emmny's Top 20 Visual Albums of 2015

[emmny 4139]

#SorryForTheWait but a bitch has been busy and this has been a FAT undertaking so my apologies (not that anyone cares). this took a hundred years to do but goddamn im happy with this fucking list. its image heavy, sorry; the relatively long blurbs are under spoilers for all u people who r too lazy to read the GOTDAM text. jk i'm one of yall, unless an album interests me, then i'll read further. anyways im talking out my ass sorry

Rules:

• no remake albums (sorry DEZERT)
• no best compilations (sorry BIOSPHIA)
• maxi singles, mini's, VA's with original content and full lengths considered

ok lets fucking go

Albums i was eh on the edge of liking but didn't really care enough to listen to them more to review them. nonetheless i thought they were decent

MHBI – mimic
Develop One's Faculties – reincarnation
メディーナ– 奈落ヘノ階段
FAR EAST DIZAIN – TONICK DIZAIN
sukekiyo – VITIUM
Lament. – The Unvarnished Truth

VA - Agitation Clysis～Integrity～

Note the sore absence of DISH and yazzmad, its a shame i didnt get to hear their outputs this year as they certainly would have made the list

Without further ado:

emmny's Top 20 Visual Albums of 2015

 

20. Sel'm - 玲瓏 (reirou)

I really should have liked this better than i did, but they have a similar problem i found with 剥製, as you'll see later in the list (spoiler alert). Yes, its Sel'm's standard lynch.-core and its consistent as hell, moving from slightly bleepbloopy bangers to mid tempo rockers and back down to pretty ballads with ease. While I'm not too well versed in sel'm's discography, their prior singles have all been more interesting than any of the songs on here (outside of the first track) and there's really not much in terms of a standout—all the songs mash together. Its GALLOWS syndrome to be honest, and the meh production doesn't help much, but that doesn't change that every song is quite well written, it just looses steam as it goes on. Although, they should be commended for not relying on including prior A-sides, a current rarity. This little blurb is slightly negative but don't get it twisted, Sel'm on their down game is still great alternative metal given the many years of experience between the musicians on here. They should keep rocking into the next year, I don't expect anything less from a solid band like them.

 

19. シビレバシル - サヨナラ狂詩曲 (sibilebashir - sayonara rhapsody)

シビレバシル are kind of the mad geniuses of visual kei at the moment, led by the zany vocalist izumi. Outside of their bizarre looks and PVs, they write very interesting music with a heavy 90's slant, lumping them in with the current revival kei movement. Their songs are produced in a way thats kind of dusty and the guitars have a really pleasant chorus/reverb effect straight out of 1998; outside of the notably modern production its hard to place this release in 2015. izumi's vocals are as weird as his personality, sounding kind of strained, hella naisally but oddly perfect for their style—on both 其の末路 (the ballad), トクメイホラフキン's odd jumpyness+metal yells and the title track's dark lurch. There's something not entirely serious about them but it never crosses into cheesyness, and their music combined with their odd visuals and PV concepts is a genuine breath of fresh air. Stay posted for their work in 2016 considering they're now signed onto Shizumiya along with current slayers of visual kei AvelCain.

 

18. ザアザア - 死にたい (xaa-xaa - shinitai)

One of the more hyped bands on MH that I would have had no clue if they existed outside the forum; its odd what a cult following would ensue on here given none of their music was shared on the forum outside of youtube PVs before their little hype bubble. Hype aside, they're totally worth it, adding to the increasing list of visual kei bands favouring an older sound in this little revival-kei thing going on at the moment. They have a prominent indie-rock lean on their prior material which is exchanged for a heavier metal twang a-la DEZERT and MUCC on this mini album. Shoutouts to the killer ballad, 闇that closes this mini-album, i'm always weak for a good ballad and ザアザア do both heavy and pretty quite well. Their sound is hard to describe, its something thats better heard than explained, they make this release totally worth the listen. Its definitely a quirky listen (at least for me) but i had a lot of fun with it, and they're a dangerous band to look for in 2016 given their almost non-stop release schedule in 2015.

