What are your top 10 current visual kei bands?

[tomika 12]

Why only active bands? Most of my faves are disbanded or on hiatus.

Ok, let's try.

 

1. DIR EN GREY

2. The THIRTEEN

3. MUCC

4. NOCTURNAL BLOODLUST

5. xaa-xaa

6. DEZERT

7. DIAURA

8. MERRY

9. SuG

10. DADAROMA

[Kaleidoscope 195]

Many bands on the list come and go, but here is a recent one with active bands:

 

1. DADAROMA

2. Dir En Grey

3. DEZERT

4. Gallo

5. ALSDEAD

6. the god and death stars

7. Hollowgram

8. Nocturnal Bloodlust

9. Mejibray

10. Codomo Dragon

[len 67]

1. Dir en grey

2. Plastic Tree

3. Mucc

4. Sukekiyo

5. Kiryu

6. Nocturnal Bloodlust

7. Deviloof

8. Kuroyuri To Kage

9. Sick²

10. Xaa-Xaa

 

The first 3 ones could come in first place, the ones after 8 are new things I'm still getting into, I didn't have any other one to put in there.

Kagrra,, The Piass, Deadman, Metronome and -OZ- are also some of my favorites...

Edited January 16, 2017 by len

[Mephistopheles 38]

deadman, kein, Sugar, 9Goats Black Out, Girugamesh, and Amber Gris were my favorite bands before they disbanded, with deadman being my absolute favorite.

 

Furthermore I could only think of 8 bands because most of the bands I enjoyed are disbanded.

 

1. More

2. the god and the death stars

3. Hollowgram

4. KEEL

5. D

6. Lynch

7. MUCC

8. heidi.

9.

10.

[Zalemu 236]

In no specific order:

 

1. Versailles

2. Rides in ReVellion

3. Kiryu

4. Grieva

5. Kuroyuri to Kage

6. Jupiter

7. Kaya

8. Onmyouza (not vk but idc)

9. Anfiel

10. Stigma

 

Edited January 20, 2017 by Zalemu

[violetchain 912]

New list, since I was really struggling to come up with ten last time and metronome came back.

 

GLAY

Psycho le Cemu

metronome

LIPHLICH

BUCK-TICK

umbrella

UCHUSENTAI:NOIZ

THE SOUND BEE HD

Avanchick

Scarlet Valse

Edited January 16, 2017 by violetchain

[oxbxjxe 39]

Ten current bands, difficult, what I listen most is visual kei of the nineties, I will try anyway:

 

Lacroix Despheres

Madame Edwarda

AREA51

Moi Dix Mois

Plastic Tree

Wagakki Band

noodles

Blanc Chaine

Art Cube

Versailles

 

 

 

 

[VkBrutaliaN 1890]

i guess right now i'd say (for only active bands) cuz otherwise its just too hard to only choose 10 bands although its already very tough to decide only between active bands...

 

DictavE

Deviloof

VRZEL

dexcore

JILUKA

DiSPiИA

Noulla

リベリオ (RIBELIO)

RAZOR

ZON

[Ro plz 1290]

1. Dir en grey

2. The Gazette

3. Lynch.

4. Buck-Tick

5. KEEL

6. Nocturnal Bloodlust

7. Sukekiyo

8. The Black Swan

 

 

I can't come up with 2 more

[Rika 2]

1) Versailles

2) Jupiter

3) Dolly

4) Doppel

5) Moran

6) Kaya

7) Renter en Soi

HIZAKI grace project

9) D

10) Femme Fatale

[Mamo 1172]

No particular order(mine is based on all currently active bands):

 

1. The god and death stars (aie ex. Deadman)

2. ムック

3. ＫＥＥＬ(super band) ex. 9GOATS BLACK OUT,  the god and death stars, ギルガメッシュ, Laputa.

4. DEZERT

5. ギャロ

6. Mejibray

7. DADAROMA

8. ザアザア

9. HOLYCLOCK

10. the GazettE (Gaze rock will truly never die. Project Dark Age: Dogma, Ugly, and Undying were fucking amazing.)

 

And I want to mention Dir en grey, because if you do still lump them in with visual kei they are easily the best. Arche was god tier imo. 

 

Honorable Mentions:

 

FIXER, JILUKA, KRAD, Sukekiyo, and The Black Swan

[platy 3018]

Sukekiyo 

xaa-xaa 

The gallo

Zombie

DADAROMA

SuG

Mix Speaker's, Inc. 

ダウト

Arlequin (slowly liking them) 

GRIMOIRE

[Dionysius 1296]

Scarlet Valse
Gossip
The Gallo
Keel
Sukekiyo
The Black Swan
Sibilebashir
Emmuree
The god and death stars
Kuroyume

Edited January 22, 2017 by Dionysius

[Tanishi 598]

I was thinking about this topic today while listening to The Gallo. Most of these have been mentioned already but:

 

- The Gallo: definitely one of the best bands in the scene right now. They released 2 full length albums in 2016, Diavolo which is an amazing album and Lucifero which is really good too. They are a lot better than what they used to be, I remember checking them out in 2014 and not really liking them. But the whole band has improved heaps, especially Jojo's beautiful eccentric vocals. Really unique band with a dark (but not too heavy) catchy sound.

