Laurence02

Was trolling through old auctions, and found this:
 
On 2008-07-01, basokiya1217 sold Lebia 「滅びの序章」 (from the image, it's the same tape we're familiar with). On 2008-08-02, night22com sold Lebia 「滅びの序章」 (same tape, again), and mentions that “at this time, KISAKI called himself AINE.”  
Just thought it was interesting that, even before KISAKI started selling fake copies of this tape as his own, people were selling this as a KISAKI band (albeit under a different name). In fact, I wonder if night22com bought the tape from basokiya1217, thought it was the KISAKI band, and re-sold it as such; maybe KISAKI buys it the second time, and re-sells copies years later?
 
Of course we should blame KISAKI for putting fake information about “滅序章” in beyond the kingdom, but maybe it's this night22com person's fault that we have this fake demotape floating around lol
 
(Btw, I still can't help but think the person on the left in the Levia cover looks a lot like KISAKI, but I guess it's just coincidence.)
 
Edit: oh, I should point out that neither basokiya1217 nor night22com were KISAKI. He has a certain “style” in posting auctions, and neither of them match it; plus, their periods of activity overlapped with his account, so I'm sure they were all different people.
 

Getting caught for tax evasion, selling faked "rare" demo tapes of your first bands to sell online for money, and fabricating stories about your hospitalization complete with pictures ripped off of Google are not what I would call "small things". Those are what I would call big things, and I could remember those three things off the top of my head. Kisaki has a knack for drawing lots of attention to himself, mostly negative. I'm pretty sure he's an attention succubus and thrives on it to keep himself going.

【EVIDENCE OF EXISTENCE】
Here's the evidence that I could find of these bands being *real*:
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https://twitter.com/KISAKI_OFFICIAL/status/297370748589338624
KISAKI played recorded versions of songs of Levia~LAYBIAL~SHËY≠DË at his 20th anniversary live. It's not really “proof” of anything, but this was a history live, so there should have been someone who was a fan of the bands that were ripped off (VICE∞RISK, 業, Levia[non-KISAKI]), and who would have noticed if KISAKI was playing those songs...
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As someone else mentioned, on 2007-11-19 in his HOLIDAY blog, he mentioned meeting ex-Levia member 美憂, who is married and has a child.
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https://twitter.com/KISAKI_OFFICIAL/status/154273353094537216
On 2012-01-04, he posted in his Ameba (now deleted) that he met Levia members again. Most of them married with children now. He also posted a pciture of 美憂's child this time (also on Twitter ↑), as well as a picture of that guy's shop. (Google/Tineye didn't return any results when I searched the images).
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http://music3.2ch.net/test/read.cgi/visual/1066131643/
Earliest web mention of these bands that I can find is on 2ch in 2003. So at least we know his *canon* band history included these bands way before BEYOND THE KINGDOM.
-
Again, not proof of anything, but the canon lineup of SHËY≠DË features 紫緒, who was in HISKAREA. I automatically doubt that KISAKI would make up a fake band with a known musician in the lineup, if it weren't real...
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松本 博, the owner of Wakayama livehouse OLD TIME at which Levia supposedly performed a lot of oneman lives, actually commented in BEYOND THE KINGDOM about seeing KISAKI's junior-high band Levia as regulars who were popular. So that seems to confirm a lot for me, unless they faked that comment (I already checked―the 松本 博 is real.)
---
【REALLY WEIRD STUFF】
This one is sort of reaching, but bear with me. Check out the cover of the Levia “滅びの序章” demotape again (which was copied from the Levia[non-KISAKI] “滅びの序章”, remember?).
Now check out this image by hyura again. The image on the left. I know it's near the LAYBIAL sign, but it's only 3 members (LAYBIAL had 4), and LAYBIAL didn't play a live on 1994-09-21... but Levia had 3 members and did play their first live on 1993-09-21. So could that picture be of KISAKI's Levia?
And if so... looking at that supposed Levia[non-KISAKI] scan, couldn't you see KISAKI on the left and the other two guys on the right (compare the eye-makeup, the hair, the chokers, the suit jackets)...?
-
I can't claim anything from this, but you have to admit that it sort of looks like Levia and Levia[non-KISAKI] are one in the same, at least from comparing those two pictures.
That would be the ultimate mind fuck if that were the case, because the Levia[non-KISAKI] demotape has 5 tracks which, as far as I know, aren't stolen from anything...
---
【CONCLUSIONS】
Personally, I think Levia~LAYBIAL~SHËY≠DË were *real*, since they've been mentioned for so long (at least since 2003), way before there was a book about KISAKI or he had some “legacy” of being a 15-year-old genius who was playing oneman shows. Also, I can't imagine KISAKI and FOOL'S MATE would be so bold as to fake a comment from the owner of a livehouse who knew Levia. And finally, I don't think KISAKI was lying when he posted about meeting ex-Levia members... but if he was, then he's been purposefully sprinking those things throughout his blog for 7 years which just seems to be way beyond his level of thinking IMO.
So like I said, I think the bands are *real*, but I'm not sure if the demotapes ever were... I see a couple of possible scenarios:
1. The *canon* demotapes were *real* but were also fake/stolen (even at the time of their release).
2. It's been so long that KISAKI has no clue what his early bands released, so he just made it up for BEYOND THE KINGDOM. In that case, there are *real* demotapes, but probably completely different from the *canon* ones.
3. There are *canon* demotapes are also *real*, but KISAKI's been seeding the net and auctions with fake copies, while he maniacally holds on to the only real copies that are left. In that case, the titles are still stolen from other releases... (This would fit in nicely with the crazy theory that Levia is the same as Levia[non-KISAKI]!)
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So I guess my posts didn't really give any clear conlusion, but I hope you've gained some more evidence to make your own (or at least see that the situation is even weirder than some simple lying).

