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Showing content with the highest reputation on 09/05/18 in all areas

  1. 3 points
    Dyingmoments

    HELLO EVERYONE

    I'm Jamie. I'm an engineer from South Carolina. Ive been into VK and most J-music since....sometime in the late 90's. Im not sure when it was but someone posted a link to the ESP Japan site and I saw all the glorious and batshit guitars there and had to hear the music these people made. The first band I listened to was Malice Mizer. This was before youtube so I had to get on soulseek and download everything I could find. Before long I was watching Gackt descend from the ceiling of a cathedral in angel wings and 7" press on nails and I havent looked back since. I suppose what I like most about VK, as a man, is how it approaches a male perspective in vastly contrasting and opposing ways from alot of western music. VK presents an intimacy that you just dont get from male performers in the west, especially in heavier settings. VK artists can be distressed or vulnerable or sexual in a way that's not the standard western "old man and the sea" style of abstraction. I guess its that, alot of times, they approach sexuality or sentimentality in a direct and open way that, as a man, just does'nt exist in my world. Im a pretty sentimental person and, especially being a man in the south, that has its own problems. VK is kindof a wonderland for me in that sense. Im sure thats why it appeals to a mostly female fanbase, though from experience women dont seem all that thrilled with having men like that in their life directly. I joined because I find that, when you bring up VK on most forums or in most music discussion settings, it generally invites disaster. Alot of people that are "serious" about music, if they've ever heard about it at all, discredit it as being silly or as an extension of otaku culture. I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand I completely see the otaku argument. I think there is a larger portion of the fanbase that would'nt be into it if they were'nt into anime or videogames. Im not saying that makes them any less of a fan at all, but I'm never sure if they really like it for the music or mostly because its "HOT AZN BOIZ". I also get that being attractive and being fashion forward gives alot of westerners the impression that the scene is a gimmick. I guess I understand that and I definitely think there are some bands that are far less serious about their musical output than others. Anyway I'll stop rambling. I'm happy to be here and thank you so much for having me. I hope I make some friends and learn alot of new things!
  2. 3 points
  3. 3 points
  4. 3 points
  5. 3 points
    Karma’s Hat

    8P-SB

    You can only see tzk's back because they can't show that he's crying
  6. 2 points
    new band "無能なルシッド (Munou na Lucid)" will commence formal activities at 2018/11/4 at Ikebukuro EDGE. http://www.munounalucid.jp/
  7. 2 points
    Masato is very nice sometimes!!!! I really, really appreciate how he makes these tweets sometimes to take the pressure out of fandom! Just enjoy it! They seem to care at least a little about their fans.... 😭😭😭😭😭😭 "Thank you for choosing us from among the bands with many stars and coming all the way to see us even once a month, once a year, or even if you have a job. That behavior makes the band man happy, and it's good to have confidence and love him. And you come to see them at your own pace. You're a great fan." Masatoooooo 😭😭😭😭😭😭💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💜 "Because of this, we have to do our best to make shows, that are worth at least 3500¥" ♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡ Masato, you are killing me
  8. 2 points
    yukidogzombie

    Drawings

    fanart of my favorite clowns clown_if , FryPan / フライパン , Flower The Clown , clown_canon , Odd-Ball , , Captain Dazzle , clown_doremi , Hayato / 上邑隼人
  9. 2 points
    yukidogzombie

