Those girls have it tough already by simply being idols. They can't even date people without losing their fanbase; it's like the opposite of America.


Not too big on vocaloid which is what I assume Re:MAKER uses. ARESZ was kind of strange for me. Those vocals were pretty grating. I dunno.


I dunno how I exactly feel about it, but it's definitely not my thing. The harsh vocals actually remind me of Kyo (Dir En Grey) which is a good thing.


Actually, I don't think you're allowed to just arbitrarily carry blades around in Japan. Kind of lame.


Well, I definitely took advantage of that coupon promotion you mentioned. Since, I'm sick of backorder, I split up my order a bit, so I got two different things over 10,000 yen. The first part shipped, so I should get that by this week. I guess the Gargoyle will just have to be on backorder forever.

Not sure if you'll be interested in this (I only found it today), but 凛 -the end of corruption world- actually has a single out on the 23rd. The band members are from Phantasmagoria and Megaromania (both of which have long been defunct), and I quite like the latter band's noodly brand of power metal. The band's discorgraphy is kind of strange actually, but it's split up into two different “periods.” I think that during the first period; they were just named “凛” (Rin/Lin) and the members were all different except for the bassist. The material there just sounds like okay J-rock to me, but in the second period, they have a pretty major sonic shift into the power metal. Anyways, I like what I hear a lot and it's seems basically like Megaromania 2.0 (same vocalist, a guitarist and drummer).


I'll probably grab this one along with Gauntlet's album. Nevermind, I just did. I slapped it all together with some stuff that comes out on the 6th so I can get another 20% off coupon out of it.

It makes me wonder: what's gonna happen to Babymetal once they exit their teens? Replace them with new girls?


I just uploaded those. Re:MAKER is fucking weird, but I dig the hell out of it. It does use vocaloids, so that could be off-putting. There's some electronic elements too. Really nice basswork and the entire thing sounds pretty futuristic. Not sure what I'd call it - I'm actually leaning towards avantgarde J-pop. Girl band too, which is even more weird. It may take a few plays get into (it did for me). Plus side is, its pretty unique and there's nothing in my collection like it.

ARESZ vocals are an acquired taste, but I like her now. They're not an immediate band (took me a few plays to get into), but the album I sent you I liked a lot (played it like 15-20 times now).

I also threw in that ASRA "Samsara" EP - they're a folk metal/rock hybrid (J-rock?). I like them a lot as well and that EP is my favorite album of theirs. They do have a couple PVs on youtube, but they may be hard to find - and those aren't terribly representative of their sound. Good bass too (no shock).


I think you have to get a license over there to have one. I see plenty of bands posting in photos with one. Its funny. I saw one pic in HMV Japan of Dragon Guardian's vocalist packing a katana and dressed in trad garb. I guess girls wandering around with swords is a normal thing over there lol


I may have to do some pruning of some of my orders one of these days. Backorder is the bane of my existence. One CD that was backordered since January (it got bumped off multiple orders) is FINALLY in stock. It looks like the new exist trace drops on the same day as those 2 Onmyo-Za, so that was a surprise release. September is gonna be busy, methinks.

Oh, not sure if I linked these, but here's some new PVs:

Sounds VERY promising - I already have that album pre-ordered. A lot heavier than expected, considering its their major label debut.


So it looks like Skywings new vocalist is their guitarist. That was anti-climatic. Song sounds pretty good though. Was kinda underwhelmed at first, but it grew on me like a fungus. Drums sound like ass, but that seems to be normal over there.


Sounds different from that Amber Moon PV I linked you - this sound very promising as well. They... live up to their bandname haha


Sounds promising - I'll have to keep an eye on this. There's probably a fair amount of VK-power metal that fits in nicely with what I listen to already.

Probably. Idol jobs are revolving doors.


Hmm, well I only played Re:MAKER once so far. Funnily enough, the intro and outro tracks grabbed my attention the most. That's never happened to me before, I normally filter most of them out. I guess time will have to tell on them.

ARESZ actually hooked right with Jack-o'-lanturn. That was a really cool album.

ASRA was interesting. I'd need more time to get my thoughts together on that one. That HARAKIRI was just goofy, fun.


Katanas always make band photos better.
http://zankyo.jp/wp-content/uploads/201 ... _2014A.jpg


Welp, more stuff just went on backorder for me. Shows you my luck. At least it's all on the same order now. And god, that's a reaaaally long backorder.