【DISPUTING THE MYTH_CEO DEMOTAPES】
Let's start talking shit:
-
1. 滅びの序章 (green / black)
● This tape was never in the canon discography. The canon discography does have a “滅序章” (notice only two characters missing), but that one is supposed to have 5 tracks.
● Levia[non-KISAKI] has a demotape called “滅びの序章” which had the exact same cover. Rarez Hut actually sold it: http://www.rarezhut.net/product/levia-%E6%BB%85%E3%81%B3%E3%81%AE%E5%BA%8F%E7%AB%A0
● Remember, on my copy of the grayscale version, the insert appeared to have been longer originally... well, as posted here, Levia[non-KISAKI]'s tape had an insert that was longer (with member info + tracklisting)... I wonder if KISAKI had this Levia[non-KISAKI] tape and just ripped that part off and used the remaining insert for his fake demotape???
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3. 「KELOID」 -Not For Sale-
● This wasn't listed in the canon discography (only a version with 2 tracks was), and is clearly modern-made/fake.
● The track used for the demotape is familiar... hold that thought
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4. 「KELOID」
● Again, clearly faked, as per inkjet printing and such. At least the cover/tracklisting matches up to the canon discography, but as pointed out, the tracks are stolen from a VICE∞RISK demotape.
---
【IT STARTS GETTING WEIRD】
OK, so here's where it gets weird. “「KELOID」 -Not For Sale-”, the *semi-canon*, faked demotape that KISAKI sold me via auction. That 2:40 track which is completely different from the “「KELOID」” version...
Champ mentioned that she traded somebody for some SHËY≠DË demotape rips... I traded for the same rips with that same person.
...The Levia “「KELOID」 -Not For Sale-” version of KELOID is the same track as SHËY≠DË's FUNERAL from the “DARK SIDE” rip which I traded for!!
...And as Champ pointed out, FUNERAL by SHËY≠DË is actually FUNERAL by 業!
!_! ?_?
So just by pure coincidence (...??????), KISAKI sold me a fake Levia demotape which featured a track by 業, and someone traded me for fake SHËY≠DË demotape which featured the same track by 業. Coincidence? Or maybe KISAKI mixed up his fake files? Either way it's interesting...
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Also, I'm quite embarassed to admit it, but I thought I'd figured out what Levia - 滅びの序章 (the actual music on the demotapes which KISAKI sold me) was stolen from, but I can't remember now @_@.
---
Still more to come...

