Truly crappy Western "visual kei" inspired music

[Takadanobabaalien 3607]

Wow, that was horrible. I had no idea there were so many western vk bands lol

[TheBistroButcher666 228]

Rule number one: Do not sing in Japanese.

 

Rule number two: Do not try and be ~Visual Kei~

 

I think the biggest thing that leads to failure with all these bands is trying to be ~Visual Kei~ instead of just being a band.

 

There's nothing wrong with taking inspiration from VK bands but trying to be one just doesn't work. Also jesus learn how to dress too! Know you're body type and know what will work with that body type. If you're a chubby dark skinned man then the VK style isn't going to work for you, it's for skinny little Asian boys. You're better off putting together an outfit that compliments your body type, you can take inspiration from VK bands. There's plenty of cool ideas that you can put together but wearing little booty shorts with your thunder thighs is going to make people puke. 

 

Also make ROMANTICA Japanese and kote kei VKKK stans would love them.

[freundin 58]

I think Seremedy is far away from the fail we have witnessed here. They were alright. Compared to this.

 

I found another "Romantica" gem and it makes me wonder why the hell these people make music at all.

There you go:

 

BEST GLAM 卐 VISUAL BAND EVER, LOL THAT VIDEO GAVE ME CANCER

[freundin 58]

Gew5jdrTN_8

 

This is worse than romantica

[Jigsaw9 6783]

Also make ROMANTICA Japanese and kote kei VKKK stans would love them.

 

LOL this. Actually it didn't sound too horrid for me, at least compared to some VK (might become a 'guilty pleasure' type of thing to listen to). 8D

[Replicant 133]

Rule number one: Do not sing in Japanese.

 

Rule number two: Do not try and be ~Visual Kei~

 

I think the biggest thing that leads to failure with all these bands is trying to be ~Visual Kei~ instead of just being a band.

 

There's nothing wrong with taking inspiration from VK bands but trying to be one just doesn't work. Also jesus learn how to dress too! Know you're body type and know what will work with that body type. If you're a chubby dark skinned man then the VK style isn't going to work for you, it's for skinny little Asian boys. You're better off putting together an outfit that compliments your body type, you can take inspiration from VK bands. There's plenty of cool ideas that you can put together but wearing little booty shorts with your thunder thighs is going to make people puke. 

 

Also make ROMANTICA Japanese and kote kei VKKK stans would love them.

This. Use styles that compliment your body. Not just for people trying to be a VK band, either, but as a basic rule of thumb when making an outfit for yourself. I like certain fashions but there's no way in hell I'd wear them due to my current body type.

Side note: There are some bands that are influenced by it and do it well. (I guess an example I would give is PSYGAI. They've mentioned influences from it, that link in specific. Yet people seem to spout that they're shitty because of that (they're not bad)... if only they knew some of the bands in this thread.)

 

@freundin's link - One of them is pretty much a cosplay of Toshiya [link] from Dir en grey from way back when... HOW THE FUCK DO I KNOW THIS OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD.

 

Also, vocalist sounds like he screamed until his throat became raw... only to start singing like that.

 

To keep on topic:

This is all I could find. I dunno if it fits, but most of the stuff here is worse...? I dunno, you be the judge.

Side note: The one I WANTED to post I can't find since the files no longer exist anywhere on the internet nor does any information on the guy other than his last.fm page. Granted I found this stuff nearly a decade ago, so it's not a shock that everything is dead and that my memory is possibly really awful in regards to how it sounds. All I remember is 'this is fucking weird, why do I have this?' sort of feel about it.

[Umi_Niwa 31]

Imo the whole genre is hit or miss. There are a lot of horrible VK bands inside Japan, so what can you expect of everybody else? 

[TheBistroButcher666 228]

This. Use styles that compliment your body. Not just for people trying to be a VK band, either, but as a basic rule of thumb when making an outfit for yourself. I like certain fashions but there's no way in hell I'd wear them due to my current body type.

Side note: There are some bands that are influenced by it and do it well. (I guess an example I would give is PSYGAI. They've mentioned influences from it, that link in specific. Yet people seem to spout that they're shitty because of that (they're not bad)... if only they knew some of the bands in this thread.)

