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| Not quite divine, but a PREACH-worthy effort! Tracklist: 1.Hallelujah 2.黒い虹 (Black Rainbow) 3.1000年 (1000 Years) 4.美しい火 (Beautiful Fire) 5.愛はなけなし (What Little Love) 6.風 (Wind) 7.時間さえも年老いて (Even Time Ages) 8.!!!!!!!!!!! 9.ただ遠くへ (Just Going Far) 10.あなたを愛したい (I Want To Love You) 11.いこうよ (IKOUYO) THE NOVEMBERS hold a special place in the hearts of many Monochronmiums. I would go as far as saying, the majority of us who have at least a toe dipped in the waters of the ‘J-Rock’ and Japanese indie scenes, are fans of the band in some capacity. What makes THE NOVEMBERS a unique case is their wide appeal. Without going into strict alter egos, their sound can be divided into two major halves: namely, the light, jangly, and shoegaze-y sound and their darker, more aggressive, alternative sound. Or, as I term them, ~dream ver.~ and ~scream ver.~. While 2015’s Elegance leaned heavily toward the dreamy sound, this album, Hallelujah, seeks to restore balance. The title track eases us into the album delivering (us from evil) with a euphoric sound, featuring simple, ‘tribal’ style drumming. It’s an epic theme, if a bit one-note. Immediately changing gears, the band hangs a hard U-turn with “Black Rainbow.” As the first single release of the album, we got to preview this angsty number back in July. Can anyone say, ‘shoegrunge’? The band maintains the forceful momentum on “1000 Years,” perhaps the best received heavy track on the album, according to comments here on MH. There’s something vaguely thrashy about the riffs on this one. Kobayashi’s harsh vocals are also noteworthy, invoking a paradoxically restrained rawness. With a pretty strong start to the album, tracks 3 through 6 form a flawless stretch for me, as someone who predominantly gravitates toward THE NOVEMBERS’ lighter sound. “Beautiful Fire" is gorgeous and the polar opposite to the grittiness of the previous two tracks. It has more conviction than the wispy work on last year's Elegance and it also marks a glorious return to those warm horn arrangements, a nod to 2012's stunning GIFT EP (did you really think I could get through a NOVEMBERS review without namedropping it?), which adds a nostalgic touch. “What Little Love” is a track I slept on at first, but if I had to choose now, I’d probably nominate it as my album fave! I know @togz agrees with me! What’s fascinating about this track is its fusion of the band’s two sides. The dark, but tranquil verses are somewhat reminiscent of 2013's zeitgeist-era tracks like “Meursault.” The choruses, however, are where the band’s dreamier side shows through again. The piercing, ethereal synths are a NOVEMBERS signature, but during the chorus, they creep ever so gingerly towards dissonance, adding a striking tension to this song. Bringing up the rear of my album high is “Wind.” I’m not sure the band has ever produced a number quite like this, with bright riffs that would be at home in 90s/early 2000s ‘white kei.’ If you’re wondering what the hell I ever mean with ‘jangly’ guitar, look no further than “Wind.” Plus, Kobayashi hits an unusually high register in this track that is truly music to my earholes. “Even Time Ages” is where Hallelujah starts to falter. Don’t get me wrong, I actually quite enjoy this gloomier track, but it feels like what we’ve heard before on zeitgeist or mid-album on 2014's Rhapsody in beauty. "!!!!!!!!!!!" is arguably the weakest showing on the album, lacking the distortion to back up how aggressive it wants to be. “Just Going Far” seems to directly cite zeitgeist’s “Flower of life” with its contrasting heavy bass and airy synth approach, though I suppose this one has more of a somber mood. “I Want To Love You” is where the band gets back on track, granting us a droning, unabashedly shoegaze ballad, if such a thing exists. In fact, this track and the closer “IKOUYO” summon the distortion that their last album, Rhapsody in beauty, so selfishly hogged for the ~screamy~ tracks, proving that the ~dreamy~ side can get down and dirty just as well. Dazzling (and colorful) cover art aside, Hallelujah is unlikely to go down as many people’s favorite NOVEMBERS album. Despite unprecedented tracks like “Wind” and “I Want To Love You,” the album is just a little too derivative of work they’ve already released. Having said that, ‘more of the same’ is not necessarily a bad thing. Overall, Hallelujah is still a kickass record and is commendable for balancing the band’s two primary sounds more effectively than on recent releases. THE NOVEMBERS have been around for eleven years and it's not that they are starting to show their age. Rather, it’s simply getting tougher and tougher for them to outdo themselves. Even so, they remain as solid as ever. Perhaps, we just need to reconceptualize Hallelujah as something to hold us over until their inevitable release in 2017. I, for one, am already looking forward to discovering where the band will take us next. And maybe, just maybe, the band will give us a decent promo photo next year so I don't have to resort to a still from a PV! What did you think of Hallelujah? Support the band! Spotify | CDJapan | Amazon Japan

