. It’s best to avoid this song unless you can somehow dig a Japanese version of Chris Brown. It’s a “No Gitt’er" from me. Akanishi excels in staying loyal to Japan with the majority of the album being in Japanese, while also being extremely apt for the American audience of this day. The couple of songs which are completely English really do capture that Western vibe Akanishi was going for, and props to him for achieving that! All in all, the start and middle of the album are extremely strong, while the last part is a miserable flop. Hopefully the last couple of songs can be forgotten because the beats, the vocals and the instruments are all really Western sounding as a whole, while genuinely being enjoyable most of the time. Just goes to show Johnny’s do have a gem in the rough! Support the artist! CDJapan US iTunes Japanese Amazon

Artist: DOAK Single: 揚羽-ageha- 1. 揚羽-ageha- 2. パラサイト 3. LICKER (Type A only) 3. eris (Type B only) Rating: | About as appetizing as a clump of toenails and prison gruel. DOAK is UnsraW meets Para:noir meets 2015. As cool as that sounds on paper, in practice it's not so good. Opposites don't always attract and this is one of those cases where a band that has so much going for it theoretically flops like a fish out of water. It's a more sobering, crushing realization when one remembers that this isn't a new band. DOAK has been operating under the session band name ERIZA in one form or another for the past few years. Before that, the members in this band were part of one or more semi-competent visual kei bands, evidenced by the fact that we still remember who UnsraW and Para:noir are. It would be a more than reasonable expectation that their first official release would sound better than an awkward collection of unfinished riffs. It's impressive how consistently flat the delivery is the entire time. There's only the faintest hint of originality poking up throughout the four song excursion into the savanna of lethargic metalcore. There's no rhythm or heaviness in the guitar, so no mosh pits in these parts, plus the smattering of electronic elements add insignificant amounts of depth to the music. These insipid metalcore leanings are among the better moments, with the dreadful moments reserved for when Yuuki sings. He's simultaneously tone deaf and off key all the time, as if he can't hear himself sing for some reason. The band knows he's not all that great of a vocalist - hell, I think everyone knows - but the only way they could compensate for his lack of range or ability was to slap some auto-tune over all the rough parts. It just makes things worse because these measures to compensate for his shortcomings are applied inconsistently too; Yuuki's opening vocal melody to 揚羽-ageha- is buried beneath mountains of digital "correction" but when the veil is suddenly lifted fifteen seconds later the result is no more desirable. Why bother at all? I wish he would pick up a guitar, rock out alongside the other band members, get literally anyone else to sing, and stick to supporting that person with harsh background and gang vocals. Maybe then this single would have a memorable few seconds outside of "LICKER"'s solo worth mentioning. This is the exact definition of generic visual kei; this neutered, pedestrian, watered-down metalcore has less personality than a candle stick. Visual bands of yesteryear with unknown band members and a shoestring budget have composed more convincing riffs than whatever "eris" is supposed to be, and have had way less hype and attention. I had a soft spot for both UnsraW and Para:noir, but the combination of the two just doesn't click. 揚羽-ageha- didn't even make it to my music player before I purged it from my hard drive and I think I'll be all the better for it. There's no nice way to say this so I'll be blunt: listen to anything else. Support the band! Purchase Type A here Purchase Type B here

Artist: MUCC Album: T.R.E.N.D.Y. -Paradise from 1997- 1. 睡蓮 (Suiren) 2. D・f・D (Dreamer from Darkness) 3. B.L.U.E -Tell me KAFKA- 4. HATEЯ 5. レインボー (Rainbow) 6. Rendez-Vous 7. TONIGHT Rating: | Something old, something new – finally something decent! I love MUCC, I really do. That’s why I’ve been a bit pissed at them for not getting their act together ever since they dropped that monstrosity of an album Karma. Sure, they had some quality songs along the way, but not enough that I could bear listening to a whole album of theirs without cringing every few minutes. So, understandably, I approached their latest offering, T.R.E.N.D.Y. -Paradise from 1997- with extra caution… only to find that my fears were pretty much baseless. Let’s see how this giant of a 'mini' album goes, shall we? First off, "Suiren" is a fitting opener with its faint background vocals and ominous guitar strumming that soon turns into an insistent synth riff, leading into chunky distorted guitars reminiscent of the band’s heyday of nu-metal stylings. Just from these beginning few minutes it’s evident how MUCC upped the game this time, mixing something old with something new. As promising a start as it is, I can’t help but feel that the track’s a tad too long for its own good (almost 8 minutes, seriously?). Next up is "D・f・D (Dreamer from Darkness)", delivering another riffalicious outburst followed by surprisingly laid-back verses. The guys soon pick up the level of aggressivity though, as well as the pace, with varying results. Some metalcore-wannabe riffage, that proverbial dead horse, also finds its way into the mix, but not in annoying amounts. A solid song, all in all. Next up, we’re treated to something lighter as "B.L.U.E -Tell me KAFKA-" begins – or so we think! Miya whips out his heavy metal chops once again, reliably chugging along with a steady drumbeat. I have to give props for the wonderful chorus, guitar solo and sick breakdown as well. It’s a song that perfectly showcases MUCC’s gentle and powerful sides equally. As "B.L.U.E" winds down, we’re led into the next number, "HATEЯ", with a peculiar poppy beat (Tatsurou & co ain’t no hollaback girls!). Despite this initial light-hearted impression, "HATEЯ" turns out to be the obligatory zetsubou-ridden teenage angst anthem of the day. It’s not as lame as it sounds, thankfully, throwing in some well-needed tempo changes and a soaring, melancholic chorus with an exotic touch. With that, it looks like we finally arrived at the calmer point of the release, as evidenced by Tatsurou’s gentle singing over some simple but touching guitars. "Rainbow" isn’t exactly what you’d call a standout track, but it proves to be a breath of fresh air after the intensity of the previous songs. With its subtle atmosphere, emotional (but not sappy!) melodies and steady mid-tempo beat, it would’ve even fit on an album like Gokusai. The follow-up, "Rendez-Vous", changes it up with an interesting electro-rock mixture yet again, complete with dubstep-inspired breakdown (that actually sound somewhat decent). Despite all its efforts to become memorable, it falls a bit flat though. Thankfully, we have "TONIGHT" to close this T.R.E.N.D.Y. mini album: a weird Frankenstein-monster of cheesy heavy metal clichés and gang-chorus punkiness, but it totally works! It’s never a bad thing to end your album on an energetic note. All in all, I’m quite impressed with what MUCC cooked up in the studio this time around! I went in with no expectations whatsoever, but these guys proved that they still know how to craft catchy and memorable tunes, even if not quite at the same level as, say, in their glory days. All these past years I’ve been waiting and waiting for them to deliver something cool, and they finally came through. Moreover, the mini album (even if the songs themselves are pretty long) has an ideal length: it’s almost begging me to start over again and again. And that is what I shall do. Support the band! T.R.E.N.D.Y. @ iTunes (US) T.R.E.N.D.Y. @ CDJapan T.R.E.N.D.Y. @ Yesasia

Artist: Sigh Album: Graveward 1. Kaedit Nos Pestis 2. Graveward 3. The Tombfiller 4. The Forlorn 5. The Molesters of My Soul 6. Out Of The Grave 7. The Trial by the Dead 8. The Casketburner 9. A Messenger from Tomorrow... I. The Message, II. Foreboding, III. Doomsday 10. Dwellers in Dream Rating: | Are you brave enough to try? Listening to a new Sigh record for the first time is an experience like no other. I'm sure by this point that the band tries to make each album larger, weirder, and more grandiose than the last. They've succeeded with flying colors for the last few attempts, and their tenth album "Graveward" refines the symphonic avant-garde direction birthed on 2010's "Scenes From Hell" and developed further with 2012's "In Somniphobia". A band that brands their metal as a "celluloid phantasmagoria" sounds pretentious to the core, but this is that odd band that actually can deliver what they promise. In fact, their music is so out there that their albums come with labels that warn that "if you find that some parts of this album are strange; it isn’t because the music is in itself strange, but because your conscious self is ill-equipped to comprehend the sounds produced on this recording". What a warning. I'll come out right now and say that there's not a single thing I would change about this album. I can't deny that "Graveward" is the product of a band that's been scraping every corner of their musical melting pot for over fifteen years. The compositions are as well-thought out and intriguing as ever, reflecting the two and a half years it took to compose and record, and they improve with each listen. The production is crisp, clean, and unusually devoid of any quirks. Every Sigh album has something about the mastering that's a bit off and this is the first time when the balancing act done in the studio between the metal antics of the band and the epic aspirations of the orchestra is nothing less than stupendous. I'm equally as impressed by how well the band plays with so many other instruments accompanying them: each song had over 100 recording tracks exceeding 100GB of audio to select from in the final mixes. There are even guest performances from Trivium's Matthew Heafy, DragonForce's Fred Leclercq, Shining Sweden's Niklas Kvarforth, Rotting Christ's Sakis Tolis, and The Meads of Asphodel's Metatron, although they are buried deep and are more Easter eggs than anything else. Most bands would crumble performing music this complex and yet Sigh makes it seem effortless. I almost take it for granted how memorable each song is and how good the flow of the album is. From the entertaining opening melody, this is a relentless smorgasbord of every instrument you can think of and then some. This will either make or break your experience. I happen to find it too much fun for an album that revels in death, suffering, and the afterlife. I attribute most of this to the intentionally campy atmosphere which moves between tranquil, creepy, beautiful, tragic, and even menacing. The discretion shown with using these elements provides the maximum impact when they are in full swing like on "Kaedit nos Pestis" and "Graveward". Then the band has moments where they emphasize their metal side like on "The Forlorn", and "The Molesters of my Soul", and additional orchestrations support the band rather than compete for the user's attention. Then there's "A Message From Tomorrow", which is the climax to an already outstanding album. It's absolutely incredible and manages to remain a satisfying climax even if it departs from the thematic direction of the album. This track alone deserves a listen. At its core, "Graveward" is very much a black metal record. But with so many elements, twists, turns, and strokes of genius, this album surpasses any type of simple classification. Its chaotic nature may come off as a gimmick to some, but even if it is, it's one that requires incredible amounts of musicianship to achieve. Those very same qualities make this album so much fun to listen to and leave me in awe at how creative one band can be. "Graveward" is not a record for everyone but it welcomes anyone to try it once. Support the band! Purchase Graveward for $10 from Bandcamp and support the artists!