I think another contributing factor is you either need to go all out if you're going to do an alternative VK/goth style. If you half ass it, you'll always look like bad. Though this coming from someone that doesn't dress up or do fashion but that's one of the reasons I don't dress up and be fashionable haha. I just don't have the energy or interests to really go all out with a fun and funky fashion and will half ass it and will then of course look really bad LOL. 

 

Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan, I been trying to find this Moi dix mois cover band with a bunch of nerdy kids playing with cardboard instruments. However I think it's just a fan PV but it's still pretty bad. Don't think that counts then but it's pretty funny. They're probably just having fun but I would have made the video unlisted.

 

I guess I can contribute AKADO

 

http://youtu.be/Q3jRO2DO_3o

 

I don't think they're terrible though. I guess an example of taking VK influences but not trying to be ~✮Visual☆Kei✮~ and turning into a horrible awkward mess. Instead they just do that industrial goth thing and so it's not all that bad really. If I liked that kinda stuff, I could get behind this but industrial goth stuff just ain't my thang dawg.

 

 

LOL this. Actually it didn't sound too horrid for me, at least compared to some VK (might become a 'guilty pleasure' type of thing to listen to). 8D

 

I know right!?!

 

Just give them slightly better production and they could easily be right up there with Matina bands. They're the special kinda Matina bad but with awful productions and the unfortunate stigma of being an icky gross foreign band.

[Replicant 133]

I think another contributing factor is you either need to go all out if you're going to do an alternative VK/goth style. If you half ass it, you'll always look like bad. Though this coming from someone that doesn't dress up or do fashion but that's one of the reasons I don't dress up and be fashionable haha. I just don't have the energy or interests to really go all out with a fun and funky fashion and will half ass it and will then of course look really bad LOL.

That's how I am. If I could, I would, but I'm lazy... and to even SEE anything like that in this place would cause a huge uproar, no joke. I rarely dress up or anything, usually only putting on any sort of makeup for special occassions/whenever I feel like it (which isn't often). The exception is jewelry, cause I make different sorts as a hobby/modify existing pieces to make it my own.

 

And AKADO is a great example of visual kei influences, but not to a point where it looks just awkward. It mixes other styles with it to get a fusion that works really well. And I like industrial goth stuff, so I like the music pretty well. (I wonder if they'll ever release more? Looks like they're kinda on a hiatus... or dropped off the radar.)

[Ikna 1225]

Lol, Akado always reminded me of lure+selene, probably because of their "industrial" clothes and the blue haired guy...
They aren't so bad, but their pseudo-goffick-"industrial" metal isn't my thing either. I used to listen to this kind of music a lot when I was a mallgoth and thought Deathstars and Nightwish were hardxcore. Are Akado still active and are they still "visual"?

 

 

Just give them slightly better production and they could easily be right up there with Matina bands. They're the special kinda Matina bad but with awful productions and the unfortunate stigma of being an icky gross foreign band.

Exactly this. I don't understand the fuss about shitty foreign bands when there have been a lot, even more shitty and crappy japanese visual kei bands.
I think however, that a band can be and is allowed to identify as "visual kei". I don't think that wanting to dress the part and to play this particualr style automatically turns you into a bad band. I'd rather blame the idols. Instead of taking influence from the good bands of the scene, like Luna Sea or any other band who did know how to play, compose and produce good music, they are choosing the crappy indie groups as their main influence.

I mean: if you decide to sound and look like a horrible shortlived amatuerish Matina band then it is no wonder you will end up as a joke. The same happens also if the source of your inspiration is terrible indie electro-pop-rock-metalcore neo visual kei.
Which doesn't mean that you can't dress up like Hisui and play a little tribute to these bands- but you shouldn't rely on that single influence.

I'd really like to dress oldschool visual kei-like. If I just had more money and sewing skills... but I think I am heading towards this, since I already wear (trad)goth and new wave clothes. Good old visual kei isn't so far away from that. Maybe I will look cheesy, but so did the japanese bands. I don't really give a flying fuck about people saying I can't dress like that just because I am not asian.