 

- Develop One's Faculties: Reincarnation was my favorite VK album of 2015 and what hooked me was their catchy choruses and frantic mathy styled riffs. The two singles they released after were a little disappointing but their newest mini, I WANT MY FREEDOM, while not as good as Reincarnation is a really strong release. They take a light, indie inspired but sort of generic vk sound and mix it with crazy unique compositions.

 

- The GazettE: Everyone knows this band and while it still had a lot of filler, Dogma was their best release since DIM imo. If it had been a mini it could have been really great but I guess The GazettE are too big for minis now. And The Undying was the best track they have made in a long time too even though it was pseudo-progressive structural mess. But it felt inspired so that's why have some hope for this washed up band (I'm gonna be disappointed, I know).

 

- Grieva: Early Dir en grey rip off band with some modern influences. They are really good at what they do even though their 2016 was pretty mediocre. Still following these guys though.

 

- Dezert: Most of the stuff they have released has been good. They've become pretty big now and as many people on this forum has said they will probably get worse. Their sound is quirky nostalgia fulled alternative metal in a modern style. 

 

- Kuroyuri to Kage: One of the darkest bands on the scene atm, their 2016 mini was probably the most catchy release of the year with every song having me tapping my foot to the crazy vocals and hypnotic compositions. It's refreshing to see a band that is both really catchy and dark at the same time. They're a blast to follow as well, always doing promotional shots in strange places toilet cubicles and restaurant kitchens. Great band and their newest single was good too.

 

- Dir en grey: While not vk, they are still undeniably a part of the scene and Utafumi showed they are still at the top of their game. The song is a progressive mess similar to The Gazette's Undying, but instead of trying to be epic and 'deep' like they have in the past (and what the Gazette have been doing), they combine a bunch of crazy brutal verses and catchy choruses together that shouldn't work at all, but they make it work. Apart from Buck-Tick, they are pretty much the only long term band currently releasing top class material.

 

- gibkiy gibkiy gibkiy: Nagoya kei supergroup filled with old people who makes long jazz inspired crazy shit. The band used their experience to bring a really polished, somewhat experimental album in 2016 and you can tell the band put every ounce of talent they have into this album. There is no doubt these guys have a bright future (if they don't disband).

 

- Kiryu: This band mixes traditional Japanese music with visual kei similar to Kagrra, but they are much darker and heavier. Hyakki Yakou blew me away from the very first track, 日出ズル國 (Hiizurukuni) which was the most intense frantic song of 2016 for me. But the whole album is great and I really love the SPEED and INTENSITY which the band has turned up to 110. The best yet IMO and even though their most recent single was disappointing, I'm still looking forward to what they bring out.

 

- The Black Swan: Ex-Nega vocalist Jin's new band. Jin has improved a lot as a vocalist and this band are basically a more polished version of Nega + Dum Spiro Spero. Ousia took me a while to get into as all the songs sound really similar the first few listens, but after a few listens I think this is best Dum Spiro Spero rip off album to ever grace the scene. The title track is excellent though, up their with Vinushka and Macabre as one of the best +10 minute vk songs of all time. For some reason I think these guys can do better (probably going to be disappointed though - something I'm sure every vk fan is used to).

 

- Royz: A giant blend of modern VK trends such as electronic sounds, generic metalcore riffs and J-pop choruses. I haven't really liked much of their stuff but S.I.V.A is a good varied release, even though there is no illusion that you're listening to music aimed at Japanese teenage girls (at least with bands like gibkiy gibkiy gibkiy I can pretend to be mature). You can tell The B.P. Records ghost writer was on good drugs last year with this, Kiryuu and some cool Codomo Dragon songs. Hopefully his dealer doesn't get caught.

 

- Emmuree: modern Nagoya kei band who aren't from Nagoya. Not much to say except that they are really consistent and make good music. Pretty slow with releases which I guess is how they keep their high quality.

 

I have listened to a lot of other recent bands but I can't really get into them. Bands like Chanty, Keel, Lynch, Diaura, Anfiel, Unite, Liphlich, The God and Death Stars, xaa xaa, Kameleo, Matenrou Opera (like their old stuff though), Versailles (old stuff and Greatest Hits I like), Nue, Dadaroma, Dog in the PWO, Merry and Mejibray are some that a lot of people really like but not for me.

 

I cannot understand people who say vk is bad nowadays. There's still good stuff coming out every year if you look hard enough.  But I'm still felling pretty negative about it's long term future.

[qotka 433]

8 hours ago, fieldsgrow said:

- Dezert: Most of the stuff they have released has been good. They've become pretty big now and as many people on this forum has said they will probably get worse. Their sound is quirky nostalgia fulled alternative metal in a modern style. 

These guys are totally in my current top 10, too. I think that while they don't always sound at the top of their game, there are many ways in which they could grow and surprise us. I'm not sure why, but I have really high hopes for them.

[For my dears 58]

妃阿甦
Moi dix Mois
Kiryu
KEEL
Jupiter
D
Devil Kitty (yes they're active again)
Ai
Megamasso
Insanity Injection

wow that was hard

Edited March 1, 2017 by For my dears