 

17. nüe - サイレン (siren)

Gasp more art-kei? I thought it was a drought? I first heard nüe in the preview for their first MV and i shrugged them off as Starwave's attempt at an indie-rock 凛として時雨 (i mean they have their br00tal kei, their 3 versailles clones, some other power-metal visual kei travesty, why not have an indie rock band). Fast-forward to later this year, i got into their second single siren and it was surprisingly pleasant; however, it shouldn't be a surprise as the members of nüe are older, featuring ex. Coaltar of the deepers, 白黒キネマ, the former being a huge shoegaze band and the later an old-school angura revival band. The band plays with this indie meets visual style a lot, having a definite tinge of both in their sound. They have a distinct drama in the sound which separates them from having just a j-indie sound, mostly in the pretty visual vocals; also deploying a bit of shoegaze/post-rock and distinctly bluesy lead guitar work. While they're still a young band, its not their first rodeo and nue's second single shows their promise, and i'll definitely be following them closely no matter what kind of Starwave trolling is on the horizon.

 

16. KRAD - SepsiS / Plantman / Beginning of Darkness

Rising from the ashes of old band SHEDIA, who I had a mild interest in but didn't bother to look into further, KRAD take their 2009-style metalcore-ish aesthetic around and set it on fire, collecting the remains and mixing it with a copious dose of older DEG, NEGA, D'espairsRay, UnsraW, DEPAIN and fucking doom before serving it to the bangya on this mini-album+single. I have a pretty big personal bias to KRAD's sound, but that doesn't discount their pretty solid ability to write darker metal songs. The songs hit hard, usually staying at a doomy trudge during the choruses and being sped up during the heavy sections. It can come across as boring considering they tend to be on the slower side for a heavy band, but it adds a lot to the despair they're trying to convey with their darker concept. There's a fair attention to detail on the release which distinguishes it from a barebones br00tal-kei release, including the pretty hammered dulcimer SE which leads into the same motif on the song “” off SepsiS or the acoustic guitar on the Plantman B-side カルマ, where that same dulcimer type instrument underscores a breakdown at the end of the song. For fans of darker visual-core without unnecessary bleepbloops and a heavy late-2000's throwback vibe with a side of tragic zetsubouuuu and suffering, KRAD should be your go-to.

 

15. IX -NINE- - VIDYA

Take sukekiyo's sonic doodling/experiments, a touch of neo-classical a-la anoice, 9GBO's devastatingly beautiful balladry, stick them together and add a vocalist who's kind of unfit for the style but tries anyway and ding ding you have VIDYA by IX-NINE-. Impressively enough, its as good on paper as in real life; its lush and beautiful and oh so slow yet not monotonous. The arrangements float beautifully, and there's a few surprises in the form of pretty adventurous double-bass work randomly here and there, a shitty autotune section on Sky Burial and pretty solo at the end of 彼岸と月. This is a release that kind of came out of nowhere but has captivated pretty much anyone that has given it a listen, its a big crossover listen as well since it takes enough nods from shoegaze/indie rock/art rock/neo-classical/prog rock to appeal to fans within those genres too. Their next project is a double album for 2016, lets see if they can sharpen their songwriting for the next album, VIDYA shows great potential.

 

14. AvelCain - 片想い (omajinai)

While not my favourite nor consistent AvelCain release, 片想い put itself on the map showing the more melodic side of AvelCain's depressive alt-metal/whatever touch on revival kei. The outward heaviness of their prior output and s/t has been sacrificed for more hooks and catchier choruses, which-–depending on why you liked AvelCain—can be a plus or minus. The emo atmosphere is still there, thank god; they still have their banger in the form of the title track, 相合傘, their odd live-house destroying japanese folk influenced pop song that comes every so often eve isn't in the mood to chug out alt metal and a rare ballad (おやすみなさい)which didn't stick with me much compared to their stunning older ballads. Eve's song-craft is getting tighter with every release, although I think I like him on drums more than byo, but it'll take time to tell—hopefully not long, their next single is out january. While AvelCain's output this year for the most part was underwhelming considering they destroyed 2014, they're still at the top of their game.

