33 posts tagged “gazette”
Release date: 7.10.2009.
Price: ￥
1,785
NO: KICM-91290
Track list
1. BEFORE I DECAY [PV]
2. 瞞し (Mayakashi)
So... After a bit less than 3 months the GazettE present us with another single, which was shortly announced after the release of their 4th album DIM. DIM was a utter masterpiece and you don't simply go and release anything else after such a piece of an album right away, unless it was something that didn't fit into the album concept anyways but had enough potential to be released. I think this might be the case with Before I Decay, although the band itself expressed a simple wish to create a "simple, speed song" after DIM. And that is basically what BEFORE I DECAY is.
BEFORE I DECAY is a uptempo,
furious, speed song with a lot of notes flying around and Ruki blasting
his vocal folds out with raw growls. The beginning with the verses
feels like a faster version of Zetsu's riff coupled with the distorted,
noisy and ALMOST IDENTICAL riffs from CIRCLE OF SWINDLER. A few subtle
metal licks add a bit to the variety but not as much as they did in
LEECH. The chorus is the only thing in this song that feels a bit
unpolished and done in a bigger haste than the rest, you could
basically sing the MOTH UNDER SKIN chorus over it and it would fit. And
when it comes to singles the GazettE haven't done a single original
(excluding maybe Guren) chorus since Filth in the Beauty. Basically if
you were to judge a song by it's first half it would seem rather
generic as hell. The second half brings some pleasant surprises though,
from the rhythm change in the pre chorus to the growly breakdown and
the refreshing, calm and flickering moment after it followed by some
amazing guitar tapping and alternate verse which sounds really intense,
tight and cathartic before moving to the good, old chorus. It's
incredible how this little part of the song adds so much potential and
character to it! It's like when I first listened to SHADOW VI II I, I
was fascinated by this one acoustic part to it and I could basically
just listen to the song because of that part, (even though with time I
grew to like the song overall) so I have a reminiscent same feel with
BEFORE I DECAY.
So this song is cool enough to have it's own single
and distinction, but it's on the other hand too generic to compete with
some of the masterpieces off DIM (though I'd really change it for
Headache man....). And this song is being used in the Japanese edition of the movie FAST AND FURIOUS, but not like I care about that.
Mayakashi leaves me with pretty split feelings about it. I really don't like the high main wah wah melody
that repeats and sounds more like something I'd come across in a forgettable Alice nine. B-side or at some other "Light" indies band.
The verses and pre-chorus are AND IF I FUCKING WILL HAVE TO WRITE THIS ALL OVER FOR THE THIRD TIME I WILL SHOOT SOMEONE, FUCK YOU VOX AND FIREFOX really smooth and sound a bit like the song Kare Uta coupled with the transiting riffs of Gentle Lie, giving off a certain happy-reminiscent feel. The chorus sounds pretty undeveloped, like it would go into the right direction if it was given time and thought, which is not the case with this single. The main problem with this song is the same one that Shiroki Yuuutsu had on DIM: it's a song the is good as a standalone, but placed next to a harder song it simply doesn't click. Eventually this song will grow on me, given the right time and context. But the certain pre-FILTH IN THE BEAUTY feel this song has will certainly make a lot of reminiscent listeners happy.
So overall BEFORE I DECAY brings a standard Gazetto sound with it enhanced with a few touches but not so polished and thoughtful as it was with DIM. But as the guys have stated before, it's a song that doesn't want to compete with it (or otherwise it would end up on the album). For me this release came way too sudden and my impressions for DIM haven't settled completely in order for me to get hyped about a new release. Before I Decay did exceed my expectations based on the preview, though the B-side came different from what I had imagined it to be based on the song title. The songs themselves are, in the end, really more than decent and I am sure that I'll give this release a lot of spins. So if you like the band this release is almost impossible to come by. And this band has already done so much this year so that this single is just the cherry-on-top.
Price: 3780￥
Track list
1.「剥離」(Hakuri)
2. THE INVISIBLE WALL
3. A MOTH UNDER SKIN
4. LEECH
5.泣ヶ原 (Nakigahara)
6.「エリカ」(E RI KA)
7. HEADACHE MAN
8. 紅連 (Guren)
9.「子宮」(Shikyuu)
10. 13STAIRS[-]1
11. DISTRESS AND COMA
12. 「感触」(Kanshoku)
13.白き憂鬱 (Shiroki Yuuutsu)
14. IN THE MIDDLE OF CHAOS
15.「朦朧」(Mourou)
16. OGRE
17. DIM SCENE
It's almost hard to put into words how actually agonizing it was to restrain oneself from listening a possible milestone release from ones favorite band. Without overdoing it, at certain points it was almost physically nauseating. This showed me how much I need their music, or rather how much I depend on it. Surely my world wouldn’t be the same without their music.
