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Asakusa

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  1. Like
    Asakusa reacted to The Reverend in BAROQUE - Ryo retires from music. Band suspends activites indefinitely. Kei announces new solo album.   
    I'll be spinning Sug Life today and thinking about the good times.
  2. I feel ya..
    Asakusa reacted to chemicalpictures in BAROQUE - Ryo retires from music. Band suspends activites indefinitely. Kei announces new solo album.   
    my heart skipped a bit at first, but when you follow those guys for almost 20 fuckin years, there's certain things your gut tells you
     
    Ryo has always dealt with mental health problems, kei first solo act was born after Ryo's biggest breakdowns. I mean, the dude has written a book on the matter
     
    Cancelling tours and suddenly suspending activities points me to another one of those. Kei has been working on solo stuff for a while, so I'm sure he was somewhat prepared for something like this
     
    This saddens me AF, but I'm pretty sure we'll hear more from Ryo in due time.
     
    Hope he rests, get well, and make a comeback ASAP. If not, we just lost one of the most influential acts of 00's VK. Cheers to a legendary one!
  3. Like
    Asakusa reacted to Furik in BAROQUE - Ryo retires from music. Band suspends activites indefinitely. Kei announces new solo album.   
    Oh man. This hurts. Baroque was at their prime during their early releases and helped shape my musical taste in high school. 
     
    This really sucks but I could tell Ryo and Kei were over the revamped baroque. It just wasn't the same. 
     
    I am glad that Kei is making a new album though. He's extremely talented and silk tree is one of the greatest albums ever tbh. I'm excited for it.
  4. LOVE!
    Asakusa reacted to bukimi_heishi in Dir en grey   
    Thank you! ❤
  5. Thanks
    Asakusa got a reaction from nick in DIR EN GREY new single 落ちた事のある空 release summer 2020   
    DAY 1 is on the fanpage at vk.ru for free, same quality you're looking for...
  6. LOLOL
    Asakusa reacted to Euronymous in Deviloof   
    i think DEVILOOF is NOT a band for most of the VK-Fans,due to the fact that their roots still in the slam/deathcore,and also because of Keisuke's "weirdness".As a deathcore screamer he is one of my favorite in the scene.He's highly competent,has an insane range and many memorable vocal patterns,simply outstanding. however,his slurred and weird clean singing combined with the usual "visual-kei" diversity and Ray's vocals will probably make some people confused or even turn their back on it,and also deathcore is not a very "malleable" sub-genre of metal, so not everyone is capable to digest it if it's not traditional/straightfoward deathcore like the western bands do.
     
    The album " Oni " sounds pretty much like a continuation of Devil's proof in terms of production and musical quality,with some new ideas here and there (dusky-vision and Ruten for example).honestly,i expected more,but i'm satisfied with the result,they still a young band after all...
     
    unfortunately in this forum it became funny to some people to just hate on this band on every fucking release without any decent argument,
    are these guys edgy teenagers or what? 
  7. Like
    Asakusa reacted to Saishu in Deviloof   
    Or people just don’t like the band. There’s nothing all that noteworthy going on here if you’re familiar with death metal, metalcore, deathcore, etc, it just stands out more in the context of the VK scene. 
  8. Like
    Asakusa reacted to Jigsaw9 in COPY/PASTE 4   
    I guess it might be THIS... versus THIS?  
  9. Like
    Asakusa reacted to Zeus in #117: MUCC x DEZERT - 蟲/ガチャガチャムクムク   
    I don't know why, but "Houyoku era" is enough to turn me off.

    I've never liked Houyoku. I didn't like it when I was sampling random MUCC tracks and came across "Kokoro no nai machi". Didn't like it when I had more context to their band activities and listened to Houyoku in the intended order. Didn't even like the cuts that made their way onto their "BEST OF" collection album a few years back. There's an air of ingenuity surrounding the album, and it's so clear to hear that the band dropped the depressive phase cold turkey. This feeling that I have towards Houyoku doesn't go away when I listen to Gokusai either, because Gokusai sounds effortless in its approach to the same style of sound. I even tried listening to Houyoku last week! I felt nothing. Anything remotely resembling Houyoku sends me into the pits of boredom.

