The Nu metal 00's in Visual kei

[Kaleidoscope 195]

EYA were great! And I remember gemmik, never heard any other song but the PV one though unfortunately. 

Actually, I think quite a few of these bands had fairly decent vocalists - the guys from D'espairsRay, Awoi, Kalimero, MUCC and Kagerou are all pretty good singers for example.

 

I also just remembered these guys, I think it's another Gossip than the one currently active though?

 

 

@DisposableWoah I had no idea Vidoll did a song like this, only ever listened to one album of them back then and didn't find it edgy enough haha

@helcchi  DAMY do indeed sound a lot like DEZERT, but I like it!

@Licio123 They disbanded, but some of the members moved on to form heidi. from what I remember!

Edited November 26, 2016 by Kaleidoscope

[itsukoii 1300]

@Kaleidoscopeoh my god, how did i forget gossip? i LOVE those guys (and yeh, they're disbanded, not the same gossip that's around now)

Edited November 27, 2016 by itsukoii

[helcchi 942]

5 hours ago, doombox said:

Rhyohei spent an extended amount of time in America and is also a HUGE Wes Borland (Limp Bizkit) fanboy

 

This is Ryohei Borland on Halloween in 2011

 

 

[doombox 4421]

@helcchilol that is glorious. 

[Karma’s Hat 3107]

13 hours ago, reminiscing2004 said:

This came into my head instantly. Early Alice Nine kicked so much ass. 華想夢想紙 is a lovely mini, generally not very nü metal, but this song of course.

7 STRINGS THO

 

Also, if ムック's Kuchiki no Tou is considered nü metal, that's probably the best nü metal record I've ever heard.

 I fucking LOVED this song when it came out, and found it quite the disappointment that it wasn't a style they pursued any further. That's only one of the numerous let downs I faced by bands who did only one or two songs like this, for them only take their foot off the nu-metal-pedal for the rest of their careers .

 

@doomboxI saw them in Finland and there were like six people from MH at that show too! Quite the event 

@KaleidoscopeEarly vidoll is some of the best shit that came after the implosion of the old labels. Their run until the first LP is legendary, and that encompasses quite a bit of material, which you can conveniently find on one of their numerous compilation albums like proposal and bijinkei. Should you not find these links working on the forum, I'll upload them for you in a heartbeat. 

From their 2002 mini. There were two that came out that year and if you combine them, it's like an album. While I don't think they were influential in any particular way, they certainly bridged a lot of the turn of the millenia and 00's visual kei characteristics. 

The riff that starts at 0.17 sounds like a modern Madeth Gray'll out take it's absolutely incredible. 

[Tokage 5930]

pretty fucked up to imagine that in a few years people might end up making threads like these about the xxxcore-influenced sound plaguing the scene tese days

 

however, this thread fucking rips, probably one of my favorite VK styles overall.

 

My contribution:

Always felt like Zilch's nu-metal/industrial rock-ish hybrid was neat as hell and it saddens me that hide had to die before he had any chance to explore this project any further cuz it was pretty damn good

 

What the fuck. This track, along with Ghost (both off the same album, coincidentially) always felt to me like they mixed more than just a lil' bit of nu-metal in w/ their more grungey / alt rock influences.

Edited November 27, 2016 by Tokage

[helcchi 942]

I have to post alice nine's former PSC-labelmates - bis - for this unlikely number:

 

and what's gossip without their predecessors Visage?

 

aaand a barrage of more bands

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

KANSAI

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NAGOYA

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

no one can stop me from including meth. again

 

 

 

On 11/27/2016 at 10:05 PM, Tokage said:

pretty fucked up to imagine that in a few years people might end up making threads like these about the xxxcore-influenced sound plaguing the scene tese days

I shudder to think how low would this scene have to sink in order to instigate a retrospection on vk-core...

Edited July 9, 2018 by helcchi

[Kaleidoscope 195]

Recognizing pretty much all of these obscure bands shows me how much I used to be into this era, I miss those times

I loved and still love that XodiacK song in particular, their image is so ridiculous yet I still enjoyed it a lot, my favourite VK power rangers.

 

@DisposableHad no idea they sounded that good, I only have "Bastard" in my shelf and it never really got me hooked. Gonna look for their old stuff on here later!