    Drawings

    Hayato from The Nostradamnz Mediums Used Mission Silver Class watercolor , Shinhan Watercolors , Sakura Mat Watercolor and for outlines , Faber-Castell Artist Pens , Sharpie Marker ,
  10. 2 points
  11. 1 point
    Indie rock band PELICAN FANCLUB is making their major debut with Ki/oon Records (home of ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION, L'Arc~en~Ciel, NEGOTO, LILI LIMIT, Chatmonchy, KANA-BOON, etc.). On November 7th, they'll release new mini album Boys just want to be culture. They will also embark on a new tour. More details to come.
  12. 1 point
    Lol, hi everyone! I needed a title that was witty but also incorporated my love for KHRYST+ and me being new... As you can all see, that doesn't look witty and eye catching at all lol working on that But anyways! I've slowly been coming back to the VK fandom ouo was wayward a couple of years ago and went back to listening to some american rock (even ventured out into the kpop genre lol) but, home is home and Visual Kei is still my favourite genre... Well, that and they look too aesthetically pleasing to just leave behind so yeah ouo For the old bands, I like LM.C (their older songs at least), ScReW, and UNSRAW~ But, now am a fan of KHRYST+ and I heard from here that Yuuki's new band is Kallistie?? So, guess imma be a fan of that now too ouo (tbh, I only found out about this forum thanks to me searching if Yuuki has a new band and stuff lol) Nice to meet you all! Hope we can all be friends! And share music togetherrrr, because seriously I am so outdated with the new bands lol ifanyoneisintofanfictionandshippingandshitplsbefriendswithmethanks
  13. 1 point
    I don't think Toshiki has worn a shirt since like 4 years.
  14. 1 point
    I get that he's like a border-line parody act, but I'm hoping he takes the meaning of "consecutive" less liberally than Crucifixion did
  15. 1 point
    nice! they definitely deserve it!
  16. 1 point
    I want a jumpscare teaser where there's just a screen with some japanese text and then out of nowhere some really heavy stuff and Kyo screeching at the top of his lungs (think of the "Reiketsu Nariseba" ending) starts playing with the album cover flashing on the screen (come on, it's pretty freaky, it could work well)
  17. 1 point
    Sad that they are only 3 now but happy for this!! Ki/oon has so many good acts and I hope this will bring them even biggerp opportunities Still 2 months to go but I'm excited
  18. 1 point
    violetchain

    What are you listening to?

    I think I'm finally sold on NOISEMAKER?
  19. 1 point
    Gu.sola has joined Free Aqua Butterfly at 2018/9/5.
  20. 1 point
    @-NOVA- I had to play it a few times but Yes I like it!. Found myself dancing to the song real quick haha!
  21. 1 point
    Kelrya

    Dir en grey

    Almost two decades ago? They still looked pretty VK in the clever sleazoid video and that was like 2006. Gauze wasn’t even out two decades ago.
  22. 1 point
    correctamundo! I've always loved that メト had no idea they would be around past 2005, much less 2018, thus rendering the whole "time travellers" gimmick useless.
  23. 1 point
  24. 1 point
    Bear

    The big TV-series discussion thread

    Channel Zero: Candle Cove - Surprisingly well-crafted horror with an incredible amount of atmosphere, a lot of truly creepy scenes and moments and a very good mystery. I love how it manage to really draw me into the universe in the first episode and keep me there for all six, without every getting boring or uninteresting, like many horror series does. But unlike many of them (Slasher season 1, American Horror Story), this series is only 6x42 minutes long, so there's not much time for filler and regular TV-drama. Such a smart choice! Excellent! Channel Zero: The No-End House - Very different from the first season, but as good IMO. Another smart choice is to make it really different from the first season while still making it feel like the same series. It's got less focus on atmosphere, but the creep factor is really high and the WTF-moments are many, and huge. Excellent! Started on season 3, and after a couple of episodes I feel like it's a small step down. But will watch the rest tomorrow and judge for myself. So far there was one moment I just hated. Was so bad! But it's also super interesting, and the plot itself seems really good. One of the best series on TV the last decade, and another good example that horror DOES have great potential for TV. Stranger Things and Ash vs. Evil Dead is two other great examples on how good horror can be on TV.
  25. 1 point
    Furik

