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All that stuff linked above is not an option if you hate it like I do, lol. Visual kei might as well have originated from two drunk Greeks twiddling around with a lyra after making love to other one's niece. I don't give a fuck. Visual kei is to a large extent my essence and being, but I would rather burn in hell for all eternity than listen to 30 seconds worth of any nu glam/sleaze cockrock, or even all their Kissy forefathers for that matter. I'd rather play 2010's The GazettE covers for a millennia in purgatory than subject myself to any of the bands linked above for a single solitary second. The guys from Bataar and Seremedy may not share my opinion to the same extent, but it's a likely scenario that they'd rather sound like VEXENT/Killaneth/GenericnuVK than OldlyCrew. Most likely these dudes grew up with mid 2000's nu metal kei as well, so whatever the gentleman from X Japan were listening to back in the day has no bearing on their lives. They're white and they want to play Vortex and Remember the urge, and that's kind of it. Wearing a Poison cumrag on your receding hairline is no less hack than rocking a 15$ emo fringe, so if they're dead set on jacking an aesthetic wholesale, then both of these options are just as socio-culturally irrelevant as the other. The concept is not the biggest factor holding them back from being up to the Japanese standard though: it's the execution. The problem here is that they're really bad and can't even do the little that they do without being embarrassingly bad, so they're forever doomed to play handout gigs at battle of the bands held in youth community centers; begging for Japanese tours from a drug-addled, rapidly aging Kenzi whom Yohio presumably blew to get his start there; or just kneel and pray for the rapid advancement of future technologies that will allow scientist to resurrect the other guy from ADAMS so they can warm up for them at their subsequent tours in the Donetsk and Luhansk republics; remaining forever unsigned, forever stuck in shitty local band limbo. I try to follow these bands to the best of my ability not only out of morbid curiosity, but because if I could find 4-5 able vk fans then I'd start a weeaboo kei band myself. So while I'm sympathetic, I'm also twice as angered by their poor music, their poor taste and seemingly narrow frame of reference in visual kei, based on what I've heard and seen from ~sources~. I believe not many people have watched the original carting out the corpse of weeaboo kei video, so here's some cliffs (as far as I can remember them): Back in the day there used to be a dozen vk bands in Scandinavia, now there's practically none and the ones that exist are woefully inactive. Finland used to have quite a few, although ranks of the members were very incestuous. If you can believe it, they were actually even worse than the Swedish bands and the two most long-standing ones even tried rebooting before fading into complete irrelevance. The one that I last recall having a proper concert, called "FAEK", has not updated their Facebook since Autumn of 2016. One curious aspect of the scene was also that a lot of the participants didn't really seem to be active visual kei fans, and yet despite that they used JAME to promote themselves and performed largely at cons and warming up for Satsuki/Plunklock tier bands that happened to be touring and performing at a venue called Gloria that receives some strange government money to minimise the L's the organisers take booking these shitty bands. The most longstanding band of the "scene" called "Karmia" appears to have dropped any pretensions towards vk and has settled for being a shitty local rock band. Here are the results: ( fyi the youtube superstar's former troupe that stole their name from Uverworld have also seemingly left vk behind in favor of a more western approach. Unsurprisingly their social media stature plummeted as dropping the Japanese rock shtick just unveils what they really are: one in the rank of millions of shitty local rock bands ) DIE/MAY is now the only one left and while shitcanning Seike will definitely help, they'll eventually do the routine of downshifting until turning to radio silence and then the eventual disbandment post on facebook, if they'll even bother. Aside from Tuomas and Heikki they also have afaik have one or two guys from the best Finnish vk band in HISTORY that larped TOXIC/DIVISION period The Gazette called "Desier," whom while very bad, managed to sound like an actual visual kei band on a shoestring budget and minimal ability. Conceptually they had a good thing going though. How DIE/MAY performs in their current iteration I will find out this weekend, unless I prefer trying to get cancer outside instead. Any Bataar fans sharing the hashtag can come say hi! edit: This post is already a mess so it won't hurt any that I'll add something that I just thought: conceptual coherency is a problem. When I got to thinking about the last.fm's of these guys that I've seen, or the fates of Overworld and Karmia, I'm not surprised that people seemingly can't make heads or tails of what they exactly sound like. DESIER used to sound like The Gazette because afaik the composer was a huge fan, but then bands like Jenlayn and Karmia straddled a strange territory of sounding like just shitty rock music, in all its terminological ambiguity. It's not entirely farfetched that the amount of band members in the entire history of the scandinavian scene who are as vk savvy as the average member on this board, is as low as 3 or less. I actually briefly trolled a Crestillion live stream two weeks back asking what their favorite Madeth Gray'll tape was and whether they prefer Key Party or Matina. Not replying to me was a perfectly understandable response, but I have no doubt that they had absolutely no idea what I was talking about either. Visual kei in the west is being represented by Yohio ( who's old last.fm you can easily find ), and guys who literally only know Filth in the Beauty and The Final. That's tragic.