It’s quite unavoidable to intro this review without looking back at the previous albums and also the history of this band.
Reita (bs.), 流鬼 Ruki (vo.), 戒
Kai (dr.), 麗 Uruha (gt.)
Active since: 2002.
Status: Indies (self proclaimed)
Lable: PS Company
● pscompany.co.jp/gazette
Album Discography
DISORDER NIL STACKED RUBBISH
[13.10.2004.] [8.2.2006.] [26.6.2007.]
Previous Releases
DISTRESS AND COMA LEECH 紅連(GUREN)
[25.3.2009.] [12.11.2008.] [13.2.2008.]
Upcoming releases
BEFORE I DECAY [7.10.2009.]
DIM CM
Buy DIM
● Amazon (JP)
● Brand X (JP)
● Colloseum records (EU release)
● CD JAPAN (International)
The loud and rebellious character of the band reached it’s peak with the release of their first album, auspiciously titled as Disorder. The album was a bunch of really loud, distorted to the maximum songs, to a point going almost in the field of dissonance, delivering just a few if “soft” moments, that would make even the hardest of all punk rockers go envious. Nevertheless Disorder was an album that showed how even, what usually would be considered as chaos and noise, could be seen as “melody”. Order in disorder. The “chaotic” attribute to the band became even stronger.
2005. the band brought up the releases that, in a way, marked the transition from the chaotic, untamed, loud rock band Gazette to the great, sophisticated, mature and even darker band known as the GazettE. You could compare that as a “growing up” from a loud, extrovert, opposed to everyone rascal to a less chaotic, but vague, dark, introvert and opposed to the rotted world of oneself person. Nevertheless, the releases that came from this transition period brought this band closer to the fans than ever before, bringing songs that sounded the most “human” in terms of reflected life experiences and straightforwardness of all human feelings.
It was the 2006. that became the most important and redefining year for this band. Though never truly confirmed by the band itself, due to their explicit desire to be addressed as indies, the band is considered to have gone major with the single Cassis released in the late 2005. In February 2006. the band has released their best album called NIL. What made NIL stand out of every other release before and following was it’s balanced out, incredible song set that featured various songs being very different one from another but yet being united under the banner of “Nameless Liberty”. Not just the brilliantly compositions and versatility made the songs shine, but also their honesty, rawness in expressing the basic as well as complex feelings in their most true, essential forms. NIL was followed by a name change to the GazettE and peaked at the tour final in Budokan. But it didn’t stop there and the GazettE emerged on their first overseas performance in Germany and crowned the year with two singles REGRET and especially FILTH IN THE BEAUTY, whose multi genre blend and new elements such as vast chorus, worked out powerful guitars and occasional background female vocal addition, single handedly launched the band into the heights and became a core for each following “single” songs to come.
2007. brought another highlight single Hyena before the release of their third album STACKED RUBBISH. It’s no unknown fact that the albums are the ones that define the band the most, basically because they bring a much larger set of songs other than singles and mini-albums, as well as they are made with much more work by the band and faced with much higher expectations by the fans. And just a year has passed after NIL, and even less after a series of very strong singles. No doubt STACKED RUBBISH faced a lot of expectations. Unfortunately STACKED RUBBISH didn’t manage to match them. It had a set of very bipolar songs ranging from some harder ones, with a strong nu-metal touch going to lighter, rock ballade like ones, without any inner cohesion, but most of all, shred to almost no depth that NIL had. STACKED RUBBISH was a compilation of pretty experimental, but yet strong sure shots, which could only be appreciated after a lot of listening, but always leaving a bitter aftertaste. Maybe for the first time, the band has faced a stagnation that not even the overseas tour could have overshadowed. It took a while, but the band did admit that STACKED RUBBISH didn’t turn out the way it should, though the reasons for that never did came out, it can be assumed it was their labels hastening and the pressure to bring out a lot in a time tight space.
