Leaderboard

Just in case anyone is interested at my CD buys for December here it is!

couldn't decide which one I like more

Leaving to Japan <3 Omg it feels so unreal XD

The YouTube video is legit. Several songs still in their demo forms leaked around the same time the band was touring the US and Hot Topic was selling the zombie pirate t-shirt and their Warcon albums in 2006. Conceived Sorrow and The Fatal Believer were two that I remember leaked. I have a backup thumbdrive somewhere that has all the demos. I also have a backup CD that has Vulgar demos too. I’ve moved so many times that I’ve probably lost them somewhere. HOWEVER Im pretty sure I posted about TMOAB demos and rumors on my LJ. Im going to log in and see what all I can find and I’ll post back.

Did they just misspelled REALies a dozen times?

It's a pre-production version. I don't know where it comes from, though. I also heard about the alleged tentative names for the TMOAB tracks, but I don't know if they are real...

Saran just tweeted that they'll share news/informations on 02.01. *already waited it for 6 years so half month is not that much fml*

Thank you for updating

I remember sometime before the album came out, roughly late 2006 I would say, that there had been a of leak of 4-5 songs in pre-production quality through some form of security breach in their internal servers. Apparently only a small handful of people got their hands on it though, and I never did, so I can't say for certain and it was over ten years ago, but those are my recollections of what I heard at the time. I know that @Furik was around at Batsu at the same time so maybe he remembers something about it too?

"ex-Grieva" that is so surreal to read

God danm i listen to too much Awoi >.< Awoi -レクイエム (Requiem) Awoi - Kotodama Awoi - センチメンタル・ラストシーン (Sentimental・last scene) Awoi - Blind Razor - Liquid Vain Mamireta - Ojamashimasu Mejibray - SE #1 and 2 the (whole thing) Tensai - センパイの彼女 Signal - Apocalypse Signal - Glow Back Over Scars Lustknot - Sore wa namonaki doushi ni sasagutatta hitotsu no anthem Awoi - 哀しい歌 Razor - DNA Born - 黒蟻 Born - gurou Born - GAGA SPARKING Lustknot - Angelus Lustknot - Living in this moment Killaneth - 孤独-Einsamkeit- Codomo Dragon - Wolfman Codomo Dragon - NEPENTHES. Dio distraught overlord - Byakuya ni Moyuru Hana Dio distraught overlord - Garasu no umi

Speaking of Saki, here's a fun clip of two worlds colliding. Shit tier kei and swed kei (BatAAR ft. Saki covering ASOM)

