Gaze.

Today I would like to bring up a band that has been impressing the hell out of me for a while. Deathgaze. Having been around for a respectable 2003, Deathgaze is one of the heaviest, visual bands that is still active. And no joke, they are heavy, catchy and badass.

Originally formed by Ai, Kanna, Naoki and Hazuki, but has had frequent member changes. Hazuki left after the first single to form Lynch., and Sou replaced him as the vocalist. Sou then vanished off the face of the earth for a few weeks and created somewhat of an uproar in Japanese rock music circles, finally Ai (who had been writing the music and also played bass) got fed up with replacing vocalists all the time and started singing for the band.

Hazuki, Sou and Ai, as vocals go are all very talented and really sound very similar to one another. If someone played any given Deathgaze song, I could pick out which vocalist it was due to the time period the song was released, but that's pretty much the only reason.

I've pretty much been listening to Deathgaze since they formed, maybe a few months after their first release. Honestly? They've done nothing but get better! Their sound has changed a little from more of a darker Nagoya sound to a more standard hardcore metal sound, but I feel their songs have gotten more catchy and distinguishable from one another.

Deathgaze is really a band that stands apart from the Japanese rock crowd, with their amazing vocalists, catchy, super-hard guitars and pretty much one of the best lineups I have seen in J-Music recently.. I hope they continue to put out really sick music ;D

I'm sure you can tell that today's BAND OF THE DAY! is Deathgaze, with their song Miscarriage off the Genocide and Mass Murder album from 2006 (Sou is the singer here).

Enjoy~

I reform, along with Cali=Gari~

OK, so I am officially back.

I was really un-inspired to write about Japanese music for a while. Seemingly nothing new or interesting was coming out.. I ended up creating 2 podcasts and distributed them to people I know personally, ultimately I got positive reviews from everyone, but got lazy and didn't upload it anywhere. I don't think the files exist anymore though.

I don't know for sure if that is still the case, there are a few things from mid-late 2008 that were pretty good, but not in a high enough volume for me to care that much.

HOWEVER!

Freakin' Cali=Gari has reformed.* (a month or two ago officially) They put out 'Cali=Gari no Sekai' (Cali=Gari World) which is a sort of best-of album with an update to Oto-Sex lol. But next month they are putting out a new single, coming in 2 forms '9 - To - Hen' and '9 School Zone Hen' I suppose these singles are a ~sequel~ to the actual '9' (Kyuu) Dvd which was of their "last" live performance.

But the icing on the cake is, they are releasing a full album '10' on August 26th.

*I would like to point out that my last blog entry, over a year ago made this prediction :3

cali≠gari／－踏－【PV】

To make up for my being away for so long, I will be uploading a song every time I post (which should be a few times a week) I will be choosing a BAND OF THE DAY! and sharing whatever song grabs me that day. So please enjoy and if you like it, check the band out more!

Today's BAND OF THE DAY! is Lynch.

They are releasing a new album called Shadows on July 8th.

Beautiful.

The real.

Wow this post is LOADED..

I have a few things I would like to discuss with you, internets. I have recently come to the conclusion that Syu from Galneryus, Aushvitz and Animetal is the best guitarist in Japanese rock music. I don't particularly like Animetal or Galneryus but I respect them both for having great musicians. Aushvitz on the other hand is actually considered a visual band, and I love it.. It's like just as intense as Galneryus but really damn dark and about subsequently much more unhappy subjects (this is a video of Syu playing at a Galneryus gig).

In other news, I mentioned something earlier in this blog (not this post tho) about D would become really big if they went major.. And just a few weeks ago D went major~ HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR!!!

Also Lynch. put out a PV finally, it's called 'Adore' and only watch it in high quality otherwise it looks awful. I really like the song and the PV is freakin cool too. (Sorry I can't find it in higher quality ;_;)

My last order of business is to make a PREDICTION.