visual kei horror story (rill spook! click on ur own discretion!!)

Actually Folie ran away cuz he got one of his tsunagari pregnant and she wanted an abortion

I mean, PT's always been one of my most-liked Japanese bands, but to be quite honest, in recent years I've felt that their looks and cover art have consistently been more interesting than their actual musical output, at least in terms of singles, so... IDK. This move back to a more wall of noise-type shoegaze sound just feels refreshing again. It's not something you often run into in the VK scene. Last time I remember something like that being vaguely present in PT's music is in the background of 影絵's chorus part and 木霊, but other than that any recent other material w/ that specific vibe escapes me Asking for a disbandment's just hyperbole based on hype on my part, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't more than down for Pura to at least go on some sort of hiatus (however brief) to cure this [generic PT single A-side] issue the band appears to have been suffering from since like... The singles leading up to Ink, at least

Because every time this happens it ends up that one of the members ran away and didn't tell anyone ended up sick at someone's house for a few days and is fine had family issues he needed to deal with They almost never end up dead in a ditch somewhere. This sounds a lot like #1, especially with the loans business. They aren't getting that money or equipment back because if I were him and I needed money I would have pawned your shit a long time ago Himitsu Kessha Codomo A style. Hopefully they get some answers but a lot of these bands seem like they walked into a discord chat and typed "lf guitarist 4 vk" and picked the first person to reply who could play scales. If they don't even ~know~ him that well it might be over.

Hmm, I get your point, but why is that a bad thing? A "lame" excuse can also be turned into a reason for drawing daily and it becomes motivation. I can't see how that can be bad in any way. You're right that drawing doesn't require monthly challenges or even requests from others, it's something to do constantly and because you want to. Because you like to draw, because you need to draw, because you know how practicing is important if you want to improve. All that. Monthly challenges such as Inktober are not "nothing" though, they are a way to share the same experiences with a large group of people, during the same period of time, some who may not find their motivation so easily. It's a way to challenge yourself. And while I'd like to believe that loving to draw is enough motivation, life sometimes gets in the way and it can make you stop doing things you once though as important as breathing. I can tell, I've been there. Extra motivation is never a bad thing. It encourages them not to only draw and ink it, but also to share their experiences online - and that changes things a lot imo. In this case, aside from being a way to motivate people to draw, it directs them to something else than pencil sketches or digital art, the latter being something a lot of people are focusing on right now. Inktober is all about the ink itself, so digital art wouldn't work here. Of course people can continue practicing doodles, digital art or not, or whatever else they wish, nothing changes there. It's not a matter of needing the challenge or not, but being part of a global event that involves doing something you love. And that's fun. It's my first time participating in Inktober, but it's not my first time watching people do it, and I only saw good things come from their experience. It's a win-win situation really. That said, each person participates in it for different reasons, but whatever the reasons are, the important thing is to have fun (always).