Artist: Aureole Album: Spinal Reflex 1. I 7. Edit 2. Core 8. Inner Plane 3. Closetsong 9. Brighten 4. The House Of Wafers 10. In Light 5. Pearl 11. Ghostly Me 6. Hercules 12. Last Step Rating: | A thrilling ride with a few bumps in the road Aureole albums are always an adventure to listen to because you never quite know what you're in store for. The band consists of six members with an ambitious setup. Besides the usual 2 guitars, bass and drums, they also have a keyboardist/flutist and a vibraphone/glockenspiel player. So while they have a variable pallet of sounds to work with, it's the songwriting of vocalist Daichi Mori that keeps things interesting. His approach to music is deeply entrenched in Radiohead and Sigur Rós aesthetics, but his vision is more expansive and he's always had a penchant for experimentation. These musical proclivities have continually been stretched since the band's debut in 2009 and now with their 4th album Spinal Reflex, they've progressed even further down the rabbit hole of Mori's sonic imagination. So where exactly have Mori and the gang decided to take us this time? Well, the opening track "I" literally begins with a bang - complete with crashing cymbols, distorted guitar shredding, and a warbly, alien-like synth, insinuating that we've reached lands unknown. Within a matter of seconds, the raucous intro to "I" becomes an upbeat, bass-driven rock track with frantic vibe/flute riffs and a rather cacophonous chorus. While this may serve as an effective intro for new listeners who get the alien metaphor, it's doubly effective for long-time fans because it also marks a literal departure in the band's sound. "I" is more direct and to-the-point than Aureole has ever been, whereas in the past, Mori's songwriting has overwhelmingly favored the slow-burn of post-rock soundscapes. "Core" follows suit in a similar instrumental fashion, but somehow this track manages to realize Aureole's newly embraced sound in a much more convincing manner. It's not as frenzied as the opening track, but it's still upbeat and there's something more graceful about how Mori's falsetto glides over the cacophony of instruments. It's no wonder this track was released as a promotional video - it's the perfect song to represent the band's new direction. On the other hand, "Closetsong" maintains the same straightfoward rock approach, but sounds more restrained and lacks the melodic appeal of the first two tracks. It's a pleasant, but ultimately unremarkable song. Much like how "I" lead into "Core", "Closetsong" also feels like a setup for the next track. If you were just getting familiar with Aureole's newfound territory, well this is where Mori takes a sharp turn and steers the record into more uncharted grounds. "The House of Wafers" was previously released for free as a B-side to "Ghostly Me", and takes on a new form in the context of the album - marking the first stop on the record's experimental detour. This track expands upon the piano introduced in "Closetsong" and opens with a riff very reminiscent of a haisuinonasa song (who their vibraphonist plays support for incidentally). The verses have an awkward, trippy funk to them that crescendo into an uproar, much like the choruses found in the first leg of the album. "Pearl" and "Hercules" take the funk influences ever further; the former starts as an airy post-rock track before transforming into a hand-clapping groove and the latter is a full-on dance track with Mori's croon sounding fittingly Bee Gees-esque. Though as fun of an artistic divergence as these tracks were, Mori never stays in one place for too long. The following two tracks take the album in yet another, somewhat darker direction. "Edit" harkens back to the experimental tendencies found in "The House of Wafers" by employing an equally cerebral groove, but this time there is no melodic chorus to pull the song together amidst the aural chaos. It's perhaps the most challenging song on the album, and has a distinct, downy-ish feel to it. "Inner Plane" is a bit more palatable, but it's also more trippy. The song plays out like a soundtrack to a mysterious dream that slowly evolves into a perplexing nightmare - going from an off-kilter groove to an explosion of menacing distortion and psychotic piano riffs. These two tracks are definitely located somewhere deep within the rabbit hole, and as far as Aureole has traveled in the span of the first eight tracks, it's only inevitable for fatigue to set in at some point. "Brighten" would have made an excellent final destination, but instead it feels more like a rest stop on a route headed towards locations that aren't worth visiting. The song is cozy and dreamy with post-rockish accents that bring early Aureole to mind. It puts a fitting cap on the madness that proceeded it and would have been a great way to end the album. Unfortunately the journey continues with "In Light", the most standard and mundane rock song on the record, "Ghostly Me", which, while decent, sounds like a prototype of the sound found on "Core" and "I", and finally "Last Step" which is more of a forced outro than a closing track. These final three tracks would have been better relegated to bonus disk material, but instead their addition seems to skew the narrative of the album in an unmeaningful manner. That's a rather minor grievance, though. The most glaring flaw of the album is perhaps its lack of musical peaks - those moments that stop you in your tracks and practically beg you to put them on repeat. Conversely, the album doesn't have many low-points either, which is an interesting feat to accomplish for such a dynamic record. It may not be the most memorable trip your ears will take, but Spinal Reflex is a journey that'll intrigue you at every step of the way. Support the band! Spinal Reflex on US iTunes Spinal Reflex @ CDJapan Spinal Reflex @ HMV

Artist: cali≠gari Album: 12 01. わるいやつら (Warui yatsura) 02. 脳核テロル (Noukaku Terror) 03. 颯爽たる未来圏 (Sassou taru mirai-ken) 04. セックスと嘘 (Sex to uso) 05. トゥナイトゥナイ ヤヤヤ (Tonight Toniyayaya) 06. ギムレットには早すぎる (Gimlet ni wa hayasugiru) 07. とある仮想と (Toaru kasou to) 08. 紅麗死異愛羅武勇 (Crazy I Love You) 09. バンバンバン (Ban Ban Ban) 10. フィラメント (Filament) 11. あの人はもう来ない (Ano hito wa mou konai) 12. さよならだけが人生さ (Sayonara dake ga jinsei sa) Rating: | A fine achievement from the masters of weird. When I heard the sad news that long-time drummer Makoto was out of cali≠gari, the future did not seem very bright for the band. At least, that's what I thought. cali≠gari have been kind of slacking off in terms of releases these past few years anyway – sporadic activity, lots of live-only and fanclub-only cash grabs, you name it. I, however, cannot hate them no matter what they do, as long as they deliver quality tunes I can get into. This album continues to prove that statement right, while at the same time asserting that they remain a force to be reckoned with, even as a three-piece. 12 is another typical cali≠gari full-length (as much as you can call such a quirky band 'typical'), packed with catchy melodies and occasional crazy outbursts. The band manages to find a decent balance between those two extremes. Gone are the days of totally mental freak-outs, like "Hakkyou Channel" for example, but they can still pack a punch when needed. Case in point, take the frantic trance-like pummeling punk of an opener "Warui yatsura", or the follow-up track "Noukaku Terror." These filthy little beasts contrast well with the album's brighter and airier compositions such as the gorgeous revamped version of "Tonight Toniyayaya" (proving that the creative juices are still flowing) or the sweet closing track "Sayonara dake ga jinsei sa", reminiscent of another old tune of farewell, "Good Bye." The best bits of 12, however, are the instances where the band isn't afraid to openly show their love for '80s new wave and pop nostalgia. Songs like "Sex to uso", "Gimlet ni wa hayasugiru" and the like are characterized by big fat slappin' bass goodness, twinkly synths, sharp cleaned-up guitar tones and… is that saxophone I'm hearing?? Clearly, they spared no creative expense when arranging these fine pieces of 'updated throwback' music. There’s even a nod towards a sort of proto-VK atmosphere (very much like what they did around 1998-1999) in tracks like the swift "Sassou taru mirai-ken," the post-punk tinged sax-o-rama of "Crazy I Love You", and the aforementioned "Sayonara…". Altogether, these colorful elements make this full-length both enjoyable for hardened, long-time cali≠gari fanatics and those new to the band's curious antics. Overall, 12 paints a picture of a band of 'professional eccentrics' who still know how to rock out as well as craft some interesting songs. The days of youth are gone, of course, so one mustn't expect an onslaught of all-out craziness. They more than make up for that with a big bunch of catchy moments that blends their past styles and influences into a powerful mixture that sounds anything but dated. In short, this is probably the best cali≠gari has done since their comeback. I cannot wait to see & hear what the future holds! Support the band! 12 @ iTunes (Jp) 12 @ CDJapan 12 @ Yesasia