2008. was the “breathing” year, with the band releasing only the singles Guren and LEECH which both provided slight redemption for their STACKED RUBBISH album, being shed off the elements that made STACKED RUBBISH stagnate in it’s quality. The single DISTRESS AND COMA launched a final preview and speculation material before DIM’s release in 2009.
Even before it’s release DIM faced a lot of expectations, since it had to redeem somehow for STACKED RUBBISH’s downfall, but somehow brake the chain of releases that sounded way too sure in their core. Can DIM truly take GazettE onto a new stage of development and what is it’s significance?
「…」
THE INVISIBLE WALL is very tight, with amazing and intense guitars soaring, roaring and silencing with each moment, full and powerful riffs, thundering drumming and bass and Ruki’s voice being vast and bright, as well as delivering whispering and violent screaming. THE INVISIBLE WALL is a showcase GazettE song indeed, though slightly more passive and deeper than DISTRESS AND COMA is, but way more powerful when it comes to expression than it. Heavy and melodic at the same time, slightly vague, THE INVISIBLE WALL is the NAUSEA & SHUDDER of DIM.
The silence of THE INVISIBLE WALL’s marching outro is broken with a thick bassline in par with something you can call heavy-funk guitars. A MOTH UNDER SKIN bursts out as a hybrid of FILTH IN THE BEAUTY with BURIAL APPLICANT and ZETSU’s explosiveness, but even more aggressive and for the first time since FILTH IN THE BEAUTY correctly used female backvocals which make an adequate contrast to Ruki’s twisted and fierce vocals. The breakdown brings BURIAL APPLICANTS main riff flashback before bursting into a mass of chaos. Catchy as hell, slightly sexy, twisted and totally unchained, A MOTH UNDER SKIN is GazettE chaos at it’s best.
The intense mood is even pumped more up with LEECH, a last year’s single with such versatile guitars changing from hard rock, heavy metal, alternative, thrash metal showing the true genius of the both guitarist Uruha and Aoi. The rapturing chorus has got this almost cathartic feel and Ruki’s intense vocals are well complemented with gentle yet not so harmless female backvocals.
With the intensive and expressive, almost crying riffs and dark basslines we come to the longest and first ballad, Nakigahara (The crying field). Usually long ballads somehow tend to stretch out too much, but this is not the case with this beautiful masterpiece brought to perfection both in expression and in technical sense. It’s so raw and yet moving and vivid, without pretending or being pathetic, expressing sadness, hopelessness and pessimism like no other ballad before. Taion had hope, but this is peeled off any hope, sounding as all hope is gone. The vast and tragic chorus, the calm and broody notes in the verses, the antique koto in the background of the pre-chorus as well as the drowned in rain, slightly withering outro contribute to Nakigahara being one of the most emotionally intense songs, most likely since NIL or maybe Chizuru.
Erika sets out an pulsing and haunting outro to Nakigahara, giving the final, almost horror like seal to it on before moving to the explosive, hymn of chaos known as HEADACHE MAN, another song from the single DISTRESS AND COMA that made it onto DIM, for which I’m really glad. The song explodes in some very deeply tuned guitar madness and yelling, you’d shudder and think of Slipknot at first, moving onto a melodic bridge and exploding in an anticlimactic headbang fest. But it doesn’t stop there and the chorus explodes in a true hardcore Rock’n’roll manner! If you’re not going to go insane in this hymn of madness than you should really ask what’s wrong with you.
Though a bit strange in the set, following HEADACHE MAN’s madness is the wonderful over a year old, ballade Guren (Crimson Lotus) which has been re-recorded and a bit changed on a couple of spots, sounding now even more like the live version of this song. Overall, Guren still manages to enchant with it’s gentle, moving tone and flow, violin enhanced chorus and grandiose guitars with Uruha’s solo bringing out the best of the song. Even more beautiful than any crimson lotus.
Shikyuu (Womb) can be considered either as the terrifying outro to Guren or the intro to the next song. Shikyuu does give goosebumps because of the distorted horrifying baby screams, that exceed even Dir en grey’s Masochist of Decadence’s horrid baby cries.