Awesome review as usual @fitear1590 - I always enjoy your writing! I enjoy this album, but there just aren't any moments that make me go "UMPHHH!!!" like Koba's shouting before the chorus in "Blood Music.1985" or in "鉄の夢". There are no songs that make me want to just fly off into the clouds with Koba's voice like in the chorus to "Rhapsody in beauty". Nothing on this album feels as emotionally cathartic as when Koba hits those high notes near the end of "dumb." There are no songs here where I can simply get lost in the beautiful, melancholic guitar interplay and the smooth buttery basslines like in "We" and "はじまりの教会". But, as I said, it's still a good album - hell, it's extremely solid in fact. It just doesn't reach any of the peaks that the other albums reach for me, and the narrative/flow just isn't as compelling for me. I'd rate this as my 4th favorite album of theirs - with Zeitgeist up first, Rhapsody 2nd, and To melt 3rd - with a fucking razor thin difference between those three. My favorite tracks from Hallelujah atm are "Black Rainbow", "1000 years", "Just Going Far" and "What Little Love".

pura haven't had an original sounding album in the last decade, this is literally the most exciting thing he's done since like chandelier

and we have the durations : 1. Raise the Curtain - 1:18 2. Re:incarnation - 11:12 (!!!) 3. END TRIP - 4:04 4. Kaleidoscope - 4:04 5. Cold Shadow - 7:50 (!!!) 6. SENSE OF ASH (album mix) - 3:30 7. The Baptist (album mix) - 4:40

I know this is short notice, but it completely slipped my mind until now - anyone down to hold our Sunday session at plug.dj instead of dub, just for tomorrow? I figured it would be more fun and 'festive' to hold it there with the avatars and Halloween layout they have instead of on dub, which still looks normal. I'd also like to encourage the playing of halloween-ish songs, or at least songs that are related to halloween/horror to some extent. Since this is short notice, I don't want to make this theme mandatory, though!

Acho que tá mais barato ir pra Jupiter do que ir no show do Jupiter

A few obvious ones, but if you're not too into horror movies you'd want to try 'em out: Good Halloween-themed films: Halloween (1978) Trick 'r Treat (2007) Night of the Demons (1988) Night of the Demons 2 (1994) Hocus Pocus (1993) In general I'd just recommend some great horror films: The Thing from Another World (1951) Dracula (1958) Kwaidan (1964) Night of the Living Dead (1968) The Exorcist (1973) Alien (1979) Friday the 13th (1980) The Evil Dead (1981) The Thing (1982) A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) Ringu (1988) The Blair Witch Project (1999) The House of the Devil (2009) Frankenstein's Army (2013) The Thing from Another World (2013) Housebound (2014) It Follows (2014) We Are Still Here (2015) I guess I'll have to stop now. I decided to leave the pre-50's horror films out since you don't seem to be too much into films in general (sorry if this is wrong), which is a shame consiering some of te best horror films were made in the 20's and 30's. But I tried to limit myself a bit, even though it doesn't seem to have worked too well. Anyway, I've rated all these films either 9 or 10.

holy fucking SHIT i can't wait for all the trve shoegaze stans to congregate here...ryuutaro SNATCHED this shit disband pt [2]

Jupiter new live-limited single "The spirit within me" (2 tracks w/ 24-page booklet, 2500 yen) will be released at their live event, "IGNITED DICE" at SHIBUYA CLUB QUATTRO on December 29. They will also hold their fanclub-limited Christmas live, "IGNITED DICE ~前哨戦~" on Christmas Eve at Shibuya Star Lounge, and HIZAKI Birthday Live "Elizabeth" at Shibuya REX on February 17, 2017.