    It's tragic that I had to compare DEZERT to Houyoku but that's what it is. I did not mean anything negative when I wrote it, because I feel like I'm the only person in the world who actively dislikes that album, but there was nothing like it in all of visual kei until DEZERT 2.0 showed up. That's why there's still a niche for DEZERT to fill here, but a sound I found uninteresting then is still uninteresting to me now, and I think that I find DEZERT so boring for the same reasons I don't like Houyoku. It's going to take some time for the band to find themselves and mature even further, and perhaps we will see this band follow a trajectory similar to MUCC, but I don't see myself sticking around waiting for that to happen.
  10. Like
    Asakusa reacted to geist in sukekiyo   
    A lot of good ideas on this album, which I suspect are Takumi's. A lot of not-so-good ideas on this album, which I suspect are Kyo's.
  11. LOVE!
    Asakusa reacted to platy in sukekiyo   
    I've been listening to Adoratio on repeat after the new album came out. So here's a personal ranking of sukekiyo's stuff 
     
    Adoratio
    Vitium
    Immortallis 
    Infinitum
  12. Like
    Asakusa reacted to suji in メリー (MERRY) new mini-album, "for Japanese sheeple" release   
    it has been announced at their 17th anniversary live at Ebisu Liquidroom that MERRY will release their first(!!!) mini-album in spring 2019.
     
    More details will be announced at their fanclub-only Christmas live, "VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS ~CORE Premium Night~"...
  13. Like
    Asakusa reacted to Shaolan974 in the god and death stars new album, "funky ghost hollywood" release   
    [tracklist]
    01.薄荷
    02.サニーゴーサニー
    03.good night my love
    04.藁の犬
    05.ママイズジャム
    06.永遠の子
    07.君に決めた
    08.funky ghost hollywood
    09.life is beautiful
    10.夜を歩く葡萄
     

  14. Like
    Asakusa reacted to suji in the god and death stars new album, "funky ghost hollywood" release   
    the god and death stars new album, "funky ghost hollywood" (10 songs, 3000 yen) will be released on December 5.
     
    The band will also host their live, "1118GIGS2018-special edition-【funky ghost hollywood】" at Ikebukuro CHOP on November 18.
     

  15. Like
    Asakusa reacted to evenor in マツタケワークス (MATSUTAKE WORKS) mini album release "弱いひとたち"   
    Latest band from cool guy Eiji (ex. マカロニ, 秘密結社コドモA, DENTAKU etc.) will be releasing a seven track mini album on 12/26/18. Tracks #2 and #5 are covers from previous Eiji bands (DENTAKU and 秘密結社コドモA respectively ).
     
     
      These guys were great during the recent Matina event, so I am really hyped for this release!
     
     
  16. Like
    Asakusa reacted to Zeus in #116: The Insulated World by Dir en grey   
    | Dir en grey's tenth album is something special indeed.
     
    Few artists can bring the scene together and elicit responses from everyone the way that Dir en grey can. They can make you pause your habitual listening routines to check out their newest single or album, even if you don't like them. This is because Dir en grey is one of the few bands where we can sense the progression and self-improvement from release to release. I don't think that Dir en grey aspires to impress anyone but themselves from three years ago, and now more than ever I see and feel a band that has graduated from copying trends to setting them. As a concept, and after listening to the album several times, I believe The Insulated World refers directly to them, their view on the world, and the inspiration for where the music they wish to create comes from.
     
    The Insulated World feels like a journey into oneself, and the album feels separated into two parts. The first half of the album feels like a turbulent descent into madness, while the second half feels like the madness has yielded to tranquility as the listener floats towards personal understanding. I prefer the second half to the first half. This is a far cry from literally every other album of theirs, where tracks were arranged haphazardly and the experience suffers for it. I can hear various influences from each of their previous eras and albums - some more than others - but one of the most redeeming points about The Insulated World is that it doesn't sound like anything in particular.
     
    In the past, I've felt that Dir en grey bit off more than they could chew, and failed to deliver on their own expectations. I felt this most when listening to DUM SPIRO SPERO, where the band used progressive elements for the sake of being progressive. The Insulated World has the progressive elements applied more sensibly, similar to ARCHE. Songs morph and change direction on a whim, but there are hooks and motifs that the band returns to that gives each song coherency. Vocalist Kyo reminds us once again that he's the king of vocal manipulation - just in case you had doubts - but he's embraced his mid range more. Focusing on the extremes of his vocal techniques leaves an immediate and lasting impression at the expense of it sounding very binary. I prefer the vocal extremes for specific emotional climaxes and using other vocal techniques for specific feelings at the appropriate times. "Values of Madness" is the best example of what I am describing, where we get screeching, rapping, singing, and more in a compact four minutes. The re-recording of "The Deeper Vileness" is another great example, and also highlights how well some of the ideas they explored in The Marrow of a Bone translate into their new style ten years later.
     
