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After going through Dadaroma's discography, it hit me. People, myself included, always cry whenever they release something that is not Oboreru Sakana. The thing is, there are more than enough solid songs in their discography if you are willing to look past the Masturbations and Pornographs. I've gathered a few that stand out to me the most and I hope these will ease your yearning for fishy metal. 白いゼラニウム (THIS IS "LIVE") lol I can't embed the youtube video for some reason, so here's a great cover instead Morphine#3 (Dadaism#2) 私、バンギャじゃないわ (dadaism #3) @The Reverend (I'm not a bangya) ブリキ (夢タラレバ) @plastic_rainbow Buriki (Yume Tarareba) 汚れる前に私を抱いて「僕はアンドロイド」 @plastic_rainbow Yogoreru mae ni watashi o daite (Boku wa Android) 2017 年 7 月 21 日の日記 2017 (いいくすりと、わるいくすり) @tetsu_sama69 2017 nen 7 Tsuki 21 Nichi no Nikki ( Ii Kusuri to, Warui Kusuri) 愁いリビドー (雨のワルツ) @tetsu_sama69 Urei Libido (Ame no Waltz) LUCID DREAM (dadaism#2) What are some of your favorites? Any that didn't make the list? DADAROMA has now disbanded and it was a highlight of 2020 for me being able to attend their last live with some folks from MH via youtube. Let's celebrate their life in the comments whether you're a fan or not!

リリース： 2020年3月18日 レーベル： rhenium records ▼収録曲 01．コントラポスト 02．視界不良 03．36.2° 04．good news 05．角砂糖 06．ゼラニウム 07．砂上、燃ユ。残像 08．pianoid 09．鮮やぐ視点 10．adaptation 11．stand alone What are your thoughts on the album?

リリース： 2020年3月18日 レーベル： キングレコード ▼収録曲 1. ULTIMA 2. XERO 3. BARRIER 4. EROS 5. ALLERGIE 6. IDOL 7. ZINNIA 8. IN THIS ERA 9. RUDENESS 10. MACHINE 11. ASTER 12. EUREKA What do you all think of the album?

Before/After: There isn't a huge amount to say about either of these, they're some short ethereal electronic pieces which are both nice and pad the album out a bit but that's about it, worth noting that After is the same as Before just with vocals. Rontgen: What a way to start the album, it's the kind of song that hits you with a big impact, it's punchy and aggressive but offers such tight and fine rhythms which are ever changing without disrupting the flow of the song from verse to chorus to bridge no part ever feels stale or that they were running out of ideas. Throughout the song you'll find the switching between raw and shouted vocals and grandiose vocals blends nicely and matching each part. This is the type of the song that really encapsulates the bands sound and although on the short side this is arguably one of their best songs. 正常とは: Well this is the beginning of a disappointing trend throughout the album in that it's just so average and a previously released single. I've listened to this multiple times and it's just so laboured that there isn't a huge amount I can praise it for or mark it down for. So what can I say that's good about the song? Well the opening riff is nice and the guitar solo highlights the progression Rui has made, Yuya's falsetto in the bridge at 0:50 is almost heavenly and really is the only redeeming feature. The song itself just doesn't offer enough in any of it's instrumentation to make it stand out it lacks any real melodies and this is reflected in how forgettable the song is. アンインテリジブル: I'm sure a few people weren't surprised that the boys are experimenting with time signatures, given how open they've been to trying to new things in their music in B-sides and this is one of the better tracks in the album, another one that pays strict attention to rhythmic sections and goes with a 'less-is-more' view with instrumentation, the first two verses relying on just drums and vocals whilst this later progresses to the same verse with a breakdown akin to the likes of metalcore coupled with distorted vocals expected in digital hardcore only to entirely breakdown to a quick sweeping piano section then transitioning in to a seriously funky bridge where Detto finally gets some time to shine. 伝えるということ 交わるということ: I'm having an inner conflict as to whether this opening riff is a sped up stage from the original Sonic The Hedgehog or I've just played too much of the game, regardless it's catchy. This is the kind of song 正常とは should've been, whilst nothing amazing it's got memorable parts, a toe-tapping chorus, refreshing ends to sections and with every listen I find myself noticing more and more of Johannes tight drumming, this is the backbone of the song and the individual hits are fascinating without it ever going over the top and this is only complimented by Rui's guitar work in the chorus, it's so common for bands to rely on chords in the chorus' and let the vocals lead but in this case the melodies match the drums in that they're not obtrusive but offer another dynamic. 