[Replicant 133]

@Ikna (since quotes are being weird for me...) : I got curious (read: bored) and looked - they kinda disappeared around 2011-2012 (lots of line-up changes up until their last release). Also from what I read, it was only the vocalist that did the visual thing at first. The other band members got into it when they saw how much attention he was getting in comparison to the other members. I thought that was kinda funny.

[Velovelo 18]

I read all the posts, but for some reason my odd brain is always getting back to that last Romantica Clip. (But huge thanks for your contributions!)

If you listen to it just a bit more closely, you'll easily notice how all the instruments are out of sync. It's not just that the vocalist is really awful, but the other people are also totally incapable of playing their instruments. In most Kote-Kei bands, you actually have people playing the instruments rather okay to well, but this is like a mish-mash of everything bad there is about the genre. Composition, arrangement and delivery: Ugh, I'll give an A for effort, but an F for everything else.

 

Sorry, my head is also a mish-mash currently. I'll try to respond to the other posts when I'm feeling a bit less delusional.

[jduv86 224]

I think another contributing factor is you either need to go all out if you're going to do an alternative VK/goth style. If you half ass it, you'll always look like bad. Though this coming from someone that doesn't dress up or do fashion but that's one of the reasons I don't dress up and be fashionable haha. I just don't have the energy or interests to really go all out with a fun and funky fashion and will half ass it and will then of course look really bad LOL. 

 

Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan, I been trying to find this Moi dix mois cover band with a bunch of nerdy kids playing with cardboard instruments. However I think it's just a fan PV but it's still pretty bad. Don't think that counts then but it's pretty funny. They're probably just having fun but I would have made the video unlisted.

 

I guess I can contribute AKADO

 

http://youtu.be/Q3jRO2DO_3o

 

I actually like this. But I don't like the Visual Kei style presented here. Just don't like the way they dress. ALso, freeze frame on some of the vocalist's facial expressions. THEY ARE HILARIOUS! Like 2:09...most of his screaming faces are funny.

[Ikna 1225]

Found another band by accident...

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHXhjN2adVg

 

Now it's not as terrible as Romancia, but I don't really like it. Somehow the chorus feels very displaced, like it doesn't blend or fit with the rest so well.

 

Oh and there's also Sada's solo project. I think it is a tiny bit better than Romancia's stuff and I can tolerate Sada's voice more... but still crap.

 

[jduv86 224]

^

This band and solo artist are on the opposite side of the spectrum then Akado...I think they actually visually did a good job looking VK (Well the second video---that look with him sitting in the chair is kind bad, but his other stalker look is good), BUT their songs are horrid...especially that first example (WTF was that random chorus?)...Akado looks like crap, but they actually seem like good musicians. I wish these bands could find a balance without sacrificing anything...Psycho Phobia's look with Akado's music, I think I could actually get into it... I will, however, check out some of more Akado's music though...

[togz 2004]

I... didn't realize how many bands were out there..... Honestly... I feel like there are people who can pull off the vk look, or at least a good inspired look overseas, I think the main problem is a lot of bands that form just want to look cool and be like the bands they listen to, but don't really know their instruments. Plus playing that kind of music... or under that genre, it's difficult to find people who want to as well. For example metalcore it's easy to find guitarists and vocalists, hell everyone and their mom does metalcore vocals. I've been in bands before, but i just feel if the right musicians got together there could be a successful decent sounding vk inspired band out there somewhere. .___.

[Ikna 1225]

It's me again! With two bands...

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcMQfb3y2AY

 

These guys aren't marketed directly as visual kei, if I see this correctly, so I'd rather call them heavily visual kei inspired. They are not bad, but this whol pseudo-gawf half assed black metal thing isn't my cup of tea. However, the singer is actually pretty decent and they don't try to act very visual keeeeeh musically... the PV is very low-budget and unintentionally funny though. Guess it's a matter of taste.