【EXCLUSIONS】
I posit, but can't prove, that KISAKI (1994 solo project) and De=prive are *real*, bringing the scope of my posts to Levia, LAYBIAL, and SHËY≠DË.
KISAKI (1994 solo project)
It is *canon* that KISAKI released a solo demotape in 1994 with STELLA MARIA vocalist Ray. The rest of the [disputed] canon discography wasn't known until 2007's BEYOND THE KINGDOM, but this demotape was listed on UNDER CODE PRODUCTION's website since at least 2004. That, and the fact that it features a (relatively) well-known musician (STELLA MARIA's vocalist Ray), I find it unlikely that this release/artist was faked.
De=prive
This is actually the least-known band in KISAKI's history. In fact, it's *non-canon*―that is, it came from Japanese VK fans rather than KISAKI himself. Since there's no reason for fans to lie about such a small band (with no releases), and because Japanese VK fans are rather trustworthy with information (moreso than overseas fans or KISAKI himself), I'm comfortable asserting that De=prive was *real*.
(If KISAKI's *canon* live history is *real*, I would guess that De=prive was the unnamed session band in 1994.)
---
【MYTH_CEO DEMOTAPES】
As pointed out in previous posts, KISAKI has been selling shit (anonymously) via Y!J auctions. In early 2014 he started selling Levia demotapes, and I bought almost all of them. Here are descriptions of those, followed by an update (canon + semi-canon) Levia discography:
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1. 滅びの序章 image
● Green-tinted insert with cover art and spine, but no tracklisting or member information. Contains one track, 2:11, presumably 滅びの序章.
● I believe this is the same one that someone else purchased (although their copy was sold much later, I think).
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2. 滅びの序章 (grayscale) image
● Same cover, but grayscale. Again, no tracklisting or member information, same 2:11 track as before.
● Again, not listed in *canon* discography―according to *semi-cannon* auction description, live distributed.
● However, it does appear to be old (rather than modern-made), as there is some yellow discoloration and wear on the insert. Additionally, the top of the insert appears frayed, as if it was originally longer, but was carefully torn apart.
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3. 「KELOID」 -Not For Sale- image 1 / image 2
● Insert is clearly modern-made―background is pixellated while text box is sharp and uses a (sort of) modern font. One track, about 2:40, presumably KELOID.
● Not listed in *canon* discography (there is a canon KELOID, but it has two tracks and different cover art). According to *non-canon*, live distributed.
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4. 「KELOID」 image
● Again, modern-made, as the insert was clearly printed with a modern inkjet printer, and creases/wear are printed images rather than physical features. It features two tracks, KELOID (5:30) and PRAY (3:57).
● This is listed in the *canon* discography, and features the correct cover art.
● Note that this tape's version of KELOID is 5:30 while the previous one was 2:40... and they're completely different songs.
● And let me just point out that KISAKI saw the same person buying these two tapes with the same Y!J account within the span of one month... you'd think he would at least use the same song in his faked demotape o-o.)
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So here's our updated Levia discography, with *semi-canon* entries in blue:
Levia
　　1993-01-10 - 滅序章
　　　　1.滅序章 / 2.PROLOGUE / 3.蒼ノ真相 / 4. Die&DEA / 5. EPILOGUE
　　????-??-?? - 滅びの序章 (green)
　　　　1.滅びの序章
　　????-??-?? - 滅びの序章 (black)
　　　　1.滅びの序章
　　????-??-?? - 「KELOID」 -Not For Sale-
　　　　1.KELOID
　　1993-12-21 - KELOID
　　　　1.KELOID / 2.PRAY
　　1994-01-23 - My Duel
　　　　1.My Duel