Artist: ユナイト (UNiTE.) Single: マーブル (marble) 1. マーブル (marble) 2. ステアーズ ステアーズ(stairs stairs) [Type S limited edition] 2. 汚染 (osen) [regular edition] 3. WONDER f∞l PEOPLE [regular edition] Rating: | Another solid single to whet your appetite before the summer album マーブル (marble) is the 7th single from your favorite VK experimenters in excessive, flowing fabric, UNiTE. Sana, the band’s fresh meat drummer, makes his compositional debut, penning both the title track and one of the b-sides. This is all just in time for the band’s 4th anniversary on March 29th! So, how does Sana stack up? Well, he definitely sounds like he belongs! In fact, I wouldn't have a hard time believing that guitarist Shiina Mio had actually written “marble.” If there’s one difference, it’s that Sana blends the heaviness and signature twinkly pop-rock more seamlessly than Mio tends to do (who often deliberately writes songs in a softer or heavier style). Yui's vocals are as agile as ever, effortlessly gliding through gentle verses and powerful choruses. Meanwhile, chirpy guitar chords in the beginning of the verse later morph into the layered guitar wankery we’ve come to love from Mio and LiN. The background arrangements alternate between a balanced mix of piano, airy synths, and a distorted “wub-wub” here and there. All in all, a pretty damn good first effort! “ステアーズ ステアーズ(stairs stairs)” is the second track from Sana. From the laid-back beachy sound, I initially thought it was by guitarist LiN, channeling his former band, LeMpicka?. The beat makes it like a toned down version of “アンテリナム(antirrhinum)” from their third album. The song has an enjoyable melody and a nice little guitar solo. Yui maintains his sweet vocals for the majority of the track, but occasionally hits some funky notes – another usual trademark of LiN compositions. While this is a pleasant little ditty, Sana doesn’t touch on much that LiN hasn’t done before. Next up, we have Mio’s “汚染 (osen).” For a title meaning “contamination,” it might seem strange that the song begins with a music box lullaby. This soothing tune quickly disintegrates into atonal disarray, making way for some sinister chiptune bloops. A short dose of chuggy, albeit generic riffs, get a lot more creative around the :43 mark, before leading into the first verse. The best thing about this track is that melody was not sacrificed in the heaviness. Yui delivers an impressive, heartfelt performance, particularly in the final, extended chorus. The riffs throughout sound full-bodied, so it all makes for a satisfying listen. My main complaint is that the drums during the bridge sound a bit weak. While I don’t think this song reaches the top-tier likes of "失望エミュレイター (shitsubou emulator)” or “退廃レトリック (taihai rhetoric)," it’s one of their better “heavy” songs. “WONDER f∞l PEOPLE” opens with a pumping, in-your-face beat, as Yui talk-raps his way through some bizarre Engrish (“POWER K LOOKS”) and does a roll call of the band members. I was preparing myself for a Kameleo-esque song where they all sing along. Thirty seconds in, the chorus sneaks up on you and it’s clean, poppy, and ecstatic. The whimsical synths give it a shibuya-kei flair. LiN’s lyrics continue to graces us with phrases like “YA SMELL ME? LACK OF ABILITY!” After the second chorus, the song pumps the brakes and gives a short taste of bossa nova relaxation, before quickly returning to the song’s almost gratingly hyper form. Like LiN’s other goofball tracks (“Cocky-discuS”), this might take 2 or 3 listens, before the humorous style sinks in. Nonetheless, I seem to be in the minority of MH’s UNiTE.-posse, because this is my least favorite on the single. It needed at least one more element (some kind of bridge or outro, for instance) to be more balanced. As it stands, it’s the single’s shortest track, but also the most repetitive. Sana's joining the band last year has somehow ushered in higher production values (look at that shiny PV!) and generally more mature songwriting; while I still think the band sometimes plays it too safe in their “heavier” compositions (I’m looking at you “marble” and “osen” breakdowns), there is always enough variety on their releases to keep you interested. None of the four songs here sound remotely alike! I look forward to hearing Sana’s songwriting develop into his own, discernible style. Lucky for us, their 4th album UNiVERSE comes out this summer, so we don’t have long to wait for him to show us what else he’s got! What did you think of the single? Support the band! Type S Limited Edition CD+DVD Limited Edition CD (1 track) Regular Edition CD

Artist: BRADIO Album: POWER OF LIFE 1. Are You Ready to Blast Off? 2. Flyers 3. 真っ赤なカーチェイス (MAKKANA CAR CHASE) 4. Sunday feat.MICRO(from HOME MADE 家族) 5. Chocolate Flavor 6. Flash Light Baby 7. オトナHIT PARADE (OTONA HIT PARADE) 8. シークレットコード (Secret Code) 9. スパイシー・マドンナ (Spicy Madonna) 10. 腰振る夜は君のせい (koshifuru yoruha kimi no sei) 11. You Make Me Feel Brand New 12. Ride On Time feat.谷川正憲(from UNCHAIN) Rating: | Disco is not dead! BRADIO is a relatively young indie rock band that blends large doses of throwback funk with addictive and catchy pop melodies. While they formed in 2010, the member shuffle kept them bound to releasing solely demo material until they took off like a rocket 2 years later with their first mini album. Fast-forward to 2015: BRADIO are headlining tours, releasing their first full length album, and gracing an anime series with their music as the opening theme for Death Parade. It's been a big year and it's barely half way over! The album opens with a single question posed to its listeners, "Are You Ready to Blast Off?" That answer is a resounding "YES!" as this song breaks into a high octane dance party that will make it impossible to sit still. The mood is set with a fun chorus and dramatic "oooh-aaah" backing vocals that lift the track up until a funky bass solo takes the song, as promised, right into outer space. The equally cheesy yet infectious "Flash Light Baby" and "OTONA HIT PARADE" keep the overall feel of the album in this realm, as they sit back to back in the middle of the track list. The lack of ballads on POWER OF LIFE is somewhat surprising. Only the song "You Make Me Feel Brand New" slows down enough to give anyone a chance to catch their breath. However, the song still maintains a level of energy that comes much closer to 'power ballad' territory. Not only does it serve as a change of pace with tempo but it also spotlights a fabulous female vocal harmony just shy of making this song a duet Musically, BRADIO doesn't do anything that reinvents the wheel for their genre, but they keep their music consistently well composed across the board with a level of quality and attention to detail. The band may not create an image of taking themselves seriously (It's all about having fun!), but you can tell that stops in the studio where the production is remarkable. The range of instruments used must have kept a long list of session musicians in and out of their recording booth even though the band's main line up only consists of 4 official members. A sassy horn section really helps songs like "Flyers" and "Spicy Madonna" stand apart from the others with enough swag that even Kool and the Gang would be proud. If you don't know who that is, let me google that for you. Breathing life back into disco may sound like quite a formidable task, but BRADIO have found the right mix to make it look easy. And they're bringing their friends along for the ride, both MICRO (from HOME MADE KAZOKU) and Masanori Tanigawa (UNCHAIN) have wonderful features on this album. They each lend their special flavors into two of the most uplifting tracks "Sunday" and "Ride On Time", magnifying the positive sentiment the album carries. BRADIO strive to raise their listener up in every way with POWER OF LIFE, if the title didn't already give that away. My only complaint is there aren't enough low or quiet moments to give this album as dynamic a sound as it could have. A bit of shadow to make the big songs shine even brighter would really push it to the next level. There are a huge chunk of mid-tempo numbers on the album that, while enjoyable, don't sink their teeth too deeply into the different emotions they grasp at and some of them can blend a little too seamlessly into each other. But since they all keep the party rockin' it's hard for me to be mad about it. It really is a simply fantastic soundtrack to boogie away your problems. Support the band! POWER OF LIFE on US iTunes POWER OF LIFE @ CDJapan POWER OF LIFE @ HMV