 

 

But this one... is a bit scary. A mongolian band that call themselves Visual Moon (very creative) and fuse together all the stylistic crimes of visual kei. They have another PV and that was a rather calm ballad, it was okay, but this PV... and I can't even judge them, since their source of inspiration isn't any better.

 

The only non-japanese visual kei band I found was pretty decent was

. Especially their very early material comes very close to good old school visual kei. Their first album also had a very nice touch of gothic rock and I love Ling's voice and singing.

 

 

Well... those guys are in the league of trying to be very visual and sounding old school. I think it's interesting, but the amount of weaboness kinda destroys it. I bet the japanese lyrics are full of spelling errors and shit... why can't they just sing in a language they are capable of speaking. No comment for that Matina low budget production-like PV.

 

In my opinion the problem of having almost no good or decent foreign visual kei bands is mostly that the japanese bands themselves aren't very good, especially in the technical aspect. Vk always suffered from bad vocalists and band members who have never learnt to play an instrument. Most vk bands are highschool goups or consist of very young and inexperienced people. And outside of japan skilled and talented muscians are rarely interested into something like visual kei so chances are low that really good musicians would come together forming a good visual kei band. It is more likely that some young weaboos who aspire to become the next Dir en grey, Madeth gray'll, Gazette or [insert any currently popular band or past legend] will.

[freundin 58]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6HUJJ75OQ4

seems like their vocalist is an active member in monochrome heaven xD ...still... his voice depressed me quite a bit

Kind of terrible, probably they're the only old school-ish band outside of japan I've heard of

[jduv86 224]

:::grabs popcorn::: This topic pleases me...

 

 

For SilentDUst...was the lyrics "psycho"? Like the whole time? ...hmm..the only bad that I think has done visual music outside Japan well is Geist...

[freundin 58]

:::grabs popcorn::: This topic pleases me...

 

 

For SilentDUst...was the lyrics "psycho"? Like the whole time? ...hmm..the only bad that I think has done visual music outside Japan well is Geist...

Well I tried to make a translation of the actual lyrics, so dunno if it's translated into english correctly.

 

EVERYBODY DANCING!

SILENT DUST!

CHILE ROCK!

 

[TheBistroButcher666 228]

 

http://youtu.be/5m6wITikDMM

 

Here is Jet Set Gypsies, the guy in red is kinda awkward. I could like them more but I think the random inserted Japanese feels out of place and silly. Come on just sing in English please (or whatever your native tongue is). Yet they're not so bad, frilly gawffic stuff that isn't so painfully weeaboo-ish...well except those Japanese lyrics.

 

As for the stuff posted above ~

 

Make Silent Dust Japanese and people would love it. Basically reminds me of something Yuuga would have done in his DEViL KiTTY days.

 

Oh I've seen Visual Moon before, fucking terrible. Basically over produced garbage with a bunch of phantom writers stuffing every trend into a song.

 

Also I like Abaddon, awful name choice since there's like 600 different Abaddons out there but I like that song. Digging the gawffy rock / black metal fusion. Basically the clean vocals are like something you'd hear out of some post punk goth band and with some black metal up in this bitch which is cool. That PV is unintentionally funny and hard to watch.

[Guest mitsubana]

 Jet Set Gypsies has some potential; I do agree the singer sounds better in English or his native language (if it's not English). I don't think there's anything wrong with non-Japanese bands taking inspiration from Visual Kei. (I mean... remember? Visual Kei was inspired by American/British music!) But when they sing in Japanese, it annoys me, personally. Usually artists sound better when they sing in their native language.

[togz 2004]

I think it's really difficult for foreign bands inspired by visual kei to avoid just looking gothic or punk, honestly. But... Again I feel music should always come first anyway... then focus on what you want to look like.... but if you make a band just because you want to dress up and be cool and you don't know your stuff.... I mean.... where else but south is this heading. 

[togz 2004]

Well I tried to make a translation of the actual lyrics, so dunno if it's translated into english correctly.

 

EVERYBODY DANCING!

SILENT DUST!

CHILE ROCK!

 

brb crying a river.

[Takadanobabaalien 3607]

The Silent Dust stuff is horrible... :i

Edited June 13, 2016 by Uglymouth