I'm not really feeling the Skywings one, but Mary's Blood and Fairy Mirror sound quite good to me. Not sure how the bald guy is supposed to fit Fairy Mirror's image though.


Yeah, there's a crapload. Do you me to send you some mp3s of Megaromania's two albums? Their label went out of business (not really surprised given that their model was to release a shitload of singles and a million different versions of everything), so the stuff you still can find is too expensive. Plus, I feel bad that you keep giving me this music and I haven't really contributed that much back.

Yeah, that one took several plays for it to click with me (last year I tended to play any Japanese CD I bought 20+ times to get my money's worth). I was initially interested in that band because Saki (Mary's Blood) is their guitarist. I kinda forgot how murky/spacey the production on that thing is, so it makes things a bit difficult to make out what's going on. The intro/outro totally stand out because they seem to use different production and are louder (probably deliberate, but it is a bit jarring). The lives on youtube are pretty useless because they're even more murky, so you pretty much have to know the songs inside and out to figure out what's going on. Tracks 3 and 6 are my fave - some nice basswork on both of them (track 6 has some bass/guitar solo trade-offs).


That band really should've put that song up or at least a trailer - they're a pretty cool and unique band. Their older stuff (self-released, I think) I'll have to get via a shopping service. Jack-o-lantern was one of my faves too, plus some of the Japanese titled ones. I like how the 6 string bass is employed (sometimes going along with the lead guitar), while still having a 4 string bass rumbling along. The entire album sounds really, really dense as fuck. I can't really figure out what sub-genre to put it in either: there's thrash, groove, power, plus some symphonic elements and for some strange reason I almost get an industrial feel (even though there's no actual instrumentation from that genre). Its strange, the vocals on the youtube vids kinda irked me on the live vids on youtube, but sounded fine on the actual CD.


That band has a bit of an Onmyo-Za influence - its subtle though... plus that's probably aided by seeing their vocalist post pictures of a couple Onmyo-Za CDs she owns Stylistically they're pretty diverse. Here's 2 PVs:
AxCell PraNa
Asymmetry Hanuman

Strangely enough, those turned up on the first page when I searched youtube for Asra. It didn't last year! lol

It also dawned on me I own nearly every Blacklisted Production CD released over the last couple years. I think they're turning into a pretty good label. Some of their 00's stuff was meh though.


Ohhh yeah! haha Its a crime against humanity the PVs got pulled off youtube (not sure why either - the band's split must've been ugly) - that was some of the goofiest stuff I've ever seen (and that's staying a lot considering how ridiculous some of the stuff I listen to is).


Indeed. Onmyo-Za have had quite a few with swords in them. Actually, I've seen that a lot with more folk-orientated bands. You get Mardelas with Marina brandishing what looks to be a no dachi (I think... I'm not Japanese sword expert). I also saw Destrose's new vocalist post a picture of her with a katana or something.

Speaking of swords, check this one out:

She starts flailing one around for whatever reason on the second song. Surprised she didn't hit someone lol This band has a lot of promise, but I can't find any CDs anywhere yet. So I guess I'll have to keep an eye on them until they do.


If there's like 6+ CDs in stock, I'd just break the order into two shipments and have them ship the in stock stuff. When you played the order, was that coupon promotion still valid? I saw it vanished later that evening and that would totally suck if that order didn't qualify for it. I was gonna put in a second order then poof, it vanished. That was a couple hours after I responded to your last message though.


That Skywings took a few plays to grow on me, but it underwhelmed me at first. I'll let you know how the full-length is. That Mary's Blood CD I have extremely high expectations for (esp. after hearing that PV and they seem to improve with each album). That Fairy Mirror is ready to ship, but its slowed down by a few pre-orders. I may have to bump off a backordered title from that order and try getting it from CD Japan.


Yeah, there's a crapload. Do you me to send you some mp3s of Megaromania's two albums? Their label went out of business (not really surprised given that their model was to release a shitload of singles and a million different versions of everything), so the stuff you still can find is too expensive. Plus, I feel bad that you keep giving me this music and I haven't really contributed that much back.[/quote]
Sure, I'd definitely be game for that. I have no issues with sharing mp3s of out of print stuff. Plus, VK is pretty daunting/expensive on its own, and I kinda reached the conclusion I probably won't be able to get everything over there


Same here. This fall is gonna be awesome. Exist Trace's new album drops on the same day as those 2 Onmyo-Za albums - so they're gonna get ordered together. Destrose has a new MCD this fall too. I'm very curious to hear what their new vocalist sounds like. Bridear also has a new single announced too.