Moving onto Uruha’s composition 13STAIRS[-]1 which represents one of the highlights of the album. The song begins with stretched out, distorted to max riff mass, over lined with even more mood riffs sounding mechanic, dirty, lustful. Yes, lustful would be the best way to describe this song because of it’s seductive, dark, lustful mood. Just a moment after another soaring the moods change, the riffs become clearer and more vicious bursting into a scream and growl fest in the chorus. It’s almost incredible how well this song tightens the mood, becoming intense with each second as well as faster until reaching it’s climax and slowly relaxing into the initial riff’s slowness. This song is sex. Literally.
Following 13STAIRS[-]1 is DISTRESS AND COMA which was released on the same titled single earlier this year, being another intense song with a balladesque touch, but powerful guitars bearing a metal touch onto them which is amazing. DISTRESS AND COMA brings on a pretty secure song structure for GazettE, but the strong riffs and intense, repeating chorus make this song another intense experience before moving onto the calm intro to Shiroiki Yuutsuu, Kanshoku (Sensation). Kanshoku provides some calming with it’s gentle guitar tones in couple with synth drums, having a slight R’n’B feel but perfectly setting up the mood for Shiroiki Yuuutsu (White Melancholy) probably the lightest GazettE song ever.
As far as Shiroiki Yuuutsu sounds beautiful with it’s coupling of fresh acoustics, emotional violins, present electric guitars as well strong drumming, reminiscing a lot on WITHOUT A TRACE and Junana sai as well as LUNA SEA’s masterpiece Gravity but even more lighter; Shiroiki Yuuutsu simply doesn’t fit in the dark, aggressive mood of DIM and Ruki unfortunately offers the weakest vocal performance on the album. Shiroiki Yuuustu is nevertheless a beautiful standalone song, being neither joyful or sad, but having a lot of reminiscence and warmth, perfect for those light days on which time seems to have ceased flowing.
Following Shiroiki Yuutsu is IN THE MIDDLE OF CHAOS, the most likely most intense and complete 3 minutes you’ll ever experience in your life. IN THE MIDDLE OF CHAOS is the combination of punk, hard rock and turns into heavy metal in the second half. The guitars seem as they’re racing against each other, the chorus explodes in the hymn like manner and the song changes paces on each moment. From Kai’s drumming, Reita’s basslines and everything, this song is a true gem. They’ve even managed to squeeze a solo into it! IN THE MIDDLE OF CHAOS is like the GazettE version of MUCC’s Sora to ito, but shorter and way more fun.
Morou (Dim) will be familiar to people who have dropped a visit on GazettE’s homepage when DIM was promoted, this screeching like a broken radio sounds combined with a scream representing the transformation to a monster, make way for OGRE, GazettE’s Reiketsu Nariseba and Stuck Man at the same time. This is the most fierce song these guys have done ever, dark, twisted, with mincing riffs, bestial growling, being harder than DISCHRAGE ever was. Really brutal song that sounds like the soundtrack to hell.
The album closes with the core-song DIM SCENE, that sounds like a funeral march for the GazettE. It’s heavy, dark, with passive rainy riffs I associate with Ryojoku no Ame by Dir en grey, but with even more weight. On DIM SCENE, speaking of Dir en grey, the whole band comes the closest to what you’d call a Dir en grey song and Ruki’s singing is awfully similar to Kyo’s, that you almost have the feel it’s Kyo singing with another timbre. The slow pace of the song in combination with the lagging guitars give a withering feel, and the bursted chorus with flickering in the background is very alike to Ware yami tote… DIM SCENE is the most serious song you’d ever hear from GazettE and presents a perfect, dim, dark ending to a such album. Perfection.
DIM is a pretty conceptual album and all the songs really do have a dim element in their core but there are differences between them. The songs that were previously released on singles are pretty similar in terms of having tension building verses and a vast, stretched chorus charged with feelings. Though GUREN, LEECH, DISTRESS AND COMA and even THE INVISIBLE WALL vary quite in their approach, the basic structure and idea is nevertheless pretty similar. Not actually criticizing that, but it’s pretty obvious how only “sure shots” are bound to head the singles, while all of the other songs are reserved for albums and B-sides, at least when it comes to PS COMPANY bands.
The new songs are really unbound to any rules and truly show how versatile this band is and how it isn’t afraid to explore new boarders and try out new styles and executing them well. Technically speaking each song will leave you amazed, whether you like drums, bass, guitars or just singing. It’s hearable how each member is developing in it’s own way, some more some less. It comes out pretty clear how this album was given a lot of thought and work, compared to the slightly hastened STACKED RUBBISH. I can only imagine how well STACKED RUBBISH would have been if it has been given “time to think about it”.