相対的思念: The standard ballad but when you compare this to 'Ettad' this is such a disappointment, it's a fairly decent tune with some warm chords and nice melodic counter rhythms in the verses before breaking in to a booming distorted chorus coupled with Yuya's passionate vocals but you can tell the song is relying mostly on the vocals and the inherent problem with this is the lack of dynamics in the song. This track shares the same problems as 正常とは, there isn't enough happening and it has the predictable pattern of light verse, single chord strum bridge and big chorus. Fortunately this song does have a couple of nice parts with such a sweet and soft guitar piece at 2:50 that transitions in a build up filled with Johanne's drum work before dropping the build and stumbling in to an out-of-nowhere bridge we've heard before. Furthermore the ending is gold, a raw redone chorus with crashing drums and Yuya's grandiose singing and soft backing vocals. Unfortunately, the few nice parts this song has aren't long enough and can't save it from sounding like filler. 無礼王: A song that offers more of an synth based approach, whilst the opening riff may have the generic neo VK sound and melody don't let this fool you, the verses are filled with sci-fi influenced sounds and funky bass lines that you wouldn't expect given it's intro. Every verse builds on the previous one, adding a new synth or rhythm and this drives home the funky electronic sound whilst keeping you enthralled. There isn't much singing in this (nor that much guitar) but everything comes together at the end with the whole song acting as a build up to another toe-tapping ending. Short but sweet, not content with finishing the song with the chorus we get a shortened verse as the outro, very clever. this is 芸術 Reincarnation vibes from this and the guitar delivers a lot of what the first album offered, high delayed melodies and funky slap guitars with another melodic approach to the chorus and beautiful booming epic vocals in the chorus. A couple of repeated verses with the guitar following a similar line to the vocals and Johannes adding in a few hits, not the best but far from bad although the bridge makes up for it, I love this part, the guitar, bass and vocals all making a descending movement together flows really well and it retains the sharp change in chorus contrasts so well to it. Third verse and more funk, that bass line is irresistible with another less is more view followed by an immensely catchy harmonized guitar piece. The song trails off a bit towards the end with a somewhat disjointed bridge that just sounds empty but none the less one of the best songs on the album 斑 Another single but this is one of the better one's, this has that funky but aggressive slap guitar that really would've become a core of the bands sound and hearing this song will probably leave you wanting more. Everything is so on point in this song, Johanne's drum remain ever interesting and rhythmic switch's in the bridges keep the flow and build up to the chorus nicely, verses switch between rough vocals with guitar scratching and smooth singing with sprinkles of light guitar melodies whilst the guitar and vocals matching each other in a descending melody during the chorus is wonderful. Another breakdown? in one word, perfect, the drum work is spot on and the harmonizing at the end of every bar just makes it all the better. The final bridge between chorus and outro, the ascending vibrato dual vocals with almost an opera feel is one of the high points in the whole album A highly melodic song with an interesting structure and refreshing sections 四五四六 This song is pretty much a reflection of the whole album, some interesting parts but not enough sustenance. The opening riff and drumming are another unique part and the entirety of drumming is once again one of the best parts but other than that the song is so forgettable. You could pretty much skip this entire song except for 2:50 (funnily enough the same time 相対的思念 brought something good to the table) because there's an amazing answer and call between the bass and guitar that works it's way into funky little slap guitar piece My World: The first single that came out and this is a classic purely because of how well the instrumentation works, the small synth line backs up the slap guitar intro nicely and leads to the climax of the chorus which although may have some flat singing has great bass work. This is a really high quality chorus, it's good enough with the flute based synth but the way the backing vocals come in to offering such a big sound is so impressive. The song may be more on the simple side with it's liberal use of the chorus but it's just so good and addictive that it's not an issue. Finally, the key change in the post-chorus, unexpected but fits and transitions the song nicely. Final Thoughts: A mixed bag, it feels like they've dropped a lot of their style from 'Reincarnation' which can be put down to the band maturing and whilst I may be a bit biased because of how much I enjoyed that album, 不恰好な街と僕と君 is underwhelming, the album lacks the unique edge that 'Reincarnation' had and it feels like a step down, I put this down to how much of an impressive debut 'Reincarnation' and how much potential the band have. Fans will enjoy this and there are some great songs on this but it's noticeable that some parts that made DOF shine above other bands are missing.

