This time around, there are a ton of great new heavy metal releases. Inugami Circus Dan, DELUHI and AREA51 all have top-shelf material.
If metal isn't your game, how about electro? There's a cool new Vocaloid album featuring Hatsune Mike from turnastudio, akiba-kei from MOSAIC.WAV and some genre breaking trance from Nanten and Kaaltechs.
But that's not all! Head on over and check out all the great new stuff available now.
Lots of great stuff on this week's Explore the Unexplored post. Stuff like the new sgt. album, a new mega-collection from Inugami Circus Dan, some fun new Vocaloid music, trance and even some more anime-metal from ex-Animetal member Eizo Sakamoto. Also make sure to check out the shoegaze sounds of SCARLET.
"To say that these acts are in bad taste is all well and good, but for us it is a means of emancipation from the shadows society pushes upon us all. Those who have seen one of Inugami's performances claim to have slid into a sensation of seeing 'something which they shouldn't have', that as they are drawn into the performance their complicit conscious sprouts forth."
Whatever you say guys. One thing's for sure, Inugami Circus Dan is more than your average vis-kei band. For one thing, most of their music is straight-up rock instead of crazy harpsichord arpeggios and organ solos. In fact they often remind me of the metal band Sex Machineguns, only slowed down and fronted by a female lead singer with a much more restricted vocal range. I'd have to say that Kyouko's vocals are the only thing holding them back from being a really good band. Yeah, she's good, but she only seems to sing within a single octave, which makes the songs all sound exactly alike. Then again, I doubt it's the musical performance the draws in the fans. That would have to be Inugami's dark, sarcastic comedy and overall cynical outlook on modern Japanese society. Or maybe it's just the clown makeup.
I really like how they spoof the typical vapid idol performance here on Utaban:
J-Pop and J-Rock are only the beginning. The modern Japanese music scene is just as vibrant and varied as any other music scene in the world. I'm Zac Bentz, writer, musician, designer and all around Japanese music fanatic. Here I hope to share with you a comprehensive (!!) list of Japanese artists and bands (with a strong focus on underground and indie acts) that you may or may not have heard of, in the hopes of expanding our mutual awareness of Japanese music.
I don't mean to suggest that everything I listen to is great. Quite the contrary, I hope that you will take the time to recommend your own favorite artists in the comments so that we can all learn a bit more about the huge range of Japanese music that's out there.
"The best Japanese music blog in the world." - Door Slam "Definitely a must-visit for J-pop and J-rock fans!" -The Otaku "Zac Bentz loves music. A lot." -Japanator "Very cool!" -J-ENT "...one of the foremost blogs and information centers on all J-pop and J-rock...the top source for tour information on Japanese bands in the US..." -YankeeOtaku "Wer mehr darüber wissen will, der sollte sich mal hier umschauen, ein sehr gutes J-Music Blog übrigens." -CommandSheep "...very well-written, and there’s an excellent range of artists...a useful resource." -International Wota "не плохая энциклопедия японских исполнителей/групп" -Diary.ru "Great resource for Japanese music fans who want to explore today's J-rhythms beyond Johnny's Entertainment bishonen music and anime music. XD" -Kaishi "If you are a J-Rock fan, [ZB's A-Z] is a must see." -Crunchyroll community "Otaku USA magazine finally got wise and hired Zac Bentz as a J-music contributing editor."-Radicalpatriot "Reviews practically every Asian band that has ever created a recording."- Zallie "Gewährt spannende Einblicke in die japanische Musikszene." -Laut.de
