Rockerica's Best of 2008

The very turbulent 2008 is coming to it's end and I think it's a good time to see which releases and bands marked the 2008. So sit back and hopefully enjoy my little summary of what I think is the best-of-the-best this year (with other stuff that for some certain reason marked the year) has delivered.

LEECH

BEST SINGLE
1. the GazettE - LEECH
2. D'espairsRay - Kamikaze
3. -OZ- - Bulk
Best underground indie debut single of the year: Lucy - Discord

This year has delivered a mass of excellent singles from various bands (some bands releasing several excellent singles) that it was a really hard decision to decide which single had the balls, the oomph, the wow and awesomeness painted all over. I think LEECH was the single that really stood out this year because each track was pure dynamite, totally in-your-face, simply bombing you with energy! A Visual kei rock firestorm!

Discord

MEGIDDO

Rentrer en Soi closed their final chapter and became legends with the epic last mini-album MEGIDDO which makes both fans and non-fans get the chills before this great and brilliant masterpiece. Among the runner-ups was Dio with their first and amazing Heaven's Call that delivered a full-pack of metal spiced hard Visual kei songs in the outstanding Dio manner. Also the newcomer's DELUHI first release Surveillance was just an announcement of this band's intention to take over the Visual kei world with their version of strong power-metal fusions and technical perfection.

Punkitsch

Oh and there is a band that caused a lot of brain/ear hemorrhages with both it's releases and mini-albums and that is SuG. If the color/kitsch overused album artwork wasn't enough of a warning to you, you'd be left off in a sugar coated mass of sticky, E-colored candy-punk mass. Do not listen unless you have an insulin syringe with you.
 

UROBOROS

BEST ALBUM
1. Dir en grey - Uroboros
2. Kagrra, - Core
3. MUCC - Shion
Best album not reviewed : Sugar - Sweetest

What? You thought that the best album part wouldn't go without the legendary Dir en grey and their highly anticipated Uroboros, did you? When Dir en grey releases and album, you can be almost more that certain that is predestined to be the album that will mark the year and that will stand as a new level and measure in Visual kei. Though slightly dehumanized and a skillful showing-off nerve play, Uroboros is definitely an album which sets new borders, both in Visual kei as in the music world overall.

Following Uroboros we have the excellent album Core by the neo japanesque kings Kagrra having both their traditional oriental flavored songs as well as some new rock experiments that were successful. Also the most versatile album of the year Shion by MUCC came out as a pleasant surprise with a showcase of such a variety of songs, different in genres but united in a board, recognizable MUCC-style.

Sweetest

Ironically the only five star album this year wasn't reviewed and that was Sugar's SWEETEST: a balanced out, unique, jazzy influenced rock piece with songs that take the breath aways both in style, refinement, expression, paired up with the incredible talent of each member, especially the astonishing voice of the singer LOKI and the guitar-hero skills of the guitarist SIZNA. If it was reviewed, Dir en grey would have been pushed in a one-on-one fight party to the top with Sugar.

BEST PV
1. the GazettE - LEECH
2. Dir en grey - Glass skin
3. alice nine. - Rainbows
Most sexy (fangirl-unfriendly) PV: SCREW - Gather roses

What makes an excellent PV? Well a lot of things. When your jaw literally detached from your skull, the complementary fusion of both the visual and auditory aspect, a unique concept, an artistic approach, a certain aesthetic and of course the omg, wow! aspect. And I think the PV for the song LEECH has it all and leaves everybody simply breathless with one of the most interesting, aesthetic and symbolic PV's around. Also their PV Guren was pretty damn great, but we have to leave the places for other bands right?

Glass Skin by Dir en grey wass a soothing, transient and floating monochrome PV that just seems to take you into a different world, where time stands still. A very pretty and interesting PV. The PV with the fun-factor was definitely Rainbows by alice nine. with all of it's flashiness and energy, fitting for such a loud and energetic song.