 

13. グリーヴァ・ゴシップ・黒百合と影 - 暗黒世界ハ闇 (grieva, gossip, kuroyuri to kage - ansoku sekai wa yami)

Gasp a VA compilation! Yes, this counts considering it was all new tracks or remakes of existing tracks by featured AINS bands グリーヴァ, ゴシップ and 黒百合と影. While there isn't anything life changing on here really compared to their individual outputs this year, they come damn close. Grieva グリーヴァ come out with another fascinating original song that really skimps on the diru-isms and is just pure old school gothic melodic sweetness and—in one of the biggest plot twists of 2015—a remake of 悲しみは巡りゆく季節と眠る哀from their first album with the closest x-japan worship this side of 2006 Versailles. They hands down won the compilation, but 黒百合と影 come a close second with an odd experimental ballad thing as their new contribution and for their “remake” track they contributed a kick-ass live version of 「未遂」. ゴシップ never had my interest, but they still do their indies-gazette schtick decently well. The title track, a group song which closes off the album is another testament to the strength of the bands AINS has churned out, in case the individual contributions of each band along with their respective outputs in 2015 wasn't enough of a statement.

 

12. Lycaon - Camera Obscura -カメラオブスキュラ-

Camera obscura is one of the more divisive releases on this list; depending on who you ask its a fucking masterpiece or a wild bloated mess. There's a point for both, but i'd like to think of it as one hot, fun sweaty mess. The main strength of the album comes from its catchiness, referencing back to the strong hooks and poppy-metal songwriting of their Royal Order days while playing with the electronic/bluesy/jazz sound they've been working on since. The end result is a solid marriage of the styles, coming together in straight forward rockers 悪女の微笑and Shadow along with the jazzy dubstep of 馬鹿ね。make for the strongest singles they've put out in a while. The rest of the album is a mixed bag, and few of the other songs can rival the singles but they come close. The album's chunking system system results in sections that are exceptional or downright boring, but overall the album doesn't leave a bad taste in my mouth. There's truthfully not much substance outside of a lot of fun songs, but those all make for one hell of a time; im never sitting still listening to it and considering the moodiness of 90% of the music i've listened to this year, Camera obscura is an appreciated palette cleanser.

 

11. Pla stic Tree - 剥製 (hakusei)

Plastic Tree are a band in theory I should love a lot more than I do, maybe its their huge discography that's made me subconsciously keep my distance, but whenever i put in the time to listen to them I enjoy it. 剥製 was the most last minute addition to this list since it was only released at the end of december, but its earned its place above other albums since its solid Plastic Tree—almost to a fault. Their shoegazey indie rock sound is as sharp as ever, but its oddly monotonous and no song grabs me like the best songs on ink, but they've gotten more consistent and there are less stylistic flubs. Like Camera obscura, the album's backbone is the 3 great promotional singles; but フラスコ and 告白 easily give them a run for their money. This album puts Plastic Tree in kind of an odd place: its nothing we haven't heard before but there isn’t anything necessarily bad on this album. Its not that this album just floats by either, there's some awesome songs on here but its slightly underwhelming. Its good to note that Plastic Tree at slightly underwhelming is better than most bands at their full creative ability and regardless, i'll be watching these visual veterans' activity into 2016.

 

10. 黒百合と影 - 皮肉な種の卑屈な芽。(kuroyuri to kage - hiniku na tame no hikutsu na me)

 

黒百合と影's debut album was my favourite debut full length of the year, and for good reason—i haven't heard a release this ugly, brutal, intense, haunted in quite a while. Its true that they owe a huge debt to older 2000's nu-metal but this sounds a lot fucking scarier than any of their source material. It has a really heavy and murky atmosphere surrounding it, more doomy than simple Korn/MUCC worship: led by droning and chugging guitars, the bonkers vocalist karasuna mei's shrieks and growls and creepy touches of hammered dulcimer, piano, music boxes—basically anything you wouldn't want to run into at a haunted house. The songwriting doesn't play second fiddle to the atmosphere, as they pump out catchy song after catchy song—despite the overall monotony in the heavier tracks. The band concept is as intense as the music, such that its hard to separate the images in their j-horror style PVs and grotesque lyrics from the music itself. Its hard not to get immerse in this dark fucked up world, and i'm curious to see where 黒百合と影 take it in the future.