    8P-SB

    They are on drugs. What the fuck are they doing. Fuck this band. Give me Mejibray. What are they doing. I’m so mad. I’m also drunk.
  26. 1 point
  27. 1 point
    For ARCHE, samples were uploaded 20 days before release. For TIW, that day would be tomorrow (6th). Soo samples tomorrow/this week?
  28. 1 point
    Arrived in the mail today, lmao. Nice that you get freebies w/ vaporwave stuff too. I should be getting other stuff later this week.
  29. 1 point
    Arlequin are: Vocalist: Aki Guitar: Nao Guitar: Kuruto Bass: Shohei Drums: Tamon http://arlequin-web.com/ Arlequin (c. 2013) quickly rose to top-shelf, basically-major-but-not-offically-major status through hard work, experience, sharp management and lots of (well deserved) hype, not unlike their contemporaries DEZERT, NOCTURNAL BLOODLUST, and DIAURA. And like their contemporaries, their name is rooted in sharp, well-composed, heavy-yet-melodic bangers. Unlike those names, Arlequin have the distinction of pushing their heavy x melody juxtaposition to the utmost extreme. Their lead singles are augmented by 7-string riffage, rough inhale vocals and furious drumming in conjunction with uber melodic, anisong-style choruses. "Haka ana", "ALIVE", "Stella", "Dame ningen", "Qualia", "Dilemma" and "ECLIPSE" follow this pattern, comprising their most famous--albeit monotonous work. Don't get me wrong, those are some of the best songs to come out of vk since 2010, but a body of work can't rest upon just highlights alone. It's the tracks that aren't singles on an album that make up the bulk of our listening, and this is where album filler comes to the detriment of bands that slay singles but can't do much else. Arlequin are exempt from this and I'll tell you why. What most people don't know, is that Arlequin have a pretty funky experimental streak throughout their discography. If the band were the strength of their a-sides, and frankly whole first album alone, you'd have a solid but flat group of musicians. Luckily for us, Arlequin's most interesting work is tucked into b-sides, corners of albums, and (kinda) forgotten deep cuts. Why is this? Their A-sides and lead promo tracks are almost always easily digestible variations of their hit formula, and usually helmed by lead guitarist Nao. It wasn't until recently (i.e. post 2015) that Nao's hold loosened from Arlequin's compositions, incorporating bassist Shohei and rhythm guitarist Kuruto's songs into the fold. This, in my opinion, has greatly strengthened and diversified their sound. In fact, most of the tracks on the list aren't Nao's songs. Not to say he isn't a kick ass composer, but the band certainly benefits from bringing together clashing styles--just saying, maybe that's why near equal was a snooze fest. That's why the other guys (I hope?) have come to our rescue, bringing us some weirder variations on Arlequins usual formulas. The current result of Arlequin's more recent, integrative era is a sound representing a veritable pastiche of visual kei history: from minimal 00's alt-metal, 80's x-worship, melodic 90's ballads, and 10's modern boundary breaking. These guys know their shit, they're artists who compose with respect to the past, present and future of the scene that spawned them. Not a whole lot of what sounds like ghost writing; just honest sweat, red eyeshadow, hairspray, and broken bangya hearts (and probably condoms). Without further ado, in no particular order, we'll get to looking at my offbeat favs that (I'd like to think) have solidified Arlequin's place as legends of the modern visual scene. No particular order, writing credits are courtesy of the lovely @peffy, though rocklyric has them up too. Live versions of the songs are linked when possible (and representative of the original), I think Arlequin sound way better live than on studio. Last three songs were remade into superior versions on Arlequin's recent best-of, so while originals are gonna be linked--just know where the sauce is truly at. Albums: Utopia (2016): 1.) "残響" (Zankyou) Composer: Shohei Claim to fame: This sounds like a kaleidoscope Of all the songs to fit on here, "Zankyou" is the most fitting. A clusterfuck of twinkling, dueling guitars, one hammering out a weirdly dissonant arpeggio and another tapping a lead line, holding on for dear life. What is just two guitar lines becomes the sound of a million starts shining in your face or just an overwhelming series of flashing lights and sounds. Rhythm plays second fiddle, a steady blast beat and bassline crashing against the star show. You'd have to wonder what the track started off as, as its certainly not a bass-centered track. I'd like to think Shohei gave the guys a bassline and said "go apeshit". Triumphant and riveting, "Zankyou" is unforgettable. 