artwork and a band pic have been revealed:

Today 5/2 is hide's 19th death anni, and so is the day of the triple disbandment when Girugamesh, SCREW, and BORN announced their disbandments last year.

wow cultural appropriation much #problematic

ARCHEMI. new single "天上天下" (2 type) will be released at 2017/07/19. TrackList (TYPE-A) 1.天上天下 2.礼拝 3.地獄極楽観音開き TrackList (TYPE-B) 1.天上天下 2.仏説 3.地獄極楽観音開き

To celebrate our little Gothic princess' return, I have dived back into her discography, and based solely on my preferences, have composed a list of what I believe to be her best songs, ranked. From the best to the very best. This list will go beyond Nana's quite minimal PV/single works, since there's so few, but won't be expanding across her projects outside of her solo works from 2002-2009 (Loveless and THE TEENAGE KISSERS). There's just too much perfection on this tiny palette as is! Covers have also been blacklisted due to it not being original, solo material. Check out the 'KEYWORDS' to make your searching easier to suit your own taste. I hope you find something to enjoy of hers! Who is Kitade Nana? Kitade Nana (北出菜奈) is a Japanese rock artist. She is affiliated with BIG APPLE and signed under Sony Music Entertainment, and has even released albums in both the United States and Europe. She debuted in 2003 with the single "Kesenai Tsumi", which was used as the first ending theme to Full Metal Alchemist anime. She has followed this with many other tie ins, from the anime Jigoku Shoujo ("Tsukihana") and drama opening to anego ("Kiss or Kiss"). After the release of her debut album, she had started wearing and representing gothic lolita fashion, and started modeling for magazines such as CUTiE, and companies from BABY to her favourite brand, THE STARS SHINE BRIGHT. Though her popularity began to dwindle after this time, she continues to garner a loyal fan base due to her status as a gothic lolita model. The honorable mentions 赤い花 (Akai Hana) - Red Flower - B-side to Utareru Ame. A simply addictive and memorable pop tune. 刹那の絆 (Setsuna no Kizuna) - Bonds of a Moment - B-side to SUICIDES' LOVE STORY. Just as popping as Akai Hana! 悲しみのキズ (Kanashimi no Kizu) - Scars of Sadness - 7th single, was the theme song of PS2 game Fullmetal Alchemist 3: Kami wo Tsugu Shoujo. Simple yet effective. eighteen sky - The closing, ballad track from her debut album, "18 -eighteen-". Gorgeous. サイレン (Siren) - Image song for the Japanese releases of the Canadian cartoon series, Ruby Gloom. Released under the pseudonym of Ruby Gloom. Her best energetic number! HOLD HEART - 4th single, and has a really old school flare. The music will get stuck in your head after only one listen. The Top 10 10. 神様ひとつだけ (Kamisama Hitotsu dake) - My One And Only God Key words: Dark, atmospheric, quiet verses then sudden/loud choruses, brooding, emotional 9. 遺留品 (Iryuuhin) - Instant Keywords: Ballad, sentimental 8. 泡沫 (Utakata) - Transience Keywords: Unique (for Kitade), build up, ambient until dramatic climax 7. Alice Keywords: Ballad, typical Kitade but disguised as cute and sweet 6. 鏡の国のアリア (Kagami no kuni no aria) - Aria of the Mirror Land Keywords: Heavy, macabre, slow yet dark build up/tension, extremely rocking and jaring/haunting vocal and musical work, unique (for Kitade) 5. (月華) tsukihana - Moon Flower Keywords: Anime, theatrical, emotional, 4. Fake Keywords: Oldschool (pop) 3. SUICIDES LOVE STORY Keywords: Emotional/dramatic, ballad 2. 瞬間 (Shunkan) - Moment Keywords: Ballad 1. 消せない罪 (Kesenai Tsumi) ~Ice Cream Tenpura Ver.~ - Unerasable Sin Keywords: Remix, heavy, 'classic', rock So, have you discovered a new favourite artist? Will you be checking out her old material before she starts releasing again, or are you interested in what she'll be doing now? Feel free to add your comments and discuss! Thank you for reading~

@Disposablehow shook would you be if they answered with something like "Neither: I really liked Enamel"

I just felt like contributing.