I'm busy with real-life stuff lately, so still working through it... but in the mean time:
There's a ton of meat to chew through here. So for your benefit and mine, let's define some terms and bounds:
---
【TERMS】
I'll use these terms to differentiate between the “alternate realities” that we're working with:
● “canon” - official; information given by KISAKI and recorded in multiple publications
● “semi-canon” - information from KISAKI but in an unofficial capacity (eg. information in his secret auctions)
● “non-canon” - information from a 3rd party (eg. rips floating on the net)
● “true” - something that actually happened or exists in real life
---
【BAND HISTORY】
So here's our *canon* (but not necessarily *true*) version of KISAKI's band history. Note that I'm only listing the begin dates of these bands―not every single appearance or revival.
● 1992~ SCARE CROW (roadie)
● 1993~ Levia
● 1994~ LAYBIAL
● 1994~ SHËY≠DË, garden (support), KISAKI (solo project)
● 1994~ garden, Ruby (support), SHËY≠DË (one day revival), De=prive (session?)
● 1995~ STELLA MARIA, 廃人黒薔薇族 (session)
● 1996~ La:Sadie's
● 1997~ MIRAGE, アンチフェミニズム
● 2000~ Syndrome
● 2003~ 妃&関西貴族, KISAKI PROJECT
● 2004~ Phantasmagoria
● 2010~ 凛 -the end of corruption world-
● 2014~ 凛 -THE END OF CORRUPTION WORLD-
---
【DOPPLEGANGERS】
I'll quickly touch on dopplegangers. Many of KISAKI's early (canon) bands were followed by later bands with the same name. I'll designate those with [non-KISAKI].
● Levia[non-KISAKI] - active around 1993(?); V. 冬樹 / G. 沙霧 / B. AINE / D. HIRO
● LAYBIAL[non-KISAKI] - Matina band active around 1999
● GARDEN[non-KISAKI] - Matina band active 2000~2002
● De≠prive[non-KISAKI] - First band of Madeth gray'll vocalist, active possibly around 1995~1996?
---
【WHAT WE'RE INTERESTED IN】
This thread is questioning two things, as I see it:
1. Are KISAKI's early bands *real*?
2. If so, are those early bands' discographies *real*?
KISAKI's time in the following bands is conclusively *real*, based on multiple sources of information, extant releases, photos, videos, etc.:
● SCARE CROW, garden, Ruby, STELLA MARIA, 廃人黒薔薇族, La:Sadie's, MIRAGE, アンチフェミニズム, Syndrome, 妃&関西貴族, KISAKI PROJECT, Phantasmagoria, 凛
The following bands are *canon*, but their *real*-ness is questioned:
● Levia, LAYBIAL, SHËY≠DË, KISAKI (first solo project), De=prive
---
【DISCOGRAPHY】
Here are the *canon* discographies of the bands which we're questioning (anything in green is *non-canon*):
Levia
　　1993-01-10 - 滅序章
　　　　1.滅序章 / 2.PROLOGUE / 3.蒼ノ真相 / 4. Die&DEA / 5. EPILOGUE
　　1993-12-21 - KELOID
　　　　1.KELOID / 2.PRAY
　　1994-01-23 - My Duel
　　　　1.My Duel
LAYBIAL
　　1994-05-01 - MISS
　　　　1.Dejavu / 2.MISS / 3.virgining Pleasures / 4.Refuse / 5.MOTHER / 6.One More Love
　　1994-05-30 - カケラ
　　　　1.カケラ
　　1994-06-20 - 混乱
　　　　1.混乱
SHËY≠DË
　　1994-07-01 - 奴隷華
　　　　1.DOLL / 2.奴隷華
　　1994-09-01 - 瑠璃の雫
　　　　1.insanity / 2. XXXXX / 3.夢遊病者
　　1994-10-01 - DARK SIDE
　　　　1.CRIME / 2.FUNERAL / 3.苦悩二果テニ (or 1.DARK SIDE ?)
KISAKI (solo project)
　　1994-11-10 - ONCE...
　　　　1.ONCE... / 2.届かぬ思い
Note: in Levia's canon biography the line “DEMO TAPE発売記念2DAYSワンマン公演開催” indicates that a live was held to celebrate the release of a previous demotape. These lines don't indicate additional demotapes, as some of you were confused about.

To give some ~expert confirmation~ on a few things:
 
- myth_ceo is KISAKI. He sold UCP limited items, his own personal items, and even sold samples which he got from other bands (eg. in his blog he mentions SID giving him a sample of their new single, and then the next day myth_ceo was selling it). I'm also 100% sure that this was KISAKI himself and not a staff member.
 