 

Quote

I shudder to think how low would this scene have to sink in order to instigate a retrospection on vk-core...

 

But isn't that exactly what people would have thought about nu vk back then too? While I do get tired of every band doing the same style, it's no different from the nu metal period and I feel some bands are doing the core thing pretty well in some songs (DADAROMA in their heavier songs for example). But then again, I have always enjoyed Metalcore to an extent, so that might explain why I'm not sceptical at all towards it

Visage's guitar tone is sick by the way, just noticed.

Edited November 27, 2016 by Kaleidoscope

[helcchi 942]

@KaleidoscopeI meant what kind of sounds would VK be making by the time we're looking back "fondly" at the core era is a scary thought. Post vk-core era could be pretty shit.

Every band that has lasted into the 2010s is now core… and I still listen to them. But now the decade is more than half way through and the more experienced musicians are getting old, there might be some drastic changes to the scene soon.

[Kaleidoscope 195]

@helcchiOoooh, I see! Now that you mention it, I honestly have no idea what could come next. I feel like the core thing will prevail a little longer, but since VK usually tries to become more extreme with each new iteration, I don't really know what would be the logical next step (since deathcore has been done to an extent already). If anything, my guess would be that there will be some djent-y stuff in the future, but who knows

[Karma’s Hat 3107]

I saw some r-shite being linked. Nihil Party is the best vk title ever conceived

 

 

I'd say the future of heavier vk ( as in, in the early 20's ) is as of now is up in the air. Metalcore is far past its peak in America and so far nothing has come along to replace it, but in vk on the other hand we are seeing bands just now coming along that can almost rival their western counterparts. I can't even tell you how happy I was to hear Dadaroma ripping off suicide silence even though it's almost been a decade when that stuff came out! I think that the larger stylistic shift that will happen to vk will most definitely first happen in the west, like with nu metal giving way to metalcore right before the mid 2000's. The problem right now though is that guitar music as a pop culture phenomenon is in its death throes, relatively speaking. I'll eventually feel nostalgic about the 10's visual kei no doubt about it; I love all visual kei almost equally: old, new, green, purple etc. I just make topics where I call certain bands and styles terrible simply for my own amusement.

 

I'm so glad you separate those bands into regions because I feel like that holds the answers to a lot of questions that may arise about the stylistic evolution in vk. Regions and labels hold massive sway in all other genres as well, but unfortunately since I'm terrible with languages I'll never even bother trying to learn Japanese to satisfy my curiosity about visual kei's inner workings. Good thing I got unfounded speculation to always keep myself busy.

[helcchi 942]

On 11/28/2016 at 2:37 AM, Disposable said:

I'm so glad you separate those bands into regions because I feel like that holds the answers to a lot of questions that may arise about the stylistic evolution in vk. Regions and labels hold massive sway in all other genres as well, but unfortunately since I'm terrible with languages I'll never even bother trying to learn Japanese to satisfy my curiosity about visual kei's inner workings. Good thing I got unfounded speculation to always keep myself busy.

 

I'll try not to stray from topic of this thread too far, but here goes

 

So this photo hilariously sums up the state Nagoya is in entirely, with members of Lycaon, heartless, lynch., meth. and ClearVeil at one table (I once joked that Ai from deathgaze must've been the one taking the picture).

Also helps to explain why members from oshare kei ASS'n'ARROW went to deathgaze and lynch. This article further delves into the history of Nagoya kei and gives an insightful look into the scene.

 

Roughly between Nagoya and Tokyo lies Shizuoka where Tomozo's label(s) are based, and some of the earlier bands to come from this region seem to have harboured the sound and looks reminiscent of those bands from Nagoya. Tomozo as a producer has a really diverse range of sounds - once citing Alexi Laiho as one of his influences, he has been in projects with Hizaki and Leda. He also has a knack for signing girl bands but in recent years, seems to have been at the forefront of the metalcore movement in vk - CodeRebirth and Yoshiatsu from Dadaroma, who used to be in Since1889 were signed to Dual Core Sound and Sequence Records respectively.