Artist: そこに鳴る (sokoninaru) EP: I'm NOT a pirolian 1. pirorhythm stabilizer 〜only your world〜 2. 夏の落とし物 (natsu no otoshimono) 3. ARAGAE!! 4. 真実の花 (shinjitsu no hana) 5. さらば浮世写し絵の如く(do-do gigantic evolution ver) (saraba ukiyo utsushie no gotoku) Rating: | pirolian status: unconfirmed From the initial posting of sokoninaru’s “pirorhythm stabilizer 〜only your world〜” PV in the news thread, this band’s debut release has caused quite a stir. Some (including me!) were immediately taken by the band’s in-your-face instrumentation, while others were less convinced: despite the apparent guitar frill, the core songwriting was written off as too poppy or the band was deemed a ling tosite sigure wannabe. Now that their first EP I’m NOT a pirolian has had some time to settle, it’s time to hash out my opinion. Right off the bat, the band demands your attention. The EP opens with a frenetic, prickly guitar and bass solo loop that goes on for about 10 seconds before the drums crash in and the song really kicks off. In fact, drums are what help to propel this track. A variety of creative fills and production quirks emphasize the percussion and keep listeners on their toes, rhythmically. Meanwhile, guitarist Suzuki and bassist Misaki play their hearts out. There’s no doubt that this trio has some impressive musical chops, but somehow, the complete song doesn’t quite gel. The chorus is a bit of a letdown and at times, the band doesn’t link together the different parts of the song in convincing ways. For instance, the ending is an abrupt mess. Fortunately, the band really buckles down on “夏の落とし物 (natsu no otoshimono),” my personal favorite from the EP (check out the mp3 sample below!) and one of my favorite songs of the year so far! This track exhibits the tightest composition on the release and a beautiful chorus. The quickly strummed, scratchy riffs remind me of one of my disbanded j-indie faves, caroline rocks. Throughout the track, soothing background vocals by Misaki help to balance the nasal, yet raspy vocals by Suzuki. Ending with a bang, Suzuki rips out a heart-wrenching guitar solo with such a satisfying tone. “ARAGAE!!” continues the momentum, borrowing the experimental tendencies from “pirorhythm stabilizer 〜only your world〜”and combining them with the heart and more focused composition of “natsu no otoshimono.” It is pretty dynamic, moving between zippy barrages of guitar work and more tranquil interludes. Again, spectacular drumming and Misaki’s background vocals add further dimension to the song. Back in April, I had a hard time deciding between this and “natsu no otoshimono” for our Best New Tracks list! “真実の花 (shinjitsu no hana)” is where the band loses me for a bit. The opening bass lick is very clearly copied from the lead guitar riff in American post-hardcore group The Fall of Troy’s “F.C.P.R.E.M.I.X”. I would be flabbergasted if sokoninaru claimed they had never listened to them before. Plagiarism aside, the remainder of track has some redeemable moments, including yet another kickass, hi-octane guitar solo from Suzuki—he’s got a knack for these! The EP ends with a rerecording of one of their demo tracks “さらば浮世写し絵の如く (saraba ukiyo utsushie no gotoku).” This finale continues the kind of mid-tempo energetic indie rock heard in the previous track, but what stands out is Misaki's most pronounced vocal presence yet. She takes over lead vocals during certain parts of the song and provides some stunning harmonies once Suzuki jumps back in. So what’s the verdict on I’m NOT a pirolian? Sokoninaru has some major potential and they really hit their stride on tracks 2 and 3. Considering “pirorhythm stabilizer 〜only your world〜” is the PV (i.e. marketing) track, I wonder if there was pressure from their label to project a sound that they don’t fully embody, namely that of being some tryhard ling tosite sigure-inspired band. Other than that first track, I don’t find the comparison that valid, especially vocally speaking. Whereas some bands (looking at you, HaKU) ape LTS right down to TK’s vocal style, Suzuki and Misaki have their own thing going on here and it works! Despite the half star deduction for the lack of originality in “shinjitsu no hana,” I’m still very much looking forward to what this band has in store for us next. All three members show plenty of musical promise. I believe they have more in them than just being “a poor man’s ling tosite sigure,” to quote @CAT5. Moreover, I just need to figure out whether I’m a pirolian or NOT! Hopefully, we'll all have the chance to find out on their next release! What did you think of the EP? Support the band! CDJapan HMV YesAsia

Artist: COHOL Album: 裏現 1. 冷たい石 -Frozen- 2. 下部構造 –Infrastructure- 3. 暗君 –Chaos Ruler– 4. 地に堕ちる –Depressive– 5. 葬送行進 –Funeral March– 6. 絶えぬ火 –Endless Ember– 7. 病の元型 –Arche Pathogen– 8. 急性期の終わり –The End of Acute Phase- Rating: | Colder than a cast iron toilet on the frosty side of an iceberg. Prepare yourself for black metal with the fury of one thousand winter storms. If the first thing you think of when you hear 'black metal' is face paint, high pitched shrieking, furious drumming, fuzzy guitar, firebreathing and other grotesque imagery, and a do-it-yourself lo-fi aesthetic, I would normally chide you for thinking there's no black metal that thinks outside the box. There are plenty of bands that do just this, and some even play music that wouldn't even be classified as black metal to the untrained ear. In this one particular circumstance, however, you would be somewhat right. COHOL is a band halfway between the roots of black metal and the state of the scene today and because of this it is hard to find another band quite like them. They pick and choose which elements of black metal to use and which to discard. Compared to many other similar sounding bands, they do not rely on shock value and gimmicks to compensate for what couldn't be communicated musically. Not that I have anything against that, but COHOL are more the "stand around in a thicket of trees or in an alley and look mysterious" kind of fellas. They always have kept to themselves, releasing news only when appropriate, but they do not entirely shun "the mainstream". 裏現 is the textbook example of what a great black metal record is like in spirit, even if the band couldn't work all the warts out in five years. Everything I need to know is communicated through the anguish and despair that drips from each track. It's been five years since their first album 空洞 -Kuudou-, and 裏現 -Rigen- is a clear evolution upon their older style. Touring with extreme black metal bands like PORTAL during all this time has had a significant effect on their style. This time around, COHOL has compressed their influences to fit firmly within the realm of black metal. 裏現 -Rigen- is much more focused than it's predecessor 空洞 -Kuudou-, but it's also much more homogenous. The pig squeals, thrash and hardcore influences are lessened in favor of more tremolos and blast beats. These elements are still there, and are often used during transitions or to change the flow, but they are not as omnipresent as they were before. There are only a few of these moments present, but these and the more minimalistic sections of songs go a long way in mitigating what would otherwise be an exhausting experience. From the blistering opening of "Infrastructure" to the aptly-named "Depressive" to the absolutely crushing end track "The End of Acute Phase", every song is incredibly well-crafted while still retaining some uniqueness. I sense a lot of ISIS, GODFLESH, Sunn O))), Burzum, and even Boris influence thorughout all eight tracks here, but the music easily expands upon this to include so many different dynamics at times this doesn't feel like black metal. The music can turn from a whirlwind of fury into subdued lament without even so much as blinking, and the best part of it all is how organic the depression feels. It doesn't rewrite the rule book, but COHOL demonstrates that there's some uncovered musical ambition left in black metal. I haven't found a band able to fuse genres like this in quite some time. The most pressing issue with 裏現 -Rigen- is that COHOL embraces the lo-fi aesthetics of black metal when they want to. Parts of "Infrastructure" and "Endless Ember" sound like they were recorded in a dingy room, but in comparison "Chaos Ruler" and "Funeral March" have such crisp, textured atmospheres. This dynamic definitely doesn't hold well across the entire album. Each time it the quality noticeably dips or rises, it's distracting and pulls the listener out of the experience. This is my biggest pet peeve about the entire album. Questionable production choices aside, 裏現 -Rigen- is a bold album. To the uninitated, this has the potential to challenge everything you thought you knew about black metal. For the familiar, this is a must listen and one of the top metal albums I've heard all year, tied with Sigh's Graveward. Three cheers to another elegant yet brutal album signifying promising things to come from an otherwise unknown black metal band from Japan. ...or would it be "three screams of agony"? Support the band! Purchase 裏現 -Rigen- here!

Artist: Royz Single: THE BEGINNING 1. THE BEGINNING 2. 0 3. umbrella. 4. THE BEGINNING (ins.) 5. 0 (ins.) 6. umbrella. (ins.) Rating: | The beginning of something good. Knowing very little about Royz before the release of this single, I had precious little by which to gauge my excitement. I had listened to their album, "Core," back in October and thought it was decent and showed promise. Then their single, "Supernova," and it's B-side, "Alive," really blew me away. So, I guess one could say that I was pretty excited even though I wouldn't consider myself a big fan of the band. Recently, the influences of the electronic genre have pervaded almost every visual rock band in the scene and it's been a pretty divisive issue. Nonetheless, if a band blends the perfect amount of hard rock with their electronic beats, I'm going to be a fan. "The Beginning" is an interesting one, for sure. It's quite different from not only other Royz songs, but from a lot of modern pop/rock-esque songs. It blends together a few different genres to ultimately come up with one of the catchiest rock songs of 2015 so far. This band tends to work exceedingly well as a machine of fun, post-hardcore numbers with incredible rhythm and "The Beginning" is no exception. The one possible downfall of the song is the awkward-to-annoying introduction, but once that chorus hits, you will forget about any prior mess. Oftentimes, the B-Sides make or break the single. If you didn't enjoy the song the band is promoting, well here's something else to make you feel better. For instance, "Alive" was much better than "Supernova." On this single, the B-sides were great compliments to a great promotional single. "0" was along the same lines as most of their recent work: uplifting, fun to sing along to, and great to just lose yourself in. "Umbrella" was a bit more subdued than the previous two songs. Mid-tempo ballad range, to be exact. Subaru's voice really carries well in this song, especially the chorus, where he displays a lot of personal emotion. One of their better composed and arranged tracks. The final track, "Heil," is exactly what I thought it would be. Heavy, fast-paced, and hard-hitting. The beat is incredible and the energy isn't misplaced at all. The only true con of this number is that the melodies Subaru has created aren't exactly strong. It works with the nature of the song, but he's definitely done better. All in all, I feel like if you want to check out this band and haven't already, I would start with their album "Core" and work from there like I did. It sets up expectations for their career in a much more realistic way. Support the band! Purchase Type A here Purchase Type B here Purchase Type C here Purchase Type D here