Aside the anti-PSC songs, songs such as 13STAIRS[-]1 and OGRE contribute to the anger sewn into DIM thanks to their fierce guitars and heavy growling. But the ballads such as Nakigahara and DIM SCENE deliver a strong touch of bitterness, disappointment and almost resignation to a certain point. All of these aspects carried in the songs contribute to the heaviness of DIM, with even “lighter” songs such as IN THE MIDDLE OF CHAOS or Shiroiki Yuuutsu having a certain bitter-frustrated note in them.
DIM is GazettE’s Uroboros.
Somehow comparing DIM to Dir en grey’s latest Uroboros isn’t without base. It’s very hard to actually see where this connections comes from; was it inspiration, homage, tribute, copy or just an independent style evolution that just matters to have similarities to the one of the other band. I believe in the latter. Not because I love GazettE or anything, but because rather than for DIM sounding as a rip off it sounds more as a complementary album to Uroboros. After listening to both and trying to find a comparison, an influence, I have seen how both albums extraordinary complement each other. After listening to DIM, Uroboros seems to be more comprehendible, but Uroboros provides that certain counterbalance to DIM that is left to be filled out after listening to DIM. In short, it’s pretty hard to fully understand one without the other. Which is quite interesting, considering that those are basically two quite different bands.
Though the sound of it is very close to Uroboros, I think this album is to GazettE what Vulgar was to Dir en grey, a boarder album that marked a transition to a more complex sound and a stronger musical affirmation. Interesting though, Dir en grey has long ago abandoned it’s visual style and definition as well had an almost complete change of mind in order to achieve the complexity of sound that DIM and Uroboros have, while GazettE more-less stayed the same Visual kei band, still somewhat accessible to it’s listeners and still playing their old songs on their lives unchanged.
DIM isn’t far from perfection, with almost all songs perfectly portraying the basic idea of the album, surely getting rid of some elements that seemed to be overflowing in the recent songs as well as implementing some new elements. Also the album as a whole delivers a versatile as well as a balanced out set of songs, not overdoing with one or another kind of songs, though less balanced than it was with NIL. Though there are some minor, but more less “digestible” flaws unlike it was with STACKED RUBBISH. The obvious “downer” is Shiroiki Yuuutsu, but not because it’s a bad song, in contrary it’s a very beautiful song, but it just doesn’t fit in DIM’s set because it’s so “light”. If there was a need for such a song, WITHOUT A TRACE would have been a better choice or no song like that at all. Also the production at some songs seems pretty loud as well as there are somewhat not necessary elements in certain songs such as too much violin, which is a rather nice touch but doesn’t make the songs benefit too much. The album also has got this certain distance and thickness in it resulting for the album to feel a bit “off” but not unreachable, but still more distant than the previous albums were and as such is much less of an “easy listening” experience, though that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Though it’s quite early to say this, at least until the next single UNTIL I DECAY (with very symbolic title) comes out, I feel that DIM is definitely a new and revolutionary step in this band’s sound and that with it the GazettE have reached this certain maturity and sound quality that way surpasses the borders of Visual kei bands and a sound uniqueness that the band may claim as their very own. DIM is most likely the best and expressive release this band has released and created and which significance can only grow with time. The GazettE brought to perfection and I feel that it’s just the start.
Images and promotional video copyright by the GazettE, PS Company, King Records 2009.
Please do not use, reproduce, alter, publish or claim any part of this review without the owners permission
...receives.
From left to right: the GazettE - DIM (album), UnsraW - Abel/Kein (compilation), the GazettE - REPEATED COUNTLESS ERROR (DVD)
I bet you all have no idea how my emotional IQ has risen and , to the point where I felt almost physical pain, how I have restrained myself from listening to the most likely best album of my favorite band.
The feeling of holding the actual CD in your hand.
The thrill of listening it for the very first time on your CD player.
The quality of sound that can't be unmatched by any rip.
Some things are worth the anguish.
I also ordered the REPEATED COUNTLESS ERROR DVD by the GazettE which I actually wanted to order last year (but I received my guitar then soo...) and as a bonus I received a free cd from UnsraW (because I've ordered two or more items over at CLJ) called ABEL/KAIN which is the compilation of those mini-albums plus the single LUST, which is cool since I like UnsraW quite. Not to mention that the releases are almost 40% cheaper than the Japanese versions and they include an extra translated lyrics booklet.