So @emmnywrote the definitive Kagerou piece about their best era.... but the timeframe discussed there left out one of my fave Kagerou songs! (And I wanted to talk about what Kagerou meant to me a little bit...)

Shoutout to @doomsoul136for starting a thread about this band (with much more info than I'm able to provide in the video) just this weekend!

I highly encourage checking out this band/mini-album if you haven't. Let me know what you think! (Ignore my dirty windshield! Focus only on the mountain landscapes...)

This is the worst release Sadie has ever put out. It's inconsistent, repetitive, and unmemorable. The first problem is that every track overstays its welcome. More than half the album is over 4 minutes, most going almost up to 5. While you might think that's actually a good thing, it isn't. There are plenty of tracks that would be fine if they ended about halfway through, especially the heavier ones, but they keep going and going repeating the same elements. It really drags the album down. The inconsistency in this album is no secret. You've got tracks where M to the ao tries the rapping thing (2 only actually), a few that sound more like a poor rendition of a middle school jazz play soundtrack, one that tries to implement electronics and synth for that fun and poppy yet heavy sound, a heavy alternative song (that sounds somewhat like Yellow Card's "Lights and Sound"), an uplifting pop ballad, a "Spirited Away" instrumental piano track, and a majority of songs that feature Sadie's typical chug a chug who gives a shrug style. I'm not even disappointed that the album doesn't incorporate any "gangsta" elements. I just at least expect a uniform sound throughout the album. The album is all over the place and has absolutely no idea what its identity is. I found "Madrigal de Maria" to be a poor album, but it still had a uniform sound between all the songs and you can tell they're all from the same album. But not using the gangster elements is another thing. If you're going to call your album "Gangsta" and even have a few tracks where you try to implement things like rap, why are there only 2 tracks that you do this on? What is the point to all this? You take these 2 songs out and you're left with nothing that relates to the title. Either go full out or don't do it at all. Make a choice and stick with it. * * I found barely anything worth listening to on this natural born trash CD that is only good as orange rotted. -Shoot the targets, hidden in your mind - there's a lovely melancholy guitar break 2:40-2:50. The actual break is longer than that but when Mao comes in his vocals ruin it. -Gesshoku - It sounds like Mao says "I scream for you p***y". It's kinda (kinda) funny. -I find Tokyo Gypsy to be the only song I can listen to (the last guitar melody actually kind of sounds like something off the GazettE's Disorder. Tokyo Shinjuu, Tokyo Gypsy. Coincidence?...maybe?) All in all there's about 5:04 worth of stuff I would listen to on this album. Sadie needs to stop releasing material for a while and really think about what to do with their music. I think this album proves that they have no idea. Gangsta is a prolonged cluttered wreck that needs to be banned and cut off from all access to consumers. In fact, someone needs to take every copy and

