Part 4: #5-#1
It was an important year for Visual-Kei - international Visual-Kei, reunions, disbandments, and an array of great albums. But, which ones were the best? Which albums will have effects on the Visual-Kei scene? Join James as he looks back on the past year, and picks the most important albums of 2012, in four installments.
Certain albums were excluded from running, such as miyavi, the GazettE, alice nine., and Kiyoharu’s latest – on the grounds that they are great albums and will undoubtedly have influence. I want to take a bigger, more in-depth look at Visual-Kei than the surface level. Some big-name albums are in here, but I will explain why.
5. EAT YOU ALIVE, “Catedral”
“The World
is Mine” was a phenomenal album that came out of a reformed maveRICK, now
called EAT YOU ALIVE. Whereas maveRICK’s “a counterfeit heart and my true
intentions MOSQUITO” had a good sound, but nothing innovative, EAT YOU ALIVE’S
first album was far more perfect in almost every way, not to mention it experimented
with far more sounds. I could easily sell you on why “The World is Mine” is one
of the most important albums in the existence of Nagoya-Kei, or how it is a
phenomenal album, but I am here to talk about “Catedral”. I will admit, I loved
the single “Lily”, but in no way did I think that “Catedral” could live up to
“The World is Mine”. I couldn’t have been more in err, as “Catedral” continues
with much of the sound and success of “The World is Mine” while also showing
EAT YOU ALIVE as a dynamic band. In short, it blows most every other album this
year out of the water.
Most do not
think of EAT YOU ALIVE as representative of Nagoya-Kei, however, they continue
the tradition where Kuroyume had initially left it before coming back. There is
a far more subversive, and frankly more relevant, tone to EAT YOU ALIVE than
most Nagoya-Kei bands who seem to focus in on the violence and gothic style of
early Kuroyume. EAT YOU ALIVE dresses trendier, and more clean cut, even down
to Shoya’s use of guitars with lighter wood fretboards for shorter attack. EAT
YOU ALIVE brings a sort of refined Nagoya-Kei to the masses, devoid of much of
the undirected angst and darkness that characterize many of their
counter-parts.
The album
is solid, and there is not really any doubt that they are all phenomenal
musicians. Hiro writes beautiful lyrics as usual, and anyone who thought that
the band was going “soft” after “Lily” will be persuaded otherwise by the
opening track, “Ave Maria”, one of the hardest tracks I have listened to all
year. The album is brilliant, and will be a staple of Nagoya-Kei for the
foreseeable future.
4. Para:noir – “nihilism.”
Few
independent Visual-Kei bands stay alive along as Para:noir, and few improve as
much as Para:noir. Even fewer leave the scene with a body of work as prolific
as Para:noir. Towards the end of their run, they went full-steam-ahead in
regards to releases, with the album “21g Meaningless Existence”, then the
phenomenal single “Amaryllis”, and then “nihilism”. I could write a whole
article about how the title ties into the music and how both of these things
congeal to produce a portrait of so many undercurrents present in the
Visual-Kei scene and society as a whole, but I digress.
The point is, “nihilism” will stay
in the Visual-Kei pantheon as a pivotal work forever. Central to this is that
last year, I was ready to think Visual-Kei had reclaimed transcore, which it
had largely birthed, let J-Rock, then the international scene take it from them
(see Crossfaith or Fear, and Loathing in Las Vegas), however, with Para:noir’s
disbandment, it seems that the idea that Visual-Kei would retake the subgenre
is not so much past, but dead. Para:noir’s final effort took the synths they
were known for, the auto-tune, and the soaring vocals to new heights. The
sound of the album departs from usual Para:noir to being a more refined,
perfected one. The industrial rock influence is wholly apparent in even the
first song, with the dissonant guitar riffs and “dirty” synths. The screams are
better, and the vocals clearer. Furthermore, the album does not have a bad
track, or even a weak one, and it flows better than any other album this year.
“nihilism” is not just a central
work to the evolution of Visual-Kei as a genre, or even as key element of its
increasing relevance, but it stands alone as an innovative work to modern heavy
rock as a whole. This is not an album to pass over.
3. SUICIDE ALI, “Tainted Gallery”
Erotic
grotesque nonsense is a subcurrent running through almost all of post-Meiji
Japan, and ocassionally, in certain works or artists, manifests itself.
Visual-Kei has been no stranger to the concept, with bands such as BUCK-TICK
and cali≠gari, yet in the current
crop of younger artists, it appears to be more a thematic element than a
driving concept. However, “Tainted Gallery” brings the concept of erotic
grotesque nonsense back to the forefront of Visual-Kei.