 

9. THE BLACK SWAN - 赫音

TBS owned 2015 with their two singles and live distributes, showing the band lead by ex-NEGA jin was up to big things, as evident in their third single 赫音. They build on the dirty prog metalcore of later NEGA with added polish and tighter arrangements, a noted weakness of NEGA. TBS fix that with tighter arrangements and a greater ease in their songwriting, riffs seamlessly flow into one another and trickier structures are dealt with well; the songs move with purpose and show TBS' ease in playing with metalcore, alt-metal and atmospheric ballads. Not to mention the great musicianship; jin doesnt sound like a dog anymore although his screams are limited, the drums are intense and the lead guitar work is killer; 赫音-justitia- has the best solo of 2015 hands down. Its not a technical piece of music, its just visual kei but it sounds like a lot more. They have big things planned in 2016 and they're definitely worth watching if you're a fan of the visualcore sound that they're currently slaying.

 

8. emmurée - 窓の外は、カァニバル。(mado no soto wa carnival)

Every time emmurée announce new music its a weight off my chest considering they're an abnormality in visual kei going on for as long as they have with relatively little popularity. Every release however, is always cause to rejoice, as there are no bands that will ever capture their cavernous goth rock sound like emmurée can. Their style is mostly intact on here, occasionally throwing a few curveballs to throw off listeners. The blast beat on 混沌≒秩序, which is one hell of a way to open the album, the doomy dream breeze of the title track and the weirdo jazz swing of 太陽のメロディー are all new additions to emmurée's sound but the heart of their sound is still the same. The sole complaint (outside of the awful production) is that it sounds rushed: had they had the funds to develop their sound more, every track would be as good as the highlights on here; but more often than not emmurée revert to their prior tried-and-true formulas. Even at their weaker moments, they slay most bands with ease, and to bitch about this release would be pointless considering its mere existence is a blessing. While its a bit erratic and can't compare to love letter or 灯陰, its still a great showing for emmurée and proof of their stylistic prowess.

 

7. MORE - hypno / morphe

The best newcomers of 2015 released these two artsy DVD's in tandem with each other, and it was highly anticipated considering it featured the ex-vocal of the seminal goth/jazz visual band Sugar. I expected nothing less from Loki given his success after Sugar in the 2 incarnations of his solo project Konig and MORE certainly doesn't disappoint given his constantly great judgment in choosing band mates. Imagine Sugar at their least gothic and most jazzy and that leaves you with MORE. Judyjun is the composer behind the tracks, who has some history but most of his bands are unknown to me, which is a shame given his strength as a composer. The songs twist and move with ease, working usually within a jazzy-rock shape but with notable surprises: チェシャ features a piano deathcore breakdown (listen to it, its hilarious) and Dawn has a slight post-rock influence with the twinkly guitars and crescendo at the end. Regardless of the different taste each of these tracks have, they sound unified in the barebones rock+piano arrangements led by Loki's stunning vocals. Im hoping for more MORE in 2016, their unique and damn refreshing brand of jazzy art-kei will likely only get more fascinating as time goes on.

 

6. グリーヴァ - Fake / 操リ人間 / 絶望ノ朝 (grieva - fake / ayatsuri ningen / zetsubou no asa)

2015 marked my transition from a グリーヴァ hater to a stan, as evident by them ranking within the top 10. When グリーヴァ keep the copying pasting to a minimum and stick to merely referencing the sounds of Madeth Gray'll, Dir en grey and other scary goth kote-kei bands of the 90's while combining it with their whatever-core sensibilities and fist-pumping choruses—its fucking euphoric. Each track has its own weird touch but the core elements are still the same: zetsubou-laden kote sceams, grinding guitars, killer solos, pretty intense drumwork and brilliant interplay between the members. The songs are dangerously catchy, it shouldn't take more than a few listens before you're able to sing along to the multi-layered vocals and end up humming the guitar lines like an idiot. Its at this point where i realized グリーヴァ's brilliance; they combine catchiness, modern production and the things we love from visual kei in 2015 with the old edge of a sound thats basically been dead for the past 10 years. If you still haven't given グリーヴァ a listen, you owe it to yourself to enter their odd and twisted world, and they're only getting better with each release so they'll soon take over and murder your favs, get with the winning team!