I know october is about to end, but I was wondering: Is anyone here doing Inktober? For those who don't know, it's one of those monthly challenges, the name mixes Ink + october. This challenge is all about ink, it helps you improve your inking techniques and overall it just forces you to practice daily. As I only recently got back to drawing -- something I love deeply and don't know how I was able to live without for so long --, it's my first time doing this. I'm taking it very slow and not following any prompts, I'm also very late since I've been busy and the weather is too hot for me to do anything. But I'm trying! I'm still on day 13... :< I'm gonna post a few I liked, but they're not very good. I kept them simple most of the time, since I suck at inking since I decided this would be a sketchy inktober. It has been named "Inketchtober" by me. Bad name, I know. :'D ^ me, trying to reach Inktober's dead line. And failing. :< That's enough, I guess...lol. I still haven't inked today's. D: Anyway, I'll keep practicing and get better! If anyone else is doing it, let's share it here

I agree with everything @Hakoniwa said. Even if you consider yourself an artist and love drawing, there are always times when your juices run dry and you don't draw for days, weeks, or months. The way I mostly see it though, these kinds of challenges give way to trying new things and going out of one's comfort zone, which is always a good thing. It isn't just an excuse to draw. It's a way of exploring further with what you can do with your skills. And it can be all very fun in the process!

Since this thread has been evoked back to life let me inform you about the films I've seen this weekend: Demons Demons 2: The Nightmare Returns Lamberto Bava would never go on to become as great as his father, Mario Bava, but he never had any problem impressing. While not his best films, but are highly entertaining euro-splatters full of cheese, poor acting and lovely special effects. Demons is better than Demons 2 which is more or less the same film with a different setting. Great soundtracks to with Claudio Simonetti, Pretty Maids, Billy Idol, Accept, Saxon, The Smiths, The Cult, Fields of the Nephilim, Dead Can Dance and more spread over the two films. First one is a bit more metal. Night of the Demons Night of the Demons 2 Cheesy, over the top and great horror films set at Halloween. So over the top, but perfectly executed with amazing special effects and lots of fun. The sequel is a bit campier and less serious in tone, but I dig it slightly more. It's more of a teen horror with silly jokes, great nudity and more humour, but it truly pays off. And who's unable to become bewitched by a beautiful girl dancing retardedly to old Morbid Angel? Holy water!

Today ~

@fitear1590 Great review! I enjoy your style of reviewing. I don't agree with all your opinions but I think I would give it the same score you did. My expectations for this album were very high, like they always are with THE NOVEMBERS releases and I was a bit disappointed if I'm being honest. And it's still one of the best J-albums released this year so that's saying something about the quality of their music. Some notes about the album / songs: - 1000 Years is like a poor man's version of Blood Music.1985. - Kobayashi's vocals on 愛はなけなし (What Little Love) make me think that he would be a great nagoya kei vocalist. - I think @CAT5 put it well with there being no notable "UMMPPH!" moments that make you revisit the songs time after time. For me moments like these are the first chorus of Rhapsody in beauty with the siren guitar and Kobayashi's high notes interlocking, the killer riff starting at 1:30 in Wire (Fahrenheit 154), the chorus of 彼岸で散る青 (Jigan de chiru ao). There were no moments on "Hallelujah" where I thought "holy shit that's amazing!" - My favorite songs after multiple listens: Black Rainbow, What Little Love, Just Going Far. That guitar riff in Just Going Far's "chorus" is fantastic! And for lolz: 1. (To) melt into, 2. Zeitgeist, 3. Rhapsody in beauty, 4. Hallelujah

Ryutaro already said.... PT will not disband because the solo project.

Wow you guys are something. Disbanding P-T after hearing just 12 seconds of a song? No vocals even? OK

You took the words right out of my mouth! I can agree with the overall sentiment that this is a great album but not their best. For me, the biggest downside is the inconsistent flow of the album. With just a little bit of re-arrangement, the entire album could have come off as more cohesive. When there are sprints of tracks near the end that don't resonate with me, I fall out of the music pretty quickly. The first half of this album is pretty bad-ass but the second half just puts me to sleep. I haven't listened to enough of THE NOVEMBERS to be able to rank them as CAT and togz have, but I know that it's above "Elegance" but below "Rhapsody in Beauty".