Artist: Boris Album: Asia 1. terracotta warrior 2. ant hill 3. talkative lord versus silent master Rating: | Holy fuck. Before I begin, I need to warn you. Asia is not a single. Asia is a raw, ugly, discordant album as massive as the continent it's named after. It may be three tracks, but the length of each is enough to make your jaw hit the floor. On top of that, Boris didn't craft Asia with easy listening in mind. So after the initial shock wears off, I am glad to inform you that this is one of Boris' most beastly concoctions, a nice throwback to the days when Boris were firmly a drone doom band. It shows that even twenty years later, the band can still contend for the heavyweight belt for "heaviest band in history". And they did it with only three people! Asia is one of three new albums in a series dubbed 'New Noise Literacy'. The count starts at 003, so I'm not quite sure where 001 and 002 are. Perhaps the answer is buried somewhere within all the noise of Asia, since Boris expects you to derive some form of fulfillment from the album. And for as suprisingly difficult as it is to describe, enjoying the album is quite easy. When I say Asia is heavy, I don't mean aggressive melodies and harsh vocals. I'm talking about music so heavy you feel time hover around you in anticipation. Drone doom is the kind of music that lumbers forward, contorting the mood through feedback, noise, and clever use of tritones. Asia doesn't care about how much patience you have; if it takes ten minutes to set the mood it will take ten minutes. Enjoying Asia is an exercise for the listener in appreciating the journey and flexing your imagination. With the freedom to impress your own thoughts and meanings on the music, one can only imagine the band's state of mind when these tracks were birthed. For as smothering and merciless as it is, Asia is anything but depressing. It succeeds at conveying all types of emotion, some of them disturbing but some are cathartic and others even beautiful. For example, the slow burn of terracotta warrior opens up into a majestic wall of warm sound that collapses upon itself and leaves everything as it began. It literally feels like a soldier rose from the dust to combat the darkness once more. The second track ant hill is much harder and toys with noise borrowed heavily from countless Merzbow jam sessions. I can almost imagine a large colony of ants crawling to and fro, moving their antennas in time with the noise. There's three distinct sections to this song, all of which use sound to color very different soundscapes. Despite being the shortest track, I find that it's the least accessible. talkative lord versus silent master sounds like silence had an argument with noise and lost, combining ideas and motifs explored into the first track to bring everything to a close. There are plenty of drone albums that tax even my attention span, but Asia would not be one of them. For long, instrumental drone doom, this about as diverse as it comes. There are only two things I can't find answers for: where is 001 and 002 of this series, and why Boris decided to call this album Asia? But, then again, Asia's sister albums are titled warpath and urban dance, so maybe it's best to not read into such things. I had high hopes that Asia would resemble their collaboration with Sunn 0))), Altar , but that is not the case. Instead of crafting a spiritual successor to their last drone doom album - as I consider Praparat to be drone with a healthy serving of the unclassifiable - Boris have once again mixed a bit of the old with a bit of the new. If I had to pick something most similar to it, it would be The Thing Which Solomon Overlooked. Asia is not for everyone but if you are a fan of drone, doom, ambient, or Boris, Asia might be for you. Support the band! Purchase Asia (New Noise Literacy 005) here straight from their label, Inoxia! Purchase warpath (New Noise Literacy 004) here straight from their label, Inoxia! Purchase urban dance (New Noise Literacy 003) here straight from their label, Inoxia!

Artist: Foxpill Cult Album: 邪宗門 (Jashumon) Score: When the voices in your head provide backing vocals Better late than never! Back in January, Foxpill Cult released their latest album 邪宗門 (Jashumon – Heretic Religion, a term used to describe non-Shinto religions). Like their previous efforts, this album reaches deep into Foxpill’s bag of tricks and manages to come up with an album that is deeply varied, yet cohesive. While the variety is there, a more critical examination from someone familiar with their previous releases might yield that they are still relying on the same kinds of tricks, but the overall presentation has enough innovation and charisma to make that observation seem nitpicky. What works really well for 邪宗門 is the recurring theme of multiple presences—be it in a schizophrenic kind of way, or in a supernatural sense. Throughout the album there are interludes and outros of static noise and a very distorted girl’s laughter. In addition, many songs feature multiple layers of vocal harmonies from what sounds like people who are not the actual vocalist. Could I be reading into this too deeply? Possibly. But if this ~sing along with the voices in your head~ motif is what they really were going for, then I would say they were successful. If you’re completely new to this band, the most succinct way of describing them is basically Liphlich’s punk cabaret meets all the weird shit Buck-Tick has done (see also). 邪宗門 opens with a strong number, “サイコキャンディー" (PSYCHO CANDY), which for our intents and purposes is the “Moura” of this album in the sense that it is a playful gothic, yet new wave-inspired, song that also received a music video. This is definitely the most accessible track on the album, as well as one of the catchiest. However, it is solid enough to hold it’s own while still sounding like it belongs with the rest of the songs in the album—all to often I hear albums with strong or weak singles that end up being rather out of place when put into the context of everything else (take D’s “Tightrope,” for example). During the middle of the song there is a bad acid trip and a bit of 女王蜂 falsettos going on, which plays on my interpretation that this album is about some sort of super natural phenomenon. “サイコキャンディー” ties in well with the next song, "米を与えど、子は聞かず" (Kome wo Atae do, Ko wa Kikazu) as it is very similar in nature but with a more rock’n’roll approach. I don’t have too much to comment on with that song, but it is a “if you like one, you’ll like the other” sort of deal. Track 4, "ファウストと異邦人" (FAUST to Kotokunibito) is the second instance of strange laughter and a mysterious woman’s voice, which is used as an introduction snippet. The song itself is much less creepy, and its main theme is quite playful. This song uses a lot of distorted guitar, bongo-sounding drums, and frantic time changes between 4/4 and 6/8. What I find fascinating here is that there are a ton of influences going on all at once: at times the drum structure sounds like a march while the vocalist yells over very pretty guitar work and bizarre keyboard samples. This sort of treatment is used quite often throughout the album as well—while most of their music is technically intensive, there are many many layers of different ideas happening all at once, but somehow they all come together in way that’s enjoyable and fun. "秋霖ヒソム▲神隠し" (Shuurin HISOMU ▲ Kamigakushi(?)) s song that caught my attention at first listen: each of FOXPILL’s albums have some sort of dark-wave track and this one is it. ▲ also throws in noise, a bit of folk, and ties it together with a staticy sounding drum loop. While this song does come of as being deceptively heavy or dark based on the first few seconds, it ends up being pretty simple and sweet up until the end. The last few seconds they turn up the creep and add in the sounds of something being drilled, followed by a much more distorted and warped sound of the same woman’s laughter that has been used throughout. What I enjoyed about this song is the mix of both harsh electronic elements and the very gentle sounding chorus. Ultimately ▲ alls into middle for me: there’s enough good here to attract me back to the song, but it isn’t the pinnacle track on this album. "僕は宗教" (Boku wa Shuukyou) is the sleeper track on this album for me—a near perfect fusion of cali=/=gari and XA-VAT if both were going through a mall goth phase, FOXPILL CULT combines a lot of new wave synthesizer with female vocals backing the chorus and quirky vocals commandeering the bridges. There’s much less synth going on here than XA-VAT used, but the 80’s throw-back sound is definitely there. It is also interesting that they recycle the gang vocal melody from the album’s opening track, "鎖国した一寸法師" (Sakoku Shita Issunboushi). This song, "サイコキャンディー" and "ファウストと異邦人" would be the three songs I would recommend trying first if you are new to FOXPILL CULT. For the sake of brevity, the last song I’m going to expand upon is "啓蒙されぬ" (Keimousa Renu). This is one of the more electronic-heavy songs, but what is really interesting is that the chorus is like a gothic sea chantey (to be more than honest, I never thought that was even a possible mix of genres, but here we are… think Moi Dix Mois covering and you wouldn’t be too far off.). Quirky and innovative, "啓蒙されぬ" plays a lot to FOXPILL’s strengths and shows that even if their bag of tricks is finite, they know how to get the most out of it by mixing what they know with influences that would otherwise seem out of place.this song While not every track on this album is fantastic, overall I thought FOXPILL CULT really delivered with this album and it shows that they are well seasoned in what they do. The filler in this album is minimal and their influences range from new wave, to dark wave, to rock’n’roll, to even funk. While I prefer their more new-wave tracks, which they proclaimed their last album was focused most on, I liked a greater amount of tracks here. 邪宗門 was a like at first listen, but it was also a grower. I am still unsure if this is the top contender of album-of-the-year for me quite yet, which is why I am rating it 4 stars out of 5.

