COPY/PASTE 4

[Zeus 7997]

Welcome back to Copy/Paste, the series where the Official Reviewers team analyzes recurring ideas, trends, and even melodies across the scene to figure out what inspires our artists and what makes the scene tick. Like always, we separate things into Homages (tributes) or Copies ("inspiration"), and in the rare cases even Plagiarism and Beyond. It's been some time since our last installment, so we have plenty of interesting comparisons scheduled for today. Is your favorite band in the list?

EDITOR'S NOTE: The titles should be read from left to right, so generally the song on the left is the newer song (copy) and the song on the right is the older song (original).

EDITOR'S SECOND NOTE: This is all in good fun and isn't meant to be taken super seriously.

lynch.'s "exist" vs. lynch.'s "NEW PSYCHO PARALYZE"

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It's the first time we've featured a band recycling a riff of their own, which starts this installment off on a curious foot. It's a blatant copy too; the first seconds of "exist" off XIII features the same main riff straight off "NEW PSYCHO PARALYZE" from Inferiority Complex. The riff from "NEW PSYCHO PARALYZE" is a bit heavier and played with a slightly different rhythm, but the similarities are clear. The rest of the songs are quite different, thankfully. I'm not sure what to classify this as. A band paying tribute to themselves sounds curiously close to musical masturbation, especially when the original song debuted not so long ago. Did they forget they published a song with that riff previously? Really, this is Lazy more than anything else, but that's not an option I'm going to give myself, so I consider this Recycling.

 

 

 

 

DEATHGAZE's "SINNER" vs.  trust company's "The war is over"

 

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There used to be a time circa 2006 where you couldn't mention lynch. without also mentioning DEATHGAZE, mostly down to shared history, some member drama, and the similar styles both bands used. This is one of the first times I'll get to mention both bands in the same breath without comparing them to each other. I've known for a long time that DEATHGAZE's Ai has had some very strong "influences" from bands like Trust Company and Static-X, but "SINNER" remains one of the most prominent examples of how strong this "influence" can be. It's one thing to lift a riff or a sample of a vocal melody, but "SINNER" takes the structure of "The War is Over" and essentially covers it with Japanese lyrics. It hurts to find such a strong link between the two songs, because "SINNER" is one of the few songs in the DEATHGAZE discography that sounds refreshingly different, and that's because they didn't write (most) of the song! I'm firmly in the Copy camp here, but I can see some arguments for why this can be considered a Homage instead.

 

 

 

DEZERT's "不透明人間。" (Futomei Ningen.) vs. DEATHGAZE's "闇に雨 腐敗した世界" (Yami ni Ame Fuhai Shita Sekai) 

 

 

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Here is proof that one person's copycat band can be another band's blue print. DEZERT is not a band shy about wearing their influences on their sleeves, and they were never in the running for top prize for "most original visual kei metalcore of all time", but this is a pretty cut and dry example of "inspiration" rearing its questionable head. "不透明人間。"(Futomei Ningen.) sounds like several songs smashed together, but the easiest one to isolate would be "闇に雨 腐敗した世界" (Yami ni Ame Fuhai Shita Sekai) from DEATHGAZE. It was @Peace Heavy mk II's expert ears that caught this comparison, and a quick A-B comparison was all I needed to agree. It's a simple, heavy, and driving riff, but DEZERT didn't try to put emphasis on different notes or personalize this riff. What it sounds like happened is that DEZERT needed a way to bridge together two sections of their song, and one of the members binged on THE CONTINUATION before hitting the studio and this was the result. This three-note riff pops up twice in the song, but the second time is layered with vocals and passes the sniff test more convincingly. This is definitely a "Copy", considering it sounds like the same notes are being played by both bands. 

Starting riff for this song

 

 

 

Start around ~1:04

 

Marry+An+Blood - "Daraku /DARK･STAR" vs. lamiel - "空が堕ちるアノ日" (Sora ga Ochiru Ano Hi)

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Bands copying other bands is nothing new, but previous iterations of this topic would suggest that plagiarism is only confined to the last decade of visual kei. Here is an example from two decades ago that shows how bands in the scene were always recycling and copying melodies that resonated with them, even if they had no visual similarities at all. Indie bands copying more established bands was an open secret in the 90s. Here we have Marry+An+Blood, an indie visual kei outfit who looked to their contemporaries Lamiel to pen "Daraku/DARK STAR" from "空が堕ちるアノ日" (Sora ga Ochiru Ano Hi). Lamiel was one of the most underrated yet influential bands of the 90s. They aren't mentioned much with the greats these days, but they were starting trends and adopting sounds other bands wouldn't catch up to until 2002-2003 at the earliest! Talk about being ahead of your time! I've really gotta hand it to Marry+An+Blood, because the structure of the vocals was copied and not the melody. The biggest give away is in the beginning melody of the vocals each verse. The notes may differ slightly, but the intonation of each verse, where the vocalists choose to rest and where they choose to emphasize their notes are very similar. This is one of those songs that I clearly would classify as a "Tribute", because a listener can go back and forth all day and hear as many similarities as there are differences.

 

 

Dir en grey - "残-ZAN-" vs. 黒夢's (Kuroyume) "親愛なるDEATH MASK -2-" (Shinainaru DEATH MASK -2-)

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I've seen this comparison thrown around for years, and I never agreed with it up until I took a closer look into both of the songs. To make the best comparison, one should take the recording of "残-ZAN-" from Dir en grey's GAUZE and compare that to the recording of "親愛なるDEATHMASK-2-" from 亡骸を ... (Nakigara wo) and not 生きていた中絶児 (Ikiteita Chuuzetsu). The re-recording - denoted with the -2- - is a lot rougher and more unhinged than the original recording, and where I suspect a lot of inspiration for "残-ZAN-" is lifted from. From the slow burn of an opening to the use of blast beats for speed, to even how both songs slow down around the middle before the solo. "残-ZAN-" is a serious love letter to this "親愛なるDEATHMASK-2-", and if you needed more proof remember that when Dir en grey first performed as a band, they went under the name DEATH MASK. Therefore, it should be no surprise to know that Dir en grey created their own version of this song. After listening to the right version, it's pretty easy to see that "残-ZAN-" is both a Tribute and a Copy; Dir en grey managed to add as many new elements to the song as they borrowed, and other than some structural similarities both songs convey very different feelings and moods. In fact, if no one ever mentioned this to begin with, I bet I would have never noticed.