My faves アルカラ (Arukara) will release a new album sometime this year! It's their first since their 2015 LP. No other info such as release date has been revealed yet. There is, however, a new making-of video with footage from the recording sessions (which is basically how the news got out lmao) HYPE

Hello people! I've always thought japanese lyrics are under explored by us western fans. So I thought of a little fun way of incentivizing the community on giving their 2 cents and analysis on a weekly chosen song, like: The week song + lyric is posted; people give their analysis/thoughts on its meanings and intricacies; other people like the comments they think are more accurate, or what they think is the best interpretation; the person with the most well received analysis gets to choose the song for the next week; Of course what is described above can be changed to better fit the board or the mods, which I believe would be ideal to handle the thread creation and such (maybe the ORZ could take turns on, or smh like that) one barrier I can see is that, if the song does not have a translation available, could be hard for non speakers to be part of it... what do you guys think? any thoughts?

is the death of nyaa the weeb equivalent to the death of megaupload?

1.琥珀 2.恨ミ言 3.夜明け、灰色の呼吸 4.ボクノ悪イ癖 5.蓮華 6.ユートピア

LoL

yasssss rihanna yasssss!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! u look GOOD u look BEAUTIFUL

i've seen em both and i couldn't tell u the difference. still love u grandpa kazuma

Got ma mtfvkn Hair cutted last Friday finally. :)))

Lmao at all dem fags who writing me now after I got ma new haircut but ignored me when I wrote them before. #ByeHoes #ImmaToFcknLitForYaNow

Two things: 1. We know some bands at least know Monochrome Heaven exists 2. While the downloads section is technically illegal as well, this takes it one step further by making money off their hard work. (both their image and reputation) It doesn't matter if you aren't using official designs, you are using their name and likeness. Labels own the rights to a band's likeness, and one of the things we are taught in Business Law at school is that using a person's likeness (a celebrity or band) or trademark/logo (brand logo or band name) is very much a lawsuit waiting to happen. There are many arguments that sharing music helps keep the community alive, but not so much with making money off of bands without their permission.

This is me by ex-Phantasmagoria Iori There's some other pics too. 1 2

The Grumpy Cat is now in a Visual band.

MEIDARA new mini album "六道輪廻" will be released at 2017/08.

Alexis is middle-of-the-pack fodder, plain and simple. As far as pageants queens go, Trinity is miles ahead of her - and I mean in an entertainment value in the show, not as a person or drag queen as a whole. Eureka's injury (ACL rupture) is quite serious actually, it usually takes 6 months to a year to fully recover. Having her walk around the show for weeks with that kind of injury would be terrible for her body and she probably wouldn't withstand the pain.

Charli xcx better mean a japanese debut for cupcakke

Heads up, this release was postponed to next week (5/10) because of production issues. However, it was sold in a limited quantity at their live on 5/1.

no prob champ. stay tuned for more. meanwhile pics from a STUDIO COAST show on April 21st.

Thanks! The short answer: Quality of life Long answer: I think it's a great place to visit, but not to live. There are too many people, you generally have to commute 1-2 hours to work and back if you don't want to pay 10-15 man to live in a shoebox, everything is horribly commercialized and expensive, and in general Tokyo people aren't that friendly and/or act really fake compared to people in other parts of Japan. Not to mention job competition is much higher, so often you get paid less than you would living outside urban areas. There's a running joke that most expats who move closer to Tokyo for the nightlife generally end up being too poor to ever fully enjoy it. In comparison, I'd much rather live surrounded by nature instead of having a skyscraper or advertisement in my face everywhere, have a better job/salary, live in a bigger place,and have friendly neighbors/overall great sense of community than live around strangers. I also much prefer driving to work instead of spending 30+ minutes rubbed up against some smelly old salaryman on the train everyday. And I think contrary to popular belief, there is very little besides lives/special events and clubbing that can't be done anywhere else in Japan. Even if that wasn't the case, it would still be much cheaper (and more convenient) to commute into Tokyo every weekend than live there.