And one of the most entertaining and hot PV's around was Gather Roses by SCREW which have almost literally screwed the chicks in the PV. I have never seen so many sex-allusion and subtle sex scenes in any Visual kei PV as in this one. Sex, boob-grabbing, masturbation, lap-dancing as well as cxxk-suxxxing, all is presenting a very subtle and TV friendly way, but enough to drive rabid fangirls wild. SCREW you are my personal heroes because of this.

Deluhi

BEST NEW BAND
1. DELUHI
2. Lucy
3. Vistlip
Label with the most failing new bands: UNDERCODE
You've got to admit that no one has expected such a great band to emerge this year and to have so many excellent releases it's almost not natural. Well DELUHI have proven us wrong, thanks to their unique power-metal flaired songs and uprising lyrics. Though present with only one yet very valuable release, Lucy also gave us hopes for the dark Visual kei with their single Discord. Vistlip had the excellent debut release and a few weaker others but it was still a band that is better than the other new rest. 

Oh and a label who hasn't really contributed to the Visual kei scene was UNDERCODE with their heavy mediocre-to-bad oldschool Visual kei bands that all sound the same. But like Kisaki cares, as long as he is making money.

The gazette

BEST BAND
1. the GazettE
2. D'espairsRay
3. Sugar
Greatest sound change: 12012
Man, deciding on which band deserves to get the prestige title best band was really, really heavy and I had to think very good about it to make a good decision. After some thinking I have decided that the GazettE deserves the Best band title. Why? Because not only have they released (only) two excellent singles (and as such repented for the last years Stacked Rubbish), but the band also had a full scale of various live performances that peaked in performances such as the two-day final in Yoyogi, the midsummer Gazerock Festival and the secret live in Shinjuku that was halted after two songs because the police had to stop (due to 7000 people coming, instead of laughably 250).

Among the other bands that marked this year were also the veterans from D'espairsRay that released three excellent singles and toured a lot, as well as announced a new album for the 2009. It's great to see them active, though not so dark as they used to be. And not to forget a band I discovered this year and that turned into one of my favorites: Sugar! You just have to have wrong ears if you can't get into their elegant and refined jazzy-rock tunes that sound incredibly sophisticated and good.

The band that has experienced the most greatest sound change this year (unfortunately on the worse) was 12012 that went from dark hard-rock to carefree sugary pop-rock, becoming more and more ligther with every single. Such a sad waste of talent and reputation unfortunately.

虚無の終わり 箱詰めの黙示

the GazettE

And what has certainly made this year special was the amount of excellent songs from which some took the breath away, while others provided nirvana and chatarsis. Therefore, it was very hard to decide which songs were exceptional. The best song of the year , for me, was the GazettE's Kyomu no owari, hakodzume no mokushi, an apocalyptic piece with a mesmerizing mood, soaring, intense chorus and a aloof, yet present feel, accepting the end of the world with no regrets.

Vivid Place

DELUHI

While Kyomu was quite pessimistic, the wast and positive song Vivid Place by Deluhi was an undeniable proof of their brilliance and ability to make songs that literally shine! While I was pretty displeased with the positive-less-dark style D'espairsRay has had on the song KAMIKAZE I was literally blown away by the sharpness and tension of Scissors. If anything else Tsukasa should write more D'espairsRay songs!

02_Scissors

D'espairsRay

And reaching a mantric nirvana through music was never so near and so vivid as in Toguro by Dir en grey, a vunerable and calm song on their overall slightly dehumanized album. A wonderful, mesmerizing song with floating riffs and a lot of chanting.

Dir en Grey - 05 - Toguro

Dir en grey

And that would be it for my Best of 2008. I hope you liked it. You might have agreed on some spots with me, on some not, oh well everybody has got their own taste and favorites. So now I'm wondering what are your best of the best in this year! Which songs, releases and artists marked this year for you?

I hope the next year will be either as good as this one or preferably better!