- KISAKI closed myth_ceo and now has another account on Y!J, something like iyouxi or something (not on PC and can't remember the name). I know it's him for the same reasons listed above (funnily, some people actually complained on that account about him selling samples).
 
- He also has an mbok account which is something like deho_san (again, can't remember), though he doesn't use it often.
 
- His time in STELLA MARIA is 100% confirmed. In addition to tapes, we have flyers and videos confirming.
 
- His time in garden is 100% confirmed. In addition to the real tape being sold on Y!J a ton of times, there is video of garden somewhere.
 
- I'm actually 90% sure the "Once..." tape is real as well, although probably not released as "KISAKI PROJECT" as his official website calls it. The reason I'm sure it's real is that it features the STELLA MARIA vocalist, and it was mentioned on UNDER CODE's website back in 2003 at least.
 
So really what is in question (well, was in question) are the bands Levia, LAYBIAL, and SHEY=DE. As I mentioned before, I bought some tapes from KISAKI, but basically they are fake. However, I want to give some more complete info on them, if you'll just wait for another post. (And sorry for not posting before, but I was still unsure about certain things. Champ's post about the SHEY=DE tracks is what made the difference for me.)
 
I will go ahead and say this, though: although we now know that these demotapes are fake, there is still more to this plot...! Please wait for my next post.

But he was already pretty clear about it. It's not a cover, it's the same recordings he said.
 
 
Normally I would suspect that some random seller on Yahoo wanted to make some money and just faked the tape. But Kisaki's official site confirms the cover and tracklist and it's pretty weird in itself that the tracklist is 2/3 of the Nude-of-J tape. Which is another thing, the Nude-of-J tape has 3 tracks, so it's not just that the tape somehow ended up in the wrong case, someone must have gone through the trouble to copy over those 2 songs specifically.
 
 
Aaaaand there's more. I recently got the mp3s for another purported early Kisaki band, SHEY≠DE, via trade. It was later brought to my attention that they were probably fake. Fake files can happen in trades, although my source was usually a very realible one. One of the tapes I got is also on Kisaki's homepage, this one:
 
http://kisaki-official.syncl.jp/?p=shop&id=530032&af=
 
So, I showed my files to another japanese guy I know who's very knowledgable about old vk stuff, he said the tape I got was actually by a band called INSANITY.
 
And here's where it gets interesting.
 
Upon googling a bit I found this old auction where somebody was selling that old INSANITY tape: http://aucview.aucfan.com/yahoo/w80588066/
 
The tracklist is slightly different, but look at the cover! It's the same as on Kisakis page, except that one is red!
 
 
For comparison:
 

瑠璃の雫 by SHEY≠DE
 
1. insanity
2. XXXXX
3. 夢遊病者
 
 

Unnamed tape by INSANITY
 
1. 恋模様
2. Desert Labyrinth
3. 瑠璃の雫
 
The first song on the SHEY≠DE tape has been altered with the name of the actual band (!), and the second one has been replaced with xxxxx (!!). The third song of the INSANITY tape was used as title for the SHEY≠DE tape (!!!). Now that's creative! But hey, at least he came up with a COMPLETLY NEW fake name for the 3rd song this time. And he re-colored the cover in Photoshop. That's gotta be worth something, right?
 
The INSANITY tape was sold for 1000 Yen btw. The seller could have asked for a lot more for a SHEY≠DE tape, so there's no reason whatsoever for him to fake a SHEY≠DE tape into an INSANITY tape.
 
 
At first I thought I was spoofed by a tricky trader. But there seems to be more to it. So after the dubious LAYBIAL and Levia tapes.... make it three.

Here is the lyrics sheet from Nude of J's tape.
If you have trouble with Japanese, just pay attention to the English parts. They're the same songs.
To make it clear.. I'm not saying they just covered the songs, but those "Levia" songs Naaaaani uploaded are Nude of J - exactly the same recording.
And Nude of J were indeed a real band, which was active for about 8 years (they had different lineups and were called Bijou later).
There's definitely something very fishy about Kisaki's history...
 