You won't find horror films with more atmosphere than those made back in the 20's through the 70's. There was no such thing as jumpscares back then, and it was all about atmosphere and suspense. Jumpscares didn't really come along before the late 70's/early 80's, even though there was only a small amount of films like Carrie and When a Stranger Calls that used/tried a form of this technique before the 80's. So checking out horror films from 70's and backwards won't hurt if you look for horror films without cheap jumpscares. You won't find a single film with better atmosphere than Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens. The atmosphere is so thick you can smear it out on a piece of bread like butter. Same goes for other 20's horror films like Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari Der Golem, wie er in die Welt kam Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Häxan Orlacs Hände The Phantom of the Opera Faust: Eine deutsche Volkssage Or from the 30's: Vampyr Frankenstein Bride of Frankenstein The Black Cat Dracula Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde The Old Dark House The Hound of the Baskervilles Just to mention a few. I could go on, but these are all films that are as atmospheric as possible. Especially the 20's horror films are beyond what we can atmospheric. It's incredible. Add The Call of Cthulhu (2005) to the 20's list too, as it plays along like a film of tat era. Excellent film! But if these type of films for some weird, unexcuseable reason ain't your thing, then try some newer films from the 2000's like The House of the Devil The Witch: A New-England Folktale Martyrs We Are Still Here A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night Eden Lake Lake Mungo The Conspiracy The Blair Witch Project Bone Tomahawk (western-horror!!!) The Others These films have none or close to no jumpscares in them. It's about atmosphere, suspense and more atmosphere.

holy shit yæsssssssssss

Yay, one more! ^^ I'm really late and haven't had the time to ink stuff everyday, but it's already helped me a lot, I feel. It's been fun! I'm sure I won't be able to complete all days of october, but I'm okay with that. I've been posting them to my instagram account and I didn't have any time to ink today, again! :< My latest is this one: Day 13 >_> It was a poor attempt of drawing the comedy duo Downtown, and while Matsumoto is recognizable, Hamada definitely isn't lol.

Great to see that someone else here is doing Inktober! I've been posting mine up in my personal art thread here x x x (you might have to scroll a bit). And don't worry, I'm not very experienced with using ink either, and it's also my first time taking up the challenge (because I"ve been too busy in previous years to do it). But it's great practice and can be very fun sometimes~ I always love to see what other people can do with the medium, so thanks for making this topic and sharing your Inktober sketches! ^^ Here's my most recent Inktober for the 29th!

Seconding The Exorcist and Killer Klowns from Outer Space. However, I advise you not to drink green milk tea or any drink of similar color before watching The Exorcist (you'll know what I mean). a few general recs: Carrie 1976 Jacob's Ladder 1990 (personal favorite) Zombieland 2009 (comedy horror) Little Shop of Horrors 1986 (comedy horror) Insidious 2010 Some good Thai horrors: Shutter 2004 (this one gave me a good fright) Alone 2007 Coming Soon 2008 The Eye 10 (comedy horror)

This is an awesome review and you stole the words right out of my mouth. I'm glad to see we favored the same song! I think it shows a lot of different sides just in one track but doesn't sound too choppy. I really liked this album its easily my second favorite after zeitgeist. thank you for reviewing this!

@CAT5It's not really a horror, more of a dark comedy with some blood here and there, but since it involves vampires I'm gonna rec What We Do In The Shadows anyway, it's a faux-documentary about a bunch of vampires living together and it's one of the funniest movies i've seen in the last few years Also dank (but not necessarily scary, more high on camp value): Killer Klowns from Outer Space Evil Dead 2 Braindead Hausu Demons 1 & 2

All I want to say is... The title track is pretty good and all, they may not sound like they used to, BUT WHO CARES ABOUT ANYTHING WHEN THEY'RE RE-RELEASING AZEMICHI DE!!!! That's only... my favorite song of theirs. How can you not love Satou singing "I hate you" with such a soft voice? In such a soft way? HOW CAN YOU NOT?!? I just hope the new version will be good still. : 3

..... or is it the video that played u? ..... damn..........