 

Kansai is so richly steeped in visual kei history I don't even know where to begin. Dir en grey and Aliene Ma'riage's career's both started here. Whilst Under Code was the most well-known vk label in this region, CROW music perhaps helped push that harsher, heavier sound. But you also had labels like planet child music that perpetuated Royz's brand of oshare.

 

MoNoLith were the polar opposites of MiD DERACINE style-wise, yet they were best friends who all hailed from the Sendai area. The MVP48 omnibus from a few years back is a good example of what the bands up north in the touhoku region sounded like. I'm no longer familiar with the current bands in this circuit, but Morrigan seems to have made its way to relative recognition.

 

Edited August 20, 2017 by helcchi

[emmny 4139]

@Disposablei love ur posts more than you'll EVER know

i love these historical discussions, its great to hear all these different anecdotes from a history which i wasn't a part of and would be dead unless people continued to share their knowledge. i love this subgenre, which is funny because i hate american alt-metal, LMFAO

 

most of my favs have been shared...BUT...the GOAT of all trash...

Spoiler

depain are one of the few bands that went on to take their alt-metal mess into 2014-onward, but they were active toward the very end of the movement

awful vocalist, some great songs though

 

Spoiler

yazzmad is an odd inclusion but their songs used to have a weirdly intense alt-metal influence with the downtuned guitars, they only kept this for a year or two before going straight up jazz/swing/full on art kei

 

Spoiler

varyl, ex-gossip vox's band went on to flop but was notable for including a lot of gossip style drama in their sound

 

Spoiler

cant forget these bootleg despa clones!

 

Spoiler

ruvie had this randomly heavy song in the mix, but some alt-metal influences pop up here and there. while they're mostly in buglug now, its notable that ruvie held a twoman with girugamesh in their indie days, believe it or not, LOL.

 

Spoiler

cant be forgetting old kagerou!!!

 

[itsukoii 1300]

a couple more i remembered

[Karma’s Hat 3107]

@emmny Consider despa clone wad blown all over the keyboard by that fucking Berlin. I lost it at the fucking keys.  

 

Early Kagerou is obviously an essential inclusion, not only for their part in the whole travesty but because the first album is just amazing. It must have been my most played album in the summer of 2014

 

 

 

@itsukoiiThe name of that band R made me so angry I got PTSD from memories of having searched those bands with stupid unsearchable names- speaking of which, does anyone remember a band called celsius? Their was just the symbol and finding them on youtube and on the web an impossibility. In fact I tried to search them for this topic in vain early on.  

 

[helcchi 942]

3 hours ago, emmny said:

depain are one of the few bands that went on to take their alt-metal mess into 2014-onward, but they were active toward the very end of the movement

 

Their re-recordings of 13fiction and Black Bother Barbarian later into their tenure sounded more core than anything and SAVAGE is pretty much metalcore by this point:

But they did seem to mix their older style in their earlier tracks

[rebelstrik 111]

Since this topic is about nu metal in visual kei worth to mention also korean bros -  the Trax

 

 

Edited November 27, 2016 by rebelstrik

[emmny 4139]

1 hour ago, helcchi said:

Their re-recordings of 13fiction and Black Bother Barbarian later into their tenure sounded more core than anything and SAVAGE is pretty much metalcore by this point:

But they did seem to mix their older style in their earlier tracks

see, i don't find savage to be full visual core, throwing a thrashy riff into otherwise nu-metal structure doesn't make them x-core all of a sudden. the drumming is straight up unsraw-style blasting, nothing like the speedy sujk/misc deluhi rip offs. it sounds a lot like neo-destruction in the composition.

that said, savage have some awful taste and throw in a fuck-ton too many bleepbloops; otherwise their sound is quite similar to their alt metal days, minus all the new mosh songs and electronics which leaves like 3 good alt-metal songs who am i trying to kid

[Tokage 5930]

These guys always seemed pretty openly influenced by MUCC's older nu-metal-influenced sound, so I think they deseve to be mentioned here.

 

There's 100% better examples for these dudes out there on the YT-sphere as well, they were basically to old MUCC what Grieva was to old Dir en grey at some point, so similarities are inevitable.

 

heidi. sometimes went full nu-metal as well. As far as I know, it didn't happen too often tho.

 

:^)

 

And since I posted the previous one, I feel like this band also brought the nu-metal riffage from time to time.