For the second week in a row I reference the Gazette during a review of some new VK. This time while reviewing ゴシップ's new single. This is @inartistic's excellent post about Ains/Yukika I referenced in the vid:

This is my first review guys, so I hope I do a good job of it! >~< *DISCLAIMER* Everything stated in this review is solely my own opinion, if you'd like me to review more things I'd like to, but I'd appreciate feedback before I write more, enjoy! So, MIZTAVLA are a new band, they came on to the scene around mid-late 2016. MIZTAVLA consists of: Riuki (Vocals) Hiryu (Guitar) Kou (Guitar) Yuri (Bass) Fumiya (Drums) Their 1st mini album consists of 5 tracks: 01. 「Untitled」 02. 絶望宣言 (Zetsubou sengen) 03. Psycho Creature 04. 黒と赤 (Kuro to aka) 05. 喪失の雨 (Soushitsu no ame) So without further ado, let's begin this review! I'll try keep entries per song relatively short and digestible so it's not a tl;dr situation. 「Untitled」 This track is an SE, it's pretty good, I don't have much thought on it as it's an SE, but I seem to remember it fitting with the next track. 絶望宣言 (Zetsubou sengen) This song definitely has the opening track feel to it, it's relatively fast paced and full of energy. To me, it feels like a mixture of the songs [DIS] and The $ocial Riot Machine$ by 'The Gazette', the similarity was apparent to me upon the first listen. It's as if it takes the thrashy sections of [DIS] and has the same style chorus as The $ocial Riot Machine$, whether it's a coincidence or not I don't know, and I hope that there is no plagiarism here because I do like this song, however, the song itself doesn't feel like something fresh. Psycho Creature 'Psycho Creature' was a really good listen for me, I really enjoyed it. I'm not usually a fan of songs that implement electronic aspects, but I feel this song pulls it off well, it really adds to the energy. Add this to the insanely catchy chorus which gets stuck in my head for days upon listening to the song. To top off this song I must say that Riuki has some amazing vocal talent, showing his ability to scream and sing, I was impressed by the energy present in his vocals. This song was one of the best on the mini album in my opinion. 黒と赤 (Kuro to aka) Kuro to aka is that song that shows the listener that they aren't just capable of one genre, Kuro to aka is the jazzy song of the album, and shows off Yuri's bass skills and Fumiya's drum skills. I really enjoy the bass and drums in this song, they stand out to me as the bass is really energetic and I'm partial to jazzy drums. This song is also the first on the album that doesn't feature Riuki screaming, and I must say Riuki has a very impressive vocal range, judging from other songs on the album Riuki can go from really deep to really high. Kuro to aka, like the previous songs are bursting with energy, and you can't get tired of them because of this. It's not the best song on the album, but I still enjoyed it nevertheless. 喪失の雨 (Soushitsu no ame) "Wow" is all I can say about this song, I love this song and I believe it makes the mini album, literally what a finisher! It's a ballad track, and starts off really quiet, Hiryu and Kou play minimal guitar from the beginning of this track, but as it progresses they get louder and have that ballady feel, particularly in the solo, the solo is very impressive, and the song further boasts Riuki's vocal range. As far as ballads go, this is one of my favourite ballads I have ever listened to, I'm not too fond of ballads, but this just did it for me, it was stunning. Overall, I give 'Adramelech' This is VERY good as far as debut's go imo, I think MIZTAVLA have potential to go places, let's just hope they don't get hit by the disbandment train like many bands did in 2016.

Reviewing Fatima's best single; M:I-44. Mostly driving by corn fields.

Driving home from work and talking about the ambitious new mini-album from VK upstarts Insanity Injection. Let me know what you think! I don't think everyone will like this mini, but I do think everyone should give it a listen.

Cruisin' around and talking about Emmuree's new single, Red. I said the wrong track was called 'red', but the text on screen is correct haha. Let me know what ya'll think now that you've had a chance to listen! Shoutout to @r... for spreading the Emmuree love.

Rev Reviews - AvelCain's 輪廻転生 I feel like I stumbled upon some good scenery near the end of this video. And to advertise the fact that I'm inundating the forums with Avelcain shit today... check out my live report from their show on June 8th!

Reviewing Holyclock's newest release, Shinshou Aquarium.

1. UNDYING - This song didn't really give me a deep impression until reading the lyrics which Ruki wrote. At first listen, it sounded like the GazettE were trying hard to be heavy and dark but in a good way. Then I had the impression they were trying to put lots of dark and anger elements in one song - the screams, melodic choruses, piano breakdown which gave the song an eerie sadness feeling. At first line of the lyrics, I realized that this song is a sequel to OMINOUS from their album DOGMA. What Ruki wrote was really heavy, deep, angry, and dark. The line which gave me the most impact was "許されぬ願いに夢を見た", which I can only roughly translate as "Saw my impermissible wish in a dream", because I often dreamt of dreams that I wasn't able to accomplish myself. 2. MALUM - The meaning of this song matches quite well with the music. It's full of anger and hate because the first person character in the lyrics wanted revenge to someone who killed a girl (probably lover) close to him (or maybe her). However, despite of all the hate, Ruki wrote well in the last lines, saying that killing someone back was just emptiness no matter where you went and the reason to live also became was to revenge. This actually reminds me of the morality topic which was raised by several authors in Japan these years, which was about if imprisonment and death penalty was really enough for paying back the death of victims of murderers. (off-topic: Japanese author 東野圭吾 (Higashino Keigo)'s book "虚ろな十字架(Uturonajuuzika)" nailed the topic's contradiction well in his book.) 3. VACANT - This song, as with the lyrics, is less heavy than the other songs in the single. I interpreted that the lyrics of the song was about the emptiness left from a broken relationship. The melody and Ruki's voice flows well throughout the whole song, and the guitar solo gave a sad atmosphere....but that's it. I guess it's a safe song to put into the single as B side. Overall: It's actually been some time since I really tried to delve into Ruki's lyrics and I'm glad I did. It just added lots of meaning and fun while listening to the music. But then, I'm personally getting a bit tired of their dark music campaign which has gone to a bit elitist feel and I really miss the old, fun Gazetto times. Music and lyrics-wise, the is a decent single.