Hello, all. I was hoping you could share some of your favorite live clips that fall under the category of most emotionally intense performance. These tend to be the clips I revisit the most, because there's something quite satisfying about a sentimental moment in a live setting. Here's my vk/jrock picks: ムック Mucc - 朽木の塔 Kuchiki no Tou (??? 2004) Tatsurou. That's all that needs to be said here, really. Footage is actually taken from two separate performances, so do your best trying to figure out which one the audio's from. Whichever, this performance kicks ass. I'm always amazed by how unforgivingly dark the performances in this era often were. Again, Tatsurou... DELUHI - s[k]ape:goat (Shibuya C.C. Lemon Hall 2011) Generally really hype song and hype performance, but the bit @ 2:05 - 3:00 sends shivers down my spine. Just such a cool buildup and the vocal work/screams here are ace. Killie - H19.09.07 (a.k.a Ressurection a.k.a キリストは復活する) (Shinjuku Loft 2008) YES!!! If you're unfamiliar with this song or band, try your best to sit through the whole thing. It's a bit unorthodox in structure and really can only be consumed in a full listening. Pretty much the only proper live recording of Killie and man, it makes me wish they had recorded a whole show rather than just this one song. Still, incredibly cool. The cohesion of this group in their bittersweet stop-and-go antics is exhilarating. るう゛ぃえ Ruvie - パラダイス・ロスト Paradise Lost (Shibuya O-EAST 2008) With this clip in particular, I feel like the synchronicity of the members is what brings a lot of that convincing emotional energy. I really love the vocals and guitar/bass lines during the quietish section right before the last sort of blowout at the end. Shame they couldn't do the backing vocals live in that bit, but still pretty good imo. Please post your favorites! I'm excited to see your picks

Vexent Gu.燈華 (Touka) has been missing since 2016/10/20, and the band urges anyone with information to message their staff Twitter.

https://plug.dj/monochrome-heaven

YES! i agreee with @hiroki The simple look is really nice, and very very stylish. It may be "cheap" but its super adorbs I think im in love already too <3

MV SPOT: http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/1477836067?cp_webto=share_tw-spweb

I live in the south, bring some snow down here, fuckers!! 😩😭😩

Disbanding Pura cuz of a 12 sec preview??? 😂😂😂 Fuck all y'all, you're all fucking idiots.

Gonna check out some of the reqs y'all have suggested for CAT, but I was wondering if anyone has recommendations for good atmospheric horror films? I absolutely hate jump scares(they seem way too cheap anyways), but love movies that rely more on atmosphere and suspense. Already checked out The Babadook and It Follows and loved both of them.

Since Alkaloid had asked for clarifications: The tweet also says that Touka has taken loans from members and that he was also put in charge of their band goods/equipment, so they're concerned that he's got into trouble.

Super Merrys: Merry: MERRY（メリー） 2016.10.29 クリエイティブセンター大阪 「Merry Halloween Party～Trick or MERRY～」 with:スーパーメリーズ SET LIST 01.ビニ本2丁目八千代館 02.【collector】 03.罪 04.絶望 05.Zombie Paradise ～地獄の舞踏曲～ 06.青年秘密倶楽部 07.演説 08.[human farm] 09.Carnival 10.千代田線デモクラシー EN1 01.平日の女 02.Happy life EN2 01.妄想rendez-vous

About MUCC's Kuchiki no Tou, didn't they say they're never playing that song live again? The studio version is already very emotional and this... this is just... ugh. ç_ç I get why they'd choose not to play it again... and also, like you said: TATSUROU. THIS. :'( Do As Infinity - Fukai Mori This live of Fukai Mori has a lot of meaning to the band and the fans in general. I remember how I felt the first time I watched this, even though I had absolutely no idea what she was talking about. There were a lot of theories around, but in reality she talks about how this song is important to her and to the band and how she felt the first time she listened to the demo tape. And now they're doing that live. That was not long after the band was formed and they felt overwhelmed by all that's been happening. That song was a huge success and it's an emotional song by itself. And then she starts crying and.... ç_ç And... this. MUCC - Akatsuki Yami It helps that I love that song and that it's an emotional song by itself, but the way he sings it there is also overwheming... the lyrics to that song make it even stronger. But even if they lyrics aren't clear to the one who's listening, you can clearly feel he's pouring his emotions into it.