 

 

 

D’espairsRay’s "「タトエバ」キミ...ガ...シンダ...ラ" (Tatoeba...kimi...ga...shinda...ra) vs. Marilyn Manson’s "Angel with the scabbed wings"

 

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Thank Marilyn Manson for inspiration for most of your favorite visual kei bands of yesteryear. Probably some of today's bands too! Bands like Dir en grey have tried to distance themselves from him in their interviews, but the inspiration both lyrically, thematically, and visually is almost too much for me to deny. "「タトエバ」キミ...ガ...シンダ...ラ" is a great example of Manson worship, and one that I wish I had years ago. We can first start with the overall similarity of Hizumi and Manson's harsh vocals - not that it's more than a coincidence, but it feeds into the comparison so I should mention it. Now compare Manson's opening riff from "Angel with the scabbed wings" with 「タトエバ」's bass lick into verse riff that begins at 0:37. It's one or two notes off, but they are very similar riffs that move at the same pace. Finally, the rhythm both of the drummers are playing at are very similar; Tsukasa layers on some more cymbals but that's about it. 「タトエバ」is one of my favorite D'espairsRay songs of all time, and this discovery surprisingly doesn't change that. All of these similar elements really comes together as a copy, but also a homage at the same time. Sometimes these things are unclear like that.

Fun fact: Valluna's "Parasite eve", which I covered in the first installment of this series, is a copy of 「タトエバ」but not "Angel with the scabbed wings" because the part that Valluna borrowed from D'espairsRay is not the part that D'espa took from Manson. Recycling is good for music and the planet!

 

Sadie's "empty room" vs. 12012's "雨、削ぎ落とされた感覚" (Ame, Sogi otosareta kankaku)


 

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I had to do some research to figure out which one of these songs came first, because they are both over ten years old. But for someone like me who is still stuck in the past, I was able to spot this similarity only recently. I am unable to find a studio sample of "empty room", but I've included a live rendition from their 2007 tour "THE SUICIDAL APPLICANTS", where they played this track 12th. I also am unable to embed the track, so you will have to click it and open in a new tab to hear for yourself. Sadie originally recorded "empty room" in 2006 before it made a repeat appearance on their collection UNDEAD13+2. The cadence Mao uses can be traced back to a little-known 12012 song from 2004 called "雨、削ぎ落とされた感覚" (Ame, Sogi otosareta kankaku). I am also fairly certain I've heard the intro to "empty room" in another song somewhere, and I've been certain of it since the first time I heard it, but for the life of me I cannot find it. I am more interested in finding that similarity than this one, because this is honestly a small thing, but it stuck out to me almost immediately. It's enough for me to label Sadie's take as a copy, even if what was copied is essentially scribbles in the margin.

Sadie's empty room:
https://youtu.be/jxfP9uwwOxs?t=2770

 

 

 

 

-OZ-'s "Succubus" vs. Lycaon's "The [1st] degree genocide holic"

 

 

 

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Here's a comparison that I haven't seen anyone in the visual kei community spot yet. The rhythm guitar for "Succubus" by -OZ- has some striking similarities to the rhythm guitar in "The [1st] degree genocide holic" by Lycaon. Surprisingly, the comparison is more easily heard when referencing R指定's cover of the same song, where a lot of the driving, boisterious guitar in the original is removed. I have included a video that puts both versions of the song together, and R指定's cover begins at 4:13. But that's not the only thing that -OZ- lifted from Lycaon! A defining feature of "The [1st] degree genocide holic" are the three guitar tracks and how two bars of the melody jumps from one ear to another before meeting in the middle, and "Succubus" does the same thing during the verses! It's not exactly the same, but it's so damn similar I am convinced -OZ- was inspired by Lycaon when writing this song. The similarities don't bother me much, because it took me so long to spot I have to admit that it was really well done, and the two songs are very distinct beyond that.

 

 

[YuyoDrift 1540]

Even if that D'espa song is copy/paste, you gotta admit that shit was gooooooood.

Hard not to agree with fans of their dark/gothic days.

 

 

[Zeus 7997]

16 hours ago, YuyoDrift said:

Even if that D'espa song is copy/paste, you gotta admit that shit was gooooooood.

Hard not to agree with fans of their dark/gothic days.

 

 

I know! That song was what made me go "yes this is a total copy and i still love it". Been listening to Tatoeba for over 12 years now, shit's not gonna change in an instant. If anything, it might make me check out Manson.

[cvltic 1482]

not to be late but since when did lynch./dgz have member drama lmao or is it just because people assumed Hazuki left on bad terms?

lynch.'s XIII is weirdly "homage heavy", some declared (OBVIOUS and Heretic Anthem, JOKER and The Beautiful People/LUNA SEA's MY LOVER), some undeclared (the above, JOKER & that Mega Man song)...
they did do a similar thing with SCARLET and quarter life as well but they really leaned into that self-reference, even the lyrics are complementary.

[Zeus 7997]

What's this about a megaman song?

[Jigsaw9 6783]

26 minutes ago, Zeus said:

What's this about a megaman song?

I guess it might be THIS... versus THIS?