DADAROMA 「スタンチク」(Stanczyk) 01 オープニング (Opening) 02 「リズリーサーカス」 (Risley Circus) 03 「最終電車」 (saishuu densha) 04 トレンドアイデンティティ (Trend Identity) 05 融け込めないざらざらな芸術を君が殺してくれないか (tokekomenai zarazara na geijutsu wo kimi ga koroshitekurenai ka) 06 「雨のワルツ」 (ame no waltz) 07 ヘﾞルカとストレルカ (Velka & Strelka) (Re recording Ver.) 08 モルヒネ♯1 (Morphine 1) 09 モルヒネ♯2 (Morphine 2) 10 SEX!! 11 「溺れる魚」 (oboreru sakana) 12 MONEY 13 月のうた (tsuki no uta) 14 imitation hero. 15 「ルシッド•ドリーム」 (Lucid Dream) <16 KURT (piano Ver.)> Before we begin I’d like to note that I picked up both versions of this album at the band’s tour final last week, so it’s already had plenty of spins for me to base my opinion on. Now that the rest of you guys can hear it, I figured it's a good time to post my thoughts. So here we are at last – a full album release from one of the fastest growing bands in recent memory, DADAROMA. Led by frontman Yoshiatsu, who also has the talent of knowing exactly how to market his band to maximise interest, these guys appeared on the scene last January with nothing but a music video for their first song, ‘oboreru sakana’. The heavy but dramatic introduction to this mysterious new band drew the interest of many both within and without the visual kei community. However, unluckily for even national fans, their first mini album was and remained limited to sales at lives: a strategy that undoubtedly helped the young group take off by tempting fans to head on over to their lives and pick up a copy, but equally alienated those who couldn’t attend, especially foreign fans with no way to acquire this rare debut release. But of course, this is the age of the internet, and it wasn’t too long before ‘dadaism 1’ was available to all to hear free of charge, if not exactly legally. And this is my main cause of disappointment, not in ‘Stanczyk’ and DADAROMA’s decision to include that entire first release, which is itself commendable to please their ever-growing fanbase, but in the community which lessened the value of it, and by extension of this so-called ‘best album’ that is unfortunately fairly packed with tracks we’ve heard before. The album opens with a short introduction that sets up lead track ‘Risley Circus’, named for 19th century performer Richard Risley Carlisle, who pioneered the act of juggling with feet rather than hands. Indeed, Yoshiatsu packs many intriguing cultural references into DADAROMA’s songs, with the album itself a nod to the possibly mythical Polish jester Stanczyk and a generally pierrot-inspired theme running through both the band’s visual stylings and the lyrics of several songs. Risley displays some experimentation with electronic sounds and vocal distortion which may divide fans, but it’s undeniable that the catchy chorus will stay with you even after the track ends. Next comes single track ‘saishuu densha’ (Last Train), which is notorious for its highly erotic promotional video being removed from YouTube not once but twice, despite the band’s efforts to pixelate offensive material. DADAROMA have dabbled in jazz a fair amount, but this is in my opinion one of their best attempts (see also: the sensual ‘urei libido’ from the ‘ame no waltz’ single). Once again a catchy chorus and a steady pace held by the percussion parts make for a memorable track. ‘Trend Identity’ is the shortest track the band have produced to date. It recalls ‘kusatta mikan no houteishiki’ with the heavy riff matched with synth stylings, and was clearly made for live performance, but it sets itself apart a little with Yoshiatsu’s first attempt at something approaching a rap. Not particularly memorable itself, but it was fun at the tour final last week. Next we have a ridiculously long title that I can’t be bothered to type out again, but which is important to the album as a whole because it relates to the theme of art (Yoshiatsu’s final screams ‘kore wa geijutsu/this is art’ adorn the album’s obi strip). The bell-like motif immediately creates an interesting atmosphere as Yoshiatsu whispers his way through the verses, and from there the song builds into a powerful chorus. While initially the verse portions didn’t do a great deal for me, I do really enjoy said chorus and this track has grown on me a lot with repeat listens. Single number two, the red herring ‘ame no waltz’ that, quite unlike a waltz, breaks out of the soft music box and raindrop opening into a brutal chugging guitar riff, fits pretty well here after the raw scream that ended the last track. Somehow this song made its way onto a Japanese TV drama as the ending theme, which is somewhat of a mystery to me but I appreciate it nevertheless as the sole DADAROMA song that actually appears at karaoke. I have an ambivalent relationship with this track – it’s a good song, but sometimes I just want to skip it and get on to something else. YMMV but at any rate it's another song we've heard before. At this point we enter the cluster of tracks that is just ‘dadaism 1’ in a different order. While I appreciate that now fans who couldn’t get hold of that first live limited release (ie most fans) can now hear all those songs they’ve been playing for 18 months, it’s a little disappointing that they didn’t try and blend them more into the tracklist rather than just dumping them all together. For this reason long-time fans such as myself may be tempted to skip through this portion of the album, at least to the songs they like the most. This unfortunate situation is compounded by the fact that in this day and age it’s impossible to keep that limited CD from appearing on the internet sooner or later, diminishing the novelty of finally hearing these songs for the first time for many. DADAROMA have made some attempt to change things up a bit though. The most obvious of these is the re-recording of ‘Velka & Strelka’, one of my personal favourite songs the band has released so far. However, for me the original is still the superior as it takes more vocal talent to reach and hold those notes at the end than the re-recording, which is easier on Yoshiatsu’s highs (and fair enough; if you’ve seen him live, he can struggle with them on a rough night). This retake of the vocal track is just slightly lazier, and ultimately it seems as though little other than the clean vocals has actually been re-recorded. There are subtle changes in the other ‘dadaism 1’ tracks though. All of them have seen some editing at the mixing desk that brings the production more in line with the new tracks – the guitar is slightly less crisp at times and more distorted in the style of ‘Risley Circus’, but on the other hand the bass is more prominent, including a couple of additional samples Tomo seems to have recorded for this album, especially the final note of ‘Morphine 1’ that was particularly conspicuous. As to which version of each track is better, YMMV; ‘oboreru sakana’ and ‘SEX!!’ benefit somewhat from the changes in mixing, but I personally like the cleaner guitar in ‘MONEY’ much better on ‘dadaism 1’. We return to new material with one of my favourite tracks on ‘Stanczyk’, ‘tsuki no uta’. It’s an emotional ballad that retains its energy through the steady drum beats and powerful chords that support Yoshiatsu’s gorgeous vocals in the chorus. Despite lyrically presenting itself as a ballad, it’s a surprisingly short track that lends itself well to repeat listens. As an aside, I think this was the only new song the band didn’t play at their tour final; I look forward to the opportunity to hear it live some time in the future. ‘imitation hero.’ didn’t quite capture my attention in the same way as ‘tsuki no uta’, but it’s also an accomplished ballad in its own right. For me this is a rare case of the composition in the verse being far stronger and more enjoyable than the chorus. The always present piano is a welcome change to the common electronic elements in the rest of the album, and Yusuke’s confident drumming is one of the song’s strongest parts. DADAROMA’s first full album draws to a close with the dramatic masterpiece that is ‘Lucid Dream’. Easily one of my favourite tracks from the young group, the balance of head banging downtuned guitar chugs and a powerful chorus makes this a stellar composition in my eyes. It also wonderfully displays Yoshiatsu’s vocal prowess in both cleans and screams, comprising a wide range in the former and a variety of styles of the latter. Despite the surprising lack of pretty much any kind of audience participation at the band’s recent one man, it was a truly amazing ending to the main set when the band left the stage in awed silence as the last of the fake snow drifted to the ground. Of course, this review wouldn’t be complete without mentioning the bonus track on the regular edition of the album. The piano verison of ‘KURT’ amplifies the emotion in Yoshiatsu’s clear voice, while retaining the best of the instrumental support in a beautiful piano arrangement. I would actually love to hear a purely instrumental piano solo of this track at some point. It’s a fitting, end-credits-style addition to round off DADAROMA’s ‘best’ album. Ultimately I’m divided when it comes to giving this release some kind of score. On the one hand, there’s a lot of old material in here, but none of it is just there to pad out the run time, and in any case it’s all great material. As someone who has been a fan of DADAROMA since the very beginning, and also bought all of their releases and listened to them countless times over, it’s easy to act like we deserved more new material with ‘Stanczyk’. It wouldn’t even be unreasonable to be disappointed that live limited songs like ‘neji’ didn’t make the cut (although to be fair there’s still copies of that sitting on the goods stand at their concerts). However, if I were to imagine this album as my introduction to DADAROMA, this is easily a contender for album of the year.