girugamesh through and through. While I used to like D'espa a lot and I loved [Coll:set], they completely lost my respect after I watched a DVD of theirs. I know it may sound like a stupid reason, but I find it a little difficult to listen to their music after that... The way they interacted with the audience and among themselves really put me off. But yeah, especially with the audience, I guess. I still like some songs and all, but I've stopped listening to them since a long time ago. On the other side, I've started liking girugamesh since their 13's reborn release and then their awesome mini-albums like (and especially) Reason of Crying. I somehow feel like girugamesh's members really love music. I also can't help but love Satoshi's voice, his still being one of my favorite male voices in japanese rock overall. I know they haven't kept their quality lately, but that goes for both bands, I guess. I really like them until MUSIC era and, to me, they seemed to be losing "fuel" after that... So I wasn't surprised when they announced their disbandment, it felt like a natural development. I was relieved, even, but also sad. Still, they were one of my favorite bands, so... :< edit: ok and I agree with absolutely everything @sume7said lol

It may be the case that the Kyo connection was emphasized for the purpose of rebranding MERRY and selling them to the Diru fanbase, we'll never know. But to retell that interview, yes Gara was their roadie, and he also used to brainstorm with Kyo, bouncing ideas off of him, when Merry were just starting. Kyo thought Gara's vision was all wrong and backwards , but he let Gara do as he please, as he thought Merry were forming to be a fascinating band. They stopped talking music when Merry signed to Victor. Gara would send Kyo his CDs, Kyo would say stuff like "it sounds like karaoke" (this specifically was re:Ringo to Uso), so of course Gara would be too stubborn to ask for his opinion later Until the critical year 2009, and the rest is history. For the record, I also love under-world, it was a really fresh direction for them and they pulled it off wonderfully, but I guess the fans didn't take to it, punk, noisy production and all. Re:lives, Gara's voice sounds fine in the recordings we have from 2012 and 2014, but he's been hit-or-miss again recently. At least he seems to be more careful now, no more shouting at the top of his lungs when he reaches his limit as he used to. And just performance-wise, their concerts have more color again compared to Beautiful Freaks era. A MERRY cover album will be a dream come true. I love about all of their covers.

@TokageEither that or Kyo's influence. I mean, there was this joint interview with Gara and Kyo from around the time MERRY changed labels that just infuriated me. It was all about how MERRY had lost their way according to Kyo, and how he was always keeping an eye on them and ready to help. So as they didn't have much other support from inside the industry (leaving Victor, not being constantly featured in Fool's Mate any more etc.) and as their popularity was on a downward slope, they finally gave in and signed to Firewall Div., and started taking his advice. (Seems like Gara has/had? this respectful-slash-competitive attitude towards Kyo that I just hope he outgrew, as I think he is the more interesting artist out of the two). Anyway, Kyo oversaw the recording of Beautiful Freaks. If you combine that with MERRY genuinely looking for a direction to change and grow, I can see The Cry Against... materializing from that even without supposed label pressure. @BearYesss, the Gekisei b-sides, eternal favorites <3

HOLY SHIT COME THROUGH RYU!!!!

[tracklist] 1. 愛のゆくえ　（映画 『湯を沸かすほどの熱い愛』 主題歌） 2. LAST DANCE 3. MOON WALK 4. Landscape 5. 夏の影 6. 雨上がり 7. 畦道で 8. 死がふたりをわかつまで 9. クライベイビー

I dont fall okay okay