Those anticipating a review will have to wait though, I'm going to the sea tomorrow and won't be back for about a week. This order came just as planned and I still can't explain my happiness about it.
I have heard about this a bit when D'espairsRay decided to participate, but now that even the GazettE are in I became more curious and decided to see what is this V-ROCK FESTIVAL 09.
The festival will take place in Makuhari Messe on 24-25-10.2009.
I find this foreign and Japanese Visual rock concept very interesting and a great move to somehow widthen the boarders and concept of Visual Rock, so I am really lookin forward to how this will develop. Most of all I am glad the GazettE will finally (probably) have contact with other bands beside their own strict, closed-minded label (unless PSC decides to repell them from making social contacts) and see what kind of music they make and similar. I am also eager to see the reactions/thoughts of the foriegn acts about Visual Kei bands, so yep, this is gonna be cool. Shame that I have to live thousands of miles away from Japan.
So here is a nice feature program for all of you interested:
Release date: 25.3.2009.
Track list
| 1. DISTRESS AND COMA [PV] |
| 2. HEADACHE MAN |
| 3. WITHOUT A TRACE |
The GazettE present their first single this year and the last single before the release of their fourth album DIM. Last year the band presented us with two very excellent singles Guren and LEECH, both special in their own way,
Whether DISTRESS AND COMA can keep up with both of them, you will find out here.
DISTRESS AND COMA sounds like a hybrid of the excellent crooked, gloomy song Bathroom thanks to it's dead note filled riffs and creeping, dark atmosphere combined with the elegance, flow and steadiness of Guren. The song has got a very explosive (though female backvocal featuring) intro that drives into excellent riffs with metal licks all over them. The chorus is intense as always and features some really Yomi-esque singing by Ruki ( Especially on the Odoru odoru part of the chorus, that slight vibrato) but then after you've heard it like for the third time you realize that maybe it's a bit too much choruses for a song. In it's core DISTRESS AND COMA is a no-doubt certain sucess by the GazettE but it's such a steady, one line of the song that it gives off a feel that these guys had a good idea for a song but didn't know how to work it out to the end (just like Dir en grey's Glass Skin).
On the other hand HEADACHE MAN is insane. And that is a mild attribute for it.
I smell a lot of ambivalence here!
It starts of with some really screeching guitar sounds and then bursts into thick, dark, heavy riffs combined with a crazy beat, rabid scratching, growling, yeeling... and then you realize: HOLY SHIT! IT'S SLIPKNOT.. WAIT GAZEKNOT! so obivous to anyone who has ever heard Slipknot. After the initial outburst they stick on such a mighty, excellent chorus as if it was taken straight from NIL and then it's like they have thought Wait... we have done this before... Let's do something different while the majority of the listeners most certainly thought Fuck. The song takes a totally new direction and turns into a very frantic Gazetto (not the GazettE) version of Dir en grey's Machiavellism with a collective ground shaking chorus and a lot of twistedness that GazettE used to have back in their old, pre-NIL days. And there is a person that can screech like Kyo and his name is Ruki (the smaller they are the higher they screech)
I already sense one of the most bonebraking pieces on their live performances. AND I'M EAGER TO SEE IT!
So whether you love or damn HEADACHE MAN you must admit that it's a totally different tune by this guys, even though it's not very original overall.
The last song of the single is the ballad WITHOUT A TRACE that is going to be used as an ending theme for some movie I don't care about which automatically calls out the association on the cold and distant ballad Chidzuru, but WITHOUT A TRACE is different than that. The song is filled with sharp yet warm acoustic guitars with such a style that I don't believe the GazettE have ever used before, it has got a very westernized feel. But then the song burst out on the chorus, the instruments joins in and everything reaches it's peak on this strong, expressive, quite Guren like chorus. I love the feel that is enveloped in the chorus, a slight melancholic string but filled with a crtain warmth and strength, a kind of a ballad that rather makes you lift your head up and smile again rather than putting you more down. Though the song doesn't have a certain tension or a strong emotional seal, it still delivers a strong feel and impression on the listener, which is a undeniable sign of it's strength.