“Tainted Gallery”
features typical SUICIDE ALI sounds, but taken to new heights. There is a sort
of dissonance, evident on tracks like “Shijushici no Gen”, where the guitar
riffs and harp clash, yet also complement each other’s sound. There is
prevalent keys, organ, and strings throughout, evoking a sort of Romanesque
decadence, which adds to the nonsense aspect of things. The album thrives on
this type of subversion, both of mainstream culture and traditional music.
The album is
technically sound, with the band at the best they have ever been, and both the
lyrics and composing being thought provoking. SUICIDE ALI shows on this album
that they are clearly stronger on an album than a single, which is a bit sad,
as no band releases albums as much as singles.
Much like the
title, this is a sort of gallery of sounds, and the tainted can be seen as
surfacing in the bizarre, unique sound of SUICIDE ALI. Their sound is certainly
harder than most previous erotic grotesque nonsense Visual-Kei bands. The album
is superb, and establishes SUICIDE ALI concretely as one of the most important
innovators in Visual-Kei.
2. ADAMS, “NEO SEXUAL”
There is a
lot to be said about Visual-Kei, and a lot that no one, outside or inside Japan
wants to say. It is a given that most people misunderstand the androgynous and cross-dressing
aspects of Visual-Kei outside (and occasionally inside) Japan –yet, could there
be some truth there? Ultimately, my thoughts were confirmed when irokui.
disbanded, and their vocalist subsequently went through a gender transition.
In any
modern cosmopolitan nation, the issue of same-sex love and rights are coming
into cultural dialogue, and Japan has always fascinated others with it having
art that deals with homosexual romance, yet not having mainstream acceptance.
There have been several high profile court cases as of late, and one that
determined employers cannot discriminate against employees due to sexual
orientation.
This
doesn’t mean views have necessarily changed, as there are many still holding
steadfast to the viewpoint that homosexuality could be seen as a stepping stone
to heterosexual romance, especially for girls. Due to all of the above factors,
ADAMS entry into the Visual-Kei scene this year is timelier than ever. And
while if the album simply dealt with homosexuality, I would maybe relegate it
towards the bottom of the list, or write an article about it due to its current
relevance, I wouldn’t dream of doing that for “NEO SEXUAL”. Because it is a phenomenal
album.
For a
primer on the visual style of ADAMS, I will quote their band concept:
“Homosexual concept”. This is characterized by their PVs and live performances
involving stylized oral intercourse, anal intercourse, and other sensual acts,
with Shota as the dominant partner in all of the acts that I have personally
seen. They dress in a very clean-cut way, reminiscent of a current Dir en Grey
or Luna Sea.
ADAMS has a unique style, one that
is both accessible and deep. Theirs is the type of music that would be both at
home in a club, or a rock festival. ADAM has a clean voice, suited for more
upbeat, less violent types of Visual-Kei songs, yet, his range is dynamic
enough that he could certainly pull them off. Shota is a phenomenal guitar
player, evidenced especially well on “Sweet Dreams” and “Dizzy Love”. The album
features many distinct guitar riffs, dreamy synthesizers, and soaring vocals,
and in other words, is technically sound almost to a fault. The cleanliness of
ADAMS’s sound is uncanny, and can be seen as an extension of their style, I
believe.
“NEO SEXUAL” is an amazing album,
not just due to the provocative visual style of ADAMS, but their excellent
sound. As time goes by, ADAMS will undoubtedly gain fame and followers,
increasing their relevance. Yet, at the same time, they can be listened to
simply for their musical styling and be incredibly appreciated by anyone.
1. 12012, “12012”
12012 is a
band that most people occasionally remember to exist. For instance, when I
found out they had a countdown on their website, I thought to myself, “Oh yeah,
I guess that they never did disband.” 12012 is the epitome of everything wrong
with Visual-Kei, everything threatening it becoming nothing more than
manufactured Western pop-rock. Or at least, 12012 was. And then they released
the album “12012”. Which basically changes everything, and I don’t mean just
for them. Similar to the effect the video game “Killswitch” had on the video
game industry, 12012’s self-titled opus will likely not be remembered
specifically except for those deeply invested (analyzing or participating) in
Visual-Kei. However, it is by far and away the most important album of the year.
12012, at first glance, appears to be one of
many bands coming out of the era in which bands like Dir en Grey released
“Kisou” and Visual-Kei became a genre. 12012 was not particularly remarkable
for anything in their early days, but, eventually they would release two albums
simultaneously, “Not Obtain +1” and “Play Dolls”, marking a distinct style, and
they continued with this – until a year later. This time, they released
“Diamond”, and it was noticeably different from their past work. If there was a
single track that conveyed this, it was the title track. Forget even
regression, it was a brand new style, and saying it was soft would be an
understatement.
Then, in
2009, “Mar Maroon” was released. The album was lambasted and torn apart by fans
and critics, as not only was it untrue to the supposed “style” of 12012, it was
largely a bad album. Next year’s “Seven” allegedly attempted to make an abrupt
swing back to previous styles, but between going too far and not far enough,
critics said there was simply a sense of strain that ruined it, apart from
several “good” tracks.