If I do this again I feel like I'll need a cool name for the series.... suggestions are welcome! This video ends slightly abruptly because my phone ran out of space about 30 seconds before I was done! You're not missing any essential insight haha. (And at least one more time... shoutout to jrocknyc shoutbox-er Ken who did some ride along reviews/reflections on VK that I'm shamelessly copying)

After weeks of listening to lynch.'s new album I've come to the conclusion that "D.A.R.K. -In the name of evil-" ranks among the best of lynch.'s repertoire. Seriously, I haven't had this much fun listening to a lynch. album since "I BELIEVE IN ME". Let's get right into it. INTRODUCTION is nothing special but does a good enough job as a transitional piece. It's just a group of strings playing louder and louder until it climaxes into the next song. D.A.R.K. starts out just as you might think: Heavy and, well, dark. But, the song becomes softer going into the chorus. Hazuki's melody is melancholic and the addition of piano adds a soft beauty. The song is a steady back and forth between the heavy and soft sections but it all gels quite nicely. There's no time to take it easy though as ANTARES ramps up the energy. Immediately, I hear remnants of "Inferiority Complex" in the guitars and the steady "boom-chuck" cadence of the drums. Personally, I'm not a fan of that style but all can be forgiven if the chorus is awesome. Unfortunately, the chorus is weak and uninspired and just doesn't seem to fit the tone of the album set so far. It sounds too bright. However, a little over halfway the song a break down comes out of nowhere and shakes up the place. It's just too bad it doesn't last longer. In fact, because it's so abrupt it breaks the flow of the song and I question if it might have been better had they left it out. In the end, it just feels like lynch. took a weak "Inferiority Complex" era song and re-purposed it for "-In the name of evil-". If the last track didn't get you pumped though, EVOKE hits hard and keeps the momentum going. Hazuki lets out a visceral yell as the drums are relentlessly blasting and guitars are riffing. The chorus melody is really catchy and ranks among one of my favorites and, there's another amazing breakdown in this song. Next up is the medium-tempo jazzy rock track GHOST. While it's nothing jaw dropping, it's refreshing to hear the band do something different for a change. I don't like that it's right after EVOKE though as the change in pace drags the album down. For circus music lovers and radio listeners, lynch. starts out ILLUMINATI with a "crossing-a-tightrope-type" song played on timpani and organs under a radio filter. But, don't worry. If you're not a fan of either, the song launches back into their heavy and dark style. This is another song with a fantastic chorus and the use of Hazuki's backup screams add some brutality. The band is holding back no punches and hits us with another break down but this time with more discord and ferocity. We finally get to our first ballad, ETERNITY. There's not too much to say except that it's all beautiful: The pulsing bass, rolling toms, articulate piano, swirling guitars, and the heartfelt vocals. Quadruple kick drum is the name of the game with FALLEN. It's a straight forward song with great melodies but the quadruple kick cadence in the drums helps add some extra emphasis to really drive those melodies through the song. It's a nice more energetic extension of ETERNITY. BEAST brings the tempo back up with some awesome riffs and screaming. The chorus is simple but well built and memorable. It's actually similar to ANTARES as Hazuki even uses the same "whooah-ooh-oh"s for the backup vocals in the chorus. lynch. might have been better off renaming the album "D.A.R.K. -In the name of break downs-" because another great one is featured here. Initially I had problems with the length and felt that thet song could've have used more sections, but I've grown to enjoy the length and even its repetitive nature. At least it's not as short as INVADER. Clocking in at 1:27 we have the shortest song here on the album (I think maybe even the shortest lynch. song ever). As a result, all I have to say is it's a fast, heavy song with some great slap bass action and a decent chorus. COSMOS was one of my most anticipated songs on the album. Part of that anticipation can be attributed to the amazing guitar riff heard in the preview. However, it ended up falling short of expectations. I just wanted the song to revolve around the awesome riff, but it takes another 2 minutes from the beginning of the chorus to get there again (aka the end of the song). I think the problem is that they approached this song like GALLOWS where the first half is heavy, the second half is chorus, and the ending is back to heavy. The track could've have benefited from being shorter or being written to sprinkle the riff in more throughout the song. MELANCHOLIC is another wonderful ballad that manages to stay a different flavor than the previous two before it (FALLEN is a ballad right?....Power ballad maybe?...). Again, not much to say except that it's beautiful. We finally come to the last track MOON. First off, I just want to say I love that it extends from the last song by using similar guitar effects/sounds. Basically, I'm just trying to say it really sounds like the perfect song after MELANCHOLIC. It's a really upbeat track and ends the album nicely. Essentially, it's like all the other lynch. album closers (seriously, all lynch. albums end on a more upbeat note). But, it did make me think. Nearly 80% of the album was upbeat like MOON. D.A.R.K., ILLUMINATI, and maybe COSMOS were really the only tracks that delivered that dark and evil theme. All the other songs were either just heavy but not dark/nefarious, or ballads. I enjoyed the album a lot, but I'm thinking maybe the album was misnamed. Still, I regard "D.A.R.K. -In the name of evil-" as one of lynch.'s best works. Most of the songs are fantastic, the pacing of the album is spot on for the most part, and the variety of song types keeps every listen enjoyable. I swear the album only gets better with each listen.

Hello! I can't write such well in English, so I decided to just make a list. There are VK bands and non VK. Since I saw greats best of 2015 I decided to make my What I meant with "Bands that grew the most" are bands that I had been following before, but in 2015 made incredible materials, each release was perfect! Unsurprisingly my favorite album was BLACK, but feel free to post your opinion! Album / Mini Album BLACK - SuG Result - ANGELO Factor - ANGELO PLANETARY SECRET - Baroque VENA - Coldrain EPHEMERAL - AKi REVOLUTION - IGGY LAYOUT - Vistlip TONICK DIZAIN - Far East Dizain Royale - GOTCHAROCKA Rebellion - DIAWOLF dadaism♯1 - DADAROMA Corpse Reviver - MORRIGAN Sirus - DaizyStripper Providence of BIONIC - The Lotus MIMIC - My BACTERIA HEAT IsLAND Honne to Tatemae - Yeti Single / Maxi Single SICK'S - SuG Providence - Nocturnal Bloodlust Paradigm Paradox - MEJIBRAY Sennen Dive!! - An Cafe Ikenai KISS - DIV Burn Your Soul - WING WORKS Waruagaki - Codomo Dragon Calling - Loka DTM - Back-on Split EP - The Legendary Six Nine WEAKNESS_MY BLOOD - Shounenki Heads up! - ZON Koi ga Dekinai - D=OUT Subcul - RAVE Gozensanji no kanjousen - Belle LIQUID - Xenon V.A. Family Party - Kiryu, Royz, Codomo Dragon Best new bands GUTS AND DEATH FAR EAST DIZAIN AKi DIAWOLF ZON IGGY Bands that grew the most Angelo Vistlip Shounenki Baroque