Rare are the bands that manage to deliver songs with such energy, strength, honesty and freshness making it sound like nothing you have heard before yet preserving it's core, as well as to redeem themselves for any downers they have done. DISTRESS AND COMA is another absurdly excellent single by the GazettE, which is compared to the previous singles more of a sure-shot, but a sure-shot that doesn't fail in delivering something new and unheard from this band in the end. The very narrow song structure that seems as if it's going in a straight line does leave an impression that this single is going in a bit westernized way, aimed more at a Western listener.
DISTRESS AND COMA is definitive, unconditional MUST for all GazettE fans as well as a strong reccomendation for every fan on intense, rocking Visual kei bands. We can definitely be curious about what DIM will bring this summer.
It hasn't pass long since the GazettE's last pants-pissing-PV-awesomeness LEECH and the men from the GazettE are back with another PV for their new single DISTRESS AND COMA.
In the spirit of the song's name and title, the whole PV gives off a gloomy, distressed, melancholic kind of feel. The main figure is a strange ballerina confined in a room.
The GazettE are again set pretty much in the PV background, more less covered in shadows of the dark room they are playing and seen in different, pretty much interesting angles. In a way, you almost have the feeling like they are behaving the same way as they did in Guren, just more shaded by dark and in different outfits which don't really come to light in this PV. But the overall dynamic, yet steady movements enhance even more the shadowy, latently intense feel of the song. And as always Ruki's presence overtops the other members but that is one of the privilages for being the "most mobile part of the band".
Distress and Coma is certainly a very expressive and melancholic kind of PV, set in a dream-like, transient and unclear setting; with feelings of tension, yearning, sentiment, subtle anger sewn into it. Undoubtfully this PV will be praised by the fans of the band and those who like aesthetic, melancholic PVs. Though it might not be their best output in their videography (being a little bit passive and washed out) it is certainly a nice and moving PV. Another valuable and beautiful achievement by this band.
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.
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!
Among other great singles was D'espairsRay's bipolar Kamikaze with the best B-side that has ever emerged from this band: Scissors. Also -OZ- showed their fangs with the intense, aggressive and overall awesome metal-compound single Bulk. In the special category I have Lucy, a small and relatively new band with a big and broodingly dark single Discord (which can be also considered as the darkest single of the year).
1. Rentrer en Soi - MEGIDDO
2. Dio ~Distraught Overlord~ - Heaven's Call
3. Deluhi - Surveillance
Most ear/eye piercing mini-album: SuG - I SCREAM PARTY/punkitsch
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
1. the GazettE -虚無の終わり、箱詰めの黙示 (Kyomu no owari, hakodzume no mokushi)
2. Deluhi - Vivid place
3. D'espairsRay - Scissors
Auditory Nirvana: Dir en grey - 蜷局 (Toguro)
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.
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!
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.
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!
Track list
1. LEECH [PV]
2. DISTORTED DAYTIME
3. HOLE
LEECH is this years second single by the chaotic rockers the GazettE and clearly their last release for this year. Two singles may seem a bit little for a whole year, but quality wise it does surpass last year's disappointing album STACKED RUBBISH (name says the truth). And LEECH might just be their most powerful single release since FILTH IN THE BEAUTY.
You'll be grabbing for your breath when the GazettE launch you in their biggest frontal crash of a song called LEECH. The song opens up with a blast of loud riffs and continues bombing you all the way through the verses with outstanding and totally chaotic trash-metal riffs, switching faster than you can say LEECH. I think the GazettE have never delivered such an obvious metal performance as on the verses of LEECH. Building up the tension in the pre-chorus the song releases in a mid tempo, intense post-NIL like chorus accompanied by the girly female backvocals that accompany this song. As much as I despised all the
The second track DISTORTED DAYTIME is one of their most angry songs around, though it doesn't have any twisted and mad riffs nor throat ripping growls. But still that doesn't prevent it from sounding like a collective fight party from the GazettE. The song has got really tuned down guitars that roar on each side, but calm themselves in a flickering, ominous verse, where Kai's drumming comes to foreground. Kai's drumming is simply amazing on the whole single, worked out, syncopated and effective. The pre-chorus delivers ground shaking riffs (ala Dir en grey) with a mass of screaming, growling and laid-back singing, all interchanging with one another. The chorus is then an explosion of hoarsness, Ruki shouting hoarsly and the rest of the band shouting with him, followed by a certain nu-metal like rapping. The song does have a certain nu-metal flair and it's probably one of the most westernized (but in a positive way) songs by them. Win!