Going major
appeared to be the end of 12012, yet, it
was also the signaling of several other catastrophes for the band. In 2007,
only several months before releasing the album “Diamond”, vocalist Wataru
Miyawaki was arrested after attempting to strangle a woman he had some
acquaintance with after a night of heavy drinking. The problems seemed to stop
until 2010 – when the band was dropped by Universal Music after the release of
“Seven”, their worst-selling release since going major. In fact, no album that
12012 had released since going major had sold as well as their independent
album release. To cap off the year’s problems, guitarist Yusuke Suga left the
band.
In what
would be the longest gap between albums the band had since going major, the
band went silent. No singles, no albums, barely any lives, no books, nothing.
It seemed as though the band had ended, until December of 2011, when the band
posted a countdown on their website. At
the end of waiting for what many thought would be a disbandment announcement,
they replaced the rather calm photo of them sitting on a serene looking stoop
as the entrance to their website with a trailer for their new PV, “SUICIDE”.
In March,
the band released “12012”, and a sizeable majority of people said it sucked,
and quite frankly, it did not bring in the money that other albums had. This
album is darker and harder than any other 12012 outing has ever been, so the
reaction of some to be taken aback is understandable. I myself even was
shocked, and relegated the album to the back of my mind for several albums.
Yet, when it came on during the summer
by chance, I stood in awe. How I had passed it over confused me. Of course,
when I listened to it this time, it was a listener, not thinking about past
12012, which feeds directly in to why this album is so important.
“12012” is a remarkable album,
because it finally cements that 12012 is a completely dynamic band, and quite
frankly, the epitome of Visual-Kei. The album is a departure from the rest of
12012’s catalog, but, the reverse could also be said. With this album, it is
rather obvious that people looking at 12012’s material, hold for true,
understanding fans, have looked at it in the wrong way. Taken as a whole, 12012
has always been a band with variable style, yet, it was assumed by the majority
of people that they had once had a static style. This assumption is heavily
problematic for looking at a band with a dynamic style, because we then tend to
say, “Well, that isn’t like what they used to do. I liked how they sounded
before. They got worse.” None of those statements are accurate, as 12012 has
always pulled together (mechanical/compositional) flawless albums, and over
time they haven’t even changed, really, they are just a band that is not
confined to one style.
We often tend to think that a band
like Dir en Grey is more dynamic than they are, but if we listen to two Dir en
Grey albums chronologically, there is not too much of a departure from one to the
next. Over time? Of course; “Dum Spiro Spero” has little in common with
“Gauze”. 12012, however, tends to make radical changes album to album, not
because they are “selling out”, but because they understand Visual-Kei better
than most ever will. 12012 has an understanding of Visual-Kei for what it is:
coupling styles with traversing musical genres, all to find sounds that come
together beautifully.
As for the album itself and not how
it measures relatively to other bands, or fits into the large scale of things,
just its musical merit, it is flawless. The basslines are beautiful, and range
from the seductiveness of “FORTITUDE” to the jazz and hardcore mix of
“JAZETSU”. The drums sound like a perfect machine is doing them, and I still am
not sure if it is humanly possibly to do the drums for “SUICIDE” and be human;
I haven’t heard or seen a drummer parallel Toru Kawauchi except for perhaps
NoGoD’s K.
The two biggest changes from
previous 12012 releases lie with vocalist Wataru Miyawaki and now the sole guitarist,
Hiroaki Sakai. Sakai’s guitar takes on a different role, as without Suga, there
is not the ability to have two distinct parts, so Suga takes a page from MUCC’s
Miya, and makes powerful riffs in lieu of two separate, equally prevalent
parts. Sakai pulls it off, and dominates certain tracks when his guitar kicks
in, such as “FORTITUDE”. As for vocals,
Miyawaki has not so much altered his style, he is just better. His screams and
guttural moans are on par with Dir en Grey’s Kyo, yet, Miyawaki relies more on
his singing voice than a “THE MARROW OF A BONE” era Kyo. His voice sounds
cleaner, and whether this is the result of an extended rest over the past two
years, or if it is just him getting better, that is up for interpretation.
12012’s self-titled album leaves
nothing to be desired – if you don’t come in with expectations. The idea that
12012 somehow conforms to any model except using the freedom they are allotted
by associating with Visual-Kei is simply wrong. This album pioneers new ground
for Visual-Kei in terms of its exceptional musicians, and the explorative
nature of 12012’s sound. This album firmly cements 12012 as one of the most
talented bands in the world, and certainly one of the most adventurous. This
album cannot be missed, and is one of the best of this new millennium so far,
and far and away the best album of the year.
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