2.) "ハッピーセット" (Happy set) Composer: Kuruto Claim to fame: dissonance man, dissonance What could be a fun banger is turned sour with dissonant rhythm and acrid lead guitar work, bringing a sense of dread from the get-go. As we await a pretty chorus, we're instead stuck with the same ringing chords and Aki shrieking the vocal melody. It's jarring to say the least--no pretty key shift or soothing refrain here. Kagerou/DEZERT-like octave chords play over the verse in the second half, bringing the tension up before the track implodes with more harshness. It's moody--yes, out of place--absolutely. "Happy set" is skipped over a bit when it comes on shuffle, I find Aki's inhales to be grating--especially without a break at all. That's the same reason I find it so interesting, who knew a mid-tempo track like this would be one of Arlequin's most brutal tracks. 3.) "独白" (Dokuhaku) Composer: Shohei Claim to fame: CHUG CHUG CHUG CLACK CLACK "Dokuhaku" is a weirdly shifting, "OBSCURE" esque, chuggy, alt-metal love fest for the first part. Spooky synths, evil laughter, sparse tom-drumming and all. Then it goes into a freak out phase, with blastbeats and screaming and the whole lot. Whats notable is how it just stops and starts between the sections, structure be damned. The acoustic interlude is especially interesting, paired with the stuttering intro cutting off Aki's crooning. The end effect is odd, and it is definitely a grower of a track. I go back and forth between liking and disliking this track, but in the end it's too engaging a track to put down. 4.) "棘" (Toge) Composer: Nao Claim to fame: Sad robot from Nagoya in 1997 "Toge" is a track that should immediately resonate with my old-school-loving peers, the chord progression and lead melody are straight up 90's gold. If you close your eyes and focus HARD, mentally stripping away the drop-tuned guitar and bleepbloops, it could easily be a ROUAGE or Laputa track. BUT...Arlequin aren't hellbent on 90's revival, and that's where it gets fun. Effects are overlaid on the guitarline and vocals that make them sound wonky, lightly distorted and distant, inducing an odd, campy-space-movie feel. There is something so weird about this, but it works because its such a traditional, mid-tempo visual ballad. The contrast is incredible but by no means distracting, and one of their ballad (+discography) highlights. In all honesty, someone should make a weird edited fan video of "WALL-E" footage (robot love!!) with "Toge" playing in the back--might actually pull a few tears out of me. exist (2018): 5.) "NEGA ABILITY" Composer: Shohei Claim to fame: bass DOMINATION Easily Arlequin's most stripped down, dark and atmospheric song. No twin guitar fiddles, bleepbloops, distracting melodies. It's Shohei's delayed bass, delicate vox from Aki, and grinding guitar riffs. I've never heard bass mixed so high in an Arlequin song, especially with such a distorted, crunchy tone. This goes out to all the post-vulgar DEG and 2000's MUCC stans, its a raw, emotive, and almost shockingly simple metal banger. The dazzling chorus hits like a bag of bricks through violent verses and sparse intro/exit sequences. Exist was a pretty strong single, and to leave on such an intense note leaves me curious as to the direction Arlequin will head toward with future releases. puzzle (2017): 6.) "僻目" (Higame) Composer: Kuruto Claim to fame: dizzying slow burn Haunting, dissonant chords accent a djenting rhythm line dancing around complexly groovy, polyrhythmic drumming. When the good ol' Aki chorus hits, its sparkle is dampened by the dark mood of the verses, only looking up during an acoustic reprise toward the end. Lead work is less about virtuouso and more about inducing a disorienting atmosphere--which is something later-era Arlequin have been nailing. If I had to guess, I would've thought it was a Shohei composition with the moody, bass-heavy sound, but it seems like dissonance is a theme with Kuruto's work. PARANOIA (2016) 7.) "link" Composer: Shohei Claim to fame: the DRAMA Looking at "link" in the context of their overall discography, especially the tracks that came after, it's not too shocking a track. But when it came out, it was a novel take on Arlquin's style. It has the heavy, angular alt-metal/djent chug of Shohei's (and some of Nao's) compositional style, paired with incredibly emotive vox from Aki. The sweet chorus+whispered(?) gang vocals save the track from turning into "NEGA ABILITY", but know it could've easily gone in that direction. Maybe that's why "link" is so interesting, like a time-travelling mix of Arlequin past and present. The overall mood is contemplative, with a meditative heaviness and stillness about the track. The live version is interesting, because the band flubs around a bit (was it the last song off the main setlist?), but I think it shows the band in the full mood of the song. 