As for the end we get the interesting HOLE, which does require a little acomodation, but with every listen revealse more and more cool details. Erupting with even more quaking and more tuned down riffs reminding on those in the song -Dice- by Alice nine, but with more style and broken out with interesting chords. God damn I swear that Uruha and Aoi have sold their souls to the demon for being able to play so good and deliver such ingenious riffs. God damn. The verses continue in a bass dominated manner with Ruki's distored voice seducively grabbing the listener. The chorus is crooked, layed back but very present at the same time, with Ruki delivering even more of his new hoarse singing technique which is really, really good and gives a certain angry edge to the songs. The songs erupts in a scream explosion before hitting the chorus for the second time, pulling a certain smile on every indie GazettE fan. I think it's already obvious that HOLE just nails the WIN to the single LEECH, with an arrogant smile.
the GazettE have done with LEECH what they do the best: make explosive rock songs hotter than being grilled with a flamethrower in the back and rocking more than a 9 degree magnitude earthquake. Even with a more refined sound they are able to bring chaos and uncompromised energy. Though the single goes rather safe with experimenting (which can be seen in a certain post-NIL like sound, recognisable elements and a certain similarity between DISTORTED DAYTIME and HOLE, just like it was with Kugutsu e and Kyomu no owari, hakodzume no mukushi in the previous single Guren) it still manages to present some new elements and tecniques new to GazettE so it's another safe yet obvious step in sound progression of this band.
Though I'm not quite without complaints for this single (the female backvocals are more than overused and washed out as well as a slight nu-metal flair in Distorted Daytime that I'm not bound to) it's excitement and brilliance clearly overshadowes those complaints which turn minor with every listening.
You can rarely go wrong with the GazettE and if there is a single you simply must hear this year then that single is LEECH. And I can most certainly lift my head up high and be proud to call such a band as the GazettE my favorite.
Yeah if it weren't for my college you'd see this review on the day this PV was released. But since I'm seriously and unintentionally becoming a weekend writer/guitarist you get the review today. Thank you.
My god. I swear that nothing could have prepared me for the LEECH PV or at least it was not what I have imagined to be. Sure I did saw some images from the PV shooting on the GazettE Staff blog so I did sense that it will be some simple scenery, but I didn't know that the PV will turn out to be...
....
....
...so friggin awesome!
The stimulant impression of beauty and fear is very effective. But the so called changes this girl goes are the thing that impressed me the most. From beauty represented in petals and butterflies changing to corruption which pierces as needles out of her inner to anger and the darkness in each human being coming out as a mighty powerful contrast of black flames and demonic horns, up to resolution and peace represented in the rain of kanjis. If I had to go through a symbolic meaning of every of these phases it would take me a large book, not a regular post to describe it all.
I can difficult put into words what an impression has made this PV on my and all the thoughts that run through my head when I watch it. But one thing is for sure: LEECH counts to one of the best (if not the best) and artistic PVs from the GazettE and is a pretty untypical PV for the gerne. A classic and a certain must see!
So yeah yesterday I had my presentation of my favorite band on English. I was really nervous and my hands were slightly trembling. I asked the class to have understanding for what I was going to present them, noting that I have to make them try to understand something in five minutes what took me three years.
So after presenting the band (and getting an applause because it was really clearly and pretty said) I asked them what kind of a song do they want me to play. Did they want a ballad, a furious song, a rock'n'roll one or something completely experimental. They all expressed that they want to hear something "regular" that the GazettE have.
I don't really know why but I wanted to play something from NIL, since that album is one of the best I've ever heard. So I looked at my sister and asked her "Filth or Shadow?" and she said "Shadow". I regret it later, but well can't change that. No matter how prepared I would be, I'd always have a complaint.
So I played SHADOW VI II I. It was really loud so I could hear all the imperfections in Ruki's 2006. singing (which got really better after they've released Filth in the Beauty single). I also noticed that my heartbeat was synchronized with Kai's drumming (which was really scary). I didn't look at the class, just down at my table, wishing to kick Ruki in the balls every time he opened his mouth. I've noticed that the class chattered surprised on the bridge where Aoi plays his acoustic guitar and Ruki sings like he is from some boyband.
After the song, they've said that it sounded all right and cool and the teacher said it reminded her on System of a Down (O_O?). And when looking at my paper the teacher asked the most common question: "Are they all men?.
I've said: "Yes"
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