 

5. Moran - 夜明けを前に (yoake wo mae ni)

The first of two goodbye singles in my top 10 (which shouldn't be a surprise), Moran put out 夜明けを前に a year or so after their odd quasi hiatus statement, but its still unmistakably Moran. The beautiful strings/piano, guitars that go seamlessly from spastic funky playing to airy, reverb-laden Fatima-gaze chords and of course, Hitomi's beautifully husky voice. The three songs that compose the bulk of the single (disregarding the instrumental outro) are the most consistent songs Moran have put to tape, which comes at the cost of having no real standout on the single. As a goodbye single, its totally fitting; evoking the sense of magic that has encompassed Moran's career—fighting through ex band members' departures and deaths to ultimately bounce back and still conquer the indies visual world with their stunning inimitable sound. It's of course a shame it has to end, but Moran ended on the highest note possible.

 

4. amber gris - 小さな銀貨を左手に (chisana ginka wo hidarite ni)

The last chapter of amber gris, their final single 小さな銀貨を左手に showed exactly why amber gris had lasted so long in visual kei's fickle world: they knew their strengths and they went throughout their career with guns blazing. No matter what hat they wore for a particular song, playing with all sorts of textures from the worlds of alt-metal, post-rock, dream pop, indie rock, shoegaze, jazz, it was distinctly amber gris. Their signature twin guitar interplay led by Temari's beautiful voice is as strong as ever on this release, its the most progressive song writing they've ever done; playing mostly with mid-tempo songs expressing the lovely and joyful melancholy which I'd like to say is their band concept. Playing their discography from beginning to end, there is a quality no other band has ever captured—they live in their own world and the second you press play, you're transported in the ethereal world Temari painstakingly creates in his lyrics. The last track is the perfect example, I've yet not to come to tears listening to him say please do not forget one's name as the drums are crashing behind him. Their disbandment is a loss for fans as well as the entire visual kei scene, here's to amber gris hopefully coming to colour our worlds again in the near future—whenever it may be, I'll be waiting.

 

3. the GazettE - DOGMA / UGLY

Blasphemy! BLASPHEMY!!! THE GAZETTE SUCK!!!!!!! If there's a point i'll give to gazette haters, its that the GazettE are insanely inconsistent; every release has a shining song or two hid among average songs with some truly shitty filler thrown in. In my opinion, its been present with all their releases after NIL, regardless of how popular or acclaimed they are. DOGMA and UGLY, a coupled full length + single break this pattern by breaking down their usually diverse sound into 1 lean mean metalcore/nu metal killing machine. They lose the older gazette jazzy/funky rock sound, the bleepbloops, the tear-inducing balladry in exchange for a much more sharp and concise sound. No matter how much trolls diss gazette, it doesn't change the fact that they're great rock songwriters, and when they have to abandon their usual safety constraints that have tied them up on all prior records—or perhaps they by chance came up with a much better set of songs—then their hooks and riffage take centre spot. Ruki's vocals, while still relatively dry take centre stage; special shout-outs to that part in the title track—you'll know what it is when you hear it—easily the best example of “dirty” vocals I've heard so far in visual kei this year. The sole complaint i had throughout DOGMA was the dry guitarwork, but UGLY fixes it by bringing back the interplay between uruha x aoi in GODDESS' solo and UGLY's fucking triumphant chorus. DOGMA / UGLY are kind of a storm in that there are few songs you can recall by name, but the monotony isn't necessarily a bad thing—its the GazettE experimenting with a unity unseen in prior releases that makes for one vision (as apparent by the very specific concept behind the releases). If you're a sworn hater, this wont turn you into a die hard but for those who've been able to appreciate GazettE throughout the years but have stopped themselves from stanning full on, this is the record to convert you.

 

2. KEEL - Cthulhu / R'lyeh

Leave it to KEEL to leave me speechless (for the most part). They released two mini-albums good enough that I really don't have to speak on length about why they're brilliant. Play 'em and the experience and instrumental prowess of the members comes to life, in a way that only KEEL can do; marrying the angelic vocal stylings of ryo and brittle grunge jazz dissonance flawlessness of seminal visual guitarist aie, backed by a solid rhythm section by shuu and tomoi. Aie's current compositions marry a more bombastic studs-era kind of punk energy with the slower, intuitive singer-songwriter work of TGADS and a sprinkling of his more guitar-driven compositional style and melancholy arpeggios from deadman. Ryo's at his best vocals since 9GBO, they're still hella nasal but not intolerably so, he's also not afraid to use falsetto and his growl here and there and it sounds amazing. The only thing missing from their arsenal is a drop-dead miserable ballad, and a lot of the songs kinda mix together here and there but thats a common complaint with any of aie's work. Overall, there's really nothing released this year that matched the level of perfection found on KEEL's best work, and considering they churned out basically a whole amazing album in one year lord knows what they're cooking in 2016—but either way us nagoya stans have found our next breakthrough band.