真っ赤な嘘 (Makkana uso) (2017) 8.) "gossip" Composer: Nao Claim to fame: DAT RIFFING THO Now less moody, more party. "gossip" is both early 2000's oshare/punk-rock fun and a tinge of 80's visual, a-la X. All parts of the song hit hard as hell, making for a fun and melodic listen, despite a pretty simple structure. That said, the second half with the dazzling Nao solo and thrashy drumming take the track over the top and really bring the power-metal vibe home. I was very pleasantly surprised to see the band revisit "gossip"'s throwback sensibilities with the even MORE X/Luna Sea-loving lead single "puzzle" in 2017. It stands alone within their discography for the mishmash of visual history, a recurring theme in Arlequin's repertoire. Arlequin (2013): 9.) "Fiction" Composer: Nao Claim to fame: Bleep-bloop, rapping, triumphant solo...confusion Let's be honest, Arlequin's first demo was a hot mess. All four tracks were salvaged (after careful reworking) on their Kaichikan... best-of album, which was a testament to the strong melodic sensibilities that the guys had since Arlequin--probably why it sold out like 3x over. "Fiction" is the hottest mess, with a nightmarish smattering of late-2000's visual cliches: slow-down choruses, rapping, high-pitched-leads-over-blastbeats, jumping section, gaze-thot(TM) backing vox, shrieking, bleep-bloops. To add insult to injury, the track randomly goes for a virtuosic solo to close it off, fading into nothing as if we didn't just get rap-screamed at three minutes prior. Why on earth would you want to listen to this? The same reason you'd gladly watch a car crash in slow motion. That and it's fucking Arlequin, who somehow fashion a shitstorm of bad ideas into something quirky and endearing. Eclipse (2014): 10.) "像" (Zou) + BOOOOOONUS "ナミダノアト" (Namida no ato) Composer: Nao Claim to fame: Weirdly danceable metal + weirdly cryable metal The ratchetness of their first demo didn't escape later works--thank god. Eclipse shortly followed their demo, with more-or-less the same stuff that made their prior work so fun, but with a bit of refinement. "Zou" is their crazy livehouse banger, with the original 3-and-a-half minutes usually stretched out to ~7 to accommodate an extended gyakudai (reverse-dive) section toward the end of the track. Dubstep synths clash against chugging guitars and drum machines before jumping into a little fiesta section, led by Aki's spicy la-la-la's and the guitars following with an 'oriental'-sounding scale. Of course afterwards all hell breaks loose with the gangshouts in the gyakudai section. Live version is linked because it's awesome, but "Zou" bangs because of the little phases it moves through within its unconventional structure. Onto "Namida no ato", it has the heaviness and electronics of the usual Arlequin sound, but with this super-melodramatic style that turns it into this odd heavy-ballad. We're tricked into thinking its gonna be heavy, but after the first verse we see what we're in for with the chorus. It also happens to be one of my favourite Arlequin choruses ever, its long and lovely--all the pretty stuff Aki pulls out of his vocal chords, going up and down his range, it's all so beautiful. "Namida no ato" pushes ani-song territory for sure, and I don't think Arlequin even write tracks with progressions this cheesy anymore. Best of all, they repeat the chorus ad-nauseum so you'll literally NEVER forget it. It's a really special song in my opinion, and I love it nonetheless (although that key change before the solo can go!); prime last-song-at-the-third-encore-at-the-anniversary-tour-finale fodder, imagine all the confetti! boku ga kimi no namae wo... Those are my top-10 Arlequin deep cuts! Agree/disagree with these pics/blurbs? Do you have any unsung favourites from Arlequin's discography that weren't featured here? Voice your opinions below! Also if you're a hardcore Arlequin fan and follow their interviews/stuff, I'd love to know more about how they approach composition. That and I'm curious as to what songs are loved/disliked among fans that attend lives. Any bands that think you have B-sides/live-dists/lowkey songs that are overlooked in favour of lead singles? Let me know and I might continue this series. Back to studying for my GREs...it's been real! emmny
  30. 1 point
    That indies sound, that very one. We don't have it anymore.
  31. 1 point
  32. 1 point
    Okay so the first half of that mess of a title is probably a reference to that 'dude, we're time travelers from the future coming back to the '90s to boost our record sales' gimmick they had going on early in their career, what's the deal with the -7 = 20 part tho?
  33. 1 point
    Kaleidoscope