    Complaints about the terrible production job for the singles "Utafumi" and "Ningen wo kaburu" were founded and make more sense in hindsight, with the new versions sounding less congested. Die and Kaoru no longer compete with Toshiya for total control of the low end frequency, Shinya's drum kit sounds less robotic, Kyo doesn't feel tacked on top of the mix, and there's plenty of room left for the guitar distortion techniques and electronic samples to breathe. For the most part, I like the tone chosen for the guitar and the way everything comes together in each song, and I would rank this among both their best and least obnoxiously mixed albums to date. I wish they could get their singles to this quality.
     
    The Insulated World is not a perfect release. "Devote My Life" is not listenable due to the piercing, unrelenting tone of the guitar. Sticking it in the second slot does a lot to turn away people who only have once chance to give Dir en grey. They should have gone with a guitar tone closer to "Downfall". "Ranunculus", while a great song and a good note to end the album on, has an atmosphere which doesn't fit with the album. I get the impression this track was conceived either very early or very late in the production cycle, because it stands well on its own. I also am unable to find the hook in the album opus, "絶縁体" (Zetsusentai), which I find difficult to wrap my head around. They've done this style of track more effectively with "Vinushka" and even "Diabolos", and it doesn't hold a candle to the pure atmosphere of "MACABRE". Speaking of Macabre, I also find the new version of "理由" (Riyuu) slightly inferior to the original version. The cover of the song does justice to the original by not straying too much from the melody, but they reined in the emotion of the song and the guitar solo with only a cleaner sound to compensate,  and the original version of the song sold itself on its emotion. They didn't ruin it, but they didn't improve it much. The new version of "鬼眼" (Kigan) falls into the same camp, but the much better production values edges it out ahead in the end. For the record, I much rather these safe reinterpretations than ones that butcher the song beyond recognition.
     
    These interpretations are subject to change as I spend more time with The Insulated World, and perhaps catch them live one day to experience these songs in person. Even a month later, I still think I wrote this review prematurely, as there are songs still growing on me and others that I am unsure if I like or not. I am pleased overall with how this album turned out, and I can see myself listening to this album in a few years without the songs wearing thin. Dir en grey did well, and this is an album I can recommend to both long time fans and the curious, but if ARCHE did nothing for you then this won't either.
     
     
    Support the artist!
    iTunes | CDJapan
  17. Like
    Asakusa reacted to nekkichi in バルガリーヌレッド (vulgaruine red) new single & album release   
    omg @ her taste in games being like MILES ahead of her music one x
  18. Like
    Asakusa reacted to LIDL in Dir en grey   
    Kisou was ahead of its time. Haters back off!
     
  19. Like
    Asakusa reacted to Kelrya in Dir en grey   
    There’s a separate thread.
     
     
  20. Like
    Asakusa reacted to Kelrya in DIR EN GREY released their 10th album "The Insulated World" on September 26, 2018   
    It’s okay to like things. You should try it. Just once.
  21. Like
    Asakusa reacted to Dudemanguy in Dir en grey   
    Midwife is awesome. The only sorta crappy song on Arche is definitely 'the Inferno' since it feels like a DSS outake.
  22. Like
    Asakusa got a reaction from LIDL in DIR EN GREY released their 10th album "The Insulated World" on September 26, 2018   
    When I first heard the chorus I got blown away by how beautiful it's sounds. So much negativity in here imo
  23. Like
    Asakusa got a reaction from Kelrya in DIR EN GREY released their 10th album "The Insulated World" on September 26, 2018   
    When I first heard the chorus I got blown away by how beautiful it's sounds. So much negativity in here imo
  24. Like
    Asakusa reacted to Tokage in COALTAR OF THE DEEPERS new single SUMMER GAZER '92 + RABBIT E.P.   
    Resident shoegazers rejoice! Coaltar of the Deepers are finally back, proving once again that miracles do happen.
    They will be dropping their new single SUMMER GAZER '92 exclusively on iTunes on August 31st, and will have also announced that their long-awaited RABBIT E.P. will be released  in November 2018.
     
    Source & official artwork for the new single: 
     
  25. Like
    Asakusa reacted to Zeus in X Japan new album scheduled for 30th of TBD   
    If this was intentional, then perhaps I will be eating my words in a few week and saying it's better than I gave it credit for. One little quibble I have is that the song fades out too fast before it cuts to the title card and the rest of the episode, as if the song faded out naturally and then someone added another fade out on top of it.  I'll revisit my feelings at the end of the season and see where I stand on it.
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