 

1. lynch. - EVOKE / ETERNITY / D.A.R.K-in the name of evil-

Ah #1! While the rest of the releases i had in mind moved around a lot, there was never a doubt that lynch. Won the best release(s) of 2015. i initially thought about just including the two singles as they were—in my opinion—more consistent than the album even though the album had tracks that out shined some of the b-sides. Then i said fuck it, they're basically close enough to call one cohesive release. When lynch. Do it well, they're exceptional—heavy, biting, captivating, emotional blah blah the list goes on, just listen to “Adore”, “Ambivalent Ideal” or “I BELIEVE IN ME” to get what I'm talking about. But when lynch. flop, its not more than boring, uninspired alt-metal. Their last full length divided their fanbase in that half saw “GALLOWS” as a total, monotonous flop while the others (myself included) found it heavy and interesting despite it being kind of samey-samey. lynch. then dropped “EVOKE” and then it was apparent that there were big changes. The faults of “GALLOWS” became all the more apparent with the release of the single, showing how effortlessly lynch. could turn up the intensity and bring it back down whereas “GALLOWS” floated by at an odd mid-pace trudge. This continued onto lynch.'s ballad single “ETERNITY” which featured an incredibly badass remake of their 2007 song “alien tune”; rendering the original downright boring compared to the faster and more intense remake. This sense of juxtaposition continued onto their D.A.R.K. album, which featured their most diverse set of songs since at least “I BELIEVE IN ME”; it had the obligatory 2 minute banger, moody intro and lead singles but switched it up with jazz-kei on “GHOST” previously unseen since “DEVI” on the “MIRRORS” single, and whatever you consider “ILLUMINATI”. These experiments were all within the constraints of their current metalcore sound, so the heaviness was intact; however, whatever growing pains they've had with the prior releases have been smoothed out for D.A.R.K. the songwriting was a huge step up, showing especially on the title track which flows from a heavy verse to a beautiful chorus which almost moves in slow motion—its a really beautiful moment and a total highlight how they manage their more melodic tendencies with their brutality. I could talk about the rest of the tracks but I'm not trying to type for another 100 years and postpone this list any further, just to sum it up lynch. earned their place as #1 for having the most elegant, developed songwriting out of any other visual kei band this year. In other words, no other band has the chops to write songs as effortlessly and as interesting as lynch.; ultimately referencing the bands more melodic material from their Nagoya kei days and the metalcore influences of their later day. Every song has a flavour and an identity of its own, and lynch. proved that they're only getting better with age; you might wanna subscribe to their menu because goddamn its delicious.

 

Thats it, thanks folks. this list isn't comprehensive, check the lists of other users to see what things on the more oshare/pop spectrum i might have missed. also as to the absence of chanty and scapegoat, they likely would have made the list but a bitch aint got enough time to listen to everything. Tell me what u think i might have overlooked, and feel free to fight me in the comments ^>^. here's to another lovely year of all things visual kei with my friends at MH for 2016, love y'all <3 <3

[tetsu_sama69 1119]

Great list! All of those were great to listen to! You should definitely give vistlip's album a shot. It's really great.

[Chi 2624]

Kuroyuri yeah good we can still be friends

[Tokage 5930]

Yo that's a great list actually!! (well, except for lycaon and tbs, but they just ain't my style)

[yakihiko 1480]

"this took a hundred years to do but goddamn im happy with this fucking list."

Mine took the last months to do, analyzing and putting in order, designing, changing... xD but seeing the final result worth it all.

"i was eh on the edge of liking but didn't really care enough to listen to them more to review them. nonetheless i thought they were decent"

MHBI and DOF.. pls emmny xD

Yes for 死にたい , Camera Obscura and 夜明けを前に in full size. In parts for KEEL's releases, MORE and the GazettE

[plastic_rainbow 2162]

Hey, nice list! I enjoyed reading your blurbs too. (but of course, I skipped the ones I didn't really know, haha.)