 

Just fucking come and DARE tell me that that bass doesnt have the nu-metal sound my dudes.

 

Honorable mention also goes out to the angura band Uma, I remember them having a rap rock/nu-metal type sound as well, can't find any samples on YT though, sadly.

[StriderSubzero 53]

I'm enjoying this read a lot, particularly the historical stuff.

 

It's funny to see people admit to thinking fondly of this stuff, because I loved this sound when it was current and I assumed I was in the minority. Around 2004 when I was just getting into VK, I was exposed more to D'espairsRay, UnsraW, Gazette, and of course Dir en grey, and that was the sound I associated with VK. I really didn't discover the "classic" sound beyond Dir en grey's early stuff until a few years later. I played in metal and -core bands in late middle school and high school so the heavy vibe spoke to me more. Truthfully I did listen to some nu-metal like Mushroomhead and KoRn but I didn't see much similarity between those bands and this style of VK until later. I'm not entirely sure why.

 

Where does stuff like early Devil Kitty fit in? It has some odd turntable usage (0:43) and some awkward, sort of metallic riffing but I have no idea what to make of this weird garbage. 

 

 

 

While not as nu-metal as most of this thread, it's a fairly early example at 2003, and I always enjoyed this song more than I care to admit:

 

 

 

I'm not familiar with this version of the song which is apparently a more recent re-recording, but I always dug the original's riffs: 

 

 

 

This is a good example too. It's like if Coal Chamber was fronted by a child:

 

 

Edited November 28, 2016 by StriderSubzero

[Jigsaw9 6783]

48 minutes ago, StriderSubzero said:

It's like if Coal Chamber was fronted by a child

 

This is now my favorite description ever. XDDD Also, painfully accurate, haha.

[doombox 4421]

22 hours ago, rebelstrik said:

Since this topic is about nu metal in visual kei worth to mention also korean bros -  the Trax

 

So happy to see them show up in here!! They were produced by Yoshiki so they were legit as far as I'm concerned. I need to go find these and my old Seo Taiji albums now. 

[mierdaculo 13]

On 27/11/2016 at 8:05 AM, Tokage said:

 

 

My contribution:

Always felt like Zilch's nu-metal/industrial rock-ish hybrid was neat as hell and it saddens me that hide had to die before he had any chance to explore this project any further cuz it was pretty damn good

 

 

Yeah I was gonna say, hide was definitely into late 90s american alternative metal/"nu metal". The video posted with Kyouka from Aliene Ma'riage from 2005, he looks like hide did in the late 90s.

 

Babylon also had some nu metal influences, I remember when they released their 4th CD, people were a bit confused about Misa's track "Hana no miyako, ware, chirikeri", it has a corny nu-metal riff all throughout the verses, I remember people saying stuff like "wtf, Misa ripped off Linkin Park!", hehe. But I remember reading Misa saying the song went through a huge change from the original version he composed, and only during the chorus it's similar to the song he composed, the guitar riff from the verses were added by Youki.

The nu-metal sound in Babylon was more due to Youki indeed, the songwriter from RusH (which also had a very nu metal/hide sound).

 

Edited December 3, 2016 by mierdaculo

[JamesR 119]

Drop C + chugging galore = this song  

 

In my opinion, julius is a noteworthy band in this discussion because they were probably the first VK band to play metalcore and make use of autotune/synth leads. That kinda makes them pioneers, I guess...?

[Ito 2438]

 

Oh man - why am I so late to this thread? I feel at home here XD

 

MH (Tainted World at the time) was birthed in the middle of VK's new metal phase, and when I look back at my favorite VK bands of that time period, most of them had a heavy nu metal sound. Let's see if can anything that might have been missed band wise.

 

More Mucc because that kid is awesome lol

 

 

Born before Born

 

 

The one good song by this flash of a band (though the nu metal influences are fairly light on the lighter side)

 

 

The Rudie Satan Park...because the lolz. Those that were around TW at the time will know why.

 

@DisposableThis one is for you and Google

 

God Zodia was waaaay too short lived.

 

@TokageMan, I really wish Zilch could have been something that developed more. It's no secret that I am a hide fanboy, but man I feel like that group had a lot of promise.