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Well folks, it's been an active year in visual kei - and it's about to get even more active from now until December. Just about every band I like is coming out with something between now and then:
1. First we have GazettE. Fresh on the heels of Dogma comes a new single in November. Surprise! (Well, we knew this was coming because Aoi kinda hinted at it on Twitter.)
2. D=Out finally makes their comeback after a year's absence with a new single - released on Kai's birthday, yet!
3. After saying they're completely done with releasing singles - Lycaon has announced one more surprise release before their disbandment. (First they break my heart, then they break my bank account . . .)
4. Royz isn't putting out a new album, but they ARE putting out a live DVD - conveniently on the day Lycaon releases their single. Yay for bundled shipping!
5. DIAURA is releasing a Greatest Hits set (which is Visual Kei-ese for "We didn't feel like recording an album this year, but our record company demanded one anyway") called Incomplete in December, which promises to feature damn-hard-to-find-because-CD-Japan-never-has-'em earlier singles like Beautiful Creature.
6. And I finally got dragged into the Mejibray trap after years of resisting. (This is ALL MiA's fault). They have two, count 'em, TWO singles coming out, one each in October and November. Oh, and a DVD in December. Bloody hell.
Let's face it, just about the only nations on the Boots Bias Hit Parade that haven't piped in on this are SCREW and Alice Nine, and I wouldn't put it past them to come up with a "SURPRISE! New Release!" in the next few weeks. Good thing I'm not going on a Big Trip this year like Japan last year and Germany two years ago. (Hell, it may almost be cheaper just to fly to Japan around Christmas and buy all this stuff in person).
As for Dogma . . . I have to be brutally honest, my first impression was not good. It seemed, well . . . dark. Completely dark. It wasn't the rainbow of sonic colors we come to expect from them, it was just . . . heavy. And I thought it was just me, because I was seeing people all over Tumblr proclaiming it was the best GazettE album since DIM. Granted, I'm in the minority of the fandom in that I loved Toxic, I think Beautiful Deformity stands head and shoulders alongside the Gaze Holy Trinity (NIL, Stacked Rubbish and DIM) and, well . . . I didn't hate Division.
I gave it another shot, though, and it improved on the second listen - once I was past the initial shock of the sheer difference in styles, I could understand what they were doing, and see the familiar GazettE composition styles, and appreciate that it was a lot more intricate than I originally thought. I don't think it's ever going to be my favorite GazettE album ever (NIL has that honor just by virtue of including my two favorite Gaze songs, Silly God Disco and Cassis), but it's not the worst one, either. And it may grow on me even more later. (That's the thing with GazettE - very often, you can't fully take in their stuff on the fiirst go-round).
1. First we have GazettE. Fresh on the heels of Dogma comes a new single in November. Surprise! (Well, we knew this was coming because Aoi kinda hinted at it on Twitter.)
2. D=Out finally makes their comeback after a year's absence with a new single - released on Kai's birthday, yet!
3. After saying they're completely done with releasing singles - Lycaon has announced one more surprise release before their disbandment. (First they break my heart, then they break my bank account . . .)
4. Royz isn't putting out a new album, but they ARE putting out a live DVD - conveniently on the day Lycaon releases their single. Yay for bundled shipping!
5. DIAURA is releasing a Greatest Hits set (which is Visual Kei-ese for "We didn't feel like recording an album this year, but our record company demanded one anyway") called Incomplete in December, which promises to feature damn-hard-to-find-because-CD-Japan-never-has-'em earlier singles like Beautiful Creature.
6. And I finally got dragged into the Mejibray trap after years of resisting. (This is ALL MiA's fault). They have two, count 'em, TWO singles coming out, one each in October and November. Oh, and a DVD in December. Bloody hell.
Let's face it, just about the only nations on the Boots Bias Hit Parade that haven't piped in on this are SCREW and Alice Nine, and I wouldn't put it past them to come up with a "SURPRISE! New Release!" in the next few weeks. Good thing I'm not going on a Big Trip this year like Japan last year and Germany two years ago. (Hell, it may almost be cheaper just to fly to Japan around Christmas and buy all this stuff in person).
As for Dogma . . . I have to be brutally honest, my first impression was not good. It seemed, well . . . dark. Completely dark. It wasn't the rainbow of sonic colors we come to expect from them, it was just . . . heavy. And I thought it was just me, because I was seeing people all over Tumblr proclaiming it was the best GazettE album since DIM. Granted, I'm in the minority of the fandom in that I loved Toxic, I think Beautiful Deformity stands head and shoulders alongside the Gaze Holy Trinity (NIL, Stacked Rubbish and DIM) and, well . . . I didn't hate Division.
I gave it another shot, though, and it improved on the second listen - once I was past the initial shock of the sheer difference in styles, I could understand what they were doing, and see the familiar GazettE composition styles, and appreciate that it was a lot more intricate than I originally thought. I don't think it's ever going to be my favorite GazettE album ever (NIL has that honor just by virtue of including my two favorite Gaze songs, Silly God Disco and Cassis), but it's not the worst one, either. And it may grow on me even more later. (That's the thing with GazettE - very often, you can't fully take in their stuff on the fiirst go-round).