Wow, I only saw this thread now. : o
So I'm a bit late to the party.
 
Kisaki bashing used so be a popular sport so as his fan I feel like a traitor to say this but:
Well. Kisaki was also the guy who took random pictures from google and uploaded them to his blog to look like he had a life.
So yeah it doesn't seem that unlikely for him to invent those releases or even bands afterwards to make his history more colorful.
 
The 'Beyond the kingdom' book has the same release- and live-history infos that were already posted and no pictures of either bands.
It doesn't say much about Laybial in the history part at all either, only that they were a 'positive punk' band and toured other cities as well. KISAKI left them very fast.
It has, however, some stuff about Levia: appearently they were extremely popular in wakayama, even referred to as 'super band', that's why they played so many oneman lives (pretty unusual for a young band like that!), they often appeared in the local press and played as OA for major bands. The sound was aggressive.
 
I also looked through my old mags and found some 'Kisaki photo gallery' in a minikomi from '99!
No photo/mention of levia, but two pictures of Laybial. One of them is commented with '1994.5.30 Umeda Guild, Even between the photos I have this one is pretty old. Because this band is currently with Matina there's propably lots of people who are like 'what?' now. The details are secret.' ... So the live history of that band seems to be legit I guess. ;D
The other photo is dated 1994.9.21... which is technically when he was already in his next band. : o So no idea.
 
 
I doubt those tapes would disappear just like that. : o 200 and 300 presses is not that few and Kisaki was a famous guy from early on, at least from La'Sadies he made it pretty big in the indies scene, so at least a couple would have made their way to second hand shops and the like. Just like with many other tapes from old nobody bands whose members got famous later on.
 
What does it say on that Levia tape? ;O; I'm curious.
 
edit: there is a blog entry here where kisaki says he visited Levias guitarist in Wakayama who is now married with the woman who was their staff at that time. : o But the photo is some UCP people. XD (at least not stolen from google!)

You seem to have excellent taste. I'm glad to see more fans of the "golden era" (teehee) pop put of the woodworks! Hope you enjoy your stay!

Oh boy, where to start, just off the top of my head for VK stuff, D'espairsray, Deathgaze, Girugamesh, Deluhi, Anonymous Confederate Ensemble, -OZ-, Amphibian, Kuroageha, Awoi, Since1889 among many others. I wish certain visual kei bands didn't have such short runs, many of the ones above were fortunate in that they were around for over a decade.

Zeus breaks it down pretty well.
 
To add a smidgen of my opinion, I think that Visual Kei's western popularity (U.S from my experience) greatly paralleled the interest in emo/counterculture in the mid 2000s. They both had similar aesthetic and garnered similar fans w/ plenty of overlap. That interest has largely died out and has re-surged into -core genres and melded itself into other indie acts. Visual Kei, being a physically distant/foreign genre, in-turn became a niche interest again.
 
Additionally, Japan is still the premier example of Galapagos Syndrome and is pretty self-reliant. K-pop, on the other hand, is dependent on a global audience and embraces Western interest which reciprocatively affects its own music industry. Also "Cool Japan" hasn't helped jack-squat with well-known figures like Gackt being critical of it (it's futile when the industry at large is isolated.)
 
Finally, Japanese music just sounds different. I try to link to this reddit thread w/ nonotan's comment when I can b/c I've always felt there was some underlying music-theory reason why J-Music attracts and repels certain groups of people. There are a lot of people that I've met that have thought Japanese melodies were cheesy so this helps explain that a little. 
 
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As an aside, I'm a bit more on the pessimistic side about anime becoming more popular (rather than just accepted). I still think the combination of the "nostalgia factor" and internet culture have drawn more (perceived) attention to it than genuine interest... But, the $$$ points to it growing so we'll see. Maybe I'm more of a skeptic w/ the rate at which recent boom in interest has happened.
 