I have been informed that both Goatbed and Lab. The basement are disbanding, these bands holding the majority of Cali=Gari's band members. Kenjirou (the bassist) is the only one who is not in a disbanding group.. He's playing support bass for Coaltar of the Deepers XD!!

Anyhow following some kind of logic, all these former Cali=Gari members going back into circulation PROBABLY = reformation of Cali=Gari. Which I would like to see nothing more than. For me this is like a ZOMG thing. <3

Next post you get the first 2 episodes of my Podcast :D

..With a bang.

Since today is the beginning of my Visual Kei blogging odyssey, I will start off with 2 whole album reviews; D'espairsRay's MIRROR and Lynch.'s THE AVOIDED SUN and a discussion on the trends I am seeing.. with a general overview of my perceptions.

---------------------------------------------------------------

D'espairsRay - MIRROR

MIRROR is D'espairsRay's second full length album, the first being [Coll:Set]. Really, I view [Coll:Set] as a real masterpiece and since its release I have looked foward to ANY new D'espairsRay releases and haven't been disappointed once. This album is definitely up to par with their recent releases, delivering a solid, enjoyable experience through and through. I have to warn though, there are a lot less electronics present in this release for those who enjoy the industrial element, which for me is a big part of why I enjoy D'espairsRay so much. Usually that would bother me but this album really feels balanced and there are still electronics, but the emphasis is on the amazingly orchestrated ROCK this time.

I have to say, MIRROR is less industrial/metal than [Coll:Set] and is slightly more on the softer side musically. Content wise, MIRROR is just as heavy as anything D'espairsRay has put out. Putting less emphasis on the electronics and super heavy guitar/bass and more emphasis on emotion and melody make this album feel a lot more human. This album is beautiful and I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys D'espairsRay.

The tracks that stick out for me on MIRROR are DAMNED, ANGEL DUST and the already established single songs Kogoeru Yoru Saita Hana and Squall.


I give MIRROR by D'espairsRay 86% on the awesome meter.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Lynch. THE AVOIDED SUN

THE AVOIDED SUN is Lynch.'s first full length album, being preceded by the mini-albums, Greedy Dead Souls and Underneath the Skin. Lynch. is still a relatively new band in the Nagoya Kei scene, but have quickly gained popularity and a reputation for holding killer live shows. I look foward to any release Lynch. puts out because they are one of the few really hard bands around and are also completely super talented and respectable. I have to say I was minorly disappointed by this album; it doesnt feel very long and overall it seems less brutal than most of their previous releases. However this music is the cream of the crop, Lynch. is some of the real interesting music that has been coming out of Japan and my expectations are ALWAYS unrealistically high for bands that I really enjoy.

Overall you have to be in a certain mood to be able to listen to Lynch. (at least for me to really enjoy it) but when I am in this mood, THE AVOIDED SUN is absolutely amazing. After Lynch.'s initial releases, the band has lost the sort of stiff feeling the music had and everything sounds more fluid and comfortable, which makes listening easier. This album is a great example of that, you can feel the synergy between the musicians now and it's very enjoyable. THE AVOIDED SUN is slightly lighter than previous Lynch. musics, but that doesnt hurt the album too much for me. Again content-wise this album feels very rich, like huge amounts of thought and care were put into creating it.

I also have to say that the vocalist and composer, Hazuki is damned talented and one of the few musical geniouses producing music in Japan these days. I love all the bands he's done vocals for. (including Berry and Deathgaze)

The songs that grabbed me from THE AVOIDED SUN are Liberation Chord, Anemone (Laputa: Castle in the Sky anyone?) and Prominence.


I give Lynch's THE AVOIDED SUN a 73% on the awesome meter.

---------------------------------------------------------------

I hope you guys enjoyed my first album reviews :D

This post is dedicated to Nata-bot for introducing me to both Lynch. and D'espairsRay.
(I had heard of both bands but had never listened to either one until she insisted that these bands were amazing.)