bleached my hair some time ago

| Old scars never fade, old habits die hard Throw those DECADE-compilations out and replace them with this. Let me be clear about one thing: those compilations were trash. The covers were ugly as sin and the track selection, despite sharing many similarities to Vestige of Scratches, gave the impression that the band spent a week figuring out the details because they forgot about their anniversary. They literally scraped the bottom of the barrel to come up with enough content - the fact that "audrey", a butchered version of "Deity", "Repetition of Hatred", and "Jealous -Reverse-" are on it is telling enough - and most of them felt like copy-paste jobs trying to hide the lack of effort. Most of all, it didn't highlight DIR EN GREY at their best and did the band disservice as a 'best-of'. It seems like the band agrees with me, because Vestige of Scratches is everything those DECADE albums wish they could be. Before the hype train leaves the station, this compilation is far from perfect. Like much of DIR EN GREY's career, Vestige of Scratches is defined by its peculiar choices. Some are baffling, while others are smart. They come together in a frustrating combination that is uniquely DIR EN GREY. Let's start with the tracks that were chosen; we have at our disposal the single version of "脈" (Myaku); "罪と規制" (Tsumi to Kisei), the censored version of the remake of "蜜と唾" (Tsumi to Batsu); the version of "腐海" (Fukai) they've been playing live for some time (interesting); a new version of "THE IIID EMPIRE"; the reinterpretations of "羅刹国" (Rasetsukoku) [ew], "OBSCURE" [no], "かすみ" (Kasumi) [sure], "THE FINAL" [ok], "残" (Zan) [eh], and "霧と繭" (Kiri to Mayu) [ugh...]; the single version of "CLEVER SLEAZOID" [good!]; the choice to end the album on a reworked version of "Beautiful Dirt" out of all 200+ songs in their discography [wtf why]; the exclusion of "GARDEN" [what a tragedy]; and then minor adjustments to most other post-VULGAR tracks featured which work for the most part. We can already see this isn't the standard cash-grab version of a best album and that a proper sitting would be very rewarding, so I can only suggest you do that and start from "-I'll-". Controversial opinion coming in hot here, but the production job is fantastic across all three discs. Some may disagree, but I find that I need time to adjust to a new production job before I can assess if I like the changes. There have been many albums I panned for 'inferior production values' that I eventually came to prefer. Sloppy production has always been one of DIR EN GREY's weaknesses, especially for the visual-era stuff which hasn't held up over time, so some of the older tracks have a second lease on life. GAUZE has never sounded so clean, there's a 12-string in "脈" that I've never heard, and some of the tracks from DUM SPIRO SPERO are actually listenable now that the bass isn't obnoxious. I'd pay good money to have all their albums past and future worked like this. The way the album is structured is frustrating to describe. What at first seems like a chronological trek through their eras turns into anything but by the third disc. The first disc is an ode to their entire visual history, featuring songs from pre-GAUZE to 鬼葬 (Kisou), plus a bonus in "腐海 2018". New "腐海" sounds good, and I like it's inclusion as a way to preserve it. I'd spin it a few times, but it won't replace the original version for me. Every other song on this disc was just remastered. I'm surprised at the inclusion of "太陽の蒼" (Taiyou no Ao), since I thought Kyo hated that song, but like a few other inclusions it's here because its a single. The second disc dips back into 鬼葬 with "JESSICA", nods at six Ugly with "umbrella," and then focuses mostly on VULGAR through UROBOROS. Nothing from the disastrous UROBOROS [Remastered & Expanded] makes an appearance, which is a blessing. Personally speaking, I would have dropped "CHILD PREY" for "AMBER," "朔-saku-" for "Machiavellism," and thrown in the reinterpretation of "undecided". Disc 2 ends with a new version of "THE IIID EMPIRE" which is pretty lit and one of their more successful retakes. Disc 3 is where most of the meat lies and unfortunately most of it is displeasing to my ears. It's packed with most of their earlier reinterpretations, many hit or miss, most of which I'd have left on the table if it were solely my choice. This is where my lack of frustration with the exclusion of "undecided" comes from, as I would have rotated out "羅刹国" (Rasetsukoku), "OBSCURE", or "霧と繭" (Kiri to Mayu) for it, the PV version of "OBSCURE", and the version of "Bottom of the death valley" from THE UNRAVELING. I would have also killed for a reinterpretation of "秒｢｣深" (Byou ｢｣ Shin) from six Ugly, or a proper version of "Hydra -666-" with more gutturals and less screaming. After comes the salvageable parts of DUM SPIRO SPERO, including a version of "激しさと、この胸の中で絡み付いた灼熱の闇" (Hageshisa to, Kono Mune no Naka de Karamitsuita Shakunetsu no Yami) superior to the album version, but not quite what the original single sounded like, a condensed serving of ARCHE, "詩踏み" (Utafumi), and then ends on a very random note with "Beautiful Dirt". Not quite sure why they set it up this way. Maybe the unfinished feeling to Vestige of Scratches is intentional, but either way DIR EN GREY have collated a collection album worth the shelf space for any serious fan. It may not be perfect, but it's a hell of a lot better than I expected it to be. At the very least, I can argue that it's a better alternative than importing GAUZE if you don't already own it. If DIR EN GREY attack 2018 the way MUCC took 2017, we may have an interesting year ahead of us. Support the artist CDJapan

Some of you may be familiar with more comedic tag "brutal kei" to describe "heavy" visual kei bands who often use vocals and instrumentals seemingly inspired by "heavy metal" genres and sometimes "extreme metal" genres as well. The origins of the term "brutal kei" was coined by "matsuya89" aka @VkBrutaliaN in 2009 and later popularized by myself in 2010 as more of a "troll". I was inspired by a video which has since been removed on youtube; however, a forum discussion on this video and listing the bands used in the video can be found here: http://rockbandfinder.com/top-9-most-brutal-visual-keij-rock-bands/ . (I later found out the video was made and uploaded by @VkBrutaliaN). But the serious origins of this trend in visual kei began with various "Nu metal" tendencies as early as the mid-90s with bands such as: Aliene Ma'riage, ∀NTI FEMINISM, and 妃阿甦(THE PIASS). Today it has become a less prevalent niche but a handful of bands of this type always seem to emerge only to disband very shortly thereafter. Kept alive by a cult following of an obsessive fandom. Many bands of the current wave of this so called "brutal kei" genre incorporate elements of electronica and mostly stick to a blend of metalcore, deathcore, nu metal, and typical vk melodic rock. The vocalist will almost always use harsh vocal techniques such as: screams, pig squeals, and death growls. Some current examples include: Nocturnal Bloodlust, JILUKA, FIXER, DIMLIM, DEXCORE, and many more. Oh and @Takadanobabaalienmy apologies for not mentioning the legendary most br00tal vk band "Deviloof"!!!!!! Are you a fan of this sound?