Artist: APOGEE Album: OUT OF BLUE Score: If you like to dance then OUT OF BLUE may be for you. Serendipitous moments in life are my favorite. You’ll be going about your usual way and then run into a band like APOGEE. They’re a four-man powered synth-pop group with heavy influences from New Wave and 80’s music. And, their music is very danceable. We’re introduced to the album with "Runaway Summer", a fairly slow track but exciting enough to make you tap your feet. The chorus is simple but catchy and you’ll find yourself singing along every time it plays. And, those syncopated synth chords will undoubtedly bring you back to the 80’s. Things really get down with "Tonight". It opens with a double bass and snare blast and launches you into a groove so infectious you’ll wish there was a dance floor nearby. The use of electric guitar adds a nice edgy sound to the song too. It’s a really fun track and I find myself coming back to it a lot. The only drawback for me is the rather abrupt ending. "Losing You" keeps the album’s energy going but brings a more sobering mood to the album. It features a catchy little electronic cadence and some really great vocal work in the second melody. "Out of Blue" slows the pace down but retains the groove from prior songs. It’s relaxing and the swelling synths add an otherworldly atmosphere. As a side-note, the filter used on the vocals reminds me of vocals from the band Electric Light Orchestra. The New Wave influences are a lot more apparent in "Twilight Arrow" from the wonky bass line to the various clinks and clanks of metallic electronic noises. There’s a steady rhythm set by the kick drum and in the chorus everything flows together nicely. Near the end, the song picks up into something funkier and breaks out into an exciting sequence. The synths here can be a little obnoxious though. "Fall into the Sky" is a wonderful ballad that combines a traditional Japanese sound with their electronic synth sound. It’s split into two parts, a milder soft section that focuses on the vocals and a more powerful section that emphasizes the synth and other instruments. I love the sampled voice they use in the beginning (and later throughout the song); it adds a very cute and Japonesque quality to the song without breaking the mood. After all that build up I’m ready for something upbeat. But instead, "A Boy in the river" is next. By no means is it a bad song though. It’s a laid-back track that continues off the more traditional Japanese sound. Simple and short, A Boy in the river is a nice casual listen. The album does pick up again with "Fictionalizer". It begins strong with the synth and drums and maintains a steady pace. About halfway through though, I had hoped that the song would come to some sort of climax, but the same melody and rhythm kept playing. It repeats three times and the song goes nowhere. It’s a bit of a downer to be honest. We finally come to the close of the album with "Transit". It’s another ballad but plays entirely off their electronic sound. In fact, it reminds me of the disbanded electro-rock/new wave band school food punishment. It starts with one note, held forever. It grows louder and louder, intensifying. Another note joins in. It keeps growing louder and louder until the songs starts and the note slowly fades away. When the song starts, it’s a slow and steady rhythm with a repeating keyboard cadence. For much of the song, the same melancholy beat and melody is played. But, when it gets to the chorus, the vocals become a beautiful A Capella. It’s the perfect calm ending to the album. APOGEE is a fun band. They make fun music that a lot of people can enjoy, and they do a fantastic job of mixing in different influences while staying unique. OUT OF BLUE is an album that stands well as an entire package and by its individual songs. I came upon the album by chance but it’ll definitely stay with me for years to come. Now let’s go hit dat dance floor.

Artist: FIXER Single: PARADOX 1. White and Black (Prologue) 2. Paradox 3. Libido [Type A] 3. Verity [Type B] Rating: | Familiar faces, fresh sound I wasn't sure what to expect from Fixer as PARADOX was my first foray into their short discography. But a band that houses ex ReivieЯ and Signal members has a lot of potential in my book. I'm happy to say PARADOX didn't fall too short of my expectations, either. The single opens with a somewhat generic and predictable electronic instrumental. Even for an SE, it's rather long. It's not really that the track is bad, per se. There just isn't much to evoke the rest of the tracks that follow it. The SE feels placed there because it's expected to be there, which is never the best idea. Things like this are better left to hype up the audience in a live setting. I've never found them to work the same way on a recording. But the rest of the single makes up for it. By the time the title track begins, you forget that there was an SE in the first place. "Paradox", the title track, has great energy that kicks in with a machine gun drum beat and a scream. Jey's voice is powerful and even when he turns to his falsetto it carves out its own place among the dueling chugs of downtuned guitars. The song has great dynamics and bounces back and forth between heavy and quieter melodic segments in the verses. The more traditional visual kei chorus maintains its melodious aspects but in a much fuller arrangement between all of the instruments. As for the second track, "Libido" has a super catchy chorus, and more contrast of melody over thrash-y drums. Even at its heaviest parts, harmonies are layered over screams and the song never loses any intensity for it. In a short single Fixer is showing a lot of complexity and fresh approaches to a genre that desperately needs it. The alternate song on the Type B version of the single, "Verity" sounds just like it was treated. B-side (or in this case, C-side?) filler. Not horrible "delete-this-and-pretend-it-doesn't-exist filler", but something that didn't quite fit with the other two songs and takes a few more spins before it grows on you. The verses are arguably more generic and the song even sounds like it didn't get the same production treatment as the Type A songs did. But if given a little bit of TLC in a re-recording with the right tracklist beside it, "Verity" could make for decent album material. This is only Fixer's 3rd single, after all. They get a little bit of forgiveness from me for having to skimp on what can be expensive studio time. All in all, PARADOX is a strong showing that makes me want to continue watching this band as they grow. I will hold out hope that they pursue new and interesting ways to keep visual kei fresh and relevant. I'd love to see them branch even further from some of the vk mainstays it seems they are trying to cater to, as it may end up holding them back. However, Fixer are on the right track to a strong following and promising career as they are, and I'll be cheering for them. Check out "Paradox" Support the band! PARADOX @ CDJapan PARADOX @ HMV Fixer OHP

Artist: Hora Album: Cocytus Score: EDM super producer, Hora, is one of the most unique figures in the Visual Kei scene today... And has been for over a decade. Where most visual rock stars compose songs that are largely based on electric guitar, bass, and drums; Hora only uses his homemade synthesizers to create some of the greatest dance music you'll ever hear in your life. While he prefers to remain as obscure and indie as possible, if he would open himself up to a more global market he would surely give acts like Tiesto and Afrojack a run for their money. /p> Over these past 13 years, Hora has composed around 45 songs for darkwave/trance duo Schwarz Stein; but a staggering 119 songs for his solo career and all while using vocals so sparingly one would wonder how he could keep it so constantly interesting.... The short answer is that it isn't always interesting, I'll admit. Being a huge fan since day one of Schwarz Stein, I also follow Hora's and Kaya's solo activities quite closely and have always listened to Hora's solo albums no matter how disappointing they ended up being. However, it seems that he managed to reignite the fire of his solo project around 2 years ago when he released Cocoon and then kicked it up about 70 notches for Desolation Beauty last year, ultimately resulting in this year's splendid Cocytus. This is the first album of material he's produced since Schwarz Stein's official return to the scene and it shows. This album is significantly darker than his last one and utilizes the same sort of synths that were featured in Schwarz Stein's most recent single "Sleeping Madness" and by that I mean the beats are hard and fast. The album opener is fairly typical for Hora, unfortunately. Very melodramatic and slow and ultimately just very repetitive. The song drags on way too long and doesn't provide the listener with much intrigue. Along with Underwater and Winter Blood, this song can be skipped to prepare yourself for the real meat and potatoes of the album. The second track is one of the absolute best Hora solo songs I've ever heard. "Frost" has the dramatic Hora flair that one must appreciate in order to be a fan while also delivering one of the hardest beats of his career. Please, please listen to this song above and you will not regret it. Following up this magnificent song is the second best song on the album, "Babel," which is considerably darker and deeper than "Frost." This is also his first composition in a long time that utilizes his harsh vocals. The only lyrics on this song, or the whole album in general, are "Let there be light." Title track "Cocytus" is a lot like album opener "Chamber of Fear" in that it's rather long and drawn out and does sort of the same thing continuously for no real added effect. Additionally, the use of string instruments becomes quite gratuitous when you're trying to listen to a dance album, but I digress. This is all just opinion, of course. The use of string instruments is something I've appreciated over the years and can see why people would enjoy their existence, but sometimes it's just too much. Tracks 5 and 10 are essentially a two part series known as "Pray to God." The former song "Doom" has the same spacey quality as "Without Words" but in a much lighter atmosphere. The beat takes a while to kick in, but once it does it's actually quite fast and played under the melody of the piano to produce something very lighthearted (ironic for a song called "Doom," right?) The second in the series, "Heir" has a very interesting introduction. It's super glitchy, meaning there's no beat but the synths sort of skip around and sound like a broken video game. The second synths kick in not long into the song and create a continuation of the spacey vibe that "Doom" sets up. When the piano starts in this song it immediately echoes the piano of "Doom" and finishes out by adding a slower version of the beat in its predecessor. Other extremely notable tracks are "My Vendetta" and the aptly-yet-reduntantly-named "Without Words" which are heavy/dark and mid tempo respectively. "My Vendetta" is the shortest song on the album and packs a decent punch in just 3.5 minutes... Which is actually a great thing considering if it had gone on too much longer it would get into the too-repetitive category due to the fact it doesn't change it's beat that much and is sort of a lot of the same sound. "Without Words" is more elegantly composed and utilizes more than one sound to make it's point. While I could see how someone could describe it as "lengthy," it has an ephemeral and spacey quality that hasn't quite been prominent on Hora's albums since Prominence in 2006. All in all, this is definitely among Hora's best solo works. I highly recommend it as a general piece of music and find that it could likely be appreciated by all walks of life as it isn't too intense in any one genre at any one point. That being said, I do hope that Hora's and Kaya's priority over the next few months is to create a full-length Schwarz Stein album. I find that Kaya and Hora work best when they're together even though their individual talents are something quite formidable. It's like combining the two best things to make something even more impressive. Hora is the chocolate to Kaya's peanut butter or the Sonny to his Cher. They're best when together.