I should really get to emmurée's stuff...been telling myself that for years already.

[emmny 4139]

Great list! All of those were great to listen to! You should definitely give vistlip's album a shot. It's really great.

thanks, i should probably get around to them; i liked a few of their ballads i looked up on youtube.

 

Kuroyuri yeah good we can still be friends

wHERE Is DUH VENOMS?????? WHERE?? MEJIBRAY

jk, we got impecable visual taste with the kuroyuri gang gang gang

 

Yo that's a great list actually!! (well, except for lycaon and tbs, but they just ain't my style)

thanks, i really had to warm up to lycaon and im still not a huge fan but i love camera obscura as an album. listen to liar and just dance a lil shhhhh

 

"this took a hundred years to do but goddamn im happy with this fucking list."

Mine took the last months to do, analyzing and putting in order, designing, changing... xD but seeing the final result worth it all.

"i was eh on the edge of liking but didn't really care enough to listen to them more to review them. nonetheless i thought they were decent"

MHBI and DOF.. pls emmny xD

Yes for 死にたい , Camera Obscura and 夜明けを前に in full size. In parts for KEEL's releases, MORE and the GazettE

ikr it takes soOooooo long

i liked the MBHI, i just didnt really have a lot to say for it, but i really love haiiro no mori that song is fucking pretty. DOF i thought everything kinda sounded the same, not that it was bad or anything it was just ok

 

Hey, nice list! I enjoyed reading your blurbs too. (but of course, I skipped the ones I didn't really know, haha.)

I should really get to emmurée's stuff...been telling myself that for years already.

thanks mate! and yes, if you like all the dark shit i've been recommending to you then emmuree is a must have!

[fitear1590 2414]

emmny, I'm still making it through your awesome list, but I have to say nüe has caught my attention the most, so thanks for posting about them! The totally went under my radar.

But I have to know, who exactly is who in the Starwave lineup, lol:
I have an idea, but which is the "power metal travesty"?!

[emmny 4139]

emmny, I'm still making it through your awesome list, but I have to say nüe has caught my attention the most, so thanks for posting about them! The totally went under my radar.

But I have to know, who exactly is who in the Starwave lineup, lol:

I have an idea, but which is the "power metal travesty"?!

thanks fitty, nue are awesome are totally up our alley!

LMAO i was mostly just talking out my ass but scarlet valse and synk:yet came to mind LOL

[Atreides 454]

Just read your reviews, all pretty great.  I'm just using them as a primer to get back into current vk really as I mainly listen to the older stuff (85-2010).   Nue and MORE really stuck out for me they're great.  As with MORE, I was a huge fan of Konig but I never heard Sugar.  Pretty eye opening stuff.  Nue's song Deep Sea was amazing as hell, haven't heard anything quite like it in a long time.

[emmny 4139]

Just read your reviews, all pretty great.  I'm just using them as a primer to get back into current vk really as I mainly listen to the older stuff (85-2010).   Nue and MORE really stuck out for me they're great.  As with MORE, I was a huge fan of Konig but I never heard Sugar.  Pretty eye opening stuff.  Nue's song Deep Sea was amazing as hell, haven't heard anything quite like it in a long time.

thank you! im happy you're using it as a rough guide, there's a lot of bands that represent the older-school in this list. more and nue are definitely bands to watch if you're a fan of the more artsy side of vk. be sure to listen to moran, keel and amber gris as well--im sure you'll enjoy them too.

[Atreides 454]

What do you recommend from each of them?  I'm not so much into like screamo/metalcore, more of straight metal and more artsy kinda stuff.

[emmny 4139]

What do you recommend from each of them?  I'm not so much into like screamo/metalcore, more of straight metal and more artsy kinda stuff.

KEEL is ex-deadman/9GBO; so try anything from them if you ever liked deadman

from Moran i love all their ballads and jazzy songs. try helpless, snowing, bara iro no jigoku and kimi no ita gosenfu

amber gris are great all the way around, try the sad things, feel me, bright or blind & room no.13

[Aferni 2381]

TBS,AvelCain and  Kuroyuri,グリーヴァ, Lycaon fsafafsasfasdasd

 

 

The taste, is too strong. Slay emmny

[emmny 4139]

thank u ferni <3 <3