3.9 out of 5 This is my first purchase from Royz and I wasn't too disapointed but not too amazed. 1. Supernova Despite listening to the first track multiple times, I will admit it's good but my first instinct was tha they may be trying something new or back to their roots but it sounds too predictable/generic almost. I thought the song would be at a faster pace for some reason with viewing commercials and a preview PV before the release date. Overall it's good. Somewhat energized 2. ALIVE Starts off with a slow startup then drumming kicks in followed by good guitar riffs I'll say. I mainly liked the lyrics from the song, pretty good tempo I'll add. There's not much to say about this song minus the vocal version beats the instrumental version from my pov. 3. twilight memory I was expecting this track to be a slow melody song with some sadness incorporated into it due to the title. Threw me off a bit nonetheless, a lot of guitar riffs within the right ear, the bass was on a pretty good level. Not to where you couldn't hear it or it was too overpowered. Despite not knowing the lyrics, I suspect this song is more of a mid tone not being focused on sadness or happiness. To add the instrumental or??? Overall, the single gets a decent, 3.9 out of 5. I really like the instrumental tracks ^^

12012 - XII 12012 have been rolling with a new style since one of their guitarists left them before the release of their self-titled. Overall, it's been a hit-and-miss with every new record since then, but the thing that remained constant in this transformation is that their music, regardless of whether or not it was bad or good, featured some very memorable content. I'm not too familiar with 12012's earlier years or even their mar maroon & Seven eras, but I will say that, within the context of these newer albums, I believe XI to be their best release yet. I will start out by saying that this album does not feature 12012's current heavy style (minus red). The album starts with vicious of absolution, which begins with an intro reminiscent of their last album The Swan. It quickly picks up into a slick guitar line and Wataru later joins in with a smooth and flowing melody. This pattern continues throughout the song until its short yet efficient ending. If I were to describe the track in two words it would be simple and eloquent. story of a different dimension kicks things up a notch with heavier fast paced drums and features some tight and distorted guitar playing. Even with this upbeat change, the song features a melancholy string solo and, almost, Gothic choir sequence. The best thing about the track though is definitely the guitars: They're charismatic and also played in a variety of styles keeping things interesting. The album finally gets more into the band's recent hardcore sound with the red. It's what you'd expect from a recent 12012 heavy song except that it's much cleaner in execution and Wataru's screams are done much better without delving into ridiculous loud shouting and vomit noise territory. There's even a short acoustic Spanish guitar break that's oh so sweet. It does begin to feel too long near the end with the song being just 3 seconds shy of 6 minutes. A lot of this, I feel, is contributed from a weak second melodic chorus. It gets especially sigh inducing the second time around when it transitions/becomes the climax of the song but just kinda stays the same. Still, this can be forgiven because of the catchy main guitar riff. alone is a sweet upbeat ballad that's somewhat of a throwback to their mar maroon/Seven era (at least in terms of the more poppy nature of the song). I find the bridge and chorus to be one of the more catchy melodic lines they've thrown at us in a while and just can't get enough of it. One thing I never really noticed in other songs but did in this one is the deep and rich tone of Wataru's voice. I usually don't notice this because he sings so high but alone really makes his voice shine. We now come to the final and longest song on the album, aqua. The first thing I'll say is that it's way too long. This song did not need to be over 9 minutes. Basically, it's the main chorus repeated again and again. The chorus is sung softly at first until the climax when everything is played at full force and then slowly fades out. I don't like the way the song fades out on this part because nothing is really happening in the music; it makes for a weak and unmemorable ending. Couple of suggestions: -If the song went into the climax after the piano break, I think it would've been much more tolerable. -Take out the bass solo (too flat and adds too much time) -Place the guitar solo at the end of the song to create a much more interesting fade out and keep the listener engaged. I think its fine as the closer to the album, but these few qualities really take away from the impact the track could have had. The songs individually are fairly strong, but I don't feel like that's where the strength of the album lies. Rather, I remember XII as a whole. I find it to be a fairly solid album from the start to finish having a smooth flow between songs, a uniform sound despite all songs being written by different members, and overall strong compositions. This is something their last few mini-albums lacked. Yes, the album doesn't have that recent hardcore and intense 12012 sound, but I'll trade a softer more refined album for a messy execution of a style that doesn't really match with them. I feel like this is a stable balance between their heavy and poppy sides. The album is brighter than Decida of Silence and The Swan but still retains a serious dark tone. I'm glad they're going on hiatus so they can take a break and perhaps think about what direction to go next, but I definitely don't want them to disband. I hope that they'll return with a fresh new release that continues to build on this style. [Kudos if you can guess where the skeleton image is from]

Screw manages to roll out another mediocre album. Where there's potential, they take that and go their usual route, which makes for a less than thrilling ride. It's only been about a month and CDJapan is already selling it for 10% off. That should tell you what to anticipate. Nearly every song tries to be heavy or hardcore and they all begin to sound the same. They try to incorporate different elements like jazz and electronic/dub-step, but they aren't very well executed and distract more than add to the experience. Burst Forth, for example, is fast and intense mostly throughout but will have these short jazzy moments. But, they're too short and infrequent that it just seems out of place. Calvacade is another example where the electronic breakdowns don't have much to do with the rest of the song and in fact drag it down. These sections don't work because they're too distinct and sudden. I can understand changing the mood of a song but Screw's execution is choppy and awkward. A quick note on Eternal Flame, I'm all for the use of auto tune but Byo uses it throughout the entire song and it gets old fast. Calvacade also featured some auto tune but it was only used in some parts and much better executed. Also, evil passions sounds like the GazettE's my devil on the bed. The voice department especially falls flat as Byou just can not deliver the right vocals to back up the songs. His vocals don't have any power behind them and he sings some of the most unforgettable melodies. Also, his use of filters to add an harsh edge is as unsuccessful as ever. Not to say he can't sing entirely because sometimes he does sing well. I've been ripping apart this album head to toe but there are some nice moments. - mellow is a refreshing upbeat ballad that's a throwback to older Screw and reminds me of tracks like Celestial Bliss and Dearest Wish. Byo does a fine job here too. - The use of piano in Burst Forth, while very short, is beautiful. They should have pushed the piano instead of the jazzy parts. - オブセッション is a pretty neat track that mixes traditional Japanese sounds with a heavy vk style. - Helter Skelter has a decent chorus and breakdown. - 絶望の讃美歌's back up vocals in the chorus slightly remind me of BABY STAR. Overall, It's a weak album. There's not much variety and when the variety happens it's usually sloppy and unfitting. With tracks like mellow, though, a little bit of hope is restored and I'm now in a place where I look forward to their next release.....But not that much. Final Opinion 3/10 *edit 5/10 (some of the album really stuck with me even after about a week. I admit the album has more staying power than I initially gave it credit for. I still say.....)