Artist: DIV Album: SECRET Score: It's not a secret if everyone knows the good part! I've been a strong supporter of DIV from their debut, as I was a fan of xTRiPx before that and wanted to see the departed members do well in their new project. The three year old band has made impressive strides debuting with Danger Crew Records, and releasing fairly strong singles every step of the way. DIV have a reputation for consistency, if anything. SECRET has an overall darker mood that contrasts the previous album, ZERO ONE. The songs on ZERO ONE had an underlying bright feeling, maintaining a palpable optimism throughout them. Keeping true to its namesake, SECRET comes off restrained with an air of mystery. I don't find the turn to more metal derivative riffs and increase of harsh vocals do a good job of showcasing the band's strengths this time around, however. Chisa's monotone growls have always felt weak to me, especially within a scene that is increasingly incorporating influences from heavier genres. The instrumentation for the aggressive parts of SECRET's songs also feel a bit one dimensional and lackluster compared to the likes of "ASTERIOS" and "Teddy" from the previous album, which in and of itself is a major letdown. Though I can't deny the album has a strong start with the stunning "アイノウタ" (Ai no Uta) and the new classic "SECRET NIGHT", which is right up there with DIV's fun and atmospheric early work, it's not enough. Another problem with this release is that DIV relied far too much on previously released singles to carry the album. It's hard to get excited about an album full of songs you've already heard, doubly so when they're the best on the entire release! Spanning the gamut from fist-pumping head-bangers to sparkling ballads, songs "BUTTERFLY DREAMER", "JUSTICE", "漂流彼女" (Hyouryuu Kanojo), and "TASTE OF LIFE" remain as memorable and beautiful as when they were first released. Regardless of being new or old, all are indicative of the sound that DIV has made their staple, and what they still do better than most other visual bands at the moment. So it's no SECRET by this point that it's the new, filler tracks which drag this album down. I had to listen four or five times to actually form an opinion on the three songs sandwiched between "TASTE OF LIFE" and "Point of view". They weren't bad, but they weren't memorable either, which is saying something when DIV have proven to be outstanding at emotional delivery up to this point. And not just Chisa's smooth, velvety vocal work, but also the layering of strings and piano all over their songs add an extra layer of harmony and atmosphere to solid drum lines and melody driven guitar work that pull at the heartstrings. "WING to HEAVEN", "「Dearest」" and "STARS" are painstakingly safe at a point where the album really needed a kick in the rear to keep the listener awake. Ironically, every b-side from every single was more interesting than this string of songs and would have been better placed here, and vice versa. By the end, I'm almost disappointed. Almost. The album has no songs that are painful to listen to, or drag on for too long in one way or another. But there are many new songs that don't make much of an impact. DIV have hit the infamous 'sophomore slump' and are verging on same-y territory with SECRET. It's not an uncommon place for a band their age to be, but such a strong showing on the last album left me with higher expectations. And I certainly thought there'd be more new material. If half of the singles made their debut on this album I would have ranked it much higher, but it's a real shame so much of this album felt so familiar in the end.

Artist: 和楽器バンド Single: 戦-ikusa- / なでしこ桜 Score: Meet the next Kagrra, of VK. You already know what the deal is. Few bands manage to turn me into a rabid fanboy the way 和楽器バンド has. As the bridge between the visual kei, doujin, and vocaloid scenes, their unique sound and striking visuals caught everybody's attention instantly. In a year, they've made moves in their career that other bands never get the opportunity to try. The hype is so real, both tracks from their second single 戦-ikusa- / なでしこ桜 were featured in the anime Sengoku Musou. For an indie band, that's a huge accomplishment. 戦-ikusa- / なでしこ桜 is another excellent entry in 和楽器バンド's small but excellent discography. There's enough strings between the eight members of this bands to appease any bondage fetishist, and as usual the performances are top notch. 戦-ikusa- is the more energetic opener. Conjuring emotions reminiscent of excitement and war, it's perfect for the anime it was chosen for. In general, it's a pleasant rock track and a good choice for promotion, but it's not one of their best tracks. Their previous single 華火 was a better take on this type of sound. I find the mid-tempo なでしこ桜 to be the more intriguing track. Yuko's voice is much more emotional and impactful here, and the slower pace of the song allows the band to create a stronger atmosphere. This is a much better representation of their sound, but perhaps the less accessible of the two songs. This second single isn't enough to draw any major conclusions from. They've done a great job of picking up the mantle Kagrra, left behind in 2009, but 和楽器バンド have yet to prove themselves to me. To date, 和楽器バンド has only released three original songs. The real test is their first mini or album. Deliver an album as consistent yet varied as Vocalo Zanmai and I'll gladly proclaim them to be the best indie band this side of the rising sun. For now, they're just pretty damn interesting.

http://i59.tinypic.com/2cz7zpx.jpg" width="200" /> Artist: ONE OK ROCK Album: 35xxxv Score: With a little help from their friends, this album is more than just OK. The "3xxxv5" intro SE isn't anything particularly special. The only thing remarkable about it is the slight notes of electronics sprinkled in. This is a new addition in ONE OK ROCK's repertoire for 35xxxv and important if you're not fond of the bleep bloop trend in mainstream music, because it's sprinkled all throughout this album. As the hype train rolls into the station, "Take me to the top" welcomes you with a punch to the face. It slams into your eardrums abruptly and screams this isn't going to be like any ONE OK ROCK album you've heard before. If you're already a fan of ONE OK ROCK, the first thing to catch your attention will be the giant jump up in English skills. Working with producer and album co-writer John Feldmann - whose voice can be heard seconds before the song starts as he chimes in, "...hold on, that's exactly what I'm talking about," - has done wonders for vocalist Taka and taken him well out of 'Engrish' territory where he's unfortunately been treading water for the last handful of albums. Their dream of attaining the sound of their American and European music idols has come to pass with the catchiness and content of "Take me to the top", along with the rest of the record, which is as good as anything you'd hear on American rock radio today. The band has thrown down the gauntlet with this high octane album opener. It houses just the right amounts of guitar phaser, tasteful autotune, and gang vocals to get your fist pumping mightily in the air. The album has its fill of heavy hitters. This includes not one, but two, Rurouni Kenshin movie themes: A main theme in "Mighty Long Fall", and endroll theme "Heartache", respectively. "Mighty Long Fall" works well as the all encompassing flagship song for 35xxxv. The EDM influence is heavy in drummer Tomoya's stuttering hi-hat during the verses and a spacey synth heavy bridge. "Heartache" sits against it back to back in the tracklist, which I'm sure is gut wrenching for the movie fans as it's quite a beautiful song. While it's stripped down to acoustics for the first half it's not a typical ONE OK ROCK ballad, it branches out bigger and grander towards the end than their previous works with orchestral and electronic accompaniment. It's easy to imagine it bringing the theater audience to tears. The thirds single from the album, "Cry Out," rounds out the promotional tracks that carry the brunt of this album stylistically. It's a nice mid-tempo number, but that is also a double edged sword that aids it in remaining the least memorable of the three. After this, it feels as if the tracks ping pong back and forth between the more classic ONE OK ROCK feeling and the songs that have John Feldmann's stronger influence in them. And it doesn't always sit 100% within the bands musical abilities, unfortunately. Feldmann is famous for being the vocalist/guitarist for the band Goldfinger, producer and co-writer for albums by: Sleeping With Sirens, Papa Roach, Hilary Duff, Panic at the Disco, Ashlee Simpson, and Good Charlotte, among a long list of others. "Cry Out" and "Mighty Long Fall" sandwich the less dynamic and more straight forward "Suddenly", which is one of the weaker songs on the album and justifiably needed the stronger songs to help keep things moving. The rebellious punk inspired "Memories" is situated directly between two down-tempo tracks, "Heartache" and the dismal Cool Fool Rock theme "Decision". The latter felt as if it also was written with the intention to have a punk flavor, judging by some of the guitar transitions in the chorus, but were toned down to almost a Nickelback "Someday" vibe... which makes every fiber of my being cringe in unison. It's already horribly overdone and too trite for a band as young as ONE OK ROCK. I know the boys wanted North American mainstream appeal, but this is not the way. However, for every boring and stale decision made in the previous song, they absolutely make up for with the Kellin Quinn (vocalist for Sleeping With Sirens) feature track, "Paper Planes". Kellin, being the only guest vocalist I can remember in ONE OK ROCK history, helps this song stand out. But it's such a huge departure from the signature ONE OK ROCK sound that it demands an intense fan reaction of immediate love or vehement despise. "Paper Planes" is a party starter with loads of electronic drums. The guitars get pushed back in the mix as to not compete with the dual vocalists, but the riffs are still bouncy and just as catchy as anything the vocals have going on. One major complaint is Kellin's voice is higher than Taka's, and thusly cuts across more in the mix. It's hard to tell if this was intentional or not, but Taka joins Toru with the guitars in the back seat of this song. In spite of that, the song is so out of left field that it's hard pressed not to be the most memorable earworm on 35xxxv and possibly ONE OK ROCK's entire discography so far. It's just a pity Taka's voice isn't the one that's going to be stuck in my head for weeks with this track. The tail end of this album brings back more of that old ONE OK ROCK feeling. The upbeat songs are reminiscent of Nicheシンドローム, and slower ballads bring to mind the more recent 人生×僕＝ which ONE OK ROCKers should enjoy, though, with upgraded language pronunciation and more straight forward lyrics. I believe it was smart on the bands part not to alienate their core fanbase entirely with this album. But it was certainly a blast to hear all the new elements that they included, giving Feldmann so much free reign and making a lot of these new elements feel like their natural progression. It may be hard hearing that this is the album the band has always intended to create once they gained the ability to do so, but I think the band is on the right path to making a footprint in the global market. And with the new friends made on recent tours, they have the right connections to take them wherever they want to go next. It's clear they aren't letting anything stop them now. This is the new and improved ONE OK ROCK and they're holding nothing back.