It's not in English. I don't play Japanese music for my friends often, but when I do it's instrumental or with good English vocals because the minute they hear Japanese, I know 95% of them will stop listening. People want to understand what the song is about and you can't do that with Japanese music if it's all in Japanese. The vocals that are in English still have a distinctly Japanese quality to them, and that turns off a lot of native speakers. That leaves a very small group of people to make a big impression for everyone. Not a great way to start.
  Rock music is not mainstream in America right now. It's hip hop, pop, and r&b that runs the air waves. It's not a bad thing, but I find i digest these genres of music differently than I do rock and metal, and people that have not grown up with rock and metal may never have developed a taste for it. I've always heard that rock and metal is the closest thing to classical music in the modern era, and on the same note I don't find many people appreciate Bach and Mozart for what it is. It just doesn't "move them".
  Anime was considered taboo and nerdy up until recently, when now all of a sudden it became cool to watch Dragon ball Super and My Hero Academia and other big-name shounen. Anime and Japan are always seen as synonymous to the barely acquainted, so anime and rock music are also tied together by virtue of this rock music being from Japan. Stupid associations, but that's how it is. Considering just how bad a lot of anime themes are, I can see people associating the worst of J-pop themes with all Japanese music.
  Consider this 3.5, but the people that were first promoting the music were deep into the scene, like "appropriating parts of Japanese language and unironically dressing like a visual kei rocker" deep. They...did not make the best ambassadors for visual kei music. On the other side of the coin, the Japanese indie scene has always been a smaller group covering a wider range of music, cloistered and secluded on private servers and trackers. They wanted to preserve their culture the way it was, so they weren't exactly interested in proselytizing their music to a wider audience. Y'all gotta realize peeps like @CAT5are the exception to the rule.
  Japanese record companies in general do a pretty shit job of marketing themselves and their music to a wider audience, which is perplexing to me because the anime industry is absolutely KILLING IT right now. They jumped onto the digital distribution wave too late and by that time, the fad had already started diminishing. We have no equivalent to Crunchyroll to have a legal bridge between record companies and interested Western audiences. HearJapan was close, but in some ways I think it was too ahead of its time and never got the support it needed once everyone involved realized it wouldn't be a 1-2-3 smash hit.  
I always maintained that I would be a sensation or "the next Jimi Hendrix" if I took a bunch of my favorite J-Rock and visual kei songs and sung them in English...

I think when VK/J-rock tried to break out into the Western music scene in the mid to late 2000s mirrored the Japanese metal scene trying to break out into the Western music scene during the 1980s.  The only main difference is this time around, most of the groups didn't try to sing in English or try to recruit a Westerner at some point for their band to make them more marketable (looking at you Loudness and Bow Wow).  Even back during the 2000s, I knew that VK wasn't going to make an impact outside of Japan due to how the majority of them were being marketed to people who attended anime cons.  I was just excited I could buy VK albums that were released outside of Japan for a fraction of what CDJapan was selling them.
 
I decided to compile a list of Japanese artists that have released albums in the West that charted on the Billboard charts. 
 
There is a few things to note right off the bat:
The following Japanese metal groups that only released in Europe during the 1980s: Anthem, Earthshaker, Vow Wow The following Japanese metal groups that had albums released in the USA, but did not chart: Dead End, Gastunk The following VK groups that had albums released in the USA, but did not chart: D'espairsRay, MUCC, Kra, the GazettE, Alice Nine, Versailles, Mix Speaker's Inc, L'arc~en~Ciel Albums by Loudness, EZO, OK ONE ROCK, and Utada Hikaru that charted in the USA on this list were recorded in English. I listed everything from highest charting spot to lowest charting spot.  I did not include record sells since a lot of the older releases, I couldn't find what the sales were for the date when the record charted at that spot.
Sakamoto Kyu - Sukiyaki and Other Japanese Hits (1963) [Billboard 200: #26]
BABYMETAL - Metal Resistance (2016) [Billboard 200: #39]
Loudness - Lightning Strikes (1986) [Billboard 200: #64] Utada Hikaru - This Is the One (2009) [Billboard 200: #69] Loudness - Thunder in the East (1985) [Billboard 200: #74] ONE OK ROCK - Ambitions International Version (2017) [Billboard 200: #106] EZO - EZO (1987) [Billboard 200: #150] Utada Hikaru - Exodus (2004) [Billboard 200: #160] Loudness - Hurricane Eyes (1987) [Billboard 200: #190] Dir En Grey - Uroboros (2008) [Billboard Heatseeker: #1] Dir En Grey - Dum Spiro Spero (2011) [Billboard Heatseeker: #2] BABYMETAL - BABYMETAL (2015) [Billboard Heatseeker: #4] Dir En Grey - The Marrow of a Bone (2007) [Billboard Heatseeker: #8] ONE OK ROCK - 35xxxv Deluxe Edition (2015) [Billboard Heatseeker: #17] Pizzicato Five - Happy End of the World (1997) [Billboard Heatseeker: #32] Shonen Knife - Rock Animals (1994) [Billboard Heatseeker: #39] Dir En Grey - Withering to Death (2006) [Billboard Heatseeker: #42] From what I've posted, I do think that not singing in English could have hurt any success Dir En Grey and other VK-related bands could have had in the Western music scene.  I also think the type of music Dir En Grey did also hindered them in some ways.  Before someone brings up BABYMETAL sings in Japanese and  managed to sell well; I view them in a similar light as Steel Panther, a group that's not super serious compare to a group like Dir En Grey.