| Well at least you tried a little more. So after writing a rather positive review on Alice Nine's new single, a terribly unfunny review of a rather depressing release couldn't be left unpublished. I am very sceptical about the new 12012. I wasn't a big fan of their music before they lost their main composer, but when he was still around there were plenty of individual enjoyable songs that got a definite spot in my music library. When I heard the previews for this mini-album I slowly started to gain hope. The PV totally ruined that image, but that left aside, I had somewhat promising expectations when trying this mini after the shitfest that was their self-titled and CUNNING KILLER. Obviously, I was wrong. 身千切りの莟、奇しくも恍惚の桜 is a progressive track that sounds pretty nice up until the 2:40 mark, the rather annoying chugging left aside at some parts. However, when 2:40 kicks in, I just cringe. The heavier section did not match the feeling of the song, was completely unnecessary and Wataru still doesn't know how to properly use harsh vocals. Luckily this section is rather short, so I am able to forgive them for that. If you look past the few irritations this track has, it's fairly enjoyable. They actually seemed to have tried on this one. DEICIDA OF SILENCE was not much different from the average track on their self-titled, apart from the fact that they at least tried a little harder than on most of the formerly mentioned tracks. What I noticed in this mini-album is that the heavier sections always start at around the same point in the song, regardless of length. That falls more into the category of shitting out the same song five times in a row...not cool. Whatever happens at 2:00 I don't even know. Whether he's having a seizure or trying to summon the dramatic overlord Xenu I'm not sure of, but I do know for sure that even though it matches the song it just doesn't sound very healthy. That single section destroys anything slightly decent that the song had. CHABOO-CHABOO was one of my least favourite previews. I don't have much to say about it, it's a typical metalcore song with bad harsh vocals, countless chugging and the overly annoying CLICKCLICKCLICK. 夢喰い was my favourite when it came to the previews. It starts and ends very well. The focus is more on the melodic parts than on trying to sound overly heavy and brutal...until once again they think it's necessary to incorporate a heavy section into a song that doesn't NEED a section like that in order to sound good or give it a darker feeling. I get the feeling that 12012 is convinced that they can't make "heavy" songs without having to put in countless amounts of chugging, blastbeats and awful grunting. And with heavy I mean dark songs, strong guitars...like drone, basically. Correct me if I'm wrong, please, I'm not an expert. Anyway, this would've been a great track and probably the best one on the mini if only they would've let that heavy section out. But like with the first track it's fairly short, so I'm willing to forgive them and look past it...again. DOOR TO THE SKY has the same problem as 夢喰い has, misplaced metalcore elements. Overall it's decent with good parts here and there. The thing with these tracks is that you can hear on what parts they actually tried and on what parts they were like "how do we continue this? I don't know, let's just chug and abuse the bass pedals for around 30 seconds and then we'll be able to close it off without having to do anything remotely interesting." 12012 still hasn't found their way in their new direction and I don't think they will for the upcoming time. I just hope they realize they can also do the style they want to go for without overabusing the same elements time after time. It's not as bad as CUNNING KILLER or their self-titled, but in all honesty, that's not very hard. I hope at least some people will be able to enjoy this release though. -------- SILLINESS BEYOND THIS POINT, BEWARE! SO. I said this was going to be unfunny. As I'm still slightly torn on the fact I didn't get a flawless victory for my DIVISION review, I'm going to give a brief review of this mini-album in gifs. I am bored once again and my explanation on why I thought this mini wasn't very good has already been written down. 身千切りの莟、奇しくも恍惚の桜 DEICIDA OF SILENCE CHABOO-CHABOO 夢喰い DOOR TO THE SKY

This is my first time ever writing a review, so I may not be the best at this, but here it goes... I received my copy of 蒼-AO-'s 3rd maxi-single, "Afterglow" today. I've been a fan of theirs since they first started, and they have improved greatly in sound production quality and overall music. This single shows that very well in my opinion. The first song, "Afterglow" starts off with a symphonic, almost operatic melody that quickly turns into symphonic power metal with heavy guitar riffs. The song continues with this melody, throwing in long, nice guitar solos here and there (obviously from ShuN, their guitarist who composes all the music). NEON sings clearly and powerfully with the music; I feel he has adapted his singing style to the symphonic power metal 蒼-AO- wants to play. (in their first single, it seemed like he wasn't sure how to sing along with the music.) The second song, "Insane Rose" is similar in how it starts out but is a heavier song than the previous one with faster guitar riffs. Again, NEON's voice compliments the music, singing about the struggles one experiences from a breakup. Overall, I think this single is the best they've released yet. It seems they've figured out where they want to go musically, sticking to symphonic metal and their theme of love and loss. I'm looking forward to what 蒼-AO- has in store for the future.