Ennuste noussu oikein keväiseen +17! Oon asettanu Gloriakaljan ostorajaksi 2, joten jään vielä roballe seisoskelemaan ja juomaan viinaa vaikka seuralaiset menis edeltä sisälle. Toivottavasti kaikki ohjelma olis mahdollisimman aikaisin, että kun menee sisään niin sois vaan pelkkää musaa.

CLear had their 1-hour shopkeeper event at Takadanobaba ZEAL LINK today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! extra pic of kai just because <333333333333333 i wish i could have gone T_____T

sounds like Pikotaro gets a packed two minute long set.

Cool stuff. I'm guessing this will be just Kazuma + aie, a.k.a. the OG hfp boiz, otherwise it would be kinda silly.

RIP Hide. A true inspiration you are, helping start the Vkei movement with Saver Tiger, challenging Japan's conservative society, and inspiring many to begin playing guitar and singing. May you be playing guitar wherever you ended up. You were a true gift

Kesha ❤️

Dr.まや (Maya) (ex-Aloud(うらら/Urara) has joined ARCHEMI. at 2017/5/1.

kaya was born in 1981, he just started really early

I hadn't put much stock into the thought of language being a particularly visual kei thing that makes it special, but you guys put up a really convincing argument. I would even go as far to say that the language(s) we learn growing up cause us to think and approach music a certain way, so that trying to make visual kei music the straightforward way is much more difficult. I have to think about this some more because its a deep revelation. While I agree with this in theory, I honestly can't imagine what a western sounding visual kei band should sound like. I think a good start would be to take a vocal melody from a visual kei band, replace the words with English phrases that aren't too broken and make sense, and then put that over a guitar and drum track in the tuning of your choice, and go from there. For me, it's the awkward inclusion of Japanese that's the kicker. I don't care what language you sing in, as long as it's not a naked appeal to visualizm. Not singing Japanese doesn't make them "less legit" and singing in broken Japanese doesn't give any legitimacy at all. Despite me just saying language may be an important factor in the style, it stops where the melodies begin. If you can nail the melodies behind what gives VK its spin, the language should cease to matter. Visual kei artists sing in exclusively English from time to time and that doesn't rob the visual from the kei. Right now, every single WVK band outside DISREIGN fails terribly at this...and look how long it took YOHIO to get it right! AND I believe he stumbled upon a sound that works for him by reverse engineering late-era The GazettE.

Farrah has to go next. She's beautiful, but all she does is cry at everything... bitch,please. NEXT. Shea and Sasha slayed my heart once again. And why the fuck everyone acting like Eureka DIED? Have you guys seen how many queens have left the show before? It's normal, don't act like she died mid-challenge or something lol Yeah, she wasn't the worst person in the cast but I still couldn't stand her. Good riddance.

interesting how in this discussion about gaijins imitatiing trve VKei no one has mentioned this guy before (who seems to split people's opinions just as much): Tbh, his look come a lot more closer to actual VK than most of the swede kei bands

Cucu's drag on the show is a mess, but I'm gonna miss her. Peppermint killed that lipsync though yaaaas I'm still shocked at how much I've grown to love Trinity, especially after this last Untucked. I wouldn't be mad at all to see her in top 3. I think the frontrunners (Shea, Sasha, Trinity, Valentina and perhaps Nina) are finally starting to distance themselves from the rest of the pack. I expect (and hope) Farrah, Aja, Alexis and Peppermint to go home next. Miss Congeniality is a lock for Valentina if she doesn't make top 3 - if she does, I'd give it to Nina or Peppermint.

IN LIGHT OF THIS THREAD.... please donate to my gofundme to make the western equivalent of 9goats black out. thank you. vkei is not dead.

eiowjiofjmkldsjf stop making this fucker relevant

My boyfriend sure thinks so.

First Lagna, then Lamiel, and now this???? If there is a Earl Gray (instead of 'Earl Grey') by the end of this year I'm going to scream

It's April Fools Day, so today I'm my favorite dang fool

I could tell who they were before even looking! They're spot on, awesome stuff