Hisame ex. Grieva has opened a new twitter https://twitter.com/____h_s_m___

We all have those few songs that we never seem to get tired of., maybe it's the beat, the broken English, the "omg this song is about sex" or even "this song makes me feel so happy". Soooo. List em for me: gotcharocka- ash & virginity Lycaon- Psychedelic jelly Purple stone- poison chocolate An Cafe- Ikenai Mousou, Natsu Koi Natsu Game, blue amazing Sug- Pastel horror yum yum show,pimp my cars Daizystripper- mousou nikki deviloof-ruin <---hell the whole fucking discography D.I.D- WOD II, resolution,<---again the whole fucking discography you?

Thanks I needed that ^^ I have been following them on and off since they have started

@Mamoyea i know THE MAD SIMPSON - their ep was fucking killer!^^

Yes, I'm definitely liking the whole Uranometria single a lot--it has some solid B-sides. Yes! I love the originals of "げんそうシンドローム" and "ぼくとタルパ" but after hearing the album re-recordings, it's clear that the new versions are superior. (My only quibble with "ぼくとタルパ" is during the breakdown in the rerecording--somehow, it sounds a little more epic in the original single with the background arrangement). I wish we could get a rerecording of "ひとりトピア" as well. @ricchubunny, get in here and share your GRIMOIRE love, d00d!

There was a topic for Fixer?

1. Da'vidノ使徒:aL — デスピクニック 2. Da'vidノ使徒:aL — ピエトロの風船 3. 黒百合と影 — キミの薬指はボクのシチュー。 4. Da'vidノ使徒:aL — 12月にできた曲 5. LUNA SEA — FATE 6. 黒百合と影 — チョコレート階段 7. 黒百合と影 — 蜥蜴-トカゲ- 8. 黒百合と影 — 児童公園 9. 黒百合と影 — 「未遂」 10. LUNA SEA — TIME IS DEAD

Yeah, i loved THE MAD SIMPSON, also loved Outrage. Never thought at that point years later i would just often see Saki in Shinjuku or talk to him at Vrzel or Dispina lives But the stuff he did with XIII Jap or how it was called was just beyond horrible. Lol at the flyers with photoshopped audiences or "major label band" lies. @Takadanobabaalien Never knew about that video, thanks for posting. Since BatAAr seems to be shit tier, i didnt know Saki was Swed

Generally, I'm not much of a person to binge single tracks, as my tendency is to listen to albums. However, according to my iTunes, my top 5 played VK tracks are 1. DELUHI - s[K]ape:goat (103 plays) 2. Versailles - Princess (64 plays) 3. Versailles - ASCENDEAD MASTER (58 plays) 4. the GazettE - 未成年 (44 plays) 5. Rentrer en Soi - LAST SCENE (36 plays) Seems pretty accurate! These are all total classics for me, though if my library playcount included my listening pre-2011, I'm almost positive Aristocrat's Symphony, The Revenant Choir, and HYBRID TRUTH would be on this list

I've been a AA fan from the very beginning and is my favorite English related band. I have to say this new album they made was really interesting. Danny in a interview said basically that he wanted to do away with the old AA and explained why him and how him and the band wrote and why the wrote each song. That's why so many people are surprised on how different AA sounds now compared to back then and to be honest I agree with Danny 100%. There was a lot of drama that went down in the past and in the end this album in a way is a sign that the band moving on from the past they once had, to re-do AA over. The reason why you don't hear Danny scream a lot in the new album is because his vocals are shot from crazy drinking and previous AA events. They went on tour a lot, repeating songs and screaming from 2009-2015 did a number on his voice. So he needed to kinda work on his voice a bit with less screaming. Thank god Denis is gone... JUEZUS As for why he left/kicked out. He did a horrible thing which left the band in a bad spot in the eyes of all audiences. So he left and went solo for a time think it was country music he was doing idk :/ until he returned in late 2016.

This was what my friend once sent me when I was feeling shitty XD It's a new year and I'm still not over it 😭💕

Anyway this Punk Nu metalish rock sound of this time is really brilliant I'm surprised bands with this sort of sound still don't exist today. "Ｖｉｓａｇｅ" , "パニックちゃんねる", "ＬｕＬｕ", and "Cuartet" are among some of the best vk bands I've ever heard. "螺旋錠 (La;Cen-zhow.)" are also very underrated.

I miss since1889.