Vpngate.net always has Japanese proxies.

You seem to have excellent taste. I'm glad to see more fans of the "golden era" (teehee) pop put of the woodworks! Hope you enjoy your stay!

Mmm hmm, we are gonna get along just fine hehe.
 
Welcome to the forum!
It's great to hear that you've come out of lurking. Fans of the scene are always welcome, especially 90's Visual Kei Oficionados such as ourselves (we're starting to thrive again it seems lol). I can't wait to hear all the kinds of wisdom/knowledge you have to offer here on MH.
Oh and also,  it's never too late to say hi.
Just message any of the Admins/Mods on the website (Red/Blue) when you have any questions.
 
Talk to you soon!
 
 

So apparently, these songs do exist, or at least 04 and 05 do. Don't know about 静寂, but it's also said to be the SE for Gesshoku's live VHS, so huh...
There are also some more, that would probably be visnu songs then: neo-nazis, 風の無い処へ, sabbat, slave, mania, end and an unnamed ballad.
Along with the 真紅 tape I earlier posted. Of course all these songs are 100% off the internet
 
And three VHS tapes that won't ever see the light of the day:
 

Yup, the person I got these from told me that they would have to ask all other members first before they could share them with me. And they obviously won't do that.
And even if they did, I'm preeeetty sure they'd ask me not to share them further anyway. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

That has to be from a former bandmember, since it looks like the venue footage and those are never sold or given out, sadly. Its a shame, good history that gets lost this way all the time.

So I got my other package I was talking on my last post.
 

Rouage - Soup (on vinyl)
 

A bunch of Wizard releases.
 

Aliene Ma'riage - Les Soiree (both versions)
Kuroyume - 生きていた中絶児
Eliphas Levi - リデルの赤い書物
Decameron - バラードは歌わない
Baiser - Psychoballet
Baiser - Ash
Color - Galaxy
Grand Slam - Faraway VHS + Single
Grand Slam - Infinity VHS

You have good taste!
I, myself, really like the indies-era X.
 
By the way, where are you from?

Hey Monochrome-Community,
 
I'm a long time lurker and thought, why not joining. My own personal favourites are more the old classics, like X, Malice Mizer and Dead End. 
 
All of you, have a lovely evening  

As with my earlier outputs, I thought it would be neat to discuss about "interesting" chord progressions in our beloved, visual scene as well!  What kind of intriguing progressions (from your POV) you guys have stumbled onto while going through your VK repertoire? As long as you are able to explain your choices, it's all OK...not that this thread would gain enough exposure, lol (I am not gonna hop into another round of "what is VK music" debate and just pinpoint that even in 00s and earlier 10s it was easy to acknowledge imho what's  "so VK" and what's "not so VK" in the auditory context.)
 
Prime example or where to start:
 
"Royal road" progression (IV△7→V7→IIIm7→VIm)
VK example of this: as far as I have noticed, Gazette's "Sumire" is pretty much about that kind of progression too, no?