    Dir en grey

    Super hyped to see them live this year, the times they've been here before never worked out for me. I listened to their whole discography again and felt like writing down my thoughts! I can't seem to get into "Macabre" at all, it has some great songs, but overall it feels a bit random to me. Guess I need to give it some more listens. "Cage" is an amazing song. Weirdly enough, I really like "TMOAB" by now, Kyo has huge moments here and especially the calmer songs are among the best material Diru has put out if you ask me. I like "Arche" a bit more now, but I feel like it is the first album that doesn't really push any boundaries, it almost seems like they tried to achieve something similar to sukekiyo, but didn't quite succeed. Also, Kyo's high notes really don't have the old strength anymore (live he sounds incredible though). I enjoy everything they've shown after "Arche" more than that album, I suppose I just like my Dir En Grey catchy haha
  34. 1 point
    nekkichi

    8P-SB

    they're sort of following a generic VK starter formula of 2:1 filler to decent A-side choices ratio, except in this case the less inspired/filler grade tracks are actually vomit inducing from every angle. I like two of their songs so far tbh.
  35. 1 point
    Karma’s Hat

    MEJIBRAY

    I fuck with 420 really, really hard. I think it's one of the best 2010's vk albums even. But other than that there are a lot of B-sides that are definitely worth knowing like black baccarat, sou to utsu no kyoukai, gesshoku and so on. This is one of those bands that really grew on me, and now that I have become very biased to their sound I tend to like most of the stuff they did. If there's one thing that they are then it's unique, with the faults and all it's the whole what makes the mejibray experience.
  36. 1 point
    wow i absolutely love this, the video and their outfits are all well done. They did not cheap out one bit. And of course the song is super catchy its had to get that chorus out of my head ? ne? lol I may pick this up @Yukimoto What do you think? SIDE NOTE: Tracks 4 - 7 are the 1st and 2nd single.
  37. 1 point
  38. 1 point
    lmfaoooooo What? That nigga hootin and hollering in Sukekiyo songs too hahahaha As for the preview, I'm intrigued....but at the same time this sounds like Rinkaku based on the chorus and Rinkaku is the best DIR song ever. Ima be really upset if it ends up being better or worse than it.
  39. 1 point
    Thank you Stockholm & Klubb Lunacy! Some random sweet girl took this polaroid of me 🎵
  40. 1 point
    A 60 second teaser clip of Ranunculus has been revealed.
  41. 1 point
    Alkaloid

    What are you listening to?

    R.I.P. Kyle Pavone.
  42. 1 point
  43. 1 point
  44. 0 points
    I don’t remember anyone sweating for samples of Ninth week’s before release to be honest.
  45. 0 points
    Come on, lets have some fun speculating, Suji!
  46. 0 points
    He will also form another session "Raizoセッション-くれみあ-" at Shinjuku RUIDO K4 on 2018/09/27. Vo.Toshiki (ex.Pan-d-ra) Gt.恋(Ren) Gt.Raizo (ex.Scarlet Valse) Ba.Shian (Scarlet Valse) Dr.Yo-hey (Scarlet Valse) SET-LIST: みかんのうた/SEX MACHINEGUNS 彼女の“Modern…”/GLAY ダイヤモンドヴァージン/Janne Da Arc ROSIER/LUNA SEA wtf Toshiki ... was it necessary?
  47. 0 points
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