I always thought the first wave of "heavier" vk and that inspired those as Origami, Golbeza, Re:dis etc. was around 2005-2006 with songs by Velvet Nightmare (later DI3SIRAE), Schmelz Cure, It, Since1889, 闇撫, THE RUDIE SATAN PARK, Leviathan and maybe even partly brodiaea or ネガ, followed by Silentline, GREGORY, GremlinS, UnsraW, THE CRIME, ヴェルテクス-Vertex-, etc. etc. etc. and the ones you mentioned plus maybe 20 other bands that disbaneded after 1 live distr. or even without any real CD. But i think they dont have much in common and are not related to the likes of DIMLIM, Deviloof, etc. who more have influence from western and real "brutal" music? Also i didnt feel JILUKA are brutal at all after seing them live with DIMLIM. Very much straight metal (but only "vk" band in 2017 i've seen where i felt the band knows how to really play their instruments) with some screams and kind/friendly/cute atmosphere live. But i dont know their discography at all (went for DIMLIM which were amazing despite the differences CD/live (damn the guitarist and bass cant play the stuff from CD live :\)), so maybe its me. Also FIXER are more like vk with electro effects for me and not brutal (at least not live; dont like them on CD, so maybe didnt listen enough). I think many bands these days have songs or part in songs that can seem brutal but i wouldnt call the band brutal. Some songs by Dir en grey are also brutal, no? As mentioned by OP, I also actually think brutal kei was first used more in a way to make fun of certain bands as in writing it br00tal kei like many people hyping Leviathan in 2007 while others were disgusted by the hype. But i do think VkBrutaliaN was in fact the first person i've seen use it seriously some years ago

I use Goody-Japan for Yahoo! Auction, puresound etc. But I don't really know if it's expensive or not, compared to other services. I never had any problems w/ them.

So were the most dedicated Dir translators capable to decipher the meaning of new Karma and Kiri to Mayu if their original versions had more straightforward, explicit lyrics? THE IIID EMPIRE and Beautiful Dirt were quite useless to rerecord, since they only expose more flaws in a way how Diru delivers their older songs nowadays. God forbid Kyo would consider adding flat falsettos when they are not needed! Fukai on the other hand was kind of necessary due to fans requesting the studio take of CoV version for years, but the original is still there and it flows better if anything. How impressive of them to include superior single versions of their A-sides instead though. I wish I could see the actual voting results conducted by Firewall div. to see which B-sides were favored the most.

My first introduction to visual kei was in early 2004 by some friends in university. The first thing they showed me was Dir en Grey (Yokan, then Raison D'etre in quick succession XD), however my first favourite that I had to have EVERYTHING of was Miyavi. I'm pretty sure I have a complete physical discography of his up until 2009 sometime, actually XD Favourite song is probably the one that got me obsessed with him in the first place: Ashita, Genki ni Naare. First *band* that I loved that much was Kagrra,, and they remain my number one band to this day, with Urei being my favourite song of theirs.

I'd like them to develop the sound they had back then, because if they're gonna change to fit in today's vk scene their talents, style and potential will be wasted.

I would agree to this, to an extent. The album is refined, and like you mentioned, it's easy to see why some fans don't like it. I too, would love to listen to a version of "Eve" that had prioritized higher frequencies more than trying to balance the entire track. It needs more "life" to it. What made AA so great in the beginning of their career, was their determination to be the loudest fucking band out there. Making noise essentially, not giving a single fuck about anything else. What we see now is the band truly focusing on creating pieces of work with meaning behind them. What they want to achieve is making music that's just right for them, showing their maturity as a reunited group of friends once again, letting go of past BS. It's actually very commendable, as most bands never stay together long after some drama, let alone forgive, to then embrace this change. Danny certainly has vastly improved his vocals, and its one of the highlights of the entire album, as songs that may sound bland, hold their own with his singing. You can also look at it from the other side, saying that the band is trying to be mature to a point where you may say "they're trying too hard". Focusing too much on trying to make the music "just right", to then sound "watered down" as you put it. Some fucker on Sputnik said they come off too "Nickleback" haha cracked me up.

kitty is not pleased to be honest, just enjoying no-makeup life.

limited edition : Regular Edition

Malice Mizer I stumbled upon Bara no Seidō while searching for some goth bands on the internet. I can't remember but finding Malice Mizer may have been how I got into gothic lolita fashion as well. That happened at around the same time. Then I became more interested in visual kei as a whole and the rest is history.

I spent a month and a half hunting down the PV before youtube was a thing. Good memories....

Hm, it was Malice Mizer at first as I found out about them around... 2005 or 2006? Too bad they weren't active anymore back then ^^

Omg beast of blood was one of my first songs too. I showed some friends during computer class in lie 7th grade and I thought I was so cool.

I don't usually listen to Satsuki. But definitely after this ... I listen less.

oh yeah definitely, RES is miles better than sukekiyo or whatever prog metal satsuki will ever do

come thru growling QWEEN! i know this is gonna flop but i dont even care

love them too, they're amazing!! I hope they'll get more attention with END of STASIS it sounds very promising to me, I'm really looking forword to it Dawn is awesome! Jey's voice already had me in the first minute of Drop