Artist: LM.C Single: PERFECT RAINBOW Score: Just a couple colours off from being a "PERFECT RAINBOW" If you’ve previously released a mini-album titled "PERFECT FANTASY" within the same year with a similar tracklist of eight songs in total, then you’re asking for comparisons. Since "PERFECT FANTASY" was a personal favourite release in 2014, you might already have guessed that I’m not that impressed with the rap rocking electro duo this time. I must confess I judged "PERFECT RAINBOW" with their other mini-album in mind, but who can really blame me? It did, indeed, fall short of my expectations on first listen. But let’s get on to the undeniable comparisons later and dive head first into this colourful rainbow. Instrumental opening track ‘VantaBLACK’ is a very fantastical and imagery inducing intro. Starting off with some futuristic, spacey sounds, faint piano keys can be heard after these inclusions, then turning into electric currents. It flows into ‘JUST LIKE THIS!!’ wonderfully, which starts with more fittingly used piano taps and Maya soothingly sing a few romantic Engrish lyrics. After this quiet starting point, we’re treated to that massive electro party sound we all know and love by these dudes. The track is brilliant and really stands out after the strong opener. It’s sure to get long-time fans comfortable with its reminiscent sound to older LM.C jams. With a catchy beat and a chorus bursting with energy, it’ll get you up, dancing, and hyped for more. In contrast, ‘MOGURA’ is a dark and heavy song. As the only song to be spotlighted outside the mini-album release, it’s a solid track. However, within this tracklist, it stands out like a sore thumb due to it having a sound not all gumballs and rainbows as would be expected from the pair, ultimately making the track fall flat in the long run. What follows is ‘Amnizia,’ an instantly toe tapping number thanks to its repetitive drum beat. The simple structure and sound actually make this one of the more enjoyable tracks. It's catchy as soon as it begins! ‘Minor Leaguers’ Song’ comes next, and similar to 'MOGURA,' this one's got an interesting spin on sound. It's reminiscent to punk bands like ‘Good Charlotte,' due to it sounding as perfect as one of those cheesy school anthem sing-along songs. While there’s more going on than in previous tracks, it’s actually not that captivating. This track mixes the rapping with an anthemic approach vocal-wise with little bits of parade/orchestra marching like features such as the trumpets and overlapping vocal effect. However, a nice addition to it is the trumpets at the end of the chorus that play in tune to the lullaby ‘Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star;' fitting for a band who often sing about stars. Enjoyable as it is during the listen, in the end, all this makes for is a forgettable track. ‘LADY TALK’ has an 80s disco sound which is a very charming inclusion. The electro currents are old school sounding, and it’s a smooth and slow track which reminds me of ‘PLASTICZOOMS.’ But you know it’s still LM.C you’re hearing with their cheerful tune and sparkly chorus! The following track, ‘キミヨサラバ,’ has a steady tempo just like 'LADY TALK,' and it keeps to a straight path as well. Being the ballad of the mini-album, it's a very pleasant one which still keeps your attention. We come to the end of the rainbow with 'BRAND NEW RAINBOW.' Opening up with a playful funfair sound, the track is highly energetic and doesn't tire, giving the mini-album a closer more pleasing than its opener. What LM.C has accomplished brilliantly is sticking to the same types of tracks in both releases. We’ve got the disco tune, ‘JUST LIKE THIS!!,’ the mysterious piece, ‘Amnizia,’ the positive track, ‘Minor Leaguers’ Song’ and the ballad song, ‘キミヨサラバ,’ to name just a few examples. The opening and closing tracks are, really, the stand out points of this mini-album, starting and ending the mini-album on a high. The release has a few new and different sounds, which indicates the duo are experimenting with their style. This is all good on its own, but it’s still got some polishing to do. When I’m not comparing it to "PERFECT FANTASY," it’s good. When I’m judging it on its own, it’s still just good. Maybe if both mini-albums were put together as a full-length album, it would've gotten four stars, since "PERFECT FANTASY" is truly perfect. While "PERFECT RAINBOW" is far from perfect, don’t judge this release by its title.

Artist: sukekiyo Album: VITIUM Score: The essence of sukekiyo, molded into perfection. sukekiyo has managed to slowly convert me from being a mildly disinterested bystander to a casual listener who's always on the lookout whenever something new pops up concerning the band. Their first full-length IMMORTALIS proved to be a slow-burning behemoth of many faces (and facets), and their latest offering VITIUM isn't too far off from that impression either. Kyo and co. don't seem to be in a hurry, as evidenced by the size of this new 'mini' album which is still longer than most bands' albums. Throughout these 37 minutes, they present their compositions in typical sukekiyo fashion: sprawling, mysterious, unpredictable. This time around, however, it seems they were able to craft a more unified sound for themselves (as if they weren't already unique enough), with a concentrated approach to boot. Each song sounds more coherent in and of itself, while still retaining the "expect the unexpected" avant-garde quality they've come to be known for. VITIUM starts off powerfully and majestically with "leather field" – a dark flower blooming and branching out in sukekiyo's aural grotto. Hints of manic aggression and weirdness also rear their heads, prefiguring what's to come in the second track "dunes." This song introduces a demented vibe with its jittery guitars and drums, the band's interpretation of violent jazz-metal. Surprisingly, we are treated to an interlude next ("dot") that doesn't do much in itself but it serves as a fitting ambient intro to the following "foster mother." Kyo's deep croons drift onto a hypnotic beat complemented by beautiful guitar flourishes and keyboards that evoke an ambiguous atmosphere, on the edge of tranquility and uneasiness. One of the standout tracks for sure! As VITIUM's centerpiece, "雨上がりの優詩 (Ameagari no yuushi)" pales in comparison to "foster mother," although it is a decent slower number complete with some fantastic textures and a soothing, airy outro. The atmosphere continues through "maniera," but it quickly turns into a quirky explosion of psychedelic metal tinged with calmer acoustic noodling. If DIR EN GREY drove out to the desert high on mescaline, this is what they would jam out. If "maniera" was the hallucinatory freak-out, the second interlude "白露 (Hakuro)" serves as a soundtrack to expulsion – not as fun but still necessary. All the more so, it heightens the magnificence of the follow-up, "celeste." Switching between tumbling piano sludge and schizophrenic episodes, it's a strong indicator of what sukekiyo is capable of. Naturally, after all of this there's no other way to go but softer, as "focus" closes the record with ethereal floaty melodies... or so it seems until the flamenco bit kicks in, segueing into one last creepy look into the abyss. As you can tell, this mini album is quite a trip from start to finish. Whereas IMMORTALIS seemed overly long and drawn-out at times, VITIUM manages to capture the band's perfected essence, more powerful and twisted than ever. It is clear that sukekiyo has finally found its own voice. Let's just